Chapter 18: The Alchemy Is Finally a Success
Wu Tian returned home carrying a large bundle of medicinal herbs. Xiao Hui looked at him in bewilderment and asked, “Young master, why are you bringing back so many herbs?”
“The young master can’t afford healing pills right now, so I have to make them myself,” Wu Tian replied, setting the herbs down.
“Young master, you…” Xiao Hui stared at him in disbelief. As far as she knew, Wu Tian didn’t know the first thing about alchemy.
“Xiao Hui, do you not trust your young master?”
“I do! I absolutely trust young master!”
“Good, I am very gratified,” Wu Tian said, though in his heart he knew he had never made a pill before. Despite possessing the technique, he simply didn’t know where to begin.
“Let me study this auxiliary skill, Alchemy...” Wu Tian sat among the pile of herbs and opened the attribute panel in his mind, where there was an introduction to Alchemy.
Alchemy: Current level, Beginner. Can only refine Yellow-grade pills. Place herbs into a cauldron according to the pill recipe, then use true energy to activate the alchemy skill. Each use consumes 5 points of true energy. Success rate: one in a thousand.
Fortunately, the healing pill was a Yellow-grade pill—otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to make it at all.
Based on his many years of gaming experience, Wu Tian knew that auxiliary skills like this improved through practice; in other words, as long as he kept making pills, his skill level would rise, and he could eventually make higher-grade pills. For now, he wasn’t thinking about anything advanced—he just needed to produce a healing pill.
Alchemy required a cauldron… or rather, a large iron pot would do.
Others required a specialized cauldron for pill refining, but Wu Tian didn’t. Any vessel for holding herbs would suffice. He dragged out the big iron pot from the house and, following the healing pill recipe, tossed the prescribed herbs into it.
Two taels of Fire-Repelling Ginseng, three taels of Wall Grass, four taels of Green Aloe…
With the herbs ready, Wu Tian rubbed his hands together, placed them on either side of the iron pot, and summoned his true energy.
“Alchemy technique, activate!”
Five points of true energy drained from his body. The bottom of the iron pot instantly glowed red, the herbs inside began to churn violently, and dense white mist rose up.
“Come on, it has to work!” Wu Tian stared unblinkingly at the iron pot.
Boom! A deafening explosion sounded. The entire pot of herbs detonated, and Wu Tian was instantly transformed into a human porcupine, his whole body scorched black, wisps of smoke escaping from his mouth.
Ding!
“Player Wu Tian’s alchemy attempt failed. Alchemy proficiency +1.”
“Young master, are you all right?” Xiao Hui, frightened by the explosion, hurried over in concern.
“Huff… I’m fine,” Wu Tian said, spitting out a mouthful of black smoke.
“Young master, maybe you should stop, just in case you hurt yourself,” Xiao Hui pleaded anxiously.
“Stop? How could I?” Wu Tian wiped his face and pressed on.
Just as before, he measured the herbs and placed them into the iron pot, then activated the alchemy technique.
Poof! A cloud of black smoke erupted from the pot, filling the air with a stench so foul it was suffocating.
Ding!
“Player Wu Tian’s alchemy attempt failed. Alchemy proficiency +1.”
“Damn it! Am I making pills or brewing poison?” Wu Tian and Xiao Hui bolted from the house, pinching their noses and retching.
The stench drifted far and wide. Although Wu Tian lived on the outer edges of the Qitian Sect, the foul air wafted all the way to the inner courtyards.
“What’s that smell? It’s awful! Where is it coming from?” Inner sect disciples were soon complaining, noses covered.
“Hell, it reeks worse than a corpse! Who’s making poison here?”
“Gods, just kill me now, I can’t take it!”
…
After a long while, the odor finally dissipated, and Wu Tian returned to face the iron pot with a wry smile.
“Fine, failure is one thing, just don’t let anything else go wrong,” he muttered, silently praying.
This time, Wu Tian had learned his lesson. After activating the alchemy technique, he quickly backed away. Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened.
Ding!
“Player Wu Tian’s alchemy attempt failed. Alchemy proficiency +1.”
Ding!
“Player Wu Tian’s alchemy attempt failed. Alchemy proficiency +1.”
…
Failure after failure, Wu Tian persisted the entire afternoon, failing no fewer than a hundred times. His alchemy skill shot from beginner to intermediate, and the success rate for Yellow-grade pills rose from one in a thousand to five in a thousand.
Two more hours passed. It was now well past midnight, and Wu Tian was still failing, not a single pill successfully produced. Xiao Hui had long since gone to bed, but Wu Tian remained at his task.
“Unbelievable, truly unbelievable. It says the success rate is one in a thousand, but do I really have to fail a thousand times before I get a success?” He looked helplessly at yet another ruined batch of herbs.
“I refuse to accept this. Tonight, I will succeed at least once! I’ll give it everything I have!”
Wu Tian was a young man of unyielding spirit—whether in gaming or surviving in this strange new world, he never feared failure. He devoted himself entirely to the task. Through the rest of the night, he continued using the alchemy technique, replenishing his true energy with monster-drop essence pills whenever it ran out.
Ding!
“Player Wu Tian’s alchemy attempt failed. Alchemy proficiency +1.”
Ding!
“Player Wu Tian’s alchemy attempt failed. Alchemy proficiency +1.”
…
In the latter half of the night, Wu Tian lost count of his failures. Dawn’s first light crept into the sky, and the dozens of pounds of herbs he’d brought home were nearly exhausted.
“This is the last of the herbs. If I can’t make a pill with these, I’ll have to stop for today.” He tossed the final batch into the iron pot, took a deep breath, and activated the alchemy technique.
The pot of herbs churned violently, then suddenly stilled. Just as Wu Tian thought he’d failed again, a plume of blue smoke rose from the pot. The herbs shrank rapidly, and the iron pot began to tremble violently.
“Damn! Is it about to explode again? Better get away!” Wu Tian realized something was off and hurriedly moved back as the trembling grew louder.
Bang, bang, bang! The racket even woke Xiao Hui in the next room.
“Young master, what’s happening?” she called, rushing out.
“Don’t come any closer! I think it’s about to explode again—take cover!” Wu Tian shouted, stopping her from approaching.
Boom! As soon as the words left his mouth, the iron pot exploded with a tremendous sound. But this time, instead of black smoke, a cloud of blue mist billowed out. Unlike previous explosions, there was no splattering liquid; the iron pot simply shattered into pieces.
Ding!
“Congratulations, player, pill refinement successful! Proficiency +20. As this is Wu Tian’s first successful pill refinement, the system awards 2000 experience points and 2000 silver taels.”
At that moment, Wu Tian’s attribute panel displayed the healing pill he had just refined. When he read its description, his mouth fell open in astonishment.