Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 466 - 472: The Method

”What exactly went wrong?”

Li Zhirui frowned deeply as he looked at the failed Gold Core Formation Pill before him.

All components were properly combined, the medicinal properties harmonized; by all principles of alchemy, they shouldnʼt have conflicted explosively.

Furthermore, during the alchemy process, he had indeed stimulated the Golden Ganoderma and the Sky Cleansing Fruit, which enhanced the success rate of Core Formation.

Yet, during the fusion of the Spiritual Medicineʼs essence, a violent explosion suddenly occurred!

”Could it be because the medicinal effects were too strong?” Li Zhirui said with some wild speculation.

But in reality, the Gold Core Formation Pill that Li Zhirui refined with Sky Cleansing Fruit and Golden Ganoderma as main ingredients only had a slightly stronger effect than ordinary pills.

If an ordinary Core Formation pill could increase the success rate by thirty percent, the one Li Zhirui made would only be about thirty-five percent at best. Such an absurd reason could not have been the cause of failure.

As for Li Zhiruiʼs level of alchemy, after practicing with the Green Heaven Pill and the Red Sun Treasure Pill, he had truly become a fourth-grade Alchemy Master.

And the Gold Core Formation Pill was merely a third-grade Spirit Pill, even if its difficulty was higher, it was still far simpler than a fourth-grade Spirit Pill.

Li Zhirui was not being arrogant, but he could confidently say that the key to the failure did not lie with him.

”Then thereʼs only one possibility left.” As Li Zhirui thought of this, his brows furrowed even more deeply.

All other Spiritual Medicines had been tested numerous times before deciding on them; the only exceptions were the two main ingredients, Golden Ganoderma and Sky Cleansing Fruit!

Due to their rarity, Li Zhirui did not have much of them in stock, so there were no actual tests done between the two!

After all, ripening either Golden Ganoderma or Sky Cleansing Fruit even once would require tens of thousands of Spirit Stones.

But Li Zhiruiʼs current stock of Spirit Stones couldnʼt withstand such consumption.

Therefore, Li Zhirui only judged based on the properties of the two Spiritual Medicines, using his own knowledge and records, that there would be no conflict, and then he started the alchemy process.

But now, it seemed that this was not the case.

To find out the reason, Li Zhirui could only take out the Sky Cleansing Fruit and the Golden Ganoderma and begin testing them.

First, he refined the essence of the two Spiritual Objects, then penetrated them with his Divine Sense, and slowly fused them to observe where the conflict arose.

”Bang!”

Although Li Zhirui deliberately controlled the fusion speed of the two Spiritual Liquids, in less than a quarter of an hour, they exploded beyond restraint!

Fortunately, during this time, Li Zhirui found the reason for the failure.

The key medicinal effect of the Golden Ganoderma that could enhance Core Formation was very ”sharp” and ”hard,” beyond his expectations.

So much so that the Sky Cleansing Fruit was unable to accommodate it and was instead ”pierced,” leading to the failure of the alchemy.

The solution was not difficult; it simply required weakening the Golden Ganoderma or enhancing the effect of the Sky Cleansing Fruit.

But doing so would inevitably result in a reduced effect of the Gold Core Formation Pill.

By then, forget about having a thirty-five percent higher success rate; it was uncertain whether there would even be a thirty percent chance because that sharp property was at the core of the Golden Ganoderma.

And if that was the case, then the Gold Core Formation Pill that Li Zhirui had created this time could be considered a failure.

After all, the most basic concept of alchemy is to produce a Spirit Pill with the greatest benefit at the lowest cost.

If he used that simple and crude solution, although it would be convenient, how would that differ from simply consuming the two Spiritual Medicines directly?

After much thought and reflection, Li Zhirui could not figure out a good solution, so he had to set the matter aside for the time being and slowly think of a way to resolve it.

Stepping out of the Alchemy Room, the entire cave dwelling was very quiet. Jiang Fengwu was industriously working toward entering the Secret Realm, Li Chengshuo had not returned from his experiences outside, and Li Chengsheng was in the Spirit Beast Mountain range, taking care of a group of young Chaoyang Crows.

Li Zhirui had grown accustomed to this solitude because loneliness is the main theme for Cultivators.

In preparation for the upcoming Secret Realm, the Li family had also become very busy.

A large number of clan members were contributing their strength for this purpose.

Having some free time, Li Zhirui went to visit Li Shiqing, hoping to understand from him how the familyʼs preparations were progressing.

”How do you have time to visit this old man?” Li Shiqing, surprised, joked when he saw the visitor was Li Zhirui.

Although he did not know what Li Zhirui had been busy with recently, he also had not appeared for a long time, so he must have had some very important matters; why would he now have the time to find him?

”I encountered some problems with Alchemy that I couldnʼt solve for the moment, so I thought of coming out to clear my mind,” Li Zhirui sighed softly.

Li Shiqingʼs eyebrows rose with a smile, ”Is there really a Pill Recipe that stumped you, a fourth-order Alchemy Master?”

”Doesnʼt our family have Sky Cleansing Fruit and Golden Ganoderma, two Core Formation Spiritual Objects? I wanted to use them as main ingredients to refine a new Gold Core Formation Pill,” said Li Zhirui.

”But I oversimplified the problem,” Li Zhirui shook his head and continued, ”The medicinal properties of the Golden Ganoderma and the Sky Cleansing Fruit conflict too greatly. They can be resolved by crude methods, but that approach would be nearly the same as directly consuming the two Spiritual Medicines; it would be a waste to use other Spiritual Medicines unnecessarily.”

Li Shiqing listened quietly, not offering his opinion. After all, he did not understand much about Alchemy and also knew that Li Zhirui just needed to vent at the moment.

”No worries, take it slow,” he reassured, then changed the subject, ”Come, try a way of eating that I discovered by accident.”

As he spoke, he took out two second-order Spirit Fruits, one red and one blue, from his storage ring.

”These two Spirit Fruits, when eaten separately, arenʼt anything special, but when consumed together, they miraculously burst into a very delicious flavor in the mouth!”

Hearing this, Li Zhirui froze.

”Zhirui? Whatʼs the matter with you?”

When Li Shiqing didnʼt hear a reply from Li Zhirui for some time, he looked up at him and found him staring as if in a daze.

”Right! How did I not think of that?!” Li Zhirui blurted out suddenly, then abruptly stood up.

”Hahahaha, thank you for the reminder, Uncle!”

”Huh?” Now Li Shiqing was the one completely puzzled.

”Itʼs what you said about consuming the Spirit Fruits together!” Li Zhirui excitedly said, ”If the medicinal properties of the two Spiritual Medicines are too conflicting and canʼt be integrated, and I donʼt want to weaken the effect of the Gold Core Formation Pill, then I can refine them into separate pills!”

”If consumed together, or one after the other, they should achieve the same effect as the Gold Core Formation Pill!”

Of course, this method is not as simple as Li Zhirui made it sound.

But at least it gave him a clear and better direction.

What Li Zhirui did not know was that this approach of splitting one Spirit Pill into two, or even three or more pills due to conflicting medicinal properties, already existed!

It was simply too niche, with little external dissemination.