The Long Journey to Immortality

"I beg Master to recommend a skilled alchemist to help me resolve this problem."

Han Lu's words were very clear: this was both an opportunity for Piaomiaozi to gain favor and an opportunity for the sect's disciples to hone their skills.

Sure enough, after listening, Piaomiaozi's eyes lit up, and in the blink of an eye, he said the names of the three disciples and briefly introduced their skills in alchemy.

Piaomiaozi, who was always adept at internal affairs, was very clear about the situation at Dongshan Academy.

Han Lu didn't think much of it and randomly chose a disciple who was both worthy of training and had certain abilities. After finding out where the disciple lived from Piaomiaozi, she took the initiative to visit him.

To be honest, it's quite rare for a Golden Core elder with a very high status in a sect to visit a Foundation Establishment disciple; it's somewhat against the rules.

But Han Lu didn't think highly of herself; she just felt that this was more convenient and easier.

When Elder Zhenfeng, a Golden Core Realm expert, came to visit and offered a special opportunity, the female disciple named "Zhuanxu" readily accepted the task.

The Turtle Breathing Pill is not complicated to refine. According to Zhuanxu, it only takes one hour to refine a batch.

Han Lu, who provided enough materials for five batches of Turtle Breath Pills, thus had the opportunity to watch the pill refining process up close.

Zhuanxu was the most talented alchemist in Dongshan Academy, without exception.

However, at this stage, her abilities are limited, and she can only follow the most common alchemy methods to refine pills, without daring to deviate or innovate in the slightest.

Following the instructions on the elixir recipe, Zhuanxu added the five ingredients one by one according to the five elements of the alchemy furnace.

The materials were temporarily placed in a small trough outside the alchemy furnace. Zhuanxu could add them into the furnace at any time by activating the alchemy furnace magic weapon.

After completing numerous preparations, Zhuanxu activated the spiritual fire to heat the alchemy furnace.

After waiting a hundred breaths, Zhuanxu used a method similar to "hot pan, cold oil" to add the five main ingredients along with a sixth liquid ingredient called "Qiongjiang" into the alchemy furnace.

Immediately afterward, once the elixir had boiled and fully blended the five medicinal ingredients, Zhuanxu followed the instructions in the elixir formula and added the remaining ingredients to the furnace according to their corresponding five elements and directions.

Finally, the test will be the alchemist's ability to control the heat.

For an hour and a half, the alchemist had to control the heat within a very small range according to the instructions of the prescription.

Only in this way can the elixir be successfully formed.

The number of pills produced is influenced by a variety of factors.

Or it could be the alchemist's skill level.

Or it could be the purity and quality of the materials.

Or perhaps the spiritual energy in the alchemy room

From the addition of the first six medicinal ingredients to the final completion of the pill, the time required was slightly longer than the one hour stated in the prescription.

Once the pill was formed, Zhuanxu dispersed the spiritual flames and opened the two gaps at the bottom of the pill furnace in turn.

The first gap in the alchemy furnace led out the remaining waste material inside.

The medicinal properties in these waste materials have been reduced by 99%, but they can still be used to refine several types of "waste pills" with many impurities.

Many rogue cultivators with few spirit stones in their storage bags would purchase these discarded pills for cultivation, thus carrying a heavy burden on their path of cultivation.

The pills that had just been refined fell from the gap in the second alchemy furnace.

Generally speaking, a batch of pills may contain one, ten, or one hundred pills.

The Turtle Breath Pill is of average quality, so a batch will produce a hundred pills.

However, in the end, only ninety-seven pills were placed in the bottle that Zhuanxu used to hold them.

Zhuanxu was slightly embarrassed and tried to explain, "Elder Zhenfeng, it's mainly because my alchemy furnace is of a slightly lower grade and my cultivation is only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, so the speed of pill formation is a little slower and the number of pills formed is also a little less."

"However, judging from the results, there is no problem with these pills, and Elder Zhenfeng can take them with peace of mind."

Han Lu nodded slightly, showing no sign of blaming Zhuanxu.

"Go on. Since I've entrusted this task to you, I certainly won't blame you for this little problem."

"Go ahead and refine it with confidence."

"If you can maintain this level of efficiency, I will also give you a sum of spirit stones as a reward for your hard work."

Having received Han Lu's promise, Zhuanxu felt slightly relieved and even looked forward to seeing how many spirit stones this well-known elder in the sect would ultimately give her as a reward.

The spiritual flames beneath the alchemy furnace ignited and extinguished time and time again.

Finally, after four hours, a total of 390 pills appeared in the many small porcelain bottles prepared by Han Lu.

"One pill can sustain a cultivator in a state of tortoise-like meditation for a full half-month."

"Even if my cultivation speed is slightly faster, and the rate at which I consume the medicinal power of the pills is slightly faster, one pill can only last me for ten days."

"These nearly four hundred pills will be enough for me to use up for ten years."

Having a clear idea in mind, Han Lu, who had been watching from the sidelines for a long time, had a thought.

[Author's Note] There are also people sending abusive private messages. It's suffocating.

Chapter 1144

The process of Zhuanxu refining elixirs reminded Han Lu of cooking dishes according to recipes.

In her view, alchemy is actually about 70% similar to cooking.

However, the process of refining medicine is more complicated, and the skill requirements for the "cook" are also higher.

This gave Han Lu the idea of ​​trying her hand at alchemy.

"Maybe after reincarnation, not only will my cultivation talent improve by leaps and bounds, but even my originally mediocre alchemy talent will improve?"

With this in mind, Han Lu ended her cooperation with Zhuanxu ahead of schedule, and generously gave him a hundred spirit stones and some pills that Foundation Establishment cultivators could use as a reward.

Zhuanxu did not refuse politely, but repeatedly expressed his gratitude, "Thank you for your generosity, Elder Zhenfeng. If there is any opportunity to help Elder Zhenfeng refine pills in the future, please remember me so that I can do my part for you."

“No problem,” Han Lu readily agreed. “Your alchemy skills are quite good. I’m sure you’ll be able to complete my task even better next time we meet.”

Han Lu had already witnessed Zhuanxu's professional skills.

If she hadn't wanted to try it herself, she would definitely have had Zhuanxu refine the last set of materials into the Turtle Breath Pill.

Hearing that Han Lu hadn't ended the commission early because she was dissatisfied with him, Zhuanxu breathed a sigh of relief.

Taking this opportunity, Han Lu also consulted Zhuanxu about some knowledge and questions regarding alchemy.

Zhuanxu spoke freely, only thinking of getting closer to Elder Zhenfeng so that he could get more assignments.

She hadn't guessed that Han Lu wanted to be her colleague and used the crude cooking as a metaphor for the noble alchemy; otherwise, she certainly wouldn't be so attentive now.

After retrieving a document, Han Lu returned to her residence immediately.

Among the many magical treasures in the storage bag were several alchemy furnaces that had reached the level of magical artifacts.

After careful selection, she chose one of the alchemy furnaces, a third-grade magic artifact, as the stage for her debut performance.

"I hope..." Han Lu didn't have high expectations for herself, "At least I can make one pill, and get some results."

Only a cultivator like Han Lu, with abundant resources in her storage bag, would be willing to make such a likely wasteful and failed attempt for the sake of a single thought.

Since there was no ready-made alchemy room, Han Lu chose to conduct this experiment in the room where she usually meditated and cultivated.

Using open flames requires neither a report nor a "special construction plan" or "firefighting equipment," so Han Lu's choice is a good idea.

After all, the purer the five elements in the alchemy room, the more abundant the spiritual energy, and the more helpful it will be for alchemy.

Following Zhuanxu's previous posture, Han Lu simultaneously practiced her skills on both sides of the alchemy furnace, as instructed in the prescription.

He was diligent and meticulous in his work, but the results were not satisfactory.

Han Lu was unable to complete the first step of refining and fusing the nectar with the other five ingredients.

Gritting her teeth and continuing, Han Lu, who could clearly see the situation inside the alchemy furnace with her divine sense, could clearly perceive that the materials inside the furnace were like a lump of paste.

When the pill was finally formed, although Han Lu used some artifact manipulation techniques to forcibly knead the paste into a ball.

However, the pills falling from the bottom of the alchemy furnace were all waste pills and had nothing to do with the Turtle Breathing Pill recorded in the formula.

Looking at these fragrant but grayish pills, Han Lu said dejectedly, "Everyone has their own expertise. It seems I'm really not good at alchemy."

Then, she comforted herself, "However, the medicinal effects of the waste pills produced this time are still quite strong. If they are sold as waste pills in the market, they will definitely be snapped up in a short time."

Unable to become a master alchemist, Han Lu temporarily became a master of ruining pills. Looking at the numerous grayish-brown pills in front of her, Han Lu's mood did not worsen.

While planning to find an opportunity to sell those alchemy furnaces and get rid of them, Han Lu quickly cleaned up the mess and cleaned the room she usually used for meditation.

He took out a porcelain bottle from his storage bag and poured out a Turtle Breath Pill, which had been refined by Zhuanxu and was only an hour old.

Han Lu swallowed it without hesitation.

After the elixir entered her stomach, she hurriedly used the Turtle Breathing Technique to attempt to cultivate using the supernatural powers of the technique.

As soon as the secret technique was used to activate the medicinal effects of the pill in her abdomen, Han Lu felt that in addition to the naturally surging qi of a Golden Core cultivator, there was another thin film on her body, which enveloped her and partially isolated her from the outside world.

The flow of spiritual energy was unimpeded, but there must have been something she was unaware of that was being blocked by this thin membrane as it leaked out.

"Is this the secret to the effectiveness of the Turtle Breathing Technique?" Han Lu felt that she had grasped the key to the problem.

In an instant, Han Lu began to call the unknown substance locked inside her body "anger".

After confirming that this secret technique could indeed reduce the lifespan consumption of cultivators in meditation as described, Han Lu then began to study its effect on cultivation speed.

Using the methods she used in her daily cultivation to stimulate her golden core and try to imbue it with spirituality, Han Lu discovered that she could mobilize slightly more spiritual energy in her tortoise-breathing state than during her usual cultivation.

And so, she had her answer.

"It seems that this secret technique is not an exaggeration, but truly has such miraculous effects."

"If we disregard the need to consume the Turtle Breathing Pill to perform the secret technique..."

"This secret technique may become a treasure of the Zhengyi Sect academy, and be considered the highest-level secret technique."

Although the Turtle Breathing Technique is effective, it requires taking one Turtle Breathing Pill at a time.

The cost of a single Turtle Breath Pill is approximately ten spirit stones, and its effects last for less than half a month.

Such a high level of energy consumption is probably only possible for a few cultivators like Han Lu, who can make the practice of tortoise breathing meditation a part of their daily cultivation.

The human cultivator whose cultivation technique was taken away back then would only use such a secret technique for a luxurious cultivation when he was about to break through.

After cultivating in a state of tortoise breathing for a full seven days, the tortoise breathing pill in Han Lu's abdomen had shrunk to only one-tenth of its original size.

The pills were being consumed faster than Han Lu had imagined.