Though Ye Qiu had not spent long in the cultivation world, he had seen and even taken quite a few spirit pills. Without exception, every single one had been rich with dense medicinal fragrance.
Yet the pill he had just refined gave off not the slightest trace of aroma.
Ye Qiu’s expression turned unsightly.
This did not merely mean failure; it meant he could not save Wu Qianfan.
All the hundred-thousand-year spirit herbs Mo Tianji had given him had been used up. Finding replacements in the short term would be nearly impossible, which also meant that the only way left to save Wu Qianfan was to leave Undead Mountain.
“How could it have failed?”
Ye Qiu could not understand it. Every step had followed the method recorded in the Book of Pills exactly, yet the result left him deeply dissatisfied.
He stretched out his palm and circulated true qi.
In an instant the pitch-black pill flew out of the Cosmos Cauldron and landed in his hand.
On close inspection he saw that the pill was completely black, its surface uneven and extremely rough.
From some distance away, Yun Xi saw the pill in his palm and immediately knew he had failed.
She had seen many Blazing Fire Pills before. True Blazing Fire Pills were fiery red, crystalline and translucent, radiating intense heat along with their rich fragrance. They were nothing like the pill in Ye Qiu’s hand.
At that moment Ye Qiu sighed. “What a waste of those hundred-thousand-year herbs.”
Yun Xi walked over to him and comforted him softly. “This was your first time refining a Mysterious-tier pill. Failure is perfectly normal.”
“From what I know, many alchemists fail thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of times before they succeed even once.”
“Some alchemists spend their entire lives without ever producing a Mysterious-tier pill.”
“That is exactly why alchemists are so rare in the cultivation world. Refining pills is thousands, even tens of thousands of times harder than breaking through cultivation realms.”
Yun Xi took Ye Qiu’s hand, gazed into his eyes, and continued, “Changsheng, you are still young. Don’t lose heart. Keep at it, and I believe that one day you will not only become an alchemist, but the greatest alchemist the world has ever seen, unmatched before or since!”
Ye Qiu smiled. “You have that much faith in me?”
“Of course. You are the man I chose. Naturally I have faith in you,” Yun Xi declared firmly. “I trust my own judgement.”
Ye Qiu gently scraped the tip of her nose with a finger and laughed. “Whether in the mortal world or the cultivation world, there really aren’t many men as outstanding as me. Your taste is excellent.”
Yun Xi giggled happily.
One had to admit that a few words of comfort from a woman could sometimes give a man boundless strength.
Ye Qiu’s disappointment vanished completely. He declared, “Anything is possible with perseverance.”
“Though I failed today, I will never give up.”
“Just as you said, I will not only become an alchemist, I will become the unparalleled God of Alchemy for all eternity…”
BOOM!
Before he could finish, a muffled peal of thunder suddenly rang out from the highest heavens, deafening and earth-shaking.
Yun Xi glanced at the sky, her heart pounding wildly.
“Changsheng’s casual words actually triggered resonance with the Heavenly Dao. It seems he truly might become a God of Alchemy one day!”
Ye Qiu himself was unaware that his words had stirred the Heavenly Dao. He simply said to Yun Xi, “Let’s head back.”
“What about this pill?” Yun Xi asked.
“Since it’s a failure, why keep it?” With that, Ye Qiu clenched his fist, intending to crush it.
“Don’t destroy it! Can you give it to me instead?” Yun Xi cried urgently.
“It’s just waste. What do you want it for?” Ye Qiu asked.
“I’d like to keep it as a memento,” she replied.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier? I’ve already…” Ye Qiu opened his hand and let out a startled sound. He stared in disbelief.
Yun Xi looked closely. The pill sat untouched in his palm.
“I used quite a lot of force just now. Why didn’t it break?”
Ye Qiu found it strange.
The grip he had just used could have shattered even divine weapons, yet the pill remained completely unharmed.
“Yes, why is it intact?” Yun Xi was equally surprised, then she laughed. “Perhaps the pill has gained spirit and heard my request. It wants to stay with me as a keepsake.”
Ye Qiu chuckled. “You’re joking. If a pill had spirit, it would be a divine pill.”
He looked at it again, then gripped it once more, this time with far greater strength.
He wanted to test exactly how hard this pill was.
BOOM!
True qi roared from his palm, enveloping the pill and crushing down ferociously.
A full thirty seconds passed.
Crack…
A crisp sound rang out. Immediately afterwards, scorching waves of heat surged from his palm. Ye Qiu quickly opened his hand. The black outer shell of the pill had fallen away, revealing a smooth, perfectly round, fiery-red pill. An intense, heart-gladdening fragrance filled the air.
Inside the pill burned a tiny flame the size of a grain of rice.
“This…”
Ye Qiu was speechless with shock.
Yun Xi froze for a moment, then her face lit up with wild joy. “Changsheng, you succeeded! You really succeeded in refining a Blazing Fire Pill!”
Ye Qiu felt as though he were dreaming. He had thought he had failed, never expecting such a turnaround.
“This is no ordinary spirit pill. It’s a peak Mysterious-tier supreme-grade pill!” Yun Xi exclaimed.
A peak Mysterious-tier supreme-grade pill?
Ye Qiu was stunned.
“To think that on your very first attempt you not only succeeded, but produced a peak supreme-grade Mysterious-tier pill. You’re incredible!”
Yun Xi’s eyes sparkled like stars with pure adoration. That adoration quickly turned to infatuation as she thought proudly, “See? This is my man. Amazing, right?”
Still a little uncertain, Ye Qiu asked, “Xi’er, you’re sure you’re not mistaken?”
“I’ve handled many spirit pills. I’m not wrong. This is definitely a peak Mysterious-tier supreme-grade spirit pill,” Yun Xi said, beaming like a delighted child. “Changsheng, congratulations on becoming a Mysterious-tier alchemist!”
Ye Qiu’s heart surged with excitement. He pulled Yun Xi into his arms and kissed her fiercely.
The two shared a passionate embrace and kiss.
In no time at all, Yun Xi melted in his arms, cheeks flushed, breathing heavily, eyes misty with desire and springtime longing.
She murmured indistinctly, “Changsheng, I want…”
Ye Qiu was also on the verge of losing control, but the last shred of rationality told him this was not the moment.
Otherwise, she would look down on him again.
“Xi’er, wait just a moment.”
With that, he swiftly pulled over a hundred spirit herbs from his cosmos pouch, tossed them into the Cosmos Cauldron, and began refining once more.
This time, he was going to refine a Perfect Great Restoration Pill!
