2022-11-23 02:25:29"Oh, before I forget... I've yet to introduce myself to you two properly, correct?" Tang Yun Long stopped what he was doing and moved to Chen Tu and Qin Lei's side. The key was still stuck on the workshop's door, only a turn of a key away from unlocking it.
"I am the elder's first disciple, Tang Yun Long. You can call me whatever you're comfortable with." Tang Yun Long said. His friendliness surprised Chen Tu and Qin Lei, as this was their first meeting.
One must also know that this senior brother of theirs wasn't a nobody in this Outer Grotto. He was the fourth in the top ten list and was said to have the highest chance of being recruited into the Inner Grotto.
"Junior Qin Lei (and Chen Tu) greets eldest senior brother." the two quickly cupped their fists and slightly bowed at Tang Yun Long. Worthy of being the only Official Disciple of Elder Wei Xuan, Tang Yun Long's cultivation is at the peak of the Body Tempering Layer.
His foundation strength could be comparable to an early Spiritual Condensation Layer cultivator. From a simple glance, Tang Yun Long's Spiritual Energy capacity is at least at a level between fifteen to sixteen days.
This means once he advanced into the Spiritual Condensation Layer, Tang Yun Long was at least a half-fold stronger than a regular cultivator of the same level. Saying it half-fold might be underrated because this difference would only expand as his strength promotes to another level.
"You're Chen Tu, the one teacher said that your pill-refining potential doesn't lose to me?" Tang Yun Long was devoid of the typical haughtiness of a senior brother. For him, everyone here is a family, even if this was their first meeting.
After all, he was the eldest in Elder Wei Xuan's faction. Won't he be considered a failure if he couldn't handle all his juniors properly?
"Yes, eldest senior brother." Chen Tu maintained his slightly bowing posture while replying to Tang Yun Long.
"Great. In that case, how about you helping me in the pill-refining today?" Tang Yun Long made a suggestion. The rest felt a little jealous of Chen Tu for getting Tang Yun Long's favor right in their first meeting, but what could they do?
This person was their senior brother, and Chen Tu indeed observed and made a few reasonable suggestions yesterday. The person to be called would possibly be them if they could make a good suggestion too.
"This junior brother will follow the eldest senior brother's suggestion." Chen Tu nodded respectfully. Participating instead of sitting in a corner to observe was always better.
They made their way into the workshop without wasting time.
There should be seven of them here, but Xia Xuan-Xuan had something else to do. Hence, she had to be absent from their work today.
"What kind of medicinal pills we're going to refine today?" Tang Yun Long asked while he prepared himself. The bespoke long robe of his was removed and hung aside, then a few strings were used to tighten the clothing around his sleeves.
"Spiritual Replenishing Pills. Fifteen sets." Ting Wei swiftly answered and opened one of the boxes in his hand. Inside the container were five sets of Spiritual Herbs for refining the Spiritual Replenishing Pill.
"Alright. The number of people here is just enough. Each of you will handle one kind of spiritual Herb. I will get the cauldron ready by myself. Just inform me once everyone is ready." Tang Yun Long said and delegated the duty to everyone except Chen Tu.
"What about me, elder senior brother?" Chen Tu asked because he had nothing assigned.
"You'll just observe what the rest are doing for now. I'll let you know what to do next when we're ready to start the refining process." Tang Yun Long said and patted Chen Tu's shoulder.
After leaving Chen Tu with the others, Tang Yun Long lit up some charcoal before he inspected the cauldron. After ensuring nothing required his attention, the eldest senior brother returned to the charcoal.
Although an alchemist could fire the cauldron through Spiritual Energy, it came with an exorbitant cost. Even with Tang Yun Long's cultivation, he could only repeat this for three refinements, nothing more.
Of course, that limit only applies to a regular cultivator in the peak level of the Body Tempering Layer. To those already advanced into the Spiritual Condensation Layer, the purity and capacity of their Spiritual Energy would grow tenfold, allowing them to repeat even more.
While firing a cauldron using Spiritual Energy is considered wasteful for most, this method has a hidden benefit. First and foremost, it shortens the preparation process by a quarter of an hour. The second reason is the method could purify the ingredients better through Spiritual Energy.
But regardless of all these methods, their motive would eventually come to the benefit. Their concern was better purity, quality, and shortening the time they took for each batch of pills. These efforts would turn to naught because this was just an introductory level.
Since alchemy is a long grinding process of test and failure, no alchemist is willing to stay on this level just for study. And when they're at the upper level, refining low-grade pills like this was simply a walk in the park for them.
In that case, what for they spend their precious time at this level?
Twenty minutes later, Ting Wei approached Tang Yun Long to report. Their preparation was complete and ready for pill refinement at any time.
"Good job, everyone. Let's get started. Xiao Tu, you'll give me a hand on the second cauldron. The rest of you, get a set of ingredients ready within my reach!" Tang Yun Long loosened the chain connected to the lid.
Following his order, the others brought their respective ingredients to Tang Yun Long's side. And before starting, Tang Yun Long made a final check on the material.
Tang Yun Long threw a quick question at Chen Tu when the latter was observing them. "Xiao Tu, do you know why I am checking the ingredients again? Does checking them again means I am not confident with my junior's skills?"
"No, senior brother." Chen Tu quickly denied that.
"I remembered the Book of Basics mentioned before that a recipe is only a guideline, and the preciseness of the ingredient is adjustable according to the alchemist's touch." he quickly added.
"Hahaha! Good job, junior brother!" Tang Yun Long laughed.
(No wonder he had the teacher's approval...)
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