323 Strange Encounter in the Valley (2/2)

A glint of fervor flashed in his eyes. His gaze towards the old man in white robes had changed instantly.

Knowing the Primordial Soul Pearl, he knew that the old man had passed away a long time ago. The remnant now was but a shadow of his lifetime inheritance. It did not have any soul or thoughts. It was only responsible for passing down the inheritance following the prescribed instructions.

Mo Wen took a deep breath and bowed sincerely towards the old man in white robes. Then, he walked up to the altar. When he reached the altar, it lit up. The runes brightened up one by one, enveloping the surroundings with their glow.

The old man in white robes waved his hand, and a streak of white light instantly encircled Mo Wen. It formed a circle of light with a diameter of around five meters, and Mo Wen stood in the center.

After the white light encircled Mo Wen, the old man in white robes didn't attend to him anymore. Instead, he leaped down form the cauldron, walked a distance of around 20 meters away from Mo Wen, and sat down. He waved his hand, and the huge cauldron started to shrink. In a moment, the cauldron had changed into a medicine furnace the size of a palm.

The old man waved his hand again, and the shrunken medicine furnace changed into a streak of red light. With a flash, it appeared in his hand. He pointed a finger, and a bright golden flame appeared below the medicine furnace.

Then, acting as though no one else was present, he took out some medicinal herbs from a quaint ring. With the flash of a creamy white light, stalks of herbal medicines appeared. A total of more than ten of types of herbal medicines were arranged neatly before him.

Mo Wen naturally knew that the ring, which medicinal herbs could be taken out of, was a storage ring in the Immortal Cultivation world. There was a not-large-not-small storage space within the ring. Even though it was not a rare item in the Immortal Cultivation world, not everyone could have one, either.

In the past, Mo Wen had never gotten the chance to acquire a storage ring. He was always envious of the storage ring possessed by the alchemist who had taught him how to concoct pills.

The magical instruments used for storage were naturally not limited to the storage ring. There were also storage bracelets and storage hairpins. Even a handkerchief could be a magical instrument for storage. There were all sorts of things. However, for many immortal cultivators, even acquiring the cheapest storage sack was not easy. Naturally, they wouldn't consider other magical instruments for storage.

After taking out many medicinal herbs, the old man started concocting pills. He put the medicinal herbs into the medicine furnace one by one, then he made many mysterious hand gestures. The fire was flickering, and a batch of pills was slowly being concocted.

The speed at which the old man concocted pills was fast. In seven minutes, he had concocted a batch of pills. The thick aroma of medicine filled the surroundings and lingered in the air.

He concocted the same type of pills three times consecutively. After he had finished concocting three batches, he stopped. His gaze slowly shifted towards Mo Wen. At some point, a cauldron had quietly appeared beside Mo Wen. The same medicinal herbs used by the old man to concoct the pills were there, too.

”Testing my alchemy art?” A glint of understanding flashed in Mo Wen's eyes. Just now, the old man seemed to have mentioned that he could only succeed in taking the old man's mantle if he passed his assessment.

The old man was obviously skillful in the art of alchemy. It was possible that the old man was a master in alchemy, a peerless figure like the King of Pills.

Mo Wen had absolutely no idea what pills the old man had concocted just now. they looked simple, yet they seemed to have some hidden mystery.

After watching three times consecutively, Mo Wen had gained a bit of experience. He started concocting a batch of pills based on the steps the old man in white had taken.

Naturally, Mo Wen's alchemy ability could not be compared to the old man's. Mo Wen needed a whole two hours before his concocting came to a slow finish. The last step was to open the furnace and take out the pills. This step determined whether he had succeeded or failed.

When Mo Wen opened the furnace, his face instantly turned sullen. All he could see was a bunch of gooey, pitch-black stuff. There was no pill at all. A disgusting smell filled the air. It was vastly different compared to the thick aroma that had formed when the old man was concocting.

He had failed!

Mo Wen knew that he had concocted a batch of useless pills. It was common to have concocted useless pills during the process of alchemy. Normally, if one was not a master of alchemy, he couldn't guarantee that he would succeed every time.

Therefore, Mo Wen didn't lose heart. He started concocting a second batch of pills. After all, he had enough medicinal herbs and everything else he needed to continue concocting pills.

However, as the process of alchemy continued, the further Mo Wen went, the sulkier his facial expression was. After 13 consecutive batches of pills, none of the batches was successful. All of them had failed.

Before this, when he was watching the old man concocting, it seemed simple without much difficulty. So why had he failed repeatedly when it was his turn to concoct?