C2512 Accelerate
C2512 Accelerate
The materials in each furnace were changing rapidly, contrary to his earlier assumptions of a slow process. Jiang Fann, though deeply focused, remained calm and composed, indicating that this operation was well within his capabilities.
After a brief moment of shock, Zhu Yan regained his composure, realizing he had underestimated Jiang Fann. Meanwhile, Chen Ning furrowed his brow, also noticing the changes in Jiang Fann's furnaces, and continued to observe in silence.
On the viewing platform, two others were also closely watching Jiang Fann's technique. One remarked, "When he was refining before, he didn't use ordinary fire. Is he doing this now just to show off to us? Is this kid trying to provoke us?"
Ye Changsheng replied, "Handling ordinary fire to nurture so many materials isn't difficult for us. But how old is he? Even with exceptional talent and control over fire, how can he be so knowledgeable about these materials? Could he have seen someone make this kind of pill before? But wasn't the recipe something we modified?"
"His mastery of alchemy definitely didn't come from that kid, Zhu Yan. I've never heard of anyone using such a pill furnace for refining medicine. Could it be that the Zhu family brought back an alchemy expert from outside?"
"An alchemy expert? Don't be ridiculous. Why would an expert give him a pill furnace of such quality? The best it could be is Earth Rank, and even our novice alchemy students wouldn't use a furnace of this caliber."
Just then, another pill furnace appeared in front of Jiang Fann. It was also about the size of a palm and not of high quality. After it appeared, Jiang Fann guided a mundane flame into it, keeping the lid open. The fire flickered at the mouth of the furnace.
Compared to the second stage of the competition, the other alchemists slowed down a bit. This quality of medicine was completely different from the previous ones, so they had to focus more and didn't have time to worry about others' refining processes.
After about two hours, Jiang Fann suddenly opened his eyes. A furnace for nurturing materials opened, and the spiritual strength wrapped in flames surged out, directly entering the open furnace. Then, that furnace vanished, and flames continuously burst from the open furnace. Under Jiang Fann's control, the spiritual strength was released, and the flames were suppressed back.
About ten seconds later, another furnace opened, with flames bursting out again and entering that furnace.
Zhu Yan watched everything with a serious expression, prompting Fang Xiang to ask, "Why the long face? Is he having trouble with the potion?"
Zhu Yan shook his head slightly and explained, "It's going so smoothly, it's unbelievable. He's managed to complete the preparation of all the ingredients in the time it usually takes others to prepare just one. I've carefully sensed each ingredient, and they're nearly flawless, perfectly balanced. How can his spiritual sense be this strong?"
Fang Xiang didn't press further, but Zhu Yan's eyes were filled with confusion. Even though Zhu Yan was right beside Jiang Fann, he couldn't figure out how Jiang Fann was pulling it off.
Every so often, the pill furnace would open, and the ingredients would be gathered into the same furnace. Clearly, Jiang Fann was already moving on to the next step.
When the last ingredient fell into the furnace, Jiang Fann surprised everyone again. Instead of closing the furnace, he continued to manipulate the flames using his fire arts, compressing the spiritual strength released by the furnace.
That night, the sky was clear, filled with stars. Jiang Fann sat cross-legged, gazing at the stars, utterly calm.
After about half an hour, Jiang Fann suddenly sprang into action. With a light tap of his finger, the lid of the furnace closed, and flames spread across the entire furnace, continuously expanding.
At this moment, the pill furnace seemed to float within a massive fireball, its colors constantly shifting to reflect changes in temperature. Meanwhile, even those pharmacists receiving assistance with nurturing their materials hadn't completed the initial stages of their concoctions.
Countless individuals focused their attention on Jiang Fann's pill furnace, clearly intrigued by his process. Inside the furnace, materials spun and coalesced, forming a powder that intertwined and expanded, continually drawing in surrounding elements. This was unmistakably the pill formation process, progressing at an astonishing pace.
All of this occurred under the control of Jiang Fann's spiritual strength, as he continued to accelerate the process. Zhu Yan was increasingly astounded, sensing that Jiang Fann's mastery of pill-making surpassed his own. The speed at which Jiang Fann advanced the pill formation was beyond his comprehension, requiring an intimate understanding of the complex Seven Star Pill.
After another half-hour, Jiang Fann reopened the furnace, revealing a second cluster of condensed pill energy. Throughout the night, Jiang Fann repeated this cycle, opening the furnace three times in total, with three pills in various stages of formation appearing inside.
One day passed without incident.
On the second night, Jiang Fann had already completed three pills in his furnace. As he opened the furnace for the fourth time, a new cloud of medicinal vapor emerged. That night, Jiang Fann opened the furnace three times, a feat only a few powerful alchemists present could comprehend, their expressions serious and focused.
However, after the fourth pill, the materials floating in the furnace were nearly depleted. By the third night, when Jiang Fann opened the furnace for the seventh time, four pills were lifted out by the flames, still enveloped and not yet fully refined.
Jiang Fann suddenly directed his spiritual strength skyward, and the starlight seemed to shine brighter. He used a unique spiritual technique to channel the starlight onto the four pills, a process that lasted a full nine hours.
By noon on the fourth day, one of the mysterious alchemists from the Pill Gate had just finished nurturing the materials for the second time and began the pill formation process. Others were noticeably behind in their progress. Even someone as skilled as Qin Feng, with the help of fellow alchemists, had only managed to nurture eighty percent of his materials and needed several more hours to complete the task.
Meanwhile, Jiang Fann was channeling a strand of Natural Aura into the furnace.
A surge of vibrant energy instantly infused the four pills. Though it was just a fleeting moment, the skilled pharmacists present all sensed the rich vitality. Pharmacists are particularly attuned to life force.
Ye Wusheng looked astonished. "What was that aura just now? What technique did this kid use? Could it be some kind of special spring?"
Qian Qing replied, "It must be some unique material. I wonder how this power will affect the pills."
Ye Wusheng asked, "Your skills in alchemy surpass mine. Can you forcibly speed up the pill-making process?"
"For King Rank pills, if I push myself, I have about a seventy percent chance. If it's a familiar pill, maybe around ninety percent. But how old is this guy?"
Ye Wusheng said, "It seems we've underestimated him. He even knows that crafting the Xuantian Seven Star Pill requires starlight as a catalyst. The sect leader spent countless years in seclusion to discover that pattern, and yet he knows it so well."
"I'm now even more curious about the pharmacist behind him."
Ye Wusheng frowned, watching Jiang Fann's direction. "What about the final reward? Just watching it fall into someone else's hands is such a pity."
"With Chen Ning, that stubborn guy, around, there's not much we can do now. Let's just hope this kid accidentally fails, or that the quality of the pills those two kids make surpasses his."
Despite what Jian Qing said, it was clear he had lost much of his confidence. Meanwhile, Jiang Fann continued to channel flames into the pill furnace, chatting with Xiao Yu and the others.
Xiao Yu kept reminding him about the number of people watching and which ones had particularly strong spiritual senses that required extra caution. Wu Shenling was intrigued by the pills Jiang Fann was crafting and asked about their progress.
Jiang Fann replied, "If I had the right kind of mystical fire, I could finish it now. Even though I've enhanced ordinary fire with my Fire Arts, it's still far from the power of mystical fire. But by tomorrow at the latest, the pills will be ready."
"I'm really looking forward to seeing how those two master alchemists react. They probably never expected you to achieve this level," Xiao Yu commented.
"Even though the materials aren't the best quality, as long as the variety is correct and I don't waste the essence, it's fine. Plus, with the Natural Aura to replenish them, restoring their quality is no problem," Jiang Fann explained.
Next to him, Zhu Yan was intently observing every subtle change in the pills within the furnace, fully focused and not daring to be distracted in the slightest.
By that night, the four pills in Jiang Fann's furnace began to show different colors, resembling seven stars circling above them. In an instant, the aura of the pills surged, and the previously fluctuating spiritual strength stabilized immediately.
Zhu Yan's eyes lit up with excitement as he exclaimed, "It's done!"
At the same time, Jiang Fann's pill furnace opened, and four pills shot out, drawing gasps of amazement from the pharmacists in the stands. In the next moment, Jiang Fann swiftly collected the pills into a bottle, holding them firmly in his hand.
Zhu Yan turned to Fang Xiang, visibly excited. "How long did it take?"
Fang Xiang replied, "Four days!"
Zhu Yan was stunned. "Four days! How is that even possible?"
He had been so captivated by Jiang Fann's pill-making over the past four days that he hadn't noticed the time passing. In his understanding, crafting a King Rank pill should have taken much longer than just four days. He wasn't alone in his disbelief; most of the pharmacists in the stands shared his reaction.