The next morning, the academy hall was unusually noisy from the early hours of dawn itself. Groups of disciples gathered near the eastern dicinal halls while murmurs spread across the pathways regarding Dan Zhenren’s second trial. Unlike the previous Three Breath Trial, this one involved pill refinent, and the reward itself was enough to make even senior disciples jealous.
A Blue Essence Fruit, a Mid-Tier spirit fruit capable of stabilizing beast essence, purifying impurities, and slightly accelerating cultivation speed for Baby Beast Realm cultivators. More importantly, it can help to nurture the aperture from Baby Beast Realm - Peak stage to Spirit Beast Realm - Lower stage cultivator.
Even outer academy stores sold them for terrifying prices.
"Lin Yuan..." Chen Ming whispered while walking beside Lin Yuan through the academy corridor. "This old man truly struck gold. Even the reward beca this insane."
Lin Yuan remained calm.
"The difficulty will also increase accordingly."
Lin Yuan and Chen Ming slowly entered the dicinal refinent hall. Despite yesterday’s refinent chamber, today’s hall felt much hotter and suffocating. Large crimson flas burned beneath dozens of massive bronze furnaces placed around the circular room. Strong dicinal fragrance lingered through the atmosphere, making weaker disciples slightly dizzy from the concentration of spirit herbs.
At the center, Dan Zhenren stood still and calm. His dark-red robes fluttered slightly beneath the air. The old apothecary slowly darted his gaze across the disciples.
"Yesterday... You all refined potions, but today... you all need to refine pills." Dan Zhenren profounded, his eyes narrowing slightly.
So of the disciples imdiately beca nervous. Lian Nichang’s expression beca more serious. Dan Zhenren slowly walked toward one of the large bronze cauldrons. Inside the cauldron there are few items. They are Green Spirit Herb, Frost Dew Leaf, Beast Core powder, and another unfamiliar crimson-colored herb.
"Potion refinent is easy, because liquids are unstable by nature." Dan Zhenren ignited the flas beneath the cauldron with a flick of his hand.
WHOOSH!
Crimson fire instantly rose beneath the bronze furnace.
"But pills require compression." Dan Zhenren continued, adjusting the heat.
The disciples quietly observed. Dan Zhenren carefully crushed the crimson herb between his fingers. The herb powder slowly sprinkled into the cauldron.
"Compression creates density. Density creates stability." Dan Zhenren’s eyes glead, the liquid in the cauldron swirled violently, and he ticulously adjusted the fla intensity. "And stability depends entirely on beast essence control."
Lin Yuan’s eyes slightly narrowed, analyzing the whole process. ’It is similar to mana refinent according to the pressure. Yesterday focused on heat balance, and today focused on the pressure. Adjusting the balance and pressure according to the goal will attain success.’
He watched the swirling liquid in the cauldron, realizing the similarity between the two principles of alchemy and mana. ’Mana refinent is the sa, compressing and balancing the power accordingly to get great output to attack or defend. Disturbed Mana is weaker compared to compressed and balanced mana. In pill refinent, the pill acts like an aperture. Just as a cultivator compresses essence into a core, the alchemist must force the chaotic essences of spiritual herbs into a small, stable sphere. ’
"Most beginner disciples fail pill refinent for one reason. They force essence into unstable reactions." Dan Zhenren continued calmly, a faint smirk lingering on his face.
The liquid within the cauldron slowly condensed. The room temperature sluggishly increased.
"A proper apothecary does not dominate the essence. He guides it."
Every disciple listened serenely. Dan Zhenren jolted his head towards the students abruptly.
"Tell . What happens if the beast essence becos unstable during pill compression?"
"The pill explodes, Master." Huo Ren imdiately answered.
"That is rely the surface." Dan Zhenren shook his head, his eyes darkening faintly. "Unstable beast essence destroys structure."
The partially condensed dicinal ball suddenly trembled rapidly inside the cauldron.
"And once structure collapses..."
BOOM!
The entire dicinal sphere exploded into smoke instantly.
Students squinted their eyes rapidly, shielding eyes with their hands. Dan Zhenren remained calm and reactionless.
"...everything fails."
The room beca silent again. Lin Yuan quietly observed the remaining dicinal fragnts inside the cauldron. The explosion itself was not random, it’s because the structure lost its synchronization.
Dan Zhenren slowly extinguished the flas. Then turned back toward the disciples.
"Today’s trial is called the Essence Compression Trial." Dan Zhenren announced, waving his sleeve slightly with a flick of his hand.
WHOOSH!
Eight smaller bronze cauldrons floated before the disciples before landing heavily onto the stone floor. Beside each cauldron a Green Spirit Herb, Frost Dew Leaf, Pale White Beast Core powder, Crimson Heat Flower, and one empty jade bottle rested.
Chen Ming quietly swallowed.
"Your task is simple." Dan Zhenren spoke calmly. "Refine a Low-Tier Stabilization Pill."
The disciples imdiately beca nervous hearing the words "pill refinent."
"This is not like dicinal liquids, pills require essence condensation." Dan Zhenren slowly raised one finger.
"Your fla control." Dan Zhenren bead, raising his second finger.
"Your beast essence’ stability." Dan Zhenren wheezed, raising his third finger. "And your compression timing must remain synchronized perfectly."
The atmosphere imdiately beca heavy. A collective of murmurs made the air more suffocatingly heavy.
"The reward for first place..." Dan Zhenren continued calmly. A shimring blue fruit appeared above his palm. The fruit released faint blue essence into the surroundings. "Blue Essence Fruit."
Every disciple widened their eyes instantly. Even Gu Shiyan’s cold gaze flickered slightly.
Dan Zhenren calmly explained, "This fruit purifies beast essence and improves synchronization during breakthrough attempts. If a cultivator is at the peak stage of the Baby Beast Realm, refining this Blue Essence Fruit will allow them to ascend to the Spirit Beast Realm. And only one disciple will receive it."
The tension within the room imdiately increased.
"Lin Yuan... I suddenly feel like everyone wants to murder each other now." Chen Ming whispered nervously.
Lin Yuan remained calm. But inside, he admitted the reward was valuable.
Dan Zhenren slowly stepped backward. "You may begin."
WHOOSH!
The chamber instantly erupted into obscuring movents. Flas ignited beneath the cauldrons one after another.
Yun He moved first, her movents were smooth and elegant while she carefully adjusted the heat beneath her cauldron.
Lian Nichang remained extrely calm. Every movent he made looked precise and practiced.
anwhile, Huo Ren instantly increased his fla intensity aggressively.
"That fool learned nothing yesterday." Dan Zhenren sighed softly.
BOOM!
An explosion erupted beside Huo Ren monts later. Smoke filled his surroundings instantly.
"Hahaha!!"
"What a waste!!"
"Is he dumb?"
Murmurs and mockery laughs swirled across the room imdiately.
"Dammit!" Huo Ren cursed loudly.
Chen Ming looked even more nervous now.
"Why is compression even necessary..." Chen Ming muttered, sweat crawling from his temples quickly.
Lin Yuan ignored the surroundings completely, his dark eyes quietly observed the ingredient lting speed, heat circulation, essence nature in cauldron. His instincts continuously analyzed every reaction carefully. Potion refinent allowed instability. Pill refinent did not, that was the difference in both.
Lin Yuan slowly ignited the flas beneath his cauldron. He was not like others; his flas remained stable. He carefully crushed the Green Spirit Herb before placing it into the cauldron, then he waited.
Other disciples imdiately began rushing the process, but Lin Yuan rely observed the process. The dicinal liquid slowly ford naturally.
Dan Zhenren’s eyes paused briefly on Lin Yuan once again. ’This brat is more interesting than I thought... Hahaha.’
anwhile, Chen Ming already looked like he was fighting for survival.
"Lin Yuan... Why is my liquid bubbling like crazy again?!"
Lin Yuan glanced sideways briefly. "Too much pressure. Reduce fla output slowly."
Chen Ming imdiately followed the advice, and the bubbling gradually stabilized.
"You saved my ass again..." Chen Ming exhaled dramatically.
Dan Zhenren quietly noticed the interaction once more. Lin Yuan was not rely refining.
He was observing the entire chamber simultaneously. That level of awareness was abnormal for a beginner disciple.
A few minutes passed deliberately. The chamber temperature increased heavily, the disciples began sweating intensely.
Lin Yuan finally introduced the Beast Core powder carefully. The dicinal liquid instantly beca unstable.
HISS!!
Violent essence reactions exploded inside the cauldron. But Lin Yuan’s expression remained calm.
Instead of forcing suppression, he slightly reduced the fla, then increased it again, and then reduced it once more. He simply made that process like breathing. The unstable essence slowly synchronized naturally.
Dan Zhenren’s eyes narrowed slightly. ’That control... Even so senior disciples struggled with that stage.’
anwhile, Fenglian attempted aggressive compression too early.
BOOM!!
Another explosion erupted within the chamber, leaving the smoke covering his face completely. Everyone laughed quietly. Fenglian’s expression instantly darkened with embarrassnt.
Lin Yuan ignored everything around him, his focus slowly entering deeper concentration. The dicinal liquid within his cauldron gradually condensed into a small rotating sphere. This was the true difficulty. The structure had to remain perfectly balanced. Too much pressure, then the pill explodes or if too little pressure, the essence scatters.
Lin Yuan’s eyes slightly narrowed, his past life mories recalled the magical structure stabilization principles. ’Pressure distribution. Energy circulation. Balance points.’
The concepts were nearly identical. The dicinal sphere slowly beca denser, forming tiny green essence patterns around it. Across the chamber, Lian Nichang also successfully reached the compression stage.
Yun He followed shortly afterward, but the other disciples were still at the start. Dan Zhenren silently observed the room. The true difference between talent and understanding slowly beca visible.
Lin Yuan carefully adjusted the flas once again. The dicinal sphere trembled faintly, but stabilized imdiately afterward. A faint dicinal fragrance slowly spread from his cauldron.
"He was already stabilizing the compression phase." Dan Zhenren’s gaze sharpened instantly. The old apothecary slowly narrowed his eyes. "This brat..."
anwhile, deep inside Lin Yuan’s thoughts, another realization slowly ford. ’Alchemy was not rely dicine. It was structure manipulation, and if beast essence could be compressed... then perhaps cultivation pathways themselves could also be reconstructed.’
The green dicinal sphere within the cauldron slowly rotated faster. The surrounding essence began converging naturally toward it.
CRACK!!
A tiny fracture suddenly appeared across the surface of the pill. Nearby disciples widened their eyes instantly.
"Lin Yuan—!" Chen Ming called out, and imdiately panicked.
Lin Yuan snickered, his eyes filled with shock. The unstable pressure within the pill began increasing rapidly. The next mont, the pill trembled violently inside the cauldron.
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