With the first three attempts being utter failures, Han Yu was a lot more careful now. He wasn’t discouraged either, already having expected such results. Instead, he was trying to grasp his mistakes and overco them.
Fourth attempt.
This ti, Han Yu nailed the heating phase. Each herb sizzled in turn, the scent gradually deepening into sothing dicinal and slightly sweet. He even rembered to swirl the internal Qi in rhythm, keeping the essence stable.
He reached halfway through the process and began the condensation stage, where impurities were drawn to the cauldron’s rim and needed to be skimd away using gentle bursts of spiritual fla which were provided by the talisman but controlled by one’s spirit sense.
But halfway through skimming...
He sneezed.
The fla twitched.
The impurities that were about to be pushed aside instead surged back into the concoction, polluting it with an ugly brown tinge. A soft splutch noise confird the failure.
Han Yu groaned and rubbed his nose.
Li i was laughing so hard she almost dropped her tea.
"I—I can’t even be mad! That one was impressive!"
Fifth attempt.
Han Yu had learned from all four failures. He adjusted the temperature finely, controlled his spiritual energy like threading a needle, and even rembered to balance his Qi output through his palm as he condensed the essences.
This ti, the cauldron glead. Golden light began to rise from within. The pill embryo had ford—a soft, round core hovering in the air, rotating gently under his guidance.
Li i sat up straighter, eyes now alert.
"Almost there," she whispered.
Han Yu’s hands trembled slightly. He channeled one final burst of energy to guide the embryo into pill condensation—when—
CRACK!
A loud pop echoed.
The embryo lost its rotation and slamd against the side of the cauldron, falling with a wet thud and breaking apart like an overboiled egg.
Han Yu stared at it in horror.
Li i let out a long, slow sigh.
"That... was painful to watch. You were this close."
Han Yu groaned into his hands. "I hate cauldrons."
"No you don’t," Li i grinned. "You’re going again."
Sixth attempt.
Han Yu inhaled deeply.
He shut out the world.
He channeled his Soul Qi—not for technique, but for clarity. His mind slowed. His heart steadied. Every flick of fla, every swirling motion, every scent and shimr beca crystal clear.
Crimson Moss. Bone Vine. Sunpetal. Blue Reed. Skim, swirl, purify.
Essence rotated in harmony.
He guided the condensation process slowly, carefully layering his fla, matching it to the natural boiling points of the solution. The embryo began to form again—a perfect little orb of golden essence suspended by spiraling Qi.
Han Yu didn’t even blink.
He held the fla exactly level, drew the condensation sigil in midair, and slowly pressed his palm down.
The pill orb rotated faster and faster...
Until it suddenly snapped into solidity.
Ding!
The cauldron released a faint chi. A soft puff of dicinal aroma filled the room.
A single round pill floated in midair—slightly glossy, perfectly condensed, and glowing faintly with spiritual energy.
Han Yu sat there, stunned.
"...I did it?"
Li i walked up, plucked the pill from the air, inspected it, and gave a rare, genuine nod of approval.
"Minor Vitality Replenishing Pill. Grade: Average. Not bad for your first day."
Han Yu collapsed onto his back, staring at the ceiling.
"I feel like I just ran a war campaign."
Li i tossed the pill at his chest. "That’s because alchemy is war. Between you and the cauldron. Today you won."
Han Yu caught the pill and sat up with a grin.
"That makes five failures and one success. That’s... still awful odds."
"You’ll improve." Li i smirked. "You’ve got a good sense for it, and with Qi cultivation, your perception is better than most Outer Court alchemy disciples. You might even qualify for an Outer Hall test soon."
Han Yu blinked.
"Wait... really?"
"Maybe. But for now..." She handed him another tray of herbs.
"Let’s see if that success was a fluke."
Han Yu groaned.
But inside?
He was excited all over again.
After the first successful pill, Han Yu didn’t stop. The taste of success had only sharpened his desire to improve.
He prepared another set of ingredients and began again, brow furrowed in concentration. He repeated the sa steps—carefully controlling the fla, stirring in sequence, balancing the energies and timing each addition. With painstaking effort, he managed to produce a second pill, slightly more refined than the first. His confidence soared.
But the next two tries ended in failure. One exploded during the Blue Reed Juice phase again, while the other failed to condense properly and collapsed into sludge. Still, Han Yu pushed on, refining two more batches after a short break.
At the end of it all, he leaned back with a long exhale, wiping his brow. Three successful pills out of six attempts.
"Fifty percent," he muttered. "I guess that’s not bad for a beginner."
Li i, still observing from her workbench with her arms crossed, gave a light nod.
"It’s better than most Outer Court disciples manage in their first week. You have good instincts, and your spiritual sense seems unusually precise."
Han Yu gave her a nonchalant smile, playing dumb.
"Well, I’ve always had a good feel for... flow." Han Yu said as an excuse. After all he didn’t wish to reveal the advantage he had due to his Soul Cultivation..
She rolled her eyes, not pressing the point. "Still, you’re hitting a bottleneck. You’re hesitating at certain points."
"I noticed." Han Yu sat up and brushed soot from his robe. "The hardest part is adjusting the fla when I need it most. When it gets too hot or too cold, the pill starts to spoil. I try to redirect my Spirit Qi to the talisman to adjust it, but it’s not fast enough. It lags."
Li i stepped forward and crouched next to him, placing a finger on the basic fla talisman affixed to the cauldron’s base.
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