Chapter 55: Failure
Lordi Payne watched as his body moved with precision to the lab room's built-in furnace. With a deft hand-seal, the system summoned the Nether Fire from the Dao Fulu, igniting the bronze furnace with a flicker of eerie purple flame.
While the furnace heated up, the system began processing the ingredients, starting with the most volatile: the Ghost Placenta.
Lordi Payne had experienced the menace of this ingredient during yesterday's lecture. Its soul-piercing wails could overwhelm even seasoned cultivators. But in the hands of the system, the Ghost Placenta's attacks were useless. The system tamed the writhing mass of flesh and blood in seconds, processing it with clinical efficiency before tossing it into the furnace.
Next came the Cold Iron Grass. True to its name, it looked like a tangled snarl of frosty iron wire, devoid of any hint of green or life. According to Lecturer Yearn Goul, the key to processing this material was slow, gentle heating with spiritual energy to melt it into a usable juice. While the process wasn't inherently difficult, it required meticulous control over the heat—something the system excelled at.
The third ingredient was the Crocodile Tiger Bone. On the surface, the task seemed simple: crush it into powder. The finer the powder, the better it would blend with the other ingredients, enhancing the pill's medicinal properties. But the system didn't take shortcuts. It pulverized the ounce of bone relentlessly, grinding it back and forth until it was reduced to an impossibly fine dust. Lordi Payne felt his spiritual energy and stamina draining rapidly, leaving him winded just from watching. Yet the system didn't stop until the bone was perfectly processed.
The remaining ingredients—Red Alder Flower and Essence Blood of an Enlightenment Stage Demonic Monster—required only minimal processing before they could be added to the furnace. The system handled them with the same efficiency. Even the supplementary materials, which posed no particular challenge, were prepped with meticulous care.
Soon, all the ingredients were ready, and the system kicked off the real alchemy.
Lordi Payne watched intently as the system flawlessly mirrored Yearn Goul's alchemy demonstration from the previous day. Every movement was skilled, smooth, and executed without the slightest hesitation or pause, as if the system had practiced the process thousands of times. It was a mesmerising display of precision and efficiency.
After a while, the sound of boiling liquid echoed from the alchemy furnace, and bursts of elixir fragrance wafted out, filling the room. The scent was so potent that Lordi Payne, who was already drenched in sweat, suddenly felt a wave of relaxation wash over him. It was as if his muscles, bones, and skin were soaking in a hot spring, warm and comforting.
"When Yearn Goul crafted the Bone Tempering Pill yesterday, the elixir fragrance wasn't this strong," Lordi Payne thought, a flicker of suspicion crossing his mind. "Is this a good sign or a bad one? Whatever the case, as long as the pills turn out fine, today's investment won't be wasted."
Moments later, the system made a subtle gesture, and the alchemy fire slowly died down. The furnace lid lifted, and the system-controlled Lordi Payne reached in to retrieve twelve greyish white pills. Their color was similar to the ten "gifts" the system had taken from Kinson Wexford earlier—a pale, bone-like hue. But upon closer inspection, Lordi Payne noticed these pills were clearer, purer, and more translucent, as if they contained fewer impurities.