Chapter 429: Chapter 208: Gathering Spirit Technique, Astonishing Pill Formation Success Rate

Seeing that nine elixirs were about to fully form, Chu Ning slightly disturbed one of them with his Divine Sense.

Immediately, that elixir turned into a pile of waste residue.

However, the other eight elixirs completely solidified into their pill shape.

Chu Ning immediately cast another spell.

"Gathering Spirit?"

Upon hearing this, Ling Cang couldn’t help but softly murmur.

Behind him, when Su Yuqing and the others heard this, a look of surprise appeared in their eyes again.

They naturally knew about Gathering Spirit.

However, some ordinary disciples did not understand this method and were puzzled at the moment.

Especially those who were not disciples of the Alchemy Pavilion, they couldn’t help but start discussing.

"What is Steward Chu doing? Hasn’t the pill already formed?"

"Yes, is there something wrong with this Foundation Establishment Pill?"

Their words naturally reached the ears of the Golden Core Elders.

Ling Cang seemed to think this was a good opportunity to educate the younger disciples about alchemy, and his voice rang out in the arena, explaining:

"Gathering Spirit is an alchemy step between pill formation and extraction, with two effects. One is to lock the pill’s potency, allowing it to be stored longer.

The other is that it can enhance the efficacy of some specific elixirs after using the Gathering Spirit method."

After Ling Cang’s voice sounded, the others no longer spoke and listened attentively.

"The Gathering Spirit method was often used by ancient cultivators in alchemy, as there were fewer cultivators and abundant heavenly materials and earthly treasures at that time.

They had plenty of elixirs, and some would not be consumed in a short time, so they would use the Gathering Spirit method, often measured over centuries.

But for today’s cultivators, some urgently needed elixirs cannot be stored for more than a century."

From this, everyone roughly inferred that the Gathering Spirit method is now used less frequently, and accordingly, fewer people master it.

At this point, Ling Cang paused slightly before continuing:

"As for increasing efficacy, only some specific elixirs can achieve this.

Because the enhancement effect is not particularly good, and if used improperly, it might waste the elixir that had initially formed into a pill.

Therefore, very few alchemists use the Gathering Spirit method now."

As he spoke, Ling Cang’s eyes flickered slightly.

"However, for an elixir like the Foundation Establishment Pill, using the Gathering Spirit method is suitable.

Foundation Establishment is exceptionally subtle, and sometimes it’s just a hair’s breadth difference.

This seemingly insignificant efficacy boost might mean the difference between success and failure for a cultivator."

Upon hearing Ling Cang’s words, everyone suddenly realized, and the Qi Refining disciples looked at Chu Ning with more eagerness.

They all wanted to see how many Foundation Establishment Pills Chu Ning would produce this time using the Gathering Spirit method.

While Ling Cang was explaining the effects of the Gathering Spirit, Chu Ning couldn’t hear it because of the restriction.

The reasons he used the Gathering Spirit method were indeed partly as Ling Cang described.

When Spiritual Qi merged into the Pill Furnace and combined with the Foundation Establishment Pill, Chu Ning started the pill extraction process.

Just like when he extracted the Purple Gold Pill before, Chu Ning made a virtual palm strike, and several pills flew out of the Alchemy Furnace, floating in a row in the air.

And when everyone saw the number of pills, a cry louder than before erupted in the entire arena.

"Eight pills!"

"The Foundation Establishment Pill formation rate has also reached 90%!"

"Our sect can finally have more Foundation Establishment Pills!"

...

Some Qi Refining disciples could hardly contain their joy at this moment.

And all the alchemists in the Alchemy Pavilion, whether at the Qi Refining Stage or Foundation Establishment Stage, showed expressions of shock.

Foundation Establishment Pills are difficult to refine!

This is known to everyone.

Otherwise, He Yanmao, as an Intermediate Middle Grade Alchemist, wouldn’t have said his success rate was not high despite many attempts.

But now Chu Ning had somehow managed to reach a 90% success rate with the Foundation Establishment Pill!

This was beyond everyone’s expectations.

Even He Yanmao, who had obtained several furnaces of Foundation Establishment Pills from Chu Ning during this period, showed a face full of surprise.

Based on the number of pills Chu Ning gave him, he always estimated Chu Ning’s success rate to be around 70% to 80%.

He had not expected that Chu Ning would directly produce eight Foundation Establishment Pills this time.

The pill formation rate reached 90%!

Yuan Rongzhang’s expression was not very pleasant at this moment.

Chu Ning had not yet refined the remaining two types of elixirs, but Yuan Rongzhang already had a vague feeling of unease.

Just with this Foundation Establishment Pill, Chu Ning’s status within the Alchemy Pavilion wouldn’t be low.

After all, so many people need the Foundation Establishment Pill to break through their realms.

"But he definitely can’t refine the Jiuhua Essence Condensing Pill!"

Yuan Rongzhang forced himself to suppress that uneasy feeling, comforting himself. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Only then did he feel a bit better.

He took a deep breath, not showing much of an unusual expression.

Yuan Rongzhang understood Ling Cang’s character very well, knowing that this Golden Core Elder was extremely principled and rule-abiding.

If Chu Ning failed in even one aspect today, Yuan Rongzhang was certain Ling Cang would never allow Chu Ning to become this steward.

Amidst the fervent gazes of the crowd, Chu Ning calmly placed the Foundation Establishment Pills next to the Purple Gold Pills.

He began refining the next elixir, the Six Spirits Pill.

In comparison, this intermediate middle-grade elixir for Foundation Establishment Cultivators was not as famous as the Foundation Establishment Pill within the Jiuhua Sect.

So naturally, when Chu Ning refined this pill, it didn’t receive as much attention.

Many people were still discussing the Foundation Establishment Pills Chu Ning had just refined.

However, when Chu Ning produced four Six Spirits Pills,

Su Yuqing’s gaze flickered with a trace of surprise.

This pill was her specialty, with medium difficulty among intermediate middle-grade elixirs.

But Chu Ning achieving a pill formation success rate exceeding 50% still surprised her greatly.

If Chu Ning had focused on this one elixir for half a year, it would be understandable.

But Chu Ning had also been studying the refining of Purple Gold Pills and Foundation Establishment Pills during these six months.

Increasing the success rates for those two pills to 90%, and still achieving nearly 60% for the Six Spirits Pill,

This truly surprised Su Yuqing.

"The real difficulty of this pill is in extraction and the application of Divine Sense. It seems this Junior Brother Chu’s Divine Sense is probably quite strong."

Su Yuqing thought to himself.

He didn’t know that Chu Ning was actually holding back.

Because the Six Spirits Pill requires precise use of Divine Sense, if Chu Ning wanted, he could refine seven pills.

He regretted that two pills were wasted.

After all, he could use this elixir himself.

And as Chu Ning finished refining the Six Spirits Pill, he, like before, placed them neatly and began purifying the furnace.

In the arena, everyone was now even more surprised and amazed.

"He has consecutively refined three types of elixirs, all with high success rates. Could he truly refine all four?"

"Steward Chu is purifying the furnace again. Is he really going to refine the Jiuhua Essence Condensing Pill?"

"Moreover, doesn’t he need to rest to recover his Magical Power and Divine Sense?"

...

Even Ling Cang, Gong Yuyuan, and several other Golden Core Elders showed more respect in their gaze towards Chu Ning.

While Yuan Rongzhang, Geng Wansheng, and others had expressions of doubt in their eyes.

The late-stage Golden Core Elder, Yuan Zhuo, couldn’t help but cast an inquisitive glance at Yuan Rongzhang.

Though he was a Golden Core Elder, he wasn’t skilled in alchemy and didn’t really understand alchemy techniques like Yuan Rongzhang did.

Yuan Rongzhang showed a hint of hesitance, but his eyes still held a bit of skepticism.

However, when he saw the ingredients Chu Ning brought out, his expression changed slightly.

"Wind Spirit Fruit, Nine Dragon Ganoderma... Is he really going to refine the Jiuhua Essence Condensing Pill?"

Upon seeing this, Yuan Rongzhang couldn’t help but stare fixedly at Chu Ning, his eyes unmoving.

The others were similar, as most in the Jiuhua Sect had heard of the Jiuhua Essence Condensing Pill.

However, very few had actually seen it being refined.

It’s known to be extremely difficult to refine, the most challenging among the Jiuhua Sect’s intermediate middle-grade elixirs.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, after taking out the spirit medicine, Chu Ning did not rush to put it into the Pill Furnace.

Instead, he quickly formed several spells with his hands and applied them to the furnace.

"How is this possible?"

Seeing Chu Ning skillfully casting spells, Yuan Rongzhang, who had been seated, suddenly stood up in surprise.

Chu Ning was currently performing the Jiuhua Essence Condensing Pill Fire Control Technique, an art Yuan Rongzhang was familiar with!