A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 328 Second Refining of Medicine
Duan Rong and Yin Cong, each carrying a bag, walked out of the three-story quaint building with gray walls and black tiles.

The Qingtong that Duan Rong secretly exchanged was in the pocket in his hand.

The whole process went quite smoothly. Yin Cong was absent-minded the whole time and didn't pay any attention to Duan Rong at all. Perhaps he had learned from the last lesson and only remembered the exchange points that Pan Yong told him.

Just now, at the curved counter, the orders matched, so Yin Cong felt that there should be no mistake this time.

But for Duan Rong, his mission is not yet completed.

He used Shang Xiangyu's star plate to exchange for Qingtong, but in order to ensure that the points matched, he had to exchange for 80 points less of other medicines.

If he wanted to complete the exchange for Qingtong without leaving any trace, he had to make up for the missing eighty points of medicine.

However, Duan Rong had already planned for this.

In the list Pan Yong made, there were several medicinal herbs that he could also exchange for at the place where registered disciples could exchange them.

Duan Rong is now preparing to go to the place where registered disciples exchange the missing herbs and replenish them.

Duan Rong and Yin Cong walked through a gate with a watchtower. There was a dark figure standing on the watchtower, holding a strong bow and a quiver on his back.

Duan Rong paused for a moment and said, "Brother Yin Cong, I'm going to go to the registered disciples to exchange some things. Please wait for me."

"Yeah." Yin Cong nodded.

As soon as Duan Rong turned around, Yin Cong suddenly said, "Wait, I'll go with you."

Duan Rong's eyes moved. "Oh, OK!"

Together, they walked towards a row of low buildings in the corner.

When the two of them walked there, Yin Cong said, "Junior brother, I'm going to exchange some medicine for my wounds. What do you want to exchange for?"

Duan Rong said: "I am going to exchange some pills for cultivation. Brother, are you injured?"

Yin Cong smiled and said, "Not really. Things have been a bit uneasy lately, so you should carry some medicine with you to be prepared."

Duan Rong glanced at Yin Cong and understood what he was thinking.

"Then Brother, I'll wait for you here after I've exchanged it."

Duan Rong said this and turned to walk towards the room where the pills were exchanged.

Yin Cong also walked towards the room where the medicine was exchanged.

Duan Rong walked to the door for exchanging pills and paused. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yin Cong had entered the room for exchanging medicine. Duan Rong immediately moved quickly and jumped into the room in the middle for exchanging medicinal materials.

Duan Rong quickly exchanged several medicinal herbs, stuffed them into his pocket, and immediately jumped out.

Although Duan Rong's movements were fast enough, since there were only four herbs, it still took him some time.

The moment he went out, he really wanted to use his spiritual sense to scan the outside to see if Yin Cong had come out, but he didn't dare to. After all, this was a medicine pavilion, and it would be too risky to use his spiritual sense to cover it rashly.

Duan Rong had actually already thought of an excuse. If he went out and Yin Cong was already there, he would say that he had exchanged the pills and was a little curious, so he came in to take a look, thinking that Yin Cong would not think too much about it.

But when Duan Rong stepped out of the door, he saw that there was no one outside the corridor.

Duan Rong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but he stood there for a long time with his bag in his hand, but Yin Cong did not come out.

Duan Rong was wondering, does it take so long to exchange for medicine?

Just when Duan Rong's heart was beating fast, a figure walked out of the room where medicine was exchanged.

The man walked away while shaking his head, saying, "Just one bottle like this costs ten contribution points. That's a rip-off!"

Yin Cong walked over, saw Duan Rong, and asked, "Have you exchanged your money?"

"Yes, it's exchanged."

"Let's go then."

Yin Cong put the medicine in his hand into his sleeve, and the two of them left the medicine cabinet and walked towards the iron chain at the edge of the cliff.

The two men walked to the iron rope that led to the top of the hill leading to the lower courtyard, and each tied the bag in his hand around his waist.

Yin Cong turned around and told Duan Rong, "Make sure to tie the bag containing the herbs tightly."

Duan Rong said: "Don't worry."

Yin Cong nodded, followed the cableway, and rowed into the foggy valley, disappearing.

The moment Yin Cong disappeared in the fog, Duan Rong immediately untied the bag around his waist.

He immediately squatted on the ground, opened his pockets, and rummaged inside for a while before he pinched out a small green porcelain bottle from under the herbs.

Duan Rong looked at the porcelain bottle in his hand and his eyes lit up with joy. What was inside was Qingtong, an auxiliary medicine for practicing the fourth level of the Taizang Sutra.

Duan Rong put his porcelain bottle into the inner pocket of his lapel, then picked up the bag on the ground and tied it around his waist again, then he followed the cableway into the fog.

When Duan Rong jumped off the iron chain and landed on the hill of the lower courtyard, Yin Cong was already waiting there.

Although both of them were wet, they still had to paddle the iron chain from the front to get back to the hill where Shang Xiangyu was. It was useless to wring the clothes dry now.

Together, they walked along the edge of the cliff, leaving a long trail of wet footprints on the edge.

When they returned to the other hill, the sky had begun to darken. Thick fog was rolling in the distant twilight, filling the air with a strange and depressing atmosphere.

The two men walked to the entrance of Pan Yong's cave and gave him two bags of medicine and the star map.

Pan Yong glanced at the points on the board, nodded, and said with a smile: "My two junior brothers, thank you for your hard work! Don't go out these few days. I think we should deal with the herbs again."

The two men agreed to Pan Yong's request and turned to leave.

Duan Rong and Yin Cong chatted for a few more minutes on the way and then went their separate ways.

Duan Rong walked along the cliff, but he did not return to his cave. Instead, he turned and went into the dense forest.

He walked to the depths of the dense forest, to a hidden bluestone area.

Duan Rong sat cross-legged on the bluestone, pretending to practice.

After a while, he made sure that there was no one around, then he suddenly jumped off the bluestone, dug a hole underneath the bluestone, and buried the small green porcelain bottle in it.

After Duan Rong finished doing all this, he walked back to his cave.

Although he got this auxiliary medicine, he was unable to start practicing immediately.

Duan Rong had already thought about this matter. It was too dangerous to practice the Taizang Sutra in Shang Xiangyu, because practicing the Taizang Sutra required constructing a mandala, which could be easily discovered.

However, Duan Rong had already thought of a place for himself to practice the Taizang Sutra.

That is to go to Xiao Yu to practice. In Xiao Yu's stone archway, there are carved statues of the Four Great Bright Kings.

Of course, the four statues in the cave where Xiao Yu lived might be a bit too big for Duan Rong.

The deities within the mandala will be projected into the sea of consciousness during the practice of the Garbha-zang Sutra.

The divine shadow projected by the stone statue into the spiritual sea of consciousness is far more oppressive than the divine shadow projected by the portrait.

This is because the medium is different, the skills will correspond to it, and the divine power that descends will also change.

Duan Rong felt that with his current spiritual strength, he might not be able to withstand the pressure of the divine shadow brought down by the half-human-tall stone statue.

However, Xiao Yu still has many small statues of gods, so just ask Xiao Yu to bring four of them.

But the stone archway where Xiao Yu was located was under the jurisdiction of Taiputang.

Taipu Hall is the same as the Lower House, and many of the people inside are not even warriors.

Therefore, practicing the Taizang Sutra with Xiao Yu should be much safer than practicing with Shang Xiangyu. However, it is obviously not possible in the next few days. Next, he needs to deal with the herbs, and then he will refine the medicine for the second time. Only after this busy period is over, he will find a chance to go to Xiao Yu to practice the Taizang Sutra.

Thinking back to the first time the furnace exploded while refining the medicine, Duan Rong was still frightened about the second time he refined the medicine.

"I hope there won't be any more accidents..."

Duan Rong sighed, then sat cross-legged on the stone bed in the darkness.

Duan Rong raised his five hearts to the sky and circulated his true energy. After a few breaths, he flipped his hand and threw a Zhengyang Pill into his mouth.

After Duan Rong swallowed the pill, the powerful medicinal power slowly dissipated and flowed into his meridians.

Duan Rong focused his mind and looked inward, controlling the fusion of the medicinal power and the true energy...

In the next few days, Pan Yong, Chen Hu, Duan Rong and Yin Cong began to process the herbs on the large platform.

The herbs processed this time were basically the same as last time, so even though Tang Zhu was absent, the progress of processing the herbs was not affected much.

On the evening of the fourth day, as dusk was about to fall, the few of them prepared to call it a day.

Pan Yong took inventory of the remaining herbs and estimated that they could be processed tomorrow. He estimated that he would be able to start refining the medicine by tomorrow night.

On the morning of the fifth day, when Duan Rong crossed the stone fence and walked to a corner of the large platform, Pan Yong, Chen Hu and Yin Cong were already sitting there.

As soon as Duan Rong sat down on a stool, Yin Cong clicked his tongue at him. Duan Rong looked at him, and he pointed his chin at the platform opposite.

Duan Rong looked over there intently. The platform in that corner was usually where fools hung out.

But at this time, there was only an iron chain thrown there alone, and the iron ring at the end of the chain, which was originally around the fool's waist, was also opened and thrown on the ground.

Duan Rong's eyes jumped and he asked, "Where is the idiot?"

Yin Cong smiled strangely and said, "Who knows? I came here this morning and it was like this."

Pan Yong's face darkened as he said, "Just do your job well and stop meddling in other people's business."

Duan Rong glanced at Pan Yong's expression and his eyes moved slightly.

He had a feeling that Pan Yong seemed to know where the fool had gone.

By the afternoon, all the herbs that needed to be processed had been processed.

Pan Yongqing counted them and smiled with a tired look on his face, "Finally everything is done. Everyone can go back and rest for two hours. Tonight we will follow Master Shang and go into the cave to refine medicine."

Several people then dispersed.

Duan Rong returned to the cave and did nothing. He just sat there and closed his eyes to rest.

When refining medicine at night, who knows what might happen. Duan Rong plans to adjust himself and put himself in peak condition so that he can deal with any unexpected situation.

After Duan Rong had a good rest, he went into the dense forest, shot a pheasant, and roasted it at the entrance of the cave.

After he had eaten and drunk his fill, he sat by the fire at the entrance of the cave and wiped his Minghong sword.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Duan Rong sheathed his sword, stood up, and walked towards the dense forest where the elixir was being refined.

As soon as Duan Rong walked into the dense forest, he saw Chen Hu's figure from afar. He deliberately slowed down his pace and increased the distance between him and Chen Hu.

When Duan Rong walked into the huge cave where medicine was refined, he saw several burning torches already lit on the red stone walls.

The huge red cave was illuminated as bright as day.

Shang Xiangyu was seen sitting cross-legged on a platform, wearing his wrinkled and shabby Taoist robe. His all-white hair was draped behind him. His face was calm and his eyes were closed.

Not far from the cave entrance, Pan Yong and Chen Hu were already standing there. When Duan Rong walked into the cave, both of them glanced at him.

Duan Rong walked into the cave and stood not far from Pan Yong and Chen Hu.

I saw that the double-layered large alchemy furnace from last time was still placed on the stone pit in the middle of the cave, but there was a small pit somewhere on the second layer of the furnace.

The ground near the alchemy furnace was already filled with various medicinal herbs and some bottles and jars, which were obviously placed there by Pan Yong in advance.

At this moment, Duan Rong's eyelids twitched suddenly.

He suddenly saw that in the corner behind Shang Xiangyu where he was sitting cross-legged, there were two large tripods. In one of the tripods, there seemed to be a person lying, with only his hands, feet and half of his head sticking out.

Although Duan Rong couldn't see the face of the person inside, he had already guessed who it was.

What a fool!
But Duan Rong was puzzled as to why the fool was lying in that big cauldron, and he was not moving at all, as if he was asleep.

Some time ago, Duan Rong had heard from Yin Cong that the fool was actually Shang Xiangyu's son.

But Duan Rong always felt that it was not the case, as the age difference between them did not seem that big.

Just as Duan Rong's eyes were flashing with thought, Yin Cong also walked into the cave and stood beside Duan Rong.

After the four people arrived, they all stood aside in silence, and no one spoke.

Because Shang Xiangyu was sitting cross-legged not far away.

About half an incense stick later, Shang Xiangyu suddenly opened his eyes, half tilted his head back, and exhaled a breath of foul air.

He glanced at the four people standing at one side of the cave entrance, and they stood up and said, "Get ready to make medicine."

The four of them followed and returned to their respective positions.

Duan Rong and Yin Cong were still standing on the two wooden ladders, guarding the two medicine adding ports on the second floor of the alchemy furnace.

After Tang Zhu's death, there was temporarily one person missing. Pan Yong was responsible for the two drug-adding ports on the first floor, while Chen Hu was responsible for the other drug-adding port.

Seeing that everyone had returned to their positions, Shang Xiangyu slowly walked to a corner of the cave, where he saw a large black stone lying on the ground, like a huge black coffin.

Shang Xiangyu stood beside the big black stone, with his hands raised horizontally and slowly raised from his dantian. At the same time, the vital energy of heaven and earth in his body began to surge through his meridians.

Shang Xiangyu grabbed one side of the big black stone with both hands and suddenly exerted force to lift the stone. The veins on Shang Xiangyu's forehead popped out as he pushed the big black stone to stand sideways. It can be seen how heavy the stone is.

With the big black stone standing sideways, gurgling magma gushed out from under the big black stone, flowing along the ditch into the big pit under the alchemy furnace.

As the magma as hot as iron gushed out, hot air began to roll in the cave in an instant.

After a few breaths, the temperature rose to a terrifying level.

Shang Xiangyu stood beside the alchemy furnace, paying attention to the temperature. After the furnace had turned red for a few breaths, he suddenly said in a deep voice, "Number one medicine port, Rehmannia root essence."

Pan Yong had already been holding a white porcelain bottle and was guarding the No. 1 medicine adding port. As soon as Shang Xiangyu called out, he poured all the liquid in the porcelain bottle in his hand into the alchemy furnace.

As the medicinal juice entered the furnace, bursts of white mist filled the furnace...

Shang Xiangyu stood beside the circle of transparent water jade, his eyes fixed on the subtle changes in the alchemy furnace. His eyes were both calm and crazy, just like a trader who stared at the opening market after madly leveraging, or like a weird scientist who was concentrating on some experiment to destroy humanity.

Under Shang Xiangyu's command, several people kept adding various medicines into the alchemy furnace.

Duan Rong felt that the medicine he added was almost the same as the last time he refined the medicine, except that the amount of each herb seemed to be much larger.

As time went by, there were not many bottles, jars and various herbs left on the ground next to the alchemy furnace.

Shang Xiangyu stared at the furnace through the circle of transparent water jade. The fluorescence on his face kept changing color. Suddenly, Shang Xiangyu straightened up his waist. He knew that he had reached the most critical point.

He wants to use the blood pill method to make the Blood Spring Pill!

Shang Xiangyu pursed his lips and turned his head to look at the big cauldron in the corner.

The moment Shang Xiangyu turned his head, Duan Rong clearly saw Shang Xiangyu's body tremble slightly.

At this time, Shang Xiangyu had already walked slowly towards the big cauldron in the corner...

(End of this chapter)