Chapter 162: The Marvelous Art of Alchemy
“All gathered already? Let me take a look.”
Yun Jiao accepted the pouch from him, opened it, and swept her gaze over the contents. She saw that every single spiritual herb and celestial plant was present — not one missing. In fact, some had even been prepared in multiple sets. His injuries had lingered too long; the sooner his golden body was restored, the better. She nodded. “The ingredients are all here, that makes things easy. All right, wait a bit. I’ll refine it for you right now.”
“Many thanks, Little Martial Niece!” Yuan Jiang seemed to recall something and quickly added, “Since refining pills takes time, would you like me to stay and guard your process?”
“It won’t take that long!” Yun Jiao shook her head casually. “You still have classes to teach. Standing guard would just be a waste of your time.”
“Ah?” Yuan Jiang froze in surprise. Wasn’t pill refinement known to be the most dangerous process? A single mistake could lead to an explosion — a destroyed pill would be a small matter, but the alchemist themselves could easily be caught in the blast.
He trusted his junior niece’s abilities, yes, but hadn’t she said earlier that this was a heaven-grade pill? Even the top-ranked alchemists could not guarantee a perfect success rate!
Just as he was about to persuade her otherwise, Yun Jiao had already spoken. “Come on, let’s go to the furnace.”
She turned and headed toward the rear hall without the slightest sign of concern.
Yuan Jiang had no choice but to follow. They passed through several courtyards, heading toward the back right section. He had assumed there was an alchemy room back there, but the farther they walked, the more familiar the path became — until they stepped into a courtyard filled with the scent of cooking smoke. Only then did he realize, in shock—