Controlling the Five Thunders and the Two Worlds

Chapter 431 Not many people know how to refine pills
The pale-faced scholar, Lord Zhiyuan, presented Yuanyang White Jade Ginseng and Biluo Heavenly Crystal, and then the person on the right stood up and presented his own gift.

They are all renowned figures with a thousand years of cultivation, and they are attending the 800th birthday banquet of the Flying Goose Ancestor. The gifts they bring will all be of high quality, at most they will not be as good as those of the Divine Lord Zhiyuan.

But Elder Fei Hong didn't care, and neither did anyone else. Even if they muttered a few words to themselves, they wouldn't show it.

After the first few people had finished offering their gifts, Bai Fei stood up and gently flicked her sleeve, revealing a jade pot in her hand. "Three hundred catties of Bai Ling Mountain's secret recipe of Hundred Flowers Brew, wishing the Ancestor boundless happiness and longevity."

"Very good, very good!" Ancestor Fei Hong smiled repeatedly. "The Mountain Lord is very kind."

This secret-recipe Hundred Flowers Brew is different from ordinary Hundred Flowers Brew. It is brewed with fresh flowers from Bailing Mountain that are at least a hundred years old. Although the taste may not be better than ordinary Hundred Flowers Brew, its spiritual energy is far superior.

A boy came along, carrying a tray, and took the jade pot away.

The next moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Gu Zhao.

Bai Fei smiled, Ye Yunsheng was intrigued, Yun Fei looked up with a scrutinizing gaze, and Mo Zichen appeared slightly nervous.

"When the Great Luo Palace was first built, resources were scarce, and there were no rare and precious materials. So we only refined a few thousand-year-old pills to wish Ancestor Fei Hong a long life and to ascend to heaven."

Gu Zhao patted the gourd at his waist, and a porcelain bottle appeared in his hand. "Red Centipede Spirit Mushroom Pill, it calms the mind, regulates qi, and nourishes the internal organs, and is quite helpful for cultivation."

As soon as he finished speaking, he attracted the attention of everyone in the hall. Their eyes were filled with doubt and surprise, as well as a little envy.

Ancestor Fei Hong's eyes lit up, and he stroked his beard and smiled, "Good, good, thank you Palace Master Gu."

Another boy came to Gu Zhao's side, holding a tray, bowing slightly with a respectful expression.

Gu Zhao placed the porcelain bottle on the tray, then sat back down. He then heard Bai Fei ask telepathically, "Is this elixir of yours truly a thousand-year-old medicinal herb?"

Gu Zhao nodded. "The main ingredient is made from a centipede spirit with over 1,500 years of cultivation, combined with two kinds of 800-year-old Ganoderma lucidum and two kinds of 500-year-old Qinggan herbs. Its medicinal effects are indeed over a thousand years old."

Noticing everyone's gaze, Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow. "It seems like everyone is a little surprised?"

Bai Fei asked, "Didn't you notice that most of the spiritual herbs that everyone gave us before were just raw materials?"

Gu Zhao suddenly realized, "Nobody knows how to refine pills?"

"It's not that I don't know how to refine pills. Ordinary pills are easy to make; I can figure them out by trying a few times. But how can I dare to refine such rare spiritual plants so easily?"

Bai Fei smiled wryly, "If you're not careful, the medicinal properties will clash and ruin the pills, which would be a loss. So, when people come across spiritual materials, they usually just eat them directly so as not to waste them."

Gu Zhao nodded, understanding.

The situation Bai Fei described matches the reality that while the Great Luo Palace can always seize refining materials from various forces, it rarely manages to seize materials for alchemy.

Since most people aren't very good at alchemy, they just eat the spiritual herbs they find to quickly increase their combat power. Otherwise, if they keep them and don't use them, their strength will be inferior to others, and they might end up being taken by others. Wouldn't that be doing all the work for someone else?

But the Daluo Palace was different. It attracted many old Taoist priests, including several great medical experts. Among them, Master Mingchong was the most skilled, having developed various pills, powders, and elixirs.

Using Ziyun Jun's ginseng rootlets to refine elixirs, even Ziyun Jun himself was happy to collect them and held an elixir-tasting conference, which was attended by friends from all sides.

This is also a case of Gu Zhao being prejudiced and falling into a misconception.

After all, the experts in this world all know how to refine weapons. In Gu Zhao's view, aren't alchemy and weapon refining two basic operations? The Great Luo Palace also started from scratch, studying weapon refining through Taoist scriptures and methods, and studying alchemy through medicine and pharmacology. Among them, Daoist Shenhao is the most skilled in weapon refining, and Daoist Mingchong is the most accomplished in alchemy.

But now it seems that although everyone can refine weapons, alchemy is still a technical skill that cannot be mastered simply by having high cultivation levels.

The boy took the porcelain bottle back to his seat. Fei Hong Patriarch was not in a hurry to look at it in public. Yun Feiang, who was sitting opposite Gu Zhao, glanced at Gu Zhao with some dissatisfaction, then stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Fei Hong Patriarch, and presented the gift.

Yun Feiang also presented a spiritual plant, which can be considered the hard currency of this world.

……

Twenty-nine masters presented gifts, and Elder Feihong thanked them one by one. Then he clapped his hands, and the dancers began to dance again, the musicians played music once more, and servants and maids moved about like a flowing stream, bringing food and wine.

"Is Palace Master Gu skilled in alchemy?" Ye Yunsheng asked curiously.

"I'm not good at it; it's the elders in the palace who are good at it," Gu Zhao said honestly. He had only discussed weapon crafting with Daoist Shenhao, but had never actually touched on alchemy.

Ye Yunsheng asked in surprise, "You're having the palace elders refine pills? How many spiritual herbs would that waste to refine a thousand-year-old elixir?"

Gu Zhao smiled without saying a word.

Refining weapons is different from alchemy. If a weapon refining fails, the materials are still there. If you carefully distinguish them, you can still save many weapon refining materials. In fact, many magical treasures are made from a single material.

But alchemy is different. If multiple spiritual herbs are used to make an elixir, and their properties clash, the alchemy will fail and the herbs will be completely wasted.

Ordinary medicinal herbs are fine, but once a herb has been around for hundreds of years, each one becomes extremely valuable, and even a master with a thousand years of cultivation would not be willing to waste it.

Different spiritual herbs have different medicinal properties, pharmacology, and combinations. How many spiritual herbs would it take to research and develop a single elixir formula?
That's why Ye Yunsheng raised such a question.

However, the medical experts at Da Luo Palace are different from others. They integrate Taoist concepts with nature, directly using the concepts of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements to analyze the properties and pharmacology of medicines, and then using the combination of the Five Elements to stimulate the medicinal power.

Once you reach a certain level of cultivation, you won't need any pill formulas at all. You can directly use the properties of the herbs to make pills and refine the pills you need.

Take this Red Centipede Lingzhi Pill, for example.

The centipede spirit is unique, but its medicinal properties are like fire. Master Ming Chong used water-attribute Ganoderma lucidum as the base and supplemented it with wood-attribute green licorice.

Water nourishes wood, and wood nourishes fire, thus enhancing the medicinal power of the red centipede. Water also counteracts fire, suppressing the red centipede's ferocity.

Therefore, water is used as the base, with two 800-year-old Ganoderma lucidum plants as the transitional material, and only two 500-year-old Qinggan plants as the transitional material. Although the red centipede is the main ingredient, its medicinal properties are so strong that the actual amount used is not large.

However, for this elixir to take effect, it needs to be activated by the medicinal properties of the red centipede to concentrate the mind and regulate the qi and blood, hence the name Red Centipede Lingzhi Pill.

Seeing Gu Zhao smile without saying a word, Ye Yunsheng immediately realized that this was a secret technique within the Great Luo Palace, and that he had asked a bit too deeply.

Several people nearby also chimed in, their words quite enthusiastic, and Gu Zhao responded to each of them.

Mo Zichen from Jinxingtai also came over to offer a toast and chatted with Gu Zhao about everyday matters. He asked curiously, "After the destruction of the Netherfire Sect, I went to Jiangnan for a trip. The disciples of the Daluo Palace called themselves Taoists, but I don't know why?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yun Feiang, who was sitting opposite Gu Zhao, narrowed his eyes. Although he did not make any move, his ears perked up.

(End of this chapter)