Li Huowang stared at the furnace in front of him, his gaze intense. Beside it, three incense sticks were used to mark the passage of time.
Without a clock, Li Huowang had to rely on these rudimentary methods to calculate the time.
When the final incense stick had burned out, he immediately extinguished the flame and opened the furnace. A strange herbal smell wafted out from inside.
Li Huowang was ecstatic! He had succeeded! The pills were rolling around in a sieve. After using it to separate the waste products, he placed the irregularly-sized black pills into a box for inspection.
These were the Blood Nourishing Pills that Dan Yangzi had taught him to refine. It was a simple pill used to coagulate blood.
One must not consume more than 50 grams of it, or they risk having all the blood in their body coagulate.
It sounded like a dangerous drug, one that would do more harm than good, but because the refining process was simple, Dan Yangzi had chosen this recipe to help Li Huowang practice pill refinement.
After counting, Li Huowang had refined 13 large pills and 26 smaller pills.
But this wasn't the only thing he gained from this practice. He had also acquired basic knowledge about pill refining through the process of making the Blood Nourishing Pills.
Refining pills was much harder than he had expected. Not only did he have to account for the age of the herbs, but he also had to know the direction in which each herb had grown.
If a single mistake was made, the success rate of the refinement and the potency of the pills would drop drastically. The pile of black waste beside the furnace was evidence of this.
After inspecting the pills, he took out a piece of bamboo and stored the pills inside. He took a deep breath, donned his robes, and walked out.
It was almost 11 pm.
When Li Huowang opened the door to the Preparation Room, everyone inside immediately stood up and stared at him fearfully.
In their eyes, Li Huowang was the embodiment of the grim reaper.
Li Huowang gazed at them with a complex expression on his face. Under their watchful eyes, he stood in front of Bai Lingmiao.
The girl trembled, her white hair shivering ever so slightly. She tried her best not to cry, but in the end, tears poured down her cheeks.
Li Huowang held her hand and slowly walked toward the Pill Room.
As they walked through the damp cave, Bai Lingmiao entrusted her final words to Li Huowang.
Li Huowang stayed silent and simply listened.
However, when they arrived at Li Huowang's room instead of the Pill Room, he led her in and whispered, "Take off your pants."
Bai Lingmiao froze. She was frightened by his words and actions.
45 minutes before 11 pm.
Li Huowang escorted Bai Lingmiao into the Pill Room. Dan Yangzi had arrived around the same time.
When he saw that Li Huowang had already brought the guiding drug ingredient here without his orders, a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He was becoming more and more pleased with Li Huowang.
"Hoho, good disciple. Come here." With a single wave of his arm, Bai Lingmiao was lifted into the air and caught by Dan Yangzi. He grabbed her neck with one hand and threw her into the stone urn.
Meanwhile, Li Huowang's heart raced as he clenched his fist.
Dan Yangzi had just picked up the heavy pestle when he stopped. "Huh? Her period came now of all times? The composition of the drug has changed." Dan Yangzi frowned as he saw the blood stain on Bai Lingmiao's pants.
Li Huowang sighed in relief. His plan had worked!
Once he had gained a little more knowledge about refining pills, he had come up with this plan.
In this world, the composition of a drug varied widely depending on how the herbs grew. So, he assumed that a guiding drug ingredient, especially a human one, could naturally be altered.
With his limited knowledge, he vaguely remembered that a girl's menstrual blood was considered impure in Taoism. That was why he had come up with the plan to fake Bai Lingmiao's period by smearing his own blood on her pants.
He also made sure that Dan Yangzi noticed it personally so that the suspicion wouldn't fall on him.
Thankfully, everything went according to plan. It seemed Bai Lingmiao was saved.
Dan Yangzi waved his arm, and Bai Lingmiao was thrown out of the stone urn, landing heavily on the floor.
She hit the floor hard, covering her bruised knees, barely able to stand. Since Li Huowang couldn't help her in front of Dan Yangzi, he stood silently to the side.
"Xuan Yang, take this guiding drug ingredient back."
Li Huowang silently sighed in relief upon hearing that. "Yes, Master."
When Bai Lingmiao walked back to Li Huowang's side, he noticed her head was split open and blood was trickling down her cheek.
Despite her injuries, she was extremely grateful to Li Huowang. Compared to death, these injuries were nothing.
Thankfully, they had managed to fool him this time. It would take quite some time before Bai Lingmiao would be chosen again.
Li Huowang escorted her toward the exit.
"Xuan Yang, since she cannot be used, go and bring another one. I remember there is another with albinism. Quickly go and return; we can't miss the time."
Li Huowang's body shook slightly in surprise, but he immediately turned and bowed. "Yes, Master."
Li Huowang didn't remember much about when he returned to the Preparation Room. He simply approached a boy with albinism and dragged him out of the room.
The boy screamed and cried, even begging for mercy while kneeling on the floor. But there was nothing Li Huowang could do. He could only drag him back to the Pill Room.
After delivering the boy, Li Huowang was just about to leave when Dan Yangzi called for him. "Didn't you want to learn the Dao of Pills? Come and take a look. It's not every day that you get the chance to observe the refinement of such a complex and rare pill."
Li Huowang stayed and observed the entire refining process, adding in the secondary ingredients and fanning the flames as instructed by Dan Yangzi.
When the flames finally died down, the furnace was opened. Seven black pills appeared in front of Dan Yangzi, neatly arranged in a row.
"Not bad. Looks like you have some talent in pill refinement. The other disciples aren't as inquisitive as you. Come, this is your reward." Dan Yangzi took one of the pills and handed it to Li Huowang.
"Thank you for the pill, Master!" Li Huowang bowed toward Dan Yangzi as he extended both hands to receive the pill.