Chapter 71: Pill Master Shi’s Doggie Paddle
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor:
“Why did you take so long to fetch my ingredients? What exactly were you doing?” When Mo Wuji returned to Pharmacy 19, he was immediately scolded.
Mo Wuji felt extremely helpless and could only suffer patiently and silently as he said, “The ingredients I got at first wasn't very fresh. I was afraid that it might affect the results so I specially went back to switch for a fresher batch of ingredients. As the saying goes: Give me six hours to chop a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. Even though I'm merely a service disciple, I will still try my best to make sure that you can start your task well.”
Pill Master Shi grabbed the ingredients in Mo Wuji's hands. He did not even bother to examine their freshness as he casually said, “Not bad, you did put in a bit of thought. But if my refinement fails, you will still get chased out.”
This b*stard… He really liked to push the blame onto others; attributing his failure to the service disciple. He’s really a peculiar person.
“Pill Master Shi, when you are concocting pills, can I watch by the side?” Knowing that he was powerless in front of Pill Master Shi, Mo Wuji did not mind Pill Master Shi's words. Since he was going to get kicked out if the concoction failed, he might as well be a little thick skinned and watch while it happens. That would make it worth it.
However, Mo Wuji did not know that his request to watch a pill refiner concoct pills was a taboo in the pill refinement world.
Initially, Pill Master Shi was in a hurry to start concocting pills but he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He sized Mo Wuji up before saying in disbelief, “A mere service disciple wants to watch me concoct pills?”
This fella was so sloppy and he’s a mere Tier 2 Pill Refiner, yet he actually looked down on Mo Wuji. Mo Wuji felt rather dissatisfied in his heart. But little did Mo Wuji know, a Tier 2 Pill Refiner was highly valued within the sect.
Mo Wuji laughed in his heart and started to boast, “Pill Master Shi, back in my village, I have another nickname: Lucky Star. Whenever I'm around, people's success rates in whatever they did would be a lot higher. My neighbour was a drug refiner, and he would always call me over when he was concocting drugs.”
Pill Master Shi laughed out loud and said suddenly, “I have never seen a service disciple with balls as big as yours. Very good… Today, I will let you have the honour of seeing me work. But if I fail, you can just go throw yourself off the Hanging Sword Cliff.”
Mo Wuji shivered; he had heard about the Hanging Sword Cliff before. Within the Formless Blade Sect, there was a steep cliff and there was a huge broken sword hung by the side of the cliff. It was rumoured that the sect's evil and criminal disciples would be thrown down the Hanging Sword Cliff.
“Er… I think I won't go in with you then.” Even though he had added the Water Velvet Vine, this Tier 2 Pill Refiner still might not be able to concoct the Channel Solidifying Pill. One look at Pill Master Shi, and you could see that he was an incapable fella.
Pill Master Shi did not wait for Mo Wuji to finish speaking and put his hand on Mo Wuji's shoulder. A powerful force swept up like a vacuum, pulling Mo Wuji over.
In any case, Mo Wuji was a Channel Opening Stage Level 2 cultivator. The moment Pill Master Shi moved his hand, he immediately circulated his spiritual energy and extricated himself from Pill Master Shi’s suction force. With a few swift movements, he landed a few metres away from Pill Master Shi.
“Ai… You're actually in Channel Opening Stage Level 3… No, that's not right. Level 2?” Pill Master Shi looked at Mo Wuji in shock.
It was not as though there wasn't any Channel Opening Stage Level 2 cultivators among the service disciples. There were even Channel Opening Stage Level 4 service disciples. But it was rare to see someone as young as Mo Wuji being at Channel Opening Stage Level 2. But that wasn't the main point. With Mo Wuji's reaction speed and abilities, he could rival Channel Opening Stage Level 3 cultivators.
Pill Master Shi was a Tier 2 Pill Master, and at the same time, he was a Spirit Building Stage Level 2 cultivator. Even though he used less than 10% of his power with that grab, it was not an easy feat for Mo Wuji to escape in that split moment.
Mo Wuji laughed awkwardly, “My spiritual roots are of low grade. I cultivated for 4 to 5 years to get to this level.”
Pill Master Shi accepted Mo Wuji's explanation.
He nodded, “That's not bad. Since you managed to avoid my grab, I will spare you from jumping off the Hanging Sword Cliff. Come in “
With that, Pill Master Shi entered the pill lab.
Mo Wuji heaved a sigh of relief and followed Pill Master Shi into the pill lab.
This was Mo Wuji's first time entering the pill lab. When he entered, the first thing he saw was a pill furnace.
The furnace was 1 metre tall and approximately 60 centimetres wide.
There was a shelf beside the pill furnace. Mo Wuji saw Pill Master Shi put the ingredients on top of that shelf.
Besides that, there was also a stone seat in the lab. On top of the furnace, was an opening.
After entering the pill lab, Pill Master Shi did not speak. He inserted a jade slip into a groove beside the pill furnace before forcefully pulling a handle on the pill furnace’s side.
With a “Peng!”, a dazzling blue flame sprang from the ground.
Mo Wuji was not totally unknowledgable towards pill fires.There were myriad forms of pill fires; Earth Fire was one of them.
Clearly, Pill Master Shi was using Earth Fire.
Mo Wuji did not ask any questions; he knew that he did not even have the qualifications to ask questions. It was already a whopping fortune for Pill Master Shi to allow him to observe the process.
Pill Master Shi used the fire to burn under the furnace for a few minutes. All of a sudden, he used his palms to continuously slap the sides of the furnace. The furnace lid flew up, and with Pill Master Shi’s slapping, the dirt and dust within the furnace flew up and landed outside the pill furnace.
Pill Master Shi took a gourd from his bosom and faced it into the furnace. Some unknown liquid flowed into the furnace
Mo Wuji was extremely curious on what's that liquid. In the pill manual that he was reading, he had not read about adding any sort of liquid into the pill furnace. However, he held back his curiosity. He was worried that the moment the question left his mouth, Pill Master Shi would immediately kick him out of the lab.
After adding the solution, Pill Master Shi let the pill furnace burn for a few minutes before throwing in the ingredients one by one.
Standing by the side, Mo Wuji could not see what was happening within the pill furnace. He could only see Pill Master Shi adjusting the size of the fire and continuously using a spatula to flip the ingredients within the furnace.
Mo Wuji did not feel any sense of admiration or appreciation to Pill Master Shi’s pill concoction. He only saw an old fella stir frying vegetables.
With Pill Master Shi’s constant ‘stir-frying’, Mo Wuji started to smell an overflowing herbal smell. Mo Wuji had researched on plants and herbs for many years. He could recognize the smell of the Water Velvet Vine. The smell of the Water Velvet Vine was mixing with the smell of the Green Fire Fruit. Clearly, the Water Velvet Vine was working its effects.
Pill Master Shi's eyes never left the pill furnace as he intently flipped the ingredients and controlled the fire intensity. With his look of intense concentration, Mo Wuji knew that he did not notice the Water Velvet Vine smell.
Time slowly passed. Mo Wuji could see a drop of sweat flowing down Pill Master Shi's forehead, dripping onto the ground. However, Pill Master Shi did not seem to notice this as all his concentration was on the ingredients.
Mo Wuji sighed. The reason why Pill Master Shi managed to be a Tier 2 Pill Refiner probably wasn't his intelligence or his talent. It was because of his concentration and focus when concocting pills.
That was when Pill Master Shi started to slap the side of the pill furnace continuously with both his hands.
Even though Mo Wuji had not seen other pill refiners, he really could not feel any form of admiration for Pill Master Shi. There was a huge disparity between his concentration and his actions. He looked like he was swimming, and it wasn't any cool sort of swimming, but the doggie paddle.
A whole hour passed. Suddenly, Pill Master Shi slapped the side of the furnace and a murky black thing emerged from the furnace.
This should be the herb dregs. With a sniff, Mo Wuji knew that the herbs dregs contained quite a bit of the spiritual ingredient essence. This showed that Pill Master Shi was far from extracting all the essence from within the ingredients.