I went back to my room and spread a cloth on the floor, laying out the materials.
I started by washing the pill furnace. Leftover dirt and dust could easily cause a failure. Afterward, I left it in a high-temperature environment to dry and preheat before starting the refinement.
I began by placing the main ingredient inside: a blood leaf. Then I immediately added white sap resin and crimson moss. The white sap resin acted as a binder to fuse the effects of the moss and the leaf. In theory, it was possible to refine without it to achieve a higher potency pill—but practically, it was nearly impossible.
After adding them, I focused on keeping the temperature constant. I perfectly mimicked the instructions in the manual, trying to keep the margin of error as low as possible. I continued until a faint smell rose from the furnace. The moment I noticed it, I immediately cut the fire and waited for it to cool.
When it was safe, I took the result out.
It hadn't even reached the level of a Low-Grade Mortal pill. It could barely be called a pill at all.
I sat with that for a moment. I had followed the manual exactly. Every step, every ratio, every temperature change — perfectly executed. The result should have been at least low-Grade. Something was missing that the manual wasn't telling me.
I started adjusting variables one at a time. Less resin — the pill couldn't hold its shape. More resin, slightly less than the original — it held together but the effects barely improved. I tried adjusting the temperature curve, the timing of each addition, the cooling period. Each attempt consumed materials I couldn't easily replace.
Nothing worked.
I stopped and thought about it properly instead of just repeating attempts with minor changes.
The manual assumed something I didn't have. Every refining technique I had ever heard about in novels in my previous life assumed the refiner could manipulate Qi directly — guiding the fusion, correcting imbalances mid-process. Without that the manual was essentially incomplete instructions. I had been trying to compensate through precision alone, but precision couldn't substitute for something that was supposed to be actively controlled.
Which meant I needed a substitute for Qi manipulation.
The closest thing I had was my own blood. Body refinement concentrated Qi into the flesh and bone — it had to exist in the blood too. It wasn't clean or controlled the way a real Qi refiner would manage it, but it might be enough to act as a catalyst.
I spent a long time staring at the furnace before I decided to try it. Using blood meant opening a wound every time I refined. In the long run that would slow my cultivation. But I needed to know if it even worked first.
I removed the white sap resin entirely and added a few drops of blood at the critical moment instead.
First attempt — the reaction was too violent. The pill destabilized.
Second attempt — I reduced the amount. Still too much.
Third attempt — I miscalculated the other direction entirely.
By that point I had almost nothing left. I sold the remaining resin to scrape together exactly two more sets of ingredients.
Fourth attempt.
This time it worked. I held a true Low-Grade Mortal pill in my hand and felt nothing except the immediate awareness of the problem — I had just used my own blood to make a single pill. There was no way to scale this.