Chapter 114: Second Tier Pill Master

Chapter 114: Second Tier Pill Master

The Essence Nurturing Grass and other Spiritual Herbs needed for refining Nourishing Essence Pills had been cultivated by him several years ago.

However, due to limited space and their long growth period, he had only accumulated a little over five hundred materials until now.

Each Nourishing Essence Pill material was valued at around five hundred Spirit Stones, making these materials worth nearly three hundred thousand in total.

In the Cultivation World, an Alchemist capable of refining first-tier elixirs was known as a first-tier Alchemist.

As the supply of first-tier Spiritual Herbs was relatively abundant and not too expensive, one could cultivate a first-tier Alchemist by investing around fifty thousand Spirit Stones, provided they were willing to spend the money.

So, while first-tier Alchemists were not numerous, almost every decent family or faction would have one or two.

Although the initial investment was significant, once successfully cultivated, it was like having a golden-egg-laying hen, yielding continuous profits in the later stages. As long as the financial resources were sufficient, it was a worthwhile endeavor.

However, second-tier Alchemists were extremely rare. Firstly, the resources required to cultivate a second-tier Alchemist were enormous. Some small families couldn't even gather enough resources by selling everything they had.

Even for medium-sized forces, it wasn't a task accomplished in a day or two; it often took decades.

Furthermore, after putting in tremendous effort to cultivate a second-tier Alchemist, there was a serious problem to facelack of second-tier Spiritual Herbs.

Second-tier Spiritual Herbs grew slowly, ranging from a couple of hundred years to six or seven hundred years. During this lengthy period, sometimes people would pass away several times, and there was no guarantee of successfully cultivating the Spiritual Herb.

Obtaining second-tier Spiritual Herbs was also very challenging, making second-tier Alchemists often unable to refine elixirs. If luck wasn't on their side, they might not even recover the cost of cultivating the Alchemist.

Refining second-tier elixirs required the use of second-tier spirit charcoal. The fire produced by first-tier spirit charcoal was insufficient to effectively melt the Spiritual Herb, purify impurities, and extract essence.

Second-tier spirit charcoal required second-tier spirit wood refinement, and it wasn't cheap. One piece of spirit charcoal cost thirty Spirit Stones.

There was no space for planting spirit wood specifically for refining spirit charcoal, so he cut down dense branches from those second-tier spirit fruit trees.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

Cutting these branches into two or three feet lengths, he placed them in the Alchemy furnace, covered them, and burned them with first-tier spirit charcoal below.

His hands moved like phantoms, executing hundreds of techniques. These techniques were specific to refining second-tier elixirs, and he had practiced them extensively before attempting Alchemy.

However, at this moment, the Spiritual Energy in the furnace suddenly became extremely violent. Various Spiritual Energies collided, resulting in a loud bang and black smoke. The furnace exploded.

Wang Hong cleaned the furnace, contemplated silently for a while, and then started the refinement of the next elixir.

The third furnace, another failure.

The fourth furnace, failure.

...

Finally, on the tenth attempt, he succeeded in obtaining a second-tier Nourishing Essence Pill.

Then, the eleventh furnace failed again. After fifty furnaces, he finally stabilized. On average, every ten furnaces produced three or four elixirs.

The overall Pill Success Rate was still below ten percent. To break even, the Pill Success Rate for Nourishing Essence Pills needed to be at least twenty percent. At his current level, he was essentially losing money with each attempt.

This was only possible because of his strong foundation in Alchemy. He had mastered the refinement of first-tier elixirs to perfection. Additionally, his extensive study of various medicinal properties and theories made Alchemy easier for him than for others.

If it were someone else, even after refining a hundred furnaces, they might not reach his current level. Refining second-tier elixirs was at least ten times more complicated than refining first-tier elixirs.

After completing a hundred furnaces, Wang Hong took a day off, treated himself to a delicious meal, drank some wine, and relaxed.

A day later, he resumed Alchemy. This time, he refined another hundred furnaces consecutively, showing some improvement. Now, approximately eight furnaces out of ten produced visible elixirs, and the overall Pill Success Rate finally reached ten percent.

After another day of rest, he added some Spirit Bee Royal Jelly during Alchemy. This substance could increase the Pill Success Rate.

He hadn't used it before while refining first-tier elixirs because his Pill Success Rate was already high when he acquired the Spirit Bee. Most first-tier elixirs were not as expensive as Spirit Bee Royal Jelly, so adding it would result in a loss. Now, with the refinement of second-tier elixirs, each extra elixir per furnace could cover the cost of Spirit Bee Royal Jelly.

As for the previous hundreds of furnaces where most didn't yield a single elixir, adding Spirit Bee Royal Jelly would be futile.

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