Chapter 642: Matchless Dao of Alchemy (2/2)
Everything happened all too fast. Right when the flame turned into water, it receded as fast as the tide and immediately extracted all the essences from each of the ingredients.
What was even more terrifying was that all of the extracted essences quickly paired together at an incredible speed. Even the G.o.ddess Weaver’s dexterous hands would not be able to match this speed. [2. A G.o.ddess Weaver representing the star Vega, a G.o.ddess in Chinese ancient mythology. Her job is to weave the clouds and love; protect women and children. She is popular throughout Asia and has many differing versions of her tales. The Jade Emperor has a daughter named Zhinü (simplified Chinese: 织女; traditional Chinese: 織女; pinyin: zhī nǚ or Chih'nü, literally: weaver girl). She is most often represented as responsible for weaving colorful clouds in the heavens. In some versions, she is the G.o.ddess Weaver, daughter of the Jade Emperor, and the Celestial Queen Mother who weaves the Silver River (known in the West as the Milky Way), which gives light to heaven and earth. In other versions, she is a seamstress who works for the Jade Emperor.]
The quick pairings between ingredients were fearsome, such as the Red Scorpion’s venom combining with the liquid extract of Yin Snakegra.s.s. Under the kettle’s flame, the two essences intertwined and melted to instantly take shape.
These changes would normally take days, yet all of them were now transformed in an instant.
“Xshh!” The extremely hot flame quickly swept through the liquefied medicinal essences and tempered it into a solid.
“Pop!” The flame disappeared along with the kettle pot, leaving behind only a packet of ointment skillfully wrapped by Li Qiye using alchemy paper. He then put away the Myriad Heavenly Cauldron.
Meanwhile, Madam Zi Yan and the eighteen monarchs stood there, frozen.
In theory, an alchemist would either leave or not allow outsiders to witness them in action, lest their techniques be stolen. However, Li Qiye didn’t make this request. Even when the group witnessed — with their own eyes — Li Qiye’s method, they were unable to replicate it since they were completely staggered by the process.
From the introduction of the ingredients till the formation of the ointment, it all happened way too fast, lasting only a few seconds. It was much shorter than the time it took to boil a pot of tea.
They had never seen this method of ointment creation before. The alchemist monarch was especially stunned. This was his family’s recipe and others definitely didn’t have it, so they shouldn’t be able to create this ointment.
And even if it was possible to create it, it shouldn’t have been this fast.
The monarch was one of the strongest alchemists in his clan, but it would take him at least one day to create this special recipe. Those less skilled in his clan would require at least three days.
But now, Li Qiye did it with just a swing of his hand — this was completely astonis.h.i.+ng to them. Both the speed and how he did it without knowing the recipe left them aghast.
Inside the alchemy wrapping, the ointment slowly hardened. Li Qiye then gently covered it with his palm before handing the wrapped up ointment to the alchemist: “Take it.”
The alchemist monarch took a deep breath in his attempt to calm down after seeing this. Li Qiye’s little action was the last important procedure after wrapping up the special formula. Without this procedure, the effect of the ointment would be greatly affected.
Thus, how could the alchemist not be shocked when Li Qiye knew of this action? If he didn’t believe in his own clan, he would have suspected that Li Qiye had stolen the formula even though he knew that this was impossible.
While everyone else slowly calmed down, the alchemist took his time opening the wrapped up ointment.
Everyone looked over to examine the ointment resting on top of his palm. The alchemist quickly became pale after seeing the ointment and had to take several steps back: “How… How… could this be? This… is of the best quality! All the impurities are gone. This ointment, once applied to the wound, would quickly permeate into the body and heal the injury instantly!” The alchemist was frightened to the point where he eventually dropped down to the ground.
Another monarch was also aghast after seeing the ointment. A different monarch praised right away: “What a great ointment, it is several times better than the one Brother Sun gave to me.”
“It’s not just several times better...” The alchemist sitting on the floor acted as if he had seen a ghost. After a while, he managed to regain his wits and smiled wryly to say: “No one can create this ointment at this quality outside of our progenitor. There is a legend in my clan: if we refine our clan’s ointment to the ultimate limit, then it can almost compare to the Soulrending Immortal Powder of the Alchemy Kingdom and would be much better than many of the contemporary ointments.”
At this point, the alchemist paused for a second and exclaimed in both excitement and disbelief: “Prior to this, I had always thought that it was impossible, but I can now see that it is indeed true... So, so… amazing.”
The others responded with gasps. The Soulrending Immortal Powder was a famous ointment exclusive to the Alchemy Kingdom. Countless big characters didn’t mind throwing away their wealth just to ask for a little bit of Soulrending Immortal Powder.
Not only was Li Qiye’s ointment of the highest quality, the process was also too frightening.
At this point, everyone was speechless from shock. This was not Ancient Pine’s first time watching Li Qiye performing alchemy, but he was still shaken despite being mentally prepared.