Cultivation of immortality begins with an eighty-year-old eunuch.

Chapter 460 Opening the Furnace! Alchemy!

Old Man Long then put down his palm-leaf fan and jade pestle, took the jade box, opened it, and his eyes immediately lit up:

"Good stuff! The heart marrow of a thousand-year-old tree, of excellent quality! Those bastards from the Wang family are really willing to spend money."

He carefully picked up the tree heartwood, held it up to the lamp for a close examination, and clicked his tongue in amazement: "This thing is a rare item even in the Southern Region. It seems that Young Master Wang's status in the Wang family is indeed extraordinary, otherwise Old Ghost Wang would never have offered this for exchange."

Chen Fan sat down on the futon beside him: "We have the tree heart marrow, what's next?"

The old man Long put the tree heart marrow back into the jade box, his expression becoming solemn: "After these days of recuperation, Tianxiang's soul injury has stabilized. However, soul injuries are not like physical injuries. To fully recover without leaving any hidden dangers, we need to use the tree heart marrow as the main medicine, supplemented with twelve kinds of spiritual herbs such as soul-soothing grass and mind-concentrating flower, to refine a grade four calming pill."

"A fourth-grade calming pill?" Chen Fan frowned slightly. "You can refine it?"

Old Man Long rolled his eyes: "Who do you think you are? I'm a third-grade alchemist, after all! Although fourth-grade pills are difficult to refine, with this thousand-year-old tree essence as a foundation, plus your assistance, I have at least a 70% chance of success."

As he spoke, he pulled out a yellowed pill formula from his pocket and handed it to Chen Fan: "This is the formula for the Tranquilizing Pill. Take a look at it first. The most crucial aspects of refining this pill are controlling the heat and blending the medicinal properties. The tree heart marrow is warm in nature and needs to be simmered over a low flame to slowly extract its essence before blending it with other spiritual herbs. If you are not careful, the medicinal power will be lost, or even the furnace will explode."

Chen Fan took the prescription, scanned it with his divine sense, and memorized the medicinal materials, dosages, and key points of cooking time recorded on it.

The twelve main and auxiliary medicinal materials, including Soothing Grass, Mind-Concentrating Flower, Soul-Nourishing Wood Powder, Moon Dew, and Star Sand, are mostly nourishing substances for the soul. They have different medicinal properties, some warm and some cool, some fast and some slow. To perfectly blend them, one needs extremely high fire control skills and an understanding of the medicinal properties.

"When will we start the furnace?" Chen Fan asked.

Old Man Long stroked his beard: "Tomorrow at noon, when the yang energy is at its peak, we'll start the furnace. At night, the yin energy is heavy, which is not good for the elixir that nourishes the soul. Tonight, you should regulate your breathing and replenish your energy. Tomorrow, when refining the elixir, I need your pure spiritual power to help me control the fire, especially the step of fusing the medicinal liquids; there can be no mistakes whatsoever."

Chen Fan nodded: "Understood."

"In addition," Old Man Long took out several medicinal herbs from his storage bag and placed them on the table, "these are auxiliary medicines, which I have here. But one of the main medicines, 'Moonlight Dew,' requires collecting moonlight dew at midnight. There is no stock in the herb valley, so it has to be collected on the spot. As for 'Star Sand,' I only have three qian here, which is not enough. I have to go to the storeroom to get it."

As he spoke, he looked at Chen Fan and said, "I'll collect the Moon Dew, but you can go to the storeroom to get the Star Sand. The storeroom key is with the Valley Master; go ask him for it."

Chen Fan agreed and got up to leave the alchemy room.

The moonlight, like water, spilled over the medicinal herb field.

Chen Fan walked to the bamboo house where Gu Daozi lived and gently knocked on the door.

Soon, the door opened.

Gu Daozi, wearing an outer robe, wasn't surprised to see Chen Fan: "You're back? Did the goods go smoothly?"

"Successfully," Chen Fan said. "Senior Long needs to refine a Tranquilizing Pill, but he's short of Stardust Sand, so he sent me to the storeroom to get it."

Gu Daozi nodded, turned around, took a jade talisman from the wall, and handed it to Chen Fan: "The storehouse is at the east end of the herb field. Go get it yourself. How many do you need?"

"The prescription says five qian." Chen Fan took the jade talisman.

Gu Daozi waved his hand: "Go ahead, and remember to lock the storeroom door after you take it."

Chen Fan took the jade talisman and came to a stone house at the east end of the medicinal field.

The stone house looked ordinary, but Chen Fan detected at least three restrictions when he scanned it with his divine sense.

He placed the jade talisman in the groove in the center of the stone door. The talisman flashed with light, and the stone door slid open silently.

The warehouse was not large, about three zhang square, with stone shelves on all four walls, on which various medicinal herbs, minerals and pills were arranged in categories.

Chen Fan quickly found the jade box containing the stardust. Upon opening it, he found it filled with fine, silvery sand that shimmered with starlight. He took out a small jade scale, weighed out five qian (approximately 15 grams), carefully placed it into another empty jade box, and then put the original box back in its place.

Before leaving the warehouse, Chen Fan's gaze swept over the stone shelves and suddenly stopped in a corner.

There was an inconspicuous wooden box with a yellowed talisman pasted on it, bearing the words "incomplete prescription".

Chen Fan's heart stirred, recalling that Old Man Long had once mentioned that Grass Valley had collected many ancient pill formula fragments, some of which even Valley Daozi could not comprehend.

He walked up to the wooden box, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to take it down.

Opening the wooden box, Chen Fan found several tattered jade slips and animal hide scrolls inside. He casually picked up one of the animal hide scrolls and unfolded it. It contained a recipe for a pill called "Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill," but most of the contents were blurred and illegible. Only a few main ingredients and some of the refining methods could be barely discerned.

He picked up another jade slip and probed it with his divine sense. Inside was a fragment of the formula for a pill called "Number Transformation Pill," which was used to help people break through to the Nascent Soul stage. It was also incomplete.

After flipping through the pages for a while, a thought suddenly popped into Chen Fan's mind.

Emperor Jianwen is about to attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. If he could have a complete Nascent Soul Transformation Pill to help him, his success rate might be increased.

However, the Nascent Soul Pill is a top-tier fourth-grade pill, extremely difficult to refine, and its main ingredient is hard to find. Even with the complete formula, given his and Old Man Long's current alchemy skills, they might not be able to refine it successfully.

Moreover, Emperor Jianwen followed the path of ancestral worship, so it was still unknown whether the Nascent Soul Elixir would be effective for him.

Chen Fan shook his head and put the remaining prescription back into the wooden box.

It's too early to think about these things now; the most urgent task is to cure Tianxiangzi.

He put the wooden box back in its place, left the storeroom, locked the stone door, and returned to the alchemy room.

Old Man Long had already prepared all the other medicinal herbs and was sitting cross-legged in front of the alchemy furnace, meditating. Seeing Chen Fan return, he opened his eyes: "You brought them?"

Chen Fan handed over the jade box containing stardust.

Old Man Long opened it, glanced at it, and nodded: "The quality is good. You should go and rest now. We'll start the furnace at noon tomorrow."

Chen Fan responded, but did not leave. Instead, he sat down opposite Old Man Long and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.

Old Man Long glanced at him, said nothing, and closed his eyes again.

The alchemy room fell silent, with only the occasional crackling of the furnace fire and the two people's long breaths.

……

The following day at noon, the sun was blazing.

In the center of the alchemy room, the half-person-high alchemy furnace had been cleaned spotlessly, and the ancient runes on its surface gleamed with a dark red luster in the sunlight.

Old Man Long changed into a clean Taoist robe, his expression solemn. He first washed his hands with clean water, then burned three sticks of incense, and bowed three times to the alchemy furnace before saying to Chen Fan, "We can begin."

Chen Fan nodded and sat down on the futon beside the alchemy furnace.