Chapter 2167 — Qi-Gathering Pill

"Oh, then I'll take it!" Han Jingyi took the jade bracelet and slipped it onto her wrist. All at once a pleasant warmth spread through her! Warm jade? A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes. This was truly a fine treasure!

"This bracelet is called the Spirit-Calming, Mind-Steadying Jade Bracelet. For an alchemist it is an excellent aid—just the thing for you," Wei Zhao explained.

True, Wei Zhao had previously given Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu a poison-warding bead and a poison-cleansing pill, but those were life-saving treasures, not jewelry. Seeing Wei Zhao present Han Jingyi with jewelry now left Gu Mengyao somewhat uncomfortable—until she heard it was an alchemical aid, whereupon her mood cleared at once.

"Really? It does look lovely!" Han Jingyi said. "Brother Wei Zhao, I'll study alchemy with all my heart. You're so good to Jingjing—anyone can see this bracelet is a fine thing!"

"Mm, keep at it." Wei Zhao still had a small Qi-Gathering Pill to give Han Jingyi. Her rise in strength now meant a rise in her alchemy; once Han Jingyi could refine third-grade pills, he could trade with the little Ice-Sugar Girl and buy Feng Xiaoxiao back.

After breakfast, the group drove to school—Gu Mengyao had been driving before, but now Wei Zhao took the wheel again.

They parted ways in the parking lot. Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi walked together toward the biology department building. Han Jingyi did not ask many questions about Wei Zhao's several days away; instead she rattled on and on about her alchemy of late!

"Brother Wei Zhao, these are Qi-Gathering Pills Jingjing refined—take a look!" As she spoke, Han Jingyi took a small box from her backpack and handed it to Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao took the box, somewhat surprised. "The ingredients for Qi-Gathering Pills are fairly common, but they are also very expensive—ordinary pharmacies don't stock them. You actually got hold of some?"

"Mm, Jingjing's family does some business related to medicine, so we can procure certain rare medicinal ingredients," Han Jingyi said. "I asked my family for all of these."

"Ten of them?" Wei Zhao stared into the box, astonished. Each pill was plump and round, and every one had reached a purity of over ninety percent. By the definitions in Zhang Liju's alchemist's notes, these qualified as first-grade superior pills!

The same Qi-Gathering Pill, refined by alchemists of differing skill and strength, will not be of the same quality; the higher the quality, the greater the effect! Eating one superior Qi-Gathering Pill was the equal of eating two middling ones—or four inferior ones!

Yet superior Qi-Gathering Pills were something even a Yellow-Rank third-grade alchemist might fail to produce. The Qi-Gathering Pills they had obtained earlier from the ancient ruins kept by the hidden Han family had been merely middling ones; and those refined by the likes of You Panhu were basically inferior!

So for Han Jingyi to have refined superior Qi-Gathering Pills left Wei Zhao utterly astonished. "Jingjing, how much material did you waste to refine these ten Qi-Gathering Pills?"

"Waste material?" Han Jingyi blinked, her big, liquid eyes turning to Wei Zhao with a touch of embarrassment. "That material is so expensive. Jingjing's family has money, but we can't afford to waste it either... Still, Jingjing was very careful—and I wasted two portions anyway..."

"You mean to say you used only twelve portions of material to refine ten Qi-Gathering Pills?" Wei Zhao's mouth twitched twice; this news struck yet another blow to his confidence.

"No, I only used a little over eight portions..." Han Jingyi said.

"A little over eight portions?" Wei Zhao stumbled. This was the first time he had ever heard that a little over eight portions of material could yield ten pills. Even Zhang Liju's alchemist's notes had never mentioned such a possibility—and Han Jingyi had actually done it? How had she done it?

"Yes!" Han Jingyi nodded. "Jingjing is pretty dumb, isn't she? Actually, could I refine even more?"

"...How did you refine them?" Wei Zhao had grown used to Han Jingyi's genius, but the shock she brought him today was still enormous.

"Jingjing studied the Qi-Gathering Pill's recipe, then turned the time, temperature, and fire intensity in the recipe into function curves, and then marked down the speed and manner in which the mental formulas had to be circulated for each temperature and fire intensity," Han Jingyi explained. "After that, Jingjing condensed the pill fire according to the markings on the function, following the time... You know how it is, Brother Wei Zhao—Jingjing is rather dumb, her sixth sense is poor, and she can't sense the changes in the pills inside the cauldron, so I had no choice but to follow the recipe meticulously by this method... Luckily, Jingjing's formula worked really well, and so I successfully refined one Qi-Gathering Pill..."

"That works too?" Wei Zhao drew a deep breath. This method of alchemy was likely unique and ingenious throughout the entire alchemical world. No alchemist would use curve functions and formulas to refine pills—only an oddity like Han Jingyi would ever do such a thing!

No wonder the quality of her pills was so good—she was operating in strict accordance with the recipe! When ordinary alchemists refined pills, human factors loomed large, whereas Han Jingyi's method was practically assembly-line production, like those fast-food chains: master the cooking temperature and timing, and the mass-produced product is always of identical quality.

"Mm-hm, I see these pills are only ninety percent pure. Jingjing's formula probably isn't rigorous enough yet—if Jingjing had enough time, I could keep perfecting it!" Han Jingyi said with some regret. "If Brother Wei Zhao did it himself, it would surely be a hundred percent pure!"

"...Sweat." Wei Zhao smiled wryly. "Then how did you refine the remaining nine Qi-Gathering Pills from the leftover material?"

"Jingjing copied the same method and refined one more, but after finishing, Jingjing felt it consumed too much physical strength and true qi—refining only one at a time just isn't worth it!" Han Jingyi said. "The cauldron is so big inside; you can refine lots and lots of pills at once. Jingjing thought, if I could refine several pills in one batch, wouldn't that save a lot of effort? So Jingjing started researching..."

"..." Wei Zhao was at a loss for words. This Han Jingyi truly had a leapfrogging sort of mind—a leapfrogging mind of the very highest order!

For the fastest updates, please read without pop-ups.