Chapter 449: The Mutated Pill Furnace

Seeing the steaming heat and mist swirling through the cave, Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t help but chuckle in exasperation. This isn’t pill refining at all—this is basically ‘pill boiling’. The dozen or so cauldrons within the cave were nothing more than gigantic versions of the decoction pots used in the Qihuang Hall.

Sigh, the human imagination truly knows no bounds.

Zhang Xiaohua was speechless.

Looking at Valley Master Nie’s smug expression, and Nie Qianyu’s prideful face, Zhang Xiaohua truly couldn’t bear to rain on their parade.

After a moment’s thought, Zhang Xiaohua asked: “Uncle Nie, what kind of pills are being refined in this cave?”

Nie Qianyu smiled and said: “How about you guess, Big Brother Ren?”

Zhang Xiaohua sniffed the air and replied: “The cave is filled with the scent of Tianma. If I remember correctly, in the formula for the ‘Blood Replenishing Pill,’ Tianma is the primary ingredient. I suppose what’s being refined here must be Blood Replenishing Pills.”

A satisfied light flashed in Valley Master Nie’s eyes as he said: “As expected of Nephew Ren—one guess and you got it. The Blood Replenishing Pill is a commonly used pill in the martial world, and it’s also one of Spring Rebirth Valley’s flagship products. The technique and process for making it are the most mature.”

Zhang Xiaohua nodded, then carefully observed the Spring Rebirth Valley disciples’ operations.

He saw that the water in the cauldron in front of him had almost completely boiled down. The disciple beside it activated a mechanism near a groove on the cauldron, and the bluish-red flames immediately weakened significantly. After a while, only a thick, viscous essence remained at the bottom of the cauldron. The disciple adjusted the flame again—this time almost turning it off completely. Then, reaching into the bottom of the cauldron, they scooped out the thick essence, letting it drop into a small container. Retrieving the container from beneath the cauldron, the disciple deftly pinched a small amount with three fingers of their right hand, placed it in a spoon, made a slight movement—and just like that, a Blood Replenishing Pill, famed throughout the martial world and made by Spring Rebirth Valley, took form!

Without even turning their head, the disciple flicked their hand and tossed the pill into a small tray. The tray was already nearly full of neatly sized pills. Another disciple, seeing the tray was full, immediately replaced it with an empty one, and carried the full tray over to the cave entrance. There, several other trays already filled with pills had been set aside. A few female disciples were busily transferring the pills into empty porcelain bottles!

Zhang Xiaohua chuckled inwardly: “Hahaha, who would’ve thought that the famed Blood Replenishing Pills of the martial world were made like this.”

Just then, a certain figure suddenly popped into his mind, and he couldn’t help but think: “If that fellow Ma Jing were to try making these Blood Replenishing Pills, what kind of result would it be? Hahaha!”

At that thought, Zhang Xiaohua nearly burst into laughter. Noticing his expression, Nie Qianyu asked in surprise: “Big Brother Ren, is there something wrong with the pill refining process? Why are you looking like that…”

Zhang Xiaohua held his hand over his mouth and struggled to reply: “It’s nothing, Little Fish. I just thought of something funny.”

“Pah,” Nie Qianyu couldn’t help but spit lightly. “Thinking of funny things out of nowhere? You really have no proper composure.”

Valley Master Nie scolded gently: “Little Yu, your Brother Ren’s sect also has its own facilities for refining pills. He might even be able to offer us some constructive suggestions.”

Then, turning to Zhang Xiaohua with a smile, he said: “Wouldn’t you agree, Nephew Ren?”

Zhang Xiaohua scratched his head, thought for a moment, and said: “Uncle Nie flatters me far too much.”

But then he added: “If Uncle Nie happens to have a spare cave, I’d actually like to try my hand at refining a batch.”

Valley Master Nie was curious. “Why? Isn’t this place sufficient? There should be an unused cauldron over there. If you’d like to learn, you can just refine pills and study the process right there—how about that?”

Zhang Xiaohua shook his head. “I’ve already observed carefully just now. Although Uncle Nie’s refining process aligns with what the books describe in theory, the actual practice differs quite a bit. If it’s just this… ‘pill boiling’ method, I’ve trained extensively at the Qihuang Courtyard and am confident I can handle it with ease.”

“Then what is it you mean to do, Nephew?”

“I’d like to use Spring Rebirth Valley’s cauldron and this earthly fire to refine a batch of pills strictly according to what’s written in the books—step by step, without deviation.”

Valley Master Nie nodded. “Nephew Ren’s thinking is spot on. What others say can serve as reference, but to grasp the fundamentals, one must personally take action.”

Then, with a face full of anticipation, Valley Master Nie continued: “As the saying goes, ‘stones from other mountains may polish jade.’ If Nephew Ren can blend your sect’s pill-refining methods with those of Spring Rebirth Valley to resolve this issue of temperature control, it would be a favor as great as rebirth to our valley. It might even be a remarkable contribution to the entire martial world.”

Of course, his tone carried a note of encouragement—more like the hopeful expectations of an elder toward a younger generation.

Zhang Xiaohua was moved, and he smiled. “Uncle Nie, you may be too close to the matter to see the full picture. I’ll certainly do my best and hope I can offer you some helpful advice.”

Nie Qianyu looked at Zhang Xiaohua with a gentle smile. Others might not know, but she was well aware of how many approaches her father had tried over the years to improve their pill-refining methods, all of which had ended in failure. Though Zhang Xiaohua’s martial skills were undoubtedly impressive, she didn’t really believe his alchemical knowledge could surpass her father’s. Still, seeing him put so much heart into learning the art of pill refinement, and even express the intention of solving problems for Spring Rebirth Valley—it might not amount to much, but her heart felt sweet all the same.

Valley Master Nie thought for a moment, then ordered a disciple to bring over some ingredients for the Blood Replenishing Pills. Handing them to Zhang Xiaohua, he said: “Since you don’t wish to use this place, Nephew, come with me instead.”

With that, he led Zhang Xiaohua and Nie Qianyu out of the cave and headed toward the cliffside on the left.

Unlike the right side, the left cliff had only a few cave entrances at the beginning. Beyond that were huts and small courtyards built into the mountainside. Whether there were more caves further in was unclear.

Valley Master Nie didn’t offer any explanations and went straight into the first cave.

Zhang Xiaohua followed him inside and took a quick look around. This cave was similar in structure to the previous alchemy cave, but it was much smaller and significantly neater. Nie Qianyu explained: “Big Brother Ren, this is Father’s personal pill-refining chamber. Normally, disciples of the valley aren’t allowed in without permission.”

Zhang Xiaohua nodded and continued forward. At the far end of the chamber stood a row of three cauldrons resting in sunken grooves. The middle one was slightly larger, while the two on either side were smaller.

Zhang Xiaohua walked up for a closer look. Valley Master Nie smiled and said: “Nephew, this is where I usually refine pills. The earth fire here is purer and more stable than elsewhere, with stronger heat, and more importantly, it’s easier to control.”

Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t help grumbling inwardly: What use are all these fine qualities of earth fire when it comes to ‘boiling pills’? In the end, it’s just heating water. Even with the best control, all you’re doing is bringing it to a boil a little earlier.

Valley Master Nie walked to the front of the recess, opened the fire mechanism, and sure enough, blue flames spouted out. The quality of the fire was visibly better than the one they’d seen earlier. He then explained how to operate the mechanism and use the pill cauldrons before chuckling: “Nephew Ren, mastery in pill refinement comes from practice. Since you’ve read many alchemical texts, I trust you’re confident already. If you want to test your skills, then treat this Blood Replenishing Pill as a practice run. I’ve still got matters to attend to outside the inner valley, so I won’t be guiding you step by step. Little Yu has been refining pills with me since she was young—she’s quite adept. Let her assist you.”

Zhang Xiaohua bowed and said: “I wouldn’t dare trouble Uncle Nie further. If you have business to attend to, please go ahead.”

Valley Master Nie looked at Nie Qianyu again and said: “If anything in the inner valley is needed, let your Brother Ren use it freely. Do your best to teach him.”

As he said this, he even winked at her deliberately.

Nie Qianyu’s face flushed red. “Got it, Father. Just go. Leave this place to me.”

Valley Master Nie laughed heartily and strode out of the chamber.

Once he was gone, Zhang Xiaohua tossed the herbs onto the floor, walked up to the recess, and carefully studied the fire-breathing mechanism. He tested enlarging and shrinking the blue flame, then began examining the pill cauldron itself. This cauldron resembled the one in his money pouch, except it had two protrusions on its outer surface that looked oddly out of place. Inside, the inner wall was smooth, and there were no slots for inserting yuan stones.

Zhang Xiaohua released his divine sense and scanned the entire cauldron carefully. He didn’t detect any traces of Yuan Qi. It was indeed a martial-world artifact, not a tool of the Immortal Dao.

At this point, Zhang Xiaohua grew a little puzzled. Techniques like inner strength and acupoint sealing in the martial world all seemed to imitate Immortal Dao methods and were remarkably effective. But why had pill refinement become mere “boiling” in the martial world? Yet, there was no mention in Spring Rebirth Valley’s texts that the issue lay in temperature control being unmanageable. Of course, the most fundamental difference between the martial world and Immortal Dao pill refinement was that the Immortal Dao relied on incantations! While the martial world had no such concept, martial arts pill refinement only focused on extracting the essence of herbs.

But even so—how had incantations been reduced to mere boiling!?

Beside him, Nie Qianyu noticed Zhang Xiaohua deep in thought and asked softly: “Big Brother Ren, do you want me to add water for you? I can heat it while walking you through the steps.”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled and shook his head. “These two protrusions—are they for channeling inner strength to control the temperature?”

Nie Qianyu responded: “Big Brother Ren really plans to use the ancient method? Controlling the temperature that way is not easy at all.”

Nie Qianyu quickly thought of something—perhaps her father’s difficulty in controlling the fire was due to insufficient internal strength. That might not be a problem for someone like Zhang Xiaohua. So she immediately added: “Of course, with your profound inner strength, Brother Ren, it might not be difficult at all.”

Zhang Xiaohua smiled and asked: “But how can inner strength be transmitted into these two protrusions to control the temperature? Only when internal force reaches a refined level can it be projected outside the body.”

Nie Qianyu explained, “Did Brother Ren forget? I mentioned before that the Artifact Refining Sect can forge weapons that amplify inner strength. This pill cauldron was specially made for Spring Rebirth Valley by the Artifact Refining Sect. As long as you channel your inner strength into the protrusions, it can be transmitted outside the body and used to control the temperature inside the cauldron.”

Zhang Xiaohua suddenly understood. In the Immortal Dao, temperature was controlled by regulating the amount of Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi within the cauldron, thereby adjusting the flame. In the martial world, inner strength was used to directly manipulate the cauldron itself to control the heat. One worked by controlling the fundamental source of the flame, the other by isolating or buffering the flame externally—there was a clear hierarchy of superiority.