Chapter 284: Chapter 121 The Monster Martial Pill is Ready! Monster Smoke Rises to the Sky!_5

With that, he even saved up around one or two jin of Star Pattern Gold. Su Changkong then used it to forge twelve Star Pattern Gold Arrows, also mixing other metals, but the most critical part, the arrowhead, was made purely of Star Pattern Gold, which was quite extravagant!

“A major upgrade for the weapons!”

Su Changkong couldn’t help but feel somewhat grateful to that rich brother from the Pei Family.

The Iron-Cutting Sword, the strong bow, the arrows, he had upgraded them all with Star Pattern Gold!

As the saying goes, good things come in pairs. Several days after Su Changkong had handled the Star Patterned Gold Pill Furnace, he, as usual, went to the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, a major shop in Dafeng State City that did business in herbal medicines. Su Changkong had previously entrusted the shopkeeper of the Spirit Medicine Pavilion to help purchase three-hundred-year-old Blood Jade Spirit Ginseng.

Su Changkong, disguised as “Young Master Qin,” arrived at the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, ready to inquire if there was any news regarding his request.

As soon as Su Changkong reached the entrance of the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, one of the attendants recognized him and, his eyes lighting up, said, “Young Master Qin, Shopkeeper Lin instructed me to bring you to him as soon as I saw you. There’s news about the item you asked him to purchase!”

Upon hearing this, Su Changkong’s heart leaped with joy, and he immediately said, “Lead the way!”

Before long, Su Changkong met with the shopkeeper of the Spirit Medicine Pavilion in a private VIP room, an old man dressed in a green robe.

“Shopkeeper Lin, is there news about that three-hundred-year-old Blood Jade Spirit Ginseng?”

Sitting down, Su Changkong immediately inquired.

Half a year had passed, and at long last there was news!

Shopkeeper Lin smiled and nodded, “Indeed, I received news five days ago. A client has a Blood Jade Spirit Ginseng, and I have personally inspected it. It is indeed three hundred years old, meeting Young Master Qin’s requirements. However… he urgently needs the money, and the price he’s asking is somewhat high. He wants 1.1 million taels, not a single tael less.”

“1.1 million taels?”

Su Changkong frowned inwardly. Normally, a Blood Jade Spirit Ginseng of this caliber would cost between 500,000 to a million taels. The asking price of 1.1 million taels was actually well above the market’s highest price.

But if Su Changkong missed out on this Blood Jade Spirit Ginseng, he didn’t know how long it would be until he found another! He had already waited over half a year for this one!

Time is money.

Of course, the main reason was that Su Changkong now had a rather comfortable amount of money on hand. Previously from selling Qi-Blood Pills, and with his Alchemy skills improving, he was making more money every month than before, plus having recouped the 600,000 taels spent on the Star Pattern Gold. He now had a remaining 1.5 million taels of silver, so he could afford this sum.

“All right, 1.1 million taels,” Su Changkong nodded slowly, accepting the price.

“Great! I will immediately send someone to notify the seller to come over so that the two of you can complete the transaction face to face,” Shopkeeper Lin said upon seeing Su Changkong agree to the price.

Shopkeeper Lin promptly sent someone to inform the seller.

The seller was a big-bellied middle-aged man who, upon meeting Su Changkong, witnessed him taking out 1.1 million taels worth of silver notes, while the seller himself took out a jade box to hand over to Su Changkong for examination.

Su Changkong opened the jade box, which contained a ginseng nearly a foot long, blood-red throughout, as if it were a ruby. It was indeed the three-hundred-year-old Blood Jade Spirit Ginseng, the second most valuable ingredient for the Monster Martial Pill, after the main ingredient, the Demon Monster Crystal Core.

The Spirit Medicine Pavilion, being in the business of medicinal materials, had confirmed it beforehand and was not likely to have made a mistake.

The exchange of goods and funds was completed, finalizing this transaction.

“Thank you, Shopkeeper Lin,” Su Changkong expressed his gratitude to Shopkeeper Lin.

Shopkeeper Lin smiled and shook his head, “Should you have such needs in the future, Young Master Qin, do visit our Spirit Medicine Pavilion often.”

In reality, the Spirit Medicine Pavilion did not help Su Changkong purchase the herbal materials for free; a service fee had already been taken out of the transaction cost!

“Finally… I can refine the Monster Martial Pill!”

Carrying the Blood Jade Spirit Ginseng with him as he left, Su Changkong couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.

After more than half a year of hard work, Su Changkong had finally completely met the conditions for refining the Monster Martial Pill and could begin the pill-making process.

“The closer I get to success, the more careful I must be. In fact, whether I can actually turn it into a pill is the most critical step. If I fail… all my previous efforts will have been in vain!”

On his way home, Su Changkong remained vigilant to see if anyone was following him. Once he returned to the manor, he took a deep breath, his expression growing more solemn.

All he had done so far was meet the conditions for potion brewing.

If he were to fail, the Demon Core would be wasted, rendering all his efforts over the past half-year null and void—a tremendous cost! Despite this, Su Changkong was mentally prepared to bear it!

“Let’s begin. I’ll first practice with these medicinal ingredients to familiarize myself with their properties. For the final batch, I’ll add the Demon Core and officially begin making the Monster Martial Pill!”

Su Changkong started the process of crafting the Monster Martial Pill.

In fact, Su Changkong had prepared ten sets of ingredients for the Monster Martial Pill. Of course, he had only one Demon Crystal Core; the other nine batches were for practice and were bound to fail, leading to the consumption of nearly a million taels of silver! Using so many precious materials to practice was incredibly extravagant!

Following the steps of the recipe, Su Changkong began to process the various medicinal ingredients and put them into the Pill Furnace to start alchemy.

Batches of ingredients were consumed in the process, but Su Changkong was not without gains. He came to understand the properties of each material, which allowed him better control of timing and temperature.

Five days later, only the last set of ingredients remained. Su Changkong meticulously repeated the previous steps, adding the various ingredients in sequence into the Star Patterned Gold Pill Furnace.

“It’s time!”

Su Changkong closed his eyes and waited for the right moment. When it came, he didn’t hesitate to toss the most crucial ingredient for the Monster Martial Pill into the Pill Furnace—the Demon Crystal Core.

It was the Demon Crystal Core he had obtained after slaying Feng Mo, which had also caused Mu Jin to create quite a commotion in Ink Forest Prefecture City.

The thumb-sized Demon Crystal Core was thrown into the Pill Furnace.

“Hum hum hum!”

As if triggering a chemical reaction, the previously calm Furnace began to tremble slightly. The Demon Crystal Core resisted being refined into a pill, as if it had a will of its own, not wanting to vanish from this world, struggling and protesting. A common Pill Furnace would have shattered long ago.

But the Star Pattern Gold Alchemy Furnace stood firm as Mount Tai, showing not a single crack, with faint starlight shining on its surface amidst the fiery blaze!

Su Changkong managed the flames, the fire rising and roaring. The Pill Furnace hummed and shook, while Su Changkong was fully concentrated, mastering each step of the alchemy process.

Thin strands of black smoke wafted from the venting holes of the Pill Furnace, dissipating into the air. It was the nefarious nature of the Demon Crystal Core, being refined by the Star Patterned Gold Pill Furnace!

As time passed, the sun set in the evening and the moon rose, until the faint light of dawn appeared on the horizon.

“Boom!”

And at that moment, the Pill Furnace trembled violently as a small explosion ensued within!

“Roar!”

In the Pill Refining Room, a faint roar of a demon monster could be heard. Fortunately, the manor was located in a quiet area of Dafeng State City with no one around. It was also in the early morning with no pedestrians on the streets, otherwise, this roar might have alarmed someone.

“Clang!”

The lid of the Pill Furnace, under the force of the internal explosion, was knocked high into the air and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

Thick black smoke billowed from the Pill Furnace, making it hard for one’s eyes to bear and obscuring visibility.

“Did it succeed?” Su Changkong’s mood became uncontrollably tense. He had invested a great deal of energy and time, even throwing in the hard-earned Demon Crystal Core. If it failed, it would be a complete loss!

“The Monster Martial Pill… it has formed!”

As the black smoke cleared a bit, Su Changkong quickly approached the Pill Furnace and looked inside. The tension on his face vanished, replaced by irrepressible elation!

At the bottom of the Pill Furnace, amid the lingering black smoke, there lay three Pills, each the size of a thumb’s tip, all black as if carved from jet, with a glossy sheen and exuding an eerie aura. They seemed to swallow the surrounding light!

(Preview for the next update on Qidian Chinese Network, the next chapter will be released on the 20th at 22:00)