After collecting the Crystal nucleuss, Ryan took out his alchemy furnace right there in the cave.
Compared to when he was on Aozang Mountain, this alchemy furnace was now less than the size of a palm, resembling an exquisitely styled teacup.
"Three mountains gather form, four seas absorb qi—true fire circulates, the cauldron swallows stars!"
Ryan performed his adeptal art, tossing the alchemy furnace in his hand.
The alchemy furnace expanded against the wind with the sound of the incantation, instantly reverting to its original size and smashing onto the ground.
The cauldron was named the "star swallowing cauldron." Its three-legged, round-bodied furnace was embossed with the mountains of Liyue, and on the lid, three exquisite sculptures of adepti stood in a triangular formation. The three adepti, some with wings spread, others with heads tilted back, protected the lid, which was embossed with a starry sky, at its center.
On both sides of the alchemy furnace were two handles, and the intricate patterns on these handles corresponded to the adepti of Jueyun Karst, featuring crane feathers, deer antlers, and other details.
After the alchemy furnace returned to its original state, Ryan opened it and began placing materials inside.
"Pure Heart, Violetgrass, Crystal nucleus, Whopperflower Nectar, Human Saliva Incense..."
The Mind Soother Pill was a formula Ryan had concocted himself, using mostly conventional materials, but also one item not typically used in alchemy: Human Saliva Incense.
If it were anyone else, following this formula, even if they could form a pill, it would be absolutely impossible for it to be a Mind Soother Pill.
Only Ryan, utilizing his Talents, could recreate the Mind Soother Pill.
The biggest advantage of putting these ordinary alchemy materials into the furnace was that Ryan's alchemy time could be reduced from one day to half a day.
Although Human Saliva Incense was still involved, the actual time might be about half an hour longer than half a day.
"Please, Uncle-Master, possess me...!"
Once again, Ryan performed adeptal arts to control the flames, beginning to refine the Mind Soother Pill.
Alchemy required complete concentration; any mistake could lead to failure and result in a Waste Pill (waste pill), so Ryan closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and carefully controlled the flames.
However... Ryan, who had always refined pills in the Aozang Mountain cave dwelling, had forgotten one thing.
During the alchemy process, the element power of the world would converge towards the alchemy furnace, and just as a ley line leak attracts monsters, so does alchemy.
Thus, several Geovishaps were attracted and, bouncing, arrived at the cave entrance, entering the mountain cave by following the flow of element power...
"The monsters on the mountain are gathering here, what's going on?"
A Damselette's voice rang out on Mt. Tianheng.
The next moment, a purple-haired Damselette with twin ponytails used a Lightning Stiletto to jump onto a large tree near the cave.
The Damselette wore slightly noble purple and white attire, her slender legs encased in black stockings, and besides her twin ponytails, some purple hair was tied into shapes resembling cat ears.
Crouching on a branch, she observed her surroundings, noticing many monsters on Mt. Tianheng being drawn towards the cave ahead.
"element power... is converging into the cave?"
A square purple Vision hung on the Damselette's back, allowing him to see element power through Elemental Sight. After a careful observation, he quickly sensed the problem.
"There must be something inside... Good opportunity, before the next wave of monsters approaches!"
The Damselette pondered for a moment and decided to go inside to investigate.
The strongest monster on Mt. Tianheng was only a Mitachurl, which posed no threat to him, so he wasn't worried about being trapped in the cave by later monsters.
Taking advantage of a gap in the monsters being attracted, the Damselette leaped down from the tree, his lithe body landing softly before he quickly slipped into the seemingly unremarkable cave.
The monsters that had been attracted first were the nearby Slimes. The Damselette walked into the cave and saw them.
These Slimes were gathered around a fox-eared young man sitting cross-legged on the ground, but they showed no inclination to attack.
The young man, with both hands raised, was intently controlling the flames towards a giant furnace in front of him, completely ignoring the monsters gathered around him.
Behind the young man, a blurry red phantom flickered in and out of sight.
'These Slimes... aren't attacking him?'
Looking at the Slimes gathered around the young man, seemingly waiting quietly, the Damselette was slightly taken aback.
Although Slimes looked harmless, monsters were monsters after all; normally, they would attack any lone human they discovered.
"..."
And as the Damselette noticed the Slimes' abnormality, a few drops of sweat also ran down Ryan's forehead, his agile ears drooping down to cover his head.
'Oh no, why did someone else come over...'
'I was careless. Master said there are many bad people outside and to act cautiously...'
'He won't knock me out from behind and steal my precious alchemy furnace, will he?! Not that kind of thing!'
Feeling someone behind him, Ryan was extremely anxious.
But it had only been less than an hour since he started refining, and the pills wouldn't be ready for another half a day. If he stopped, not even a waste pill would be produced, and all the materials would burn up directly.
Although they were all common materials, the Human Saliva Incense inside was precious! Although Shenhe would give it if he asked, he felt awkward asking Shenhe too often!
To avoid this situation, Ryan found it inconvenient to even speak, which would distract him, so he could only silently pray that the other party had no ill intentions.
"Hello, my name is Keqing. Are you refining pills? Many monsters outside have been attracted by you; it's very dangerous for you to stay here."
Seemingly sensing Ryan's tension, the Damselette named Keqing approached, confirming the situation with the Slimes, and kindly warned Ryan.
"No, it's fine. My body is tough; a few hits from monsters won't kill me, but I can't stop refining pills."
Hearing the other party's kind warning, Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, then barely managed to spare some attention to respond.
He had already experienced several lightning tribulations; mere monsters couldn't kill him.
"Hmm... it seems there are very important materials in the furnace. Never mind, you focus on refining, I'll handle the monsters."
Keqing pondered for a moment and then simply suggested this.
The fox-eared young man in front of him, both in his attire and alchemy technique, indicated that he was a Liyue native. As one of the Liyue Qixing, Keqing felt it necessary to protect his safety.
There weren't many monsters on Mt. Tianheng, nor were they strong; guarding the cave was not difficult for him.
"Swift Shadow as a Sword."
The next batch of attracted monsters had already entered through the cave entrance. Keqing couldn't confirm if they would be as harmless as those Slimes, so he decided to strike first.
Although he didn't know Keqing, Ryan didn't want to waste materials, so he chose to trust the other party and fully immersed himself in alchemy.
Monsters were continuously attracted, but their numbers were never large, and the strongest was only a young Geovishap, which fled after being injured by Keqing.
Time quickly came to evening.
"Alchemy takes this long...?"
Keqing had never personally witnessed someone refining pills; he had only heard some rumors and read accounts in books. The current refining time was somewhat beyond his expectations.
'He sat for half a day without moving. I couldn't achieve that level of patience and composure...'
Keqing couldn't help but admire him in his heart.
He wasn't the kind of person who could endure patiently, and if he hadn't happened to be relatively free today, he probably wouldn't have stayed here guarding for so long.
Moreover, guarding was truly boring for him. He had already walked in and out several times to pass the time, even practicing his sword skills to while away the hours.
When he got hungry, he simply used Ryan's fire nearby to ignite wood and roast meat.
Finally, utterly bored, he simply sat aside and casually picked up a seemingly harmless Electro Slime, placing it on his lap to play with.
These Slimes were attracted by the element power, but for some reason, they became docile, showing no aggression whatsoever. It seemed that just staying here and absorbing element power satisfied them.
And Slimes, being round, indeed looked very cute when they weren't aggressive.
The Electro Slime in Keqing's hand really liked the Electro element power on Keqing. Seeing how docile it was, Keqing decided to feed it with Electro element power.
"It's done!"
As night gradually fell, Ryan's eyes finally lit up.
"Done?"
Sitting on a flat stone in the cave, holding a docile Electro Slime, Keqing immediately turned his head to look at the alchemy furnace in front of Ryan.
The flames on the alchemy furnace extinguished, slowly descending from their hovering state.
Then the lid opened, and three pills emitting a dazzling golden light floated out. Keqing immediately smelled a very comforting medicinal fragrance.
It wasn't the kind of medicinal smell that would make one think of bitterness, but rather a fragrance that made one feel refreshed and invigorated.
The three pills flew in front of Ryan, and he immediately reached out to catch them.
"Shatter illusion, solidify truth; golden light traces origin, illuminates pill soul..."
Ryan knew someone was watching behind him, and he felt a bit awkward chanting incantations loudly in front of others, so he muttered softly.
As the incantation ended, golden light emanated from his eyes, shining upon the pills.
"[Ice Soul Tranquility Pill (2 Star): After consumption, it can calm the mind and stabilize the soul, making the heart as clear as ice. It effectively alleviates mental and physical fatigue and ensures high-quality sleep.]"