The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron

Chapter 497: Chapter 497: A Brief Guidance

When Fang Lin saw Mo Ziming, the man was refining pills in a Pill Refining Room. Fang Lin waited for a while outside before Mo Ziming allowed him to enter.

The temperature in the Pill Refining Room was high, making the room a bit stuffy. There was nothing else in the room, just a Pill Furnace and a cushion.

On that cushion sat a middle-aged man of average looks. His skin was slightly dark, and he wasn’t tall, making him look like an ordinary person.

“You are Fang Lin? Han Luoyun’s disciple?” Mo Ziming’s eyes were tired. He did not glance at Fang Lin. Instead, he kept staring at the Pill Furnace in front of him and asked.

Fang Lin saluted: “Yes, I am Fang Lin.”

Mo Ziming grunted, then ignored Fang Lin. His expression appeared tense and serious.

Having glanced at the Pill Furnace and sniffed the smell of the medicinal herbs in the air, Fang Lin had a rough guess. He activated his Micro Gold Pupil and was able to see the situation inside the Pill Furnace.

“Senior, are you refining the Sustaining Life Pill?” Fang Lin asked.

Mo Ziming, on hearing this, looked at Fang Lin with narrowed eyebrows and asked in surprise, “How do you know?”

Fang Lin responded with a smile, “I activated my Micro Gold Pupil and saw the medicinal herbs in the Pill Furnace. I knew then that you are refining the Sustaining Life Pill.”

Mo Ziming nodded and wore an admiring look, “It seems Han Luoyun was right. You indeed have a good talent in Alchemy Tao. You recognized that I was refining the Sustaining Life Pill just by glancing at the medicinal herbs in the furnace, that’s impressive.”

He then continued to focus on the Pill Furnace and left Fang Lin on the sideline.

Fang Lin opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something. But, seeing how devoted Mo Ziming was, he held back.

Time passed slowly. Growing bored, Fang Lin began to sit quietly on the side and cultivate the Purple Mist Sky Sutra.

Three days later, Mo Ziming hadn’t taken a single step away throughout this time, intently staring at the Pill Furnace with a tenser expression.

Fang Lin occasionally glanced at the Furnace and subtly shook his head.

On the fourth day at noon, when the Sustaining Life Pill was about to be finished, Mo Ziming was restless, pacing back and forth next to the Pill Furnace.

“It must work! It must work!” Mo Ziming muttered incessantly.

Thunk!

A muffled sound suddenly came from inside the Pill Furnace. That sound was like a heavy hammer hitting Mo Ziming’s heart, causing his complexion to drastically change.

Fang Lin opened his eyes, appearing composed.

Then, there was a rattling noise inside the Furnace. Black smoke began pouring out, filling the Pill Refining Room with an acrid, nauseating smell like that of burnt herbs.

Mo Ziming suddenly collapsed, losing all energy and appearing disheartened.

“Damn it, why did it fail again?” Mo Ziming tugged at his hair, an expression of distress on his face.

Fang Lin, looking at the Pill Furnace emitting black smoke, said: “Senior, it was just one failure. Maybe you will succeed next time.”

Mo Ziming shook his head and heaved a sigh, “My son went on an adventure and had his arm destroyed by a demon beast. Without a Sustaining Life Pill, he will be disabled.”

The Sustaining Life Pill is a fifth-class pill. It could enable regeneration of severed limbs after consumption. However, it is also very difficult to refine. Even an experienced Alchemy Master would have an over 80 percent failure rate.

Upon hearing this, Fang Lin pondered for a moment then said, “Perhaps Senior could try a different method, putting the Blood Fusion Fruit and Centipede Gallbladder, which have the strongest medicinal effects, into the Pill Furnace first.”

Mo Ziming was surprised and raised his head to look at Fang Lin.

“Just by putting these two medicinal herbs in first, it will succeed?” Mo Ziming was puzzled and somewhat skeptical of Fang Lin. After all, Fang Lin is only a Three Cauldrons Pill Refiner, while the Sustaining Life Pill is a fifth-grade pill. It seemed strange and unrealistic for Mo Ziming to be instructed by a Three Cauldrons Pill Refiner to refine a fifth-grade Sustaining Life Pill.

Fang Lin nodded, “Senior, why not give it a try?”

Reason was telling Mo Ziming that advice from a Three Cauldrons Pill Refiner wasn’t worth acknowledging. However, the situation had left him helpless. He had attempted to refine the Sustaining Life Pill three times, failing each time. Seeing his son’s arm wasted more and more, he grew increasingly anxious.

Consequently, Mo Ziming had no choice but to trust Fang Lin. He immediately started refining pills again.

Following Fang Lin’s instruction, he threw the Blood Fusion Fruit and the Centipede Gallbladder first into the Pill Furnace, then started to heat it with flame.

Only after these two herbs had melted into medicinal liquid did he put other herbs into the Pill Furnace.

The steps didn’t change much, only the moment of throwing the herbs in was different. The more Mo Ziming thought about it, the less confident he became. Would just a slight change lead to success?

Fang Lin, on the other hand, remained calm and composed all throughout, appearing not worried about failing at all. Mo Ziming was puzzled, where did Fang Lin’s confidence come from?

Seven days later, Mo Ziming was like a cat on hot bricks. The tension he was feeling was indescribable.

“It must succeed! It must succeed!” Mo Ziming, staring at the Pill Furnace, was overjoyed as whiffs of pill fragrance filled the air. However, he was also tightly wound, fearful of another failure at the last moment.

It wasn’t until white smoke began to rise that Mo Ziming’s heart finally landed. His face was filled with joy and excitement.

“It really worked!” Mo Ziming, thrilled, took out the four Sustaining Life Pills from the furnace. Each one was round and full, reaching an average quality.

Fang Lin laughed, “The Senior’s strength is there, it just needs a little adjustment.”

“Thank you very much! If it hadn’t been for your suggestion, I’m afraid I’d still be worried.” Mo Ziming said sincerely, extremely grateful to Fang Lin.

With the Sustaining Life Pill successfully refined, Mo Ziming felt relieved and started to chat with Fang Lin.

When Mo Ziming found out that Fang Lin had received an invitation from Gongsun Xiao, he was also slightly surprised.

“Gongsun Xiao is not simple and is somewhat unfathomable. However, his reputation in Xuan Country is still quite good. As for the Crown Prince’s genius banquet, it’s actually not just a banquet. The Crown Prince will display an imperial treasure for people to appreciate, which is said to contain martial arts opportunity, attracting a lot of geniuses from Xuan Country.” Mo Ziming said.

Upon hearing this, Fang Lin looked somewhat surprised. He has not known these things, and now, he is a bit interested in this banquet.

Of course, what he was interested in is the imperial treasure and the martial arts opportunity inside.

“In that case, I will also attend.” Fang Lin said.

Mo Ziming advised, “Considering your talent, it’s completely reasonable for you to attend. However, be careful, there are all geniuses there. Don’t draw too much attention to yourself.”