494 Concocting Pills (2/2)
Jun Mo Xie flashed a prideful smile; he was brimming with confidence. His empty right hand grabbed towards around twenty herbs he had prepared in advance. And, they floated forth very slowly as a result. In fact, it seemed as if an invisible string was pulling them along. These herbs then entered the furnace one by one… like moths drawn to a flame.
Jun Mo Xie made several fluctuating finger movements. He then heard a ”Bang!” as the lid of the furnace flew up. But, it only flew up for a second before rejoining the main body of the furnace. Then, there was another explosion as the Flame of Primal Chaos soared. And, the entire furnace was surrounded by it in an instant as a result.
Jun Mo Xie moved his limbs in accordance to the requirement for the refining of the pills. He moved around the black flame as his fingers made many gestures. Consequently, energy surged from within his body to support the combustion of the Flame of Primal Chaos.
Time passed quickly. However, Young Master Jun suddenly felt that something was wrong.
[Damn! I've been refining these pills for a long while now. In fact, I guess that I've already spent at least ten-fold the time I've ever spent on any of the pills I've refined in the past. So, how come I haven't witnessed any activity yet? I would've taken the pills out of the furnace by now if these were the Ten Years' Pills. But, there hadn't been any development in the case of these pills! What's going on…?]
A good while passed, and Jun Mo Xie started feeling that his energy had drained. He felt his mental strength waning, and he was on the verge of passing out. His legs felt weak, and his body had become damp from the excessive sweating. The Young Master's energy was nearly bottoming out. However, there hadn't been any activity from the dark flames surrounding the furnace.
[I must stand firm! This is a very crucial moment! I can't screw up! I must stand firm!]
Jun Mo Xie clenched his teeth, took out a Ten Years' Pill, and threw it into his mouth. [It can't increase my strength anymore, but it can still restore my energy.]
…. ….
The Goddess of Fortune favored the Young Master once more when he was completely exhausted, and wasn't able to continue any further… There was a sound of a gong from the furnace, and its lid flew into the sky with a gentle sound resembling that of birds. The Flame of Primal Chaos silently withdrew, and slowly crumbled into a small heap inside the furnace.
”Heavens be damned! It's too difficult! How can it be so difficult? It isn't like the Bone Tempering Pills or the majority of other pills! How can it be so difficult? This process nearly killed this Young Master!” Jun Mo Xie panted hoarsely. He was sweating very profusely. His legs shuddered like noodles for a moment. Then, they eventually buckled. And, he was forced to sit as a result. It was like he had done a lot of work throughout many nights without rest. He was like a horse which had run thousands of miles without a moment's rest. His tongue poked out as he continued to pant and shake for a long while. He then stood up with difficulty, and stretched his neck to look into the furnace.
”How could this be?” Jun Mo Xie exclaimed in shock. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Consequently, the Young Master rubbed is eyes, and stared at it again.
A heap of black ash quietly lay in the furnace…
Jun Mo Xie felt like an inflated balloon that was leaking air; he felt paralyzed. His body's reserves had been depleted in their entirety. His energy had been pushed beyond the limit. And, his confidence had suffered a crushing blow. [I wasted so much energy, and I still failed! Fu*k me! How could it be so difficult?]
”Fu*k! I don't believe this evil sorcery! I will sort you out. Don't think that I can't bring you under my control just because I've failed once!” Jun Mo Xie's expression was fierce as he jumped up and raised his finger to the sky. Then, he closed his eyes and initiated the Art of Unlocking the Heaven's Fortune once more with the entirety of his strength.
His dantian warmed up, and started palpitating. Then, a stream of pure energy flew out, and rushed through his meridians. The divine aura inside the Hong Jun Pagoda violently started moving towards Jun Mo Xie like tornados on a sea.
A long and immeasurable period of time elapsed. Jun Mo Xie's eyes suddenly emitted a sharp radiance as they opened. His physical stamina and energy had been restored to its optimum. But, further investigations made Jun Mo Xie realize that his 'energy overdraft' limit had surprisingly increased from its previous limit.
This increase in overdraft limit was a great step towards the next level inside the Art of Unlocking the Heaven's Fortune. In fact, he could clearly feel that his ability to absorb aura had increased by three or four times.
”That's strange!” Jun Mo Xie scratched his head. Then, he got out into his courtyard, and realized that his effort in refining those pills had taken no less than a full day and a night if the subsequent recovery of his strength was also taken into account.
He had stayed in the Hong Jun Pagoda for over ten days if everything was to be taken into account. His originally snow-white gown had become so filthy that it couldn't even be looked at. His hair was disheveled and dirty. In fact, it appeared like he had been into a chicken coop. His face had many black marks, and his sweat was flooding the floor. He'd look like a beggar… even to beggars.
Jun Mo Xie quickly gave a few orders to make arrangements. Then, he hurriedly slipped into the large bathtub, and scrubbed himself clean. And, he also thought about what had happened as he did so…
He didn't even know how lucky he was that he hadn't chosen the pill which was even more difficult. He had only chosen the second-tier Vitality Linkage Pill. He would've been in a much worse-off condition if he had picked the Vitality Congregation Pill instead. However, things would've been different if he had chosen the easy Heavenly Vitality Pill. In fact, it was possible that he would've been done with the refining by now…