Test

"Except Guang-Er, everyone can go back and continue with what you're doing," Elder Xiao Yi waved his hand outward and pointed at the door. And since each one of them has their own matter to be taken care of, the youngsters bid farewell to the elder and left.

As the last of the trio to leave the room, Tian Peng turn around and gently close the door before he left.

"Peng-Peng! Guang-Guang looks quite smart. But I'm still smarter!" Tang Lulu jokes as they made their way to the basement level.

"From how it looks, our teacher is going to be quite strict to him. Lulu, can you be a little serious in front of our teacher? If other disciples saw how you behave in front of the teacher, he's going to lose a lot of face to the other elders." Yu Wen reminds her.

"Ai-Ya! I forget about it!" Tang Hulu suddenly remembered something important.

"What's wrong? Rushing to the toilet?" Yu Wen made a joke looking at how panic she is.

"Father says he's going to bring me to Black Jade Street! I'll bring some Tang-Hulu for you guys!" Tang Hulu quickly left the boys and returned to the ground floor.

...

...

"Guang-Er, are you confident about the test? If you still need to practice, just let me know about it." Elder Xiao Yi slowly made his way to the table with a cauldron on top of it.

"Guang-Er is ready to take the test," Yang Guang followed behind Elder Xiao Yi.

"Then... Refine ten Han-Wen Pellet for me. The ingredients are all on the table. You're counted as failing the exam if you are unable to refine ten pellets before exhausting the ingredients." the elder made a swing above the table to bring out a case of random ingredients.

The quality of the ingredients inside this case can be said to be randomly mixed. Some Jade Angelica Flower on the top even got ruined from forcefully keeping the herb in a packed environment. Even the mineral, Blackjade Cinnabar, has different color compared to the piece he got during his practice.

"Elder..." Yang Guang shifted his sight from the table, but Elder Xiao Yi had left the spot. He's now sitting at where he usually seated while reading with a book in his right palm.

"Guang-Er will start now!" Soul Qi gathered on Yang Guang's palm. The moment it ready, Yang Guang moved his palm to face the cauldron and starts to preheat it. As for his left hand, Yang Guang grabbed the best looking Blackjade Cinnabar to be processed into a powder form.

This exam is a mix of simple and complicated.

Elder Xiao Yi gave him a much better cauldron to use during the Pill Refining but a case of low-quality ingredients to accomplish this task.

Except for the best piece of Blackjade Cinnabar he took, the others are all filled with impurities that may affect the quality of his Cold Heat Pellet. And at the same time, the Jade Angelica Flower and Foxflower Root are also a problem.

Some of it went through some harsh packing until it was presented before Yang Guang, while some seem to be either old, dried, or expired. One of the Foxflower Root is even rotted and created a sour smell that even Elder Xiao Yi felt unbearable.

But no matter how bad is the quality of the ingredients, they did not stop Yang Guang from processing them carefully. By following the step by step procedure with his overall experience when refining this Cold Heat Pellet, Yang Guang successfully concocted eight pellets.

Looking at the remaining ingredients, Yang Guang sighed.

What was remain inside this case is not even enough to refine another Cold Heat Pellet. If Yang Guang forced it, the ninth Cold Heat Pellet might able to form, but then, he'll be left with the wilted Jade Angelica Flower and Blackjade Cinnabar.

But he's unwilling to give up. Yang Guang turned the ingredient case upside down and checked what he's left with.

A bowl of wilted or destroyed flower, half of the broken root, and plenty of whitish Blackjade Cinnabar. The only other thing left is a small bottle with rice-brewed alcohol inside.

The remains on the table are about to bring dispair to Yang Guang. After trying for two hours, all he needs is another stalk of Jade Angelica Flower and a proper Foxflower Root. That's all he needs to refine the two more Han Wen Pellet.

"Wait!" Yang Guang suddenly remembered something.

"Alcohol?" Yang Guang grabbed the bottle and gave it a sniff.

"Pure alcohol! This is not for drinking, but herb's infusion!" Yang Guang seems to found his light from this darkness. The feeling slowly gets stronger, and more of the information about infusion appeared in his mind.

All of these are what's written inside the few books he read when refining the Cold Heat Pellet. But because he had no alcohol to play in his practice, Yang Guang did not place any importance on this topic.

But at this moment, the infusion technique is the only way he can try and bet!

Herb Infusion is also a technique used by skillful alchemists to harvest a purer extract from the plant. The theory behind this is similar to how hot water is poured on the dried tea leaves to obtain a pot of fragrant tea. The process is also known as steeping or brewing.

Some medication is also administered through infusion for a balanced result, while not causing too much side effect from stressing the liver.

But in Alchemy, Herb Infusion used alcohol as its medium to forcefully activates the steeping or brewing process to obtain the purest extract in the shortest time.

With the cauldron as the vessel to hold both liquid and herbs, Yang Guang runs another inspection on the Jade Angelica Flower before he stuffed them to the container.

Alcohol is poured into the container, then shaken gently. At the same time, Yang Guang did not forget to administer the Cold Flame on the Medicinal Cauldron between his two palms.

A gurgling sound came from the Medicinal Cauldron. It continues until the liquid inside the cauldron is gone after evaporation. When the lid is removed to access the content, two frozen beads are sitting in the middle of the cauldron.

Yang Guang took the two frozen beads out and cleaned the Medicinal Cauldron. Using the leftover Foxflower Root as his remaining gambling chip, Yang Guang ignited a Strong Flame to fire the cauldron!

It took less time than before to refine the Cold Heat Pellet. And at the same time, Yang Guang placed his bet and used two portions of ingredients at the same time! Such an attempt is not the first amongst the Alchemist, but Yang Guang underestimates the pressure he'll face from this.

To separate the concoction into two, it is much more exhausting that forming the outer layer of the pill. Elder Xiao Yi sent a thread of Soul Qi into the Medicinal Cauldron secretly, and let Yang Guang splits the concoction perfectly.

"BOOM!" suddenly, an explosion blows the lid off the cauldron.