Chapter 3131 — The Trial Cauldron
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
But now, the first-grade automatic cauldron Wei Zhao described demanded none of that. The intensity of the pill fire was adjusted entirely by the cauldron itself, and the cauldron displayed time and temperature curves to tell the alchemist what temperature of pill fire to use at each moment. In this way, even an alchemist of modest experience—or an inspector like Xiao Kong—could successfully refine first-grade pills!
"May I... try it now?" Xiao Kong asked, rubbing his hands in anticipation. Wei Zhao and Vice President Ouyang wanted him to test it, and he himself was eager to try this marvelous thing as soon as possible, to fulfill his dream of becoming an alchemist.
"Of course. We called you here precisely to test it," Vice President Ouyang said.
"Then... this thing can't be broken, can it?" Xiao Kong was a little daunted. He did not know its value, but having spent years in the Cultivator's Guild's market, he knew at a word that this was a heaven-defying artifact—surely priceless. If he broke it, he could never repay it even if beaten to death.
"It won't break. If it could be broken so easily, what value would it have?" Wei Zhao laughed. "Go ahead and experiment. I have here a set of materials for Spirit-Gathering Pills—you can try refining one!"
"Oh? Spirit-Gathering Pills?" Xiao Kong was somewhat surprised and intimidated. "Among first-grade pills, Spirit-Gathering Pills rank as moderately difficult—the fire intensity must be changed several times during the process. Are there no simpler first-grade pills, such as Life-Returning Pills?"
The so-called Life-Returning Pill was a healing pill one grade below the Minor Restoration Pill. Because its effects were unremarkable, few alchemists refined it; it served only as practice for disciples beginning their study of alchemy.
"Even if you wanted to test with such a pill, I have no materials to give you. I have only the Spirit-Gathering Pill materials on hand," Wei Zhao said with a wry smile.
"Then... shall I try?" Xiao Kong glanced at the cauldron and asked nervously.
"It's fine, give it a try. As long as you can control the temperature of the pill fire, you will certainly succeed," Wei Zhao said, smiling in encouragement.
"All right!" Xiao Kong drew a deep breath, then eagerly picked up the first-grade automatic cauldron before him. Following the prompts on its surface, he placed the Spirit-Gathering Pill materials into the cauldron and pressed the "Spirit-Gathering Pill" button. The circuits of the automatic first-grade cauldron started up, and the screen displayed in large characters "Automatic Refinement of Spirit-Gathering Pills," beneath which a line of instructions told the alchemist to place his palm over the area for condensing pill fire and begin condensing fire-attribute pill fire.
Xiao Kong hastily followed the instructions, placing his hand on the designated area and beginning to condense fire-attribute pill fire.
Beep—a buzzer sounded from within the automatic first-grade cauldron, and the screen showed the words "Fire-attribute pill fire identified as normal. Automatic refinement system activating..."
Then further prompts appeared: "Countdown begun. Please adjust the pill fire temperature to the designated level according to the screen's instructions!" (To be continued.)