"This this..."
Zhou Yi was so astonished that he was rendered speechless, staring blankly at Mu Jinyu.
"Huh..."
Mu Jinyu did not pay attention to their reactions. Upon seeing the Red Dragon Whiskers return to the condition they were in when they had just been picked, he ceased operating his cultivation technique, and instantly the spring breeze stopped, and the fragrance of flowers withdrawn.
"Alright, can this prove now that I know Alchemy and can also prepare the Mysterious Yang Pill?"
Only then did Mu Jinyu raise his eyes, gazing at Zhou Yi and the others, with a slight lift of his lips, evoking a half-smiling expression.
Zhou Yi's complexion was ashen, accompanied by embarrassment and self-mockery, but his slightly cloudy eyes still held a touch of shock and excitement.
Upon hearing Mu Jinyu's words, his body shuddered, and without hesitation, he bent his crooked back and sighed deeply, "I owe you an apology, I truly underestimated you before. I'm sorry!"
His heart was still filled with shock because Mu Jinyu's earlier actions were not merely replacing new medicines for old, but he also revitalized the old medicine, akin to returning spring to withered wood!
The former could only prove that Mu Jinyu was wealthy and powerful, which wasn't much, but the latter signified that Mu Jinyu had already embarked on a path beyond conventional understanding.
He wasn't someone Zhou Yi could contend with; if they were to fiercely oppose each other, he would inevitably sustain severe injuries, or even be shattered completely!
Mu Jinyu raised an eyebrow and said, "I thought you would stubbornly refute until I actually prepared the Mysterious Yang Pill before admitting your mistake. Surprisingly, you still have some courage."
Zhou Yi just forced a bitter smile, saying nothing.
Mu Jinyu said, "However, to truly convince you, let's wait until I've prepared the Mysterious Yang Pill before declaring you've lost."
"Okay," Zhou Yi nodded with a bitter smile.
Upon hearing this, Qiu Bai and Chen Xiuying's bodies trembled, and they watched Mu Jinyu with excited looks.
"Dragon Master, we're troubling you."
"Hmm," Mu Jinyu casually nodded at them, then took the Red Dragon Whiskers, waved his hand, and attracted the other auxiliary medicines placed aside.
Then, he sat before the Shennong Cauldron, successively added these Spiritual Medicines into it, and pressed his palm against the body of the cauldron. A dark azure flame suddenly blazed furiously, engulfing the entire Shennong Cauldron.
"Click..."
Chen Xiuying was startled by the sight and took an involuntary step back, her eyes scanning the medicine storage room in panic.
Seeing that the surrounding herbal materials were not affected by the sudden fierce flame of Mu Jinyu, she then barely breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, had Mu Jinyu not controlled the fire well, causing stray flames to splatter, it would have surely ignited the surrounding materials.
These materials were her essence blood collected over many years; seeing them destroyed in an instant would be heartbreaking.
But Mu Jinyu's control over the fire was extremely strong, not even a spark had splattered out, no wonder he dared to practice alchemy here.
Considering this, Chen Xiuying felt even more hopeful about Mu Jinyu successfully preparing the Mysterious Yang Pill.
Once Mu Jinyu began alchemy, he completely ignored their reactions, fully immersing himself in the alchemy process.
He left only a trace of Spiritual Thought outside to sense danger, which would promptly awaken him from his deep immersion in alchemy should any occur.
"Huff huff!!"
The flames fiercely burned the Pill Furnace, strips of medicinal fragrance continuously exuded from it, making Zhou Yi and his companions feel refreshed and comfortable all over.
Zhou Yi's gaze intently watched Mu Jinyu's various alchemy techniques, hoping to take this opportunity to learn more about Mu Jinyu's alchemy.
He could see that the Life Essence Qi inside the Shennong Cauldron was becoming more vigorous. Apparently, Mu Jinyu had already completed the step of purifying the medicinal strength and started merging the medicinal powers, causing their potency to skyrocket.
"So it can be done like this..."
Zhou Yi watched, both admiring and ashamed.
If it were him, purifying medicinal strength alone would take two to three days, and moving on to merging medicinal powers required extra caution at every step for fear of mistakes. Unlike Mu Jinyu, who proceeded in one continuous effort without any pause, and what was even more terrifying, he hadn't made a single mistake so far.
'It seems the Dragon King was right. I indeed lack talent in the Alchemy Dao and have neglected Martial Arts in my pursuit of Alchemy, truly a case of missing the forest for the trees!'
Zhou Yi thought to himself with a bitter smile.
Time slowly passed.
Three hours later.
"Boom!!"
Suddenly, a loud booming sound echoed from the Shennong Cauldron, instantly illuminating the room with a bright, jade-green glow as if they were in the midst of a grassland.
After that, the sounds of raging tides surged continuously within the Shennong Cauldron, where the medicinal power undulated like a vast ocean, with towering waves and terrifying surges, accompanied by violent thunder, causing the Shennong Cauldron to tremble slightly.
"Is it about to form an elixir?"
"Or is it going to fail?"
Chen Xiuying and the others witnessed all of this, their emotions rising and falling as if they were truly seeing the raging sea within the Shennong Cauldron, their minds tensing up.
"Clang!"
At that moment, a sudden intense clanging noise came from the Shennong Cauldron, like a meteor falling to the earth or steel being forged, causing the Shennong Cauldron to shake violently, as if it were about to explode the next second, making Chen Xiuying and the others' palms sweat with cold dread.
A few seconds later, the Shennong Cauldron suddenly stopped its violent trembling and gradually stabilized.
Afterward, the surging ocean-like sounds inside the Shennong Cauldron also gradually vanished.
Mu Jinyu was still pressing his hands on the Shennong Cauldron, with closed eyes and a concentrated expression, but aside from the azure-green flames that enveloped the Shennong Cauldron receding, no other movement occurred.
"Hmm?!"
Zhou Yi was constantly observing the changes in the Shennong Cauldron. When it stabilized and the surges ceased, his expression suddenly changed, filled with helplessness and disappointment, his face filled with bitterness.
"Elder Zhou, what happened?"
Seeing the change in Zhou Yi's expression, Chen Xiuying's heart suddenly sank with a foreboding feeling, and she hurriedly asked.
Zhou Yi sighed, "The life essence qi in the pill furnace was surging like a boundless ocean at its peak, but as the surges ceased, it has all disappeared now. It seems the alchemy was just short of success, it was really close, unfortunately..."
He did not have any ill-intentions, secretly fearing and feeling fortunate for Mu Jinyu's failure.
It was only the pain and regret of a fellow Alchemy Dao researcher facing the failure of this batch of treasured pills.
"How could this happen?!"
Upon hearing Zhou Yi's words, Chen Xiuying's mind buzzed, making her feel dizzy and nearly causing her to faint.
Her complexion turned pale as she spoke in disbelief, filled with helplessness and despair!
Zhou Yi explained, "It may be because the level of the Mysterious Yang Pill is too high, and the Dragon King isn't yet capable of producing an elixir of this level, so it failed at the last moment, perhaps?"
At the end, he couldn't help but sigh once more.
"Could it really be that the heavens want to doom my master?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiuying's eyes deepened with despair as she murmured.
Qiu Bai, standing to the side, also felt a profound sense of loss, feeling empty inside.
The alchemy had failed, the last hope of their master was shattered...
"Whew..."
At that moment, Mu Jinyu suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of sharpness passing through them like twin swords shooting forth, making the very void tremble.
He then deeply exhaled a breath of foul air, moving his palm from the body of the cauldron to the lid, and with a slight effort, lifted the lid off!
"Wow!!"
In an instant, a dazzlingly brilliant green light that hurt the eyes, along with several sun-like brilliant and intense red lights, flashed out from the pill furnace!
"What... what is this?"
Zhou Yi, holding back the pain in his eyes and with tears streaming down, excitedly yelled, "The pill is formed!"