Reborn Divine Doctor: The Abandoned Girl's Legend

Chapter 354: Chapter 224: The Blood Cauldron’s Trial

Dan City’s Alchemy Field differed from the Imperial Hospital. Due to the vast demand for elixirs across the Xixia Plain, extensive alchemy was required daily.

Constructing Alchemy Rooms was both labor-intensive and time-consuming. Starting from who knows which Cauldron Master, a special Alchemy Field was built within the Alchemist Mansion.

This entire Alchemy Field, two hundred in length and one hundred in width, was as spacious as a sprawling plaza, its surface polished from Basalt Shale.

On the plaza, nearly a hundred alchemy furnaces were arranged, and in the middle was a particularly large one.

This alchemy furnace, unlike the others around it, had lost its original bronze hue due to its ancientness, exposing a mottled red color that appeared somewhat fierce.

”This very cauldron is the Blood Cauldron of the Alchemist Mansion. Don’t underestimate this big fellow; it’s different from other furnaces and has spiritual properties,” Wang Zhangding brought Ye Lingyue to this Blood Cauldron and glanced at her.

Spiritual properties?

Hearing this, Ye Lingyue’s heart stirred slightly. Could it be that this massive object before her, like the Qian Cauldron, possessed magical capabilities?

Yet after observing the Blood Cauldron closely, besides its unusual color, it did not evoke any reaction in the Qian Cauldron in her palm. Instead, Ye Lingyue sensed a faint scent of blood emanating from this cauldron.

”Cauldron Master Ye must have noticed something extraordinary about this cauldron as well?” Wang Zhangding said and began explaining the origin of the Blood Cauldron.

Initially cast with special techniques, using it for alchemy allowed the production of a large quantity of elixirs quickly. Ordinary elixirs that took half a month to refine could be done in just one day and one night with the Blood Cauldron, and the quality of the elixirs was at least above Yellow Pattern.

However, every advantage comes with its downside. Controlling the Blood Cauldron for alchemy required the Alchemist to have exceedingly strong spiritual power.

The spiritual power consumed during alchemy was also several times more than normal.

Due to this reason, the Blood Cauldron wasn’t frequently used. The Master Alchemists of Dan City would only use it during major wars when the army needed a large amount of elixirs, but it usually required the assistance of other Alchemists.

However, one year, a severe plague broke out overnight in the Xixia Plain region, affecting hundreds of thousands of people and livestock.

The reigning Master Alchemist of Dan City at that time was a compassionate Nine Rank Alchemist. To save as many lives as possible, he commanded all Alchemists in Dan City to refine elixirs day and night.

Still, the supply of elixirs could not meet the demand of the people.

Eventually, that Alchemist decided to activate this great cauldron and took control himself.

After ten continuous days and nights of refining elixirs, the assisting Alchemists could no longer endure and withdrew.

In the final moments of refining alone, that Master Alchemist, exhausted, tragically fell into the large cauldron.

By the time the other Alchemists realized, that Alchemist had already become one with the last Elixir he refined.

”Unexpectedly, that senior Master used his life to refine the last cauldron of Elixir, containing a total of five hundred pills, each one a red-patterned elixir. These elixirs were distributed among the common folk and, three days later, the epidemic that had ravaged the Xixia Plain miraculously disappeared. And this cauldron, from that day forth, turned from its original bronze color to red, hence named the Blood Cauldron,” said Wang Zhangding as he recounted the origins of the Blood Cauldron, with the surrounding Alchemists all silent, reverence in everyone’s eyes.

To say nothing of the senior Master who sacrificed himself to save the world, just the creation of five hundred red-patterned elixirs in a single cauldron, both the terrifying quantity and success rate of elixir production are rarely seen in this world.

No matter how many years pass, the Alchemists of Dan City will always hold this as a glorious memory in their hearts.

So, this was the origin of the Blood Cauldron, no wonder this cauldron smells of blood.

Although the deeds of this senior Master are commendable, dying from overwork during alchemy and sacrificing his own life is not something Ye Lingyue could praise.

Ye Lingyue is a typical realist; she believes, being a Doctor who saves the world, one should cherish their life more than anyone, for only by staying alive can one save more people.

Anyone who does not properly cherish their own and others’ lives is a fool.

If these Dan City Alchemists knew Ye Lingyue’s thoughts at this moment, they would spit blood in frustration.

”Does the test mentioned by Wang Zhangding have anything to do with this Blood Cauldron?” Ye Lingyue is not one to indulge in idle reminiscence; she had no time to dwell on past events with these Alchemists.

Wang Zhangding’s purpose in bringing her here was definitely not just to let her listen to historical stories to brainwash her.

”Ye Cauldron Master, your test is this Blood Cauldron. Since the death of that senior Master, this cauldron has undergone changes. Maybe the spirit of the predecessor has manifested; every Master, before officially taking the position, must be able to control the Blood Cauldron, refining at least one hundred elixirs in a single batch. Only then can they receive the acknowledgment of everyone and become a Master Alchemist. Otherwise...” Wang Zhangding said half and then stopped.

”Oh, so you mean, if I want to take up this Master position, today I must use this Blood Cauldron to refine elixirs?” Ye Lingyue sneered inwardly, it seemed that Wang Zhangding too came prepared.

”Well, Cauldron Master Ye, don’t be impatient, listen first to the story of the Blood Cauldron I have yet to finish. As I said before, since that senior Master, this cauldron has changed. If one is suitable for the Master position, naturally they can refine the required amount of elixirs. But if one encounters someone unsuitable, the Blood Cauldron will suck them in and burn them alive,” Wang Zhangding chuckled ominously.

A cauldron that sucks people in? That’s basically a man-eating cauldron.

Upon hearing this, Ye Lingyue realized why she felt such a strong smell of blood emanating from the Blood Cauldron.

”Had Wang Zhangding himself passed the test of the Blood Cauldron before?” Ye Lingyue probed.

”This... I am merely acting as the Cauldron Master, so I haven’t participated in such a test, but I can tell you, Cauldron Master Ye, that before you, several colleagues from the Alchemist Mansion volunteered to undergo the Blood Cauldron test, but their fate...” Wang Zhangding spoke, pausing deliberately while glancing at a few new bright red stains on the Blood Cauldron.

Apart from the Imperial Decree, Dan City has an unwritten rule: whoever can control the Blood Cauldron will be the master of Dan City.

Also, because of this, over the centuries, many Alchemists coveting the Master position have died under this same Blood Cauldron.

Among these Alchemists, the weakest had the cultivation of Seven Rank, even Wang Zhangding, an Eight Rank Alchemist, dared not try rashly, let alone Ye Lingyue of only Sixth Rank.