Chapter 6: Extracting And Purifying Yuanli

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Ye Mo hurriedly went to start the fire. Although Elder Yin would not cripple his arms, there would still be another punishment waiting for him as Elder Yin definitely was not going to let this slide so easily.

The first time Ye Mo started working at the Pill Refining Chamber, he spotted Ye Ming stealing medicinal herbs and informed Elder Yin of it. Ye Ming was a member of the Main House, and his father, Ye Di, was the clan elder Ye Kuang’s brother. Evidently, Ye Ming was among the upper ranks within the clan.

Despite Ye Ming’s status in the clan, Elder Yin did not hesitate to give Ye Ming a beating and broke his two legs, causing Ye Ming to be bedridden for an entire week.

Once Ye Ming recovered, he sought out Ye Mo and beat him for being a tattletale. After that, Ye Mo never want to be beaten again. All he could do was swallow his pride and pretend he never saw the two stealing from Elder Yin.

There were four steps to synthesizing pills: adding the ingredients, kindling the fire, forming the pills, and returning it to the furnace for further refinement.

After working under Elder Yin for all those years, Ye Mo knew the procedure like the back of his hand.

Priming Pills and the treatment used in first aid, Blood Activating Pills, were rank one pills that Ye Mo knew so well he could find their ingredients with his eyes closed.

Although Elder Yin never taught Ye Mo this, Ye Mo knew that the most important step in making the pills was the formation of the pills. If they were not formed properly, the pills that came out of the furnace would essentially be duds.

All the Fortifying Pills in the Ye Clan were imported, hence why Elder Yin had a strong sense of urgency to synthesize his own.

Once the ingredients were all gathered, Elder Yin began to channel a surge of deep red Yuanli into the furnace while Ye Mo focused on maintaining the flames. Elder Yin’s face strained in concentration as he channeled Yuanli and observed the fire.

“Ye Mo, increase the heat!”

“No, you need to increase it even more!”

“Ye Mo, it’s still not hot enough. The Fortifying Pill is not the same as the Priming Pill. You must keep the flames roaring!”

With the current amount of heat, Ye Mo had already reached his limit. He internally sighed and commanded one dragon to erupt through the Gate of his right hand. Ye Mo felt a strong surge of power as the flames in the furnace grew.

At the sight of the blazing fires, Elder Yin’s initial reaction of surprise turned into a satisfied grin. After ten minutes, Elder Yin retracted his hands.

“You can stop now.”

Ye Mo stopped fanning the flames. The action was followed by the sound of a small explosion, an indicator that it had completed its course of refinement. A sweet aroma wafted out from the cauldron as Elder Yin removed the lid. A batch of Fortifying Pills had been successfully created.

“Haha! I’ve finally succeeded in making Fortifying Pills!” Elder Yin cried happily.

Ye Mo hastily stood up and said, “Elder Yin, you truly are a genius alchemist. With your presence in the Ye Clan, the title of ‘Most Powerful Clan in Limestone City’ will be within reach in no time.”

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere. What was that all about? How were you able to sustain such huge flames? Did you open your Gates?” Elder Yin asked stonily.

“It was all thanks to your Priming Pills. They helped me open my Gate.”

“Excellent news. However, don’t think that you can get away with stealing the Priming Pills. I want to make some more Fortifying Pills, so I want you to buy some Pill Dissociation Powder from the Hundred Treasure Pavilion. Remember, only buy the very best.”

Pill Dissociation Powder was an essential component in the synthesis of all pills. It was not an expensive ingredient, but it was not considered cheap either. One piece of gold, which was equivalent to a hundred smaller silver pieces, could purchase one pound of powder.

Judging by Elder Yin’s tone, Ye Mo would have to pay for the powder out of his own pocket. To Ye Mo, one hundred silver pieces was such a large expense that even if he sold his own body, he didn’t think he’d have that much money.

“But Elder Yin, it’s too costly—!”

Before Ye Mo could finish his sentence, Elder Yin interjected, “Don’t tell me you’re expecting me to pay for that too? I’ll look for a new apprentice in a few days. If you still haven’t brought back the Pill Dissociation Powder by the time I’ve found my new apprentice, I will send you to the torture chambers.”

“Fine!” Ye Mo pushed through gritted teeth. Not an ounce of sympathy from this old man.

After Elder Yin created some more Priming Pills, he stopped synthesizing pills and hid the Priming Pills away, whereas the Fortifying Pills, he decided to carry them himself for safekeeping. Before he left, he gave Ye Mo instructions to clean up the chamber.

Once Ye Mo was done cleaning up, he returned to his bedroom.

With the Priming Pills gone, an urgent need for one hundred small silver pieces, as well as having to avoid Ye Xiaotian seeking his revenge, Ye Mo could only work hard on increasing his skill and finding a way to earn some quick cash.

Ye Mo sat cross-legged on the floor, concentrating on manipulating the two dragons’ into erupting his Mind’s Gate.

Originally, Ye Mo had planned to open the Gate on his right leg first, as attack power and speed were the two most important elements in a fight.

However, Ye Mo considered the importance of opening the Mind Gate, as it could sharpen one’s senses. Seeing as he possessed dragon power, which was stronger than Yuanli, if he opened his Mind’s Gate, could that possibly mean that his senses would also be sharper than an average person’s?

On one hand, Ye Mo was still refining the dragon power. On the other hand, he wanted to harness the power and directed its forces to erupting his Mind’s Gate.

Ye Mo’s dark dragon powers were remarkably stronger than the average Yuanli. With two dragons at the Gate, the process would be accelerated tremendously.

Ye Mo went through the entire afternoon of training with heavy eyelids. Finally, he could not handle the exhaustion anymore and ceased the attack of the dragons on his Mind’s Gate.

To an average martial artist, the Mind’s Gate was the least important and most difficult to open so many chose to open it last.

Once all five Gates were opened, a martial artist could start practicing martial techniques and officially making a breakthrough to Spirit Cultivating First Realm.

A sudden realization hit Ye Mo. Although he could utilize dragon power, one that could form without his command, what happened to his own Yuanli?

“At this current stage, I’ve hit the limit with two dragons. If I utilize my Energy Center to refine the Yuan Chi of Heaven and Earth, wouldn’t the pillar be unable to absorb my Chi? Meaning I could manufacture more Yuanli?”

Upon realizing this, he began to utilize the power of the two dragons once more. Two enormous dragons darker than the night sky emerged from the bottom of the pillar, circling around the Energy Center idly.

Once more, Ye Mo began to refine Yuanli. True to his prediction, the pillar no longer absorbed the Yuan Chi of Heaven and Earth, and he also successfully converted Yuan Chi into Yuanli. The abundant Yuanli surged towards Ye Mo’s right hand in a constant flow.

“Hehe, I can indeed extract my own Yuanli. However, despite it being a constant flow, it’s much less powerful than dragon power.”

With the two different energy sources lying deep within his Energy Center, he knew full well that dragon power was far superior to Yuanli, as it could be stacked to maximize its potential.

“Let’s see if I can use dragon power and Yuanli together.”

As the black dragon surged towards the right hand Gate, it repelled the normal Yuanli that was flowing into the Gate, as if the Yuanli saw a ghost. As the Yuanli retreated from the scene, Ye Mo could only utilize his dragon power, but at this moment it was sufficient.

He began to train some more, when suddenly Uncle Fu barged through the door and knelt down before Ye Mo, tears streaming down his face. “Young master, please, please save my poor, sweet granddaughter!”

“Xiao Cao!”

Ye Mo immediately opened his eyes and helped Uncle Fu up. His expression was icier than winter.