Chapter 008 - Successful Dan Refinement The flame was poured into the alchemical furnace, backing the spirit herbs inside and drying them out. There was some residue Spirit Qi left inside the dried spirit herbs, so his first attempt ended in failure. Nevertheless, Chen Xiang was not discouraged by this, because he had learned a few things. He learned how formidable his flames were, and that he needed to increase his control over said flames. Chen Xiang picked up the next set of herbs. This time, he made sure to pay special attention to his control, in order to manipulate the flames correctly. He carefully baked the spirit herbs inside the furnace, but it, once again, resulted in a failure. After experiencing failure three times in a row, Chen Xiang had started to build up some experience. His knowledge, regarding the control of flame, had increased during each previous attempt. On the fourth try, Chen Xiang was finally successful in extracting out all the Spirit Qi. Now he could enter the next phase of alchemy. While injecting his spiritual power into the alchemical furnace, he took a peek inside. Chen Xiang saw the various colors of different Spirit Qi being emitted by the spirit herbs. Now he started to manipulate these Spirit Qi, rotating them to form a rainbow whirlpool. The already dried spirit herbs slowly disintegrated into grey ash. After they had completely transformed, Chen Xiang manipulated the Spirit Qi emitted from these spirit herbs and combined it with the “Herbal Powder”... Chen Xiang was now in the 5th level of the Mortal Martial Realm. He had a good amount of spiritual power, yet he was already nearing his limit. This was mainly because he divided the rainbow whirlpool of “Herbal Spirit Qi” into five mini whirlpools while trying to fuse those with five equal portions of “Herbal Powder” at the same time. He was trying to refine five dans at once! While forming the five whirlpools, Chen Xiang’s brows started to wrinkle, and he was sweating profusely from his forehead. Not only did he need to use True Qi to form his flames, but he also had to control the formed flames while, at the same time, also trying to congeal the dans, which forced him to consume vast amounts of spiritual power. “This had better be successful!” Chen Xiang shouted in his heart. The five “Herbal Spirit Qi” whirlpools were revolving rapidly and even began the process of fusing together. He now only needed to drop in the right amount of water and let the two successfully congeal into five dans. Chen Xiang was continuously sweating from his forehead and looked very tired. But he still continued to release the True Qi flames and spiritual power. He had used up almost all of his True Qi/ “I finally succeeded, plus I ended up spending all day to refine these five dans, alchemy really needs a lot of time!” Chen Xiang said with a sigh. Chen Xiang opened the alchemical furnace, looking at the five snow white ‘Quenching Body Dans’ within the dissipating mist, and he could not help but grin. He had eaten a ‘Quenching Body Dan’ before, but the quality of those dans was not even close to these. If those old alchemists came to know about him successful refining the ‘Quenching Body Dan’ in a day, they would certainly die with shame. Many alchemists took three to five years to successfully refine a dan for the first time, even the most talented alchemists would still need a year and a half and moreover, they were only able to refine one dan at a time. But Chen Xiang in his first attempt successfully refined five dans, so if those old alchemists found out then they would probably die from the shock of it. Not to mention those old alchemists, even the sisters, Su Meiyao and Bai Youyou, were scared by Chen Xiang’s inherent talent in alchemy. They inspected the dans with their own delicate hands, and their facial expression became filled with shock. “Ha-ha, sister Meiyao, before you said I would have to wait for a year and a half to actually successful refine a dan, but I successful refined them in a single day, now you can give me a reward.” Chen Xiang started laughing proudly. Su Meiyao was also very happy, with a charming voice asked, “Then, young master Chen, how can us sisters reward you?” Chen Xiang, with both hands hugging his chest, smiled and said, “How about a kiss.....on the cheek of course” “Dream on brat!” Bai Youyou coldly said, then returned inside the ring. Su Meiyao, while trying to contain her laughter, arrived near Chen Xiang and gave him a kiss on his cheek with her soft lips. “My dear brother, you have only succeeded through hard work, you should not be too proud.” Chen Xiang was only kidding and did not expect this beautiful girl to actually give him a kiss, Su Meiyao watched the stupefied Chen Xiang and laughed while covering her mouth, then returned to the ring. Chen Xiang took a deep breath while smelling the residual fragrance left by her. Calming his heartbeat down, he whispered, “She really is a dangerous woman, I, unexpectedly, got caught up in her pace and was charmed.” He touched the invisible ring on his hand as if caressing a lover’s face. In order to allow the fairies inside his ring to restore their strength as soon as possible, he motivated himself. A ‘Quenching Body Dan’ is sold for seven hundred spirit coins, and Chen Xiang refined five dans, so he can sell them for three thousand five hundred spirit coins. He earned big time and not to mention that he still has a set of herbs left to refine, so if he succeeded again, then another profit of three thousand five hundred spirit coins could be made. Chen Xiang read in a book some time ago, that you can refine up to five ‘Quenching Body Dan’ from one set of herbs. So his target had always been to refine five dans in one go, but he did not know that refining five dans at once can only be possible in a situation when the herbs are used to their utmost efficiency. Only high-level alchemists with better understandings can solidify dans in that way, and the timing was also most important. To control spiritual power and flames at a micro level, one must take notice of the subtle changes taking place inside the alchemical furnace, or, otherwise, they will fall short. The ‘Quenching Body Dan’ provides great help when refining the body. But they are limited to martial artists at the 3rd level, or lower, of the Mortal Martial Realm, and as Chen Xiang was now at the 5th level of Mortal Martial Realm the ‘Quenching Body Dan’ would not be of much help, but it could still help him in restoring his True Qi quickly. Chen Xiang ate one dan, and more than half of the True Qi within his body was restored. He decided to take the remaining four dans to Chen Tianhu for tasting. “The flavor is good, but I just ate seven hundred spirit coins!” Chen Xiang with some sorrow went to his father’s library. It was already late night, but Chen Tianhu was not sleeping. Still thinking about some things regarding the martial arts in the library, this was a habit of his. “Xiang Er, what problem have you encountered for you to come find me at such a late hour.” Chen Tianhu smelled the fragrance of herbs coming from Chen Xiang body and immediately frowned. Chen Xiang with a grin said, “I want father to taste the very first dan which I have refined!” “What!” Chen Tianhu fiercely stood up with his eyes wide open and his face filled with disbelief. He originally thought it would take Chen Xiang eight to ten years before he can successfully refine some dans, but did not expect that it just take him a day. A single f***king day! Chen Xiang gave Chen Tianhu four snow white ‘Quenching Body Dans’. Chen Tianhu’s mouth stayed open with shock while looking at the four snow white dans with disbelief. “Still hot!” Chen Tianhu mind went blank from shock because he did not believe his son would actually comprehend alchemy in a single day. Is he a genius that was born once in a thousand years? These type of geniuses, although are respected by various forces, but they are also envied by many, and if there were people who wanted to recruit them, then there obviously will be people who will want to assassinate them. Chen Tianhu took a deep breath, calming down his heart which was filled with excitement and said, “The quality is much better when compared to the Spirit dan Hall, so it’ll at least be sold for eight hundred spirit coins. I will take these four dans and help you in selling them and buying some spirit herb seedlings! ” For Chen Xiang able to accelerate the growth of spirit herbs, and then refine them into dans in a matter of few days, Chen Tianhu knew that his son will become a grandmaster level alchemist in the not so distant future. “You cannot rush these things, first thoroughly refine Mortal Level low-grade dans, and when you get the hang of it, then move onto the higher level ones.” Chen Xiang nodded his head, and he returned to his courtyard to rest, waiting till his spiritual power is restored, then he once again started refining the last set of herbs. The next day, Chen Xiang woke up early, thinking about refining the ‘Quenching Body Dan’. He was somewhat excited, and after successfully refining it once, this time, it was just simply following the previous steps. He arrived at the last stage of congealing the dans with ease. Within the alchemical furnace, there were five groups of herbal powder and herbal spirit Qi, fusing them together into a sludge. Chen Xiang was relaxed this time, not like the previous attempt ,where he consumed most of his True Qi and spiritual power. “Successful!” Chen Xiang sighed with relief, opening the lid of the furnace, and he saw 5 ‘Quenching Body Dans’. It only took him 2 hours to refine the dans this time around! In the following days, Chen Xiang accelerated the growth of many spirit herbs then refined them into dans. Not only was he refining ‘Quenching Body Dan’, but he also refined many other low-grade Mortal Level dans that have many practical uses, such as ‘Restoring Qi Dan’, ‘Golden Healing Essence’, ‘Dispelling Poison Dan’, ‘Congealing Qi Dan’ and others. Although at the beginning, each time he would have some failures, but as he got familiar with the nature of the spirit herbs and got better in controlling his flames, while also getting several tips, he naturally got better at refining dans. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢 Su Meiyao, this mysterious girl’s alchemy technique was very brilliant, and previously he didn’t believe this stunning charming girl even knew alchemy, because in his knowledge, alchemist were either bald or white haired old men. Chen Xiang did not get tired these past few days and practicing alchemy didn’t even affect his Qi practice. He was also practicing the [Dragon Saliva Exercise] in the evenings to create azure dewdrops, which were able to accelerate the growth of spirit herbs. Once again, a month went by, and in this month, Chen Xiang became skilled in refining low-grade Mortal Level dans. Editor Note: remember, ‘dans’ are pills.