Chapter 3820 — The Transformation of the Seeds
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
If that were truly the case, it would instead be a rare piece of good fortune for Wei Zhao. After all, he had only two Heart-Devouring Exquisite Grass seeds in his possession. If the plants finally cultivated turned out to be of too poor a quality, there might well not be enough for two Foundation Establishment Golden Pills, or even enough for one. That would be a real swindle.
Still, no matter how he speculated, so long as these spirit-herb seeds did not rot or wither, Wei Zhao could for the time being only keep waiting like this. He could not even go ask others for advice, for this involved the jade pendant space, a secret of the utmost importance. Unless it were someone completely trustworthy, it must never be allowed to become known.
After infusing the eighty-five spirit-herb seeds with true qi as usual, Wei Zhao made some slight preparations, then set to work refining the Foundation Establishment Pill with the spirit-herb ingredients Li Zhengming had provided.
Of the process there is no need to say more. Having previously refined the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill and the Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pill, Wei Zhao was already well versed in the routine, and refining a mere Foundation Establishment Pill was no trouble to him at all.
The night passed without a word. The next day, before the sky had even brightened, the restriction on Li Zhengming's second cave dwelling at the foot of the mountain was gently touched.
Li Zhengming was slightly startled, thinking that Meng Jueming and the others must have some matter to seek him out about again. After all, although he had spoken to Wei Zhao the night before about refining the Foundation Establishment Pill, and Wei Zhao had agreed on the spot without a second word, even an layman like Li Zhengming knew that pill refining was no simple matter.
Even though the Foundation Establishment Pill was not of a particularly high grade, the refining process still consumed a great deal of mental energy, and to ensure the success rate, every preparation had to be made in advance.
These preparations referred not only to the pill-refining ingredients, but more crucially to the alchemist himself, who also had to spend time adjusting his state and restoring his spirit. This time varied from person to person, long or short, but from what Li Zhengming knew, even the most formidable alchemist, from the moment of accepting a commission, needed at least a full day of preparation.
As for those who took the ingredients and started refining on the spot without a second word, they were simply bumpkins who could not guarantee any success rate at all.
One had to understand that even with meticulous, thorough preparation, the success rate of the great majority of alchemists was only around twenty to thirty percent. And if the preparations were not made adequately in advance, then one could not even hope for those twenty or thirty percent; likely it would be only ten percent, or even less.
In that case, the three portions of Foundation Establishment Pill ingredients Li Zhengming had gotten from Meng Jueming would not even be enough to be thrown away for nothing. But from his observation, this leader of his, Wei Zhao, always conducted himself with steadiness and measure, and in a matter like pill refining, where no amount of caution was excessive, he surely would not be so reckless.
So at the moment the cave dwelling's restriction was touched, Li Zhengming did not think of Wei Zhao and the Foundation Establishment Pill at all. Instead, he mused that Meng Jueming and the others had come to call on him so early, and that they might well be up to some new trick, preparing to carry out some shady business in secret.
But when he opened the door of the cave dwelling, Li Zhengming could not help but be startled again. Before him was empty air; there was no trace of the Meng Jueming and the others he had expected.