The higher the grade of the material, the harder it was to refine. This was common knowledge.
The materials needed to refine the Heart Flame Pill were naturally the highest grade materials Lu An had ever seen. For the refining process, the requirements for the flame and the precision of fire control were very strict. Many level 4 alchemists' flames couldn't melt the materials in a short time, but Lu An was never worried about this.
When the Ninth Heavens Sacred Flame appeared, Lu An didn't dare to let the flame near the material. Finally, when the flame was about three inches away from the material, the material couldn't withstand it and started to melt.
However, this scene was blocked by Lu An's flame and ice furnace. If others saw that the material could be refined without touching the flame, they would probably be shocked.
The Ninth Heavens Sacred Flame's tyranny had advantages and disadvantages for refining pills. The disadvantage was that its temperature couldn't be controlled. Lu An could only control it carefully and not let the Ninth Heavens Sacred Flame burn the material.
After an incense stick's time, the first material was completely melted. However, the melting wasn't the end. Next was to refine the concentration. Lu An once again used the Ninth Heavens Sacred Flame to refine the liquid to a certain concentration. After that, he quickly withdrew the flame and released cold air to stabilize the temperature.
"Phew …" Lu An saw that the first material was successfully refined and let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he could control the cold air now. Otherwise, how to stop the liquid from evaporating would be a big problem.
Lu An didn't stop. After carefully storing the refined liquid, he put the second material into the ice furnace. He only used less than an incense stick's time to refine the first material. Compared to the other level 4 alchemists, his refining speed was three times faster.
However, no one cared about Lu An's progress. In their eyes, Lu An didn't have any hope.
The second material was a mineral. Lu An was even faster than the others when it came to refining minerals. Refining minerals was the most troublesome of all the materials. The scary thing was that while the other level 4 alchemists were working hard to refine the minerals, Lu An also succeeded.
Seeing that the one foot tall mineral had already turned into a small pile of powder, Lu An also let out a light breath. He looked around and knew that he had already caught up with the others' progress.
However, this was only two materials. Out of the twenty-three materials, eleven of them had to be refined. Without a doubt, this was a huge project.
Time slowly passed. Two hours … four hours …
The process of refining pills was very boring. Very soon, many of the audience below the stage couldn't bear it anymore. From morning till now, it was already noon. Everyone needed to eat, so many people left one after another.
In an instant, the crowd around the originally crowded arena was reduced by more than half. Only the people from the various large chambers of commerce and some pharmacists were still able to persist in watching from below the stage. However, the twenty-one pharmacists on the stage didn't look hungry at all. Everyone was completely focused, putting all their energy into the refining process.
Noon … Afternoon … All the way until evening, when the sky had already darkened, the arena was once again filled with people. At this time, everyone had even eaten dinner. After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, they all came back here to see the progress of the pharmacists.
At this moment, the difference in refining speed between the pharmacists was fully displayed. Without a doubt, the fastest were the three people from the Icy Cold Chamber of Commerce. All of them had entered the eighth material refining stage. The slower ones were currently refining the sixth material, while the majority of the pharmacists were refining the seventh material.
At this moment, in the corner of the arena, Lu An quickly retracted the flame in his hand. At the same time, he released a stream of cold air, which immediately cooled down the boiling hot materials.
"Phew …" Lu An let out a long breath. Looking at the materials in the furnace, he lifted his hand and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Eleven materials, all refined.
Lu An raised his head and looked around. Everyone else seemed to still be refining. However, he wasn't too happy. This was because even he wasn't 100% sure that his refining was completely correct. There wasn't a single mistake.
But no matter what, he now had to move on to the next step, which was refining pills.
After placing the twenty-one materials in order, Lu An read the pill manual once again. After ensuring that there were no mistakes, he started to move on to the next step.
The process of refining pills was far more complicated and troublesome than refining. It was also the most difficult part of the entire process.
The degree of the flame, the accuracy of the timing, the strength of the technique, and even the attributes of the furnace would all affect the result of refining pills. Many times, after a person failed to refine pills, they didn't even know where the problem was. This was the most despairing thing.
When Lu An placed the first set of materials into the ice furnace to refine, a loud explosion suddenly rang out!
Bang!
A flame shot up into the sky. Lu An stood in the same place as he looked at this scene. He was somewhat stunned.
Not only him, but because of the loud explosion and the flame in the dark night, it directly attracted everyone's attention. Immediately, Lu An became the center of everyone's attention. However, many people were frowning.
Especially the pharmacists on the stage. They didn't know what this kid Lu An was doing. What kind of trouble was he trying to stir up?
Lu An also quickly calmed down. The first material he put into the furnace was the second material he refined. According to the pill manual, the powder needed to be placed at the bottom of the furnace to protect and gather the materials. But, why would there be an explosion suddenly?
Lu An didn't expect that there would be such a big problem in the first step. The first experiment ended in failure. Even Lu An's mentality couldn't help but waver.
Obviously, this situation shouldn't have happened. If there was no problem with the materials, then there must be a problem with his flame or the furnace.
Lu An frowned. The explosion just now caused about a third of the powder to be consumed. Which meant that he needed to replenish a third of the powder.
Fortunately, this powder wasn't a rare material. Lu An also had a lot of extra when refining. This time he didn't take out all the powder. Instead, he only took a little. Taking a deep breath, he carefully put it into the furnace again.
When the powder was close to the flame, there was no problem. It still existed quietly. But when the powder was close to the furnace, suddenly Lu An felt that the powder in his hand became violent and restless. It was as if it was going to explode from his hand!
Immediately, Lu An stopped and pulled his hand out. Now it seemed that there was a problem with the furnace, but Lu An didn't make a decision so early. Instead, he withdrew the flame from the furnace and put the powder in again.
This time, there was no problem until the powder was placed on the furnace.
Seeing this, Lu An's frown deepened. If this was the case, then the powder couldn't withstand the power of ice and fire at the same time. In other words, Lu An must change the furnace or the flame.
But the problem was that Lu An couldn't change the flame. The Ninth Heaven Sacred Flame couldn't be replaced by other flames. And as long as he used the Ninth Heaven Sacred Flame, he couldn't use other furnaces. Otherwise, no furnace would be able to withstand the temperature of the Ninth Heaven Sacred Flame.
What should he do?
Lu An looked at the powder in his hand. He never thought that the powder would have such a strong repulsion against ice and fire.
Looking at the powder, Lu An's gaze was dignified. He stood in the same place without saying a word or moving. Compared to the people around him, his silence was extremely abrupt.
He had been thinking of a way, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't avoid the flame and the furnace. To him, the flame and the furnace were indispensable. These were the foundation of his alchemy. From the first time he started alchemy, these two things had always been there.
What should he do?
What should he do?!
Lu An's frown deepened. He even gritted his teeth slightly. If he couldn't break through this first step, then he could directly announce his failure in this competition!
Although he didn't care about winning the competition, he cared about the results of his alchemy. He didn't want to fail so easily.
Lu An's fists gradually tightened, and even a cracking sound could be heard. Right at this moment, Lu An's eyes suddenly went blank, and then his eyes suddenly widened as he suddenly thought of something!
He remembered that the person in the black fog had once said something to him.
"The alchemy methods in the world can be either Yin or Yang. Both can be used."
Lu An's body shook violently. Then, he looked down at the powder in his hand!
Until now, he had never tried to use Yin to make alchemy!
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