While the Brewer Pot-bellied Bees began brewing the honey based on his fifty combinations, Qi Ping began researching the refining of the medicinal liquid version of the Fire Spirit Tempering Pill.
Without any delay, he adjusted his state to its peak and began the extraction of medicinal essences according to the formula. However, once he began the extraction process, he immediately noticed a difference from his previous attempts.
'The extraction of medicinal essence seems easier. The speed is significantly faster...'
After extracting the essences of several more herbs, Qi Ping confirmed that the spiritual energy of the Wood-Flame Manual had a higher extraction capacity than that of the Wood Shield Manual. Not only was it more effortless and faster, but the consumption of spiritual energy was also reduced.
Gradually, he began to discover the different effects of various spiritual energies during the extraction process.
'Wood-attribute spiritual energy improves the precision of the extraction.'
'Fire-attribute spiritual energy increases the speed and lowers the difficulty of the extraction.'
'No wonder it is said that dual Wood-Fire spiritual roots are the most suitable for becoming an alchemist. Just in the extraction of essence, they have so many advantages over other attributes, not to mention the more difficult stages of fusion, fire-refining, and pill condensation.'
'Those with other spiritual roots must put in far more effort to walk the path of alchemy, whereas Wood-Fire roots have an inherent advantage.'
'It makes sense why there are specialized cultivation techniques for alchemists, along with fire-refining methods, fusion methods, and countless other related arts.'
However, Qi Ping had no interest in techniques created solely for alchemy. He placed more importance on his own cultivation foundation. Only by building a solid, stable foundation and rapidly increasing his cultivation level could he have a greater chance of reaching higher realms.
'I won't crave specialized alchemy techniques for now. As long as I have fusion methods and more pill formulas, I can identify better protocols for the Brewer Pot-bellied Bees to test.'
Due to the decreased difficulty of extraction, Qi Ping quickly finished extracting twenty sets of spirit herbs. However, the next step—the fusion of these essences—was the true challenge.
Since the fusion process during fire-refining into a pill differed greatly from simple liquid fusion, Qi Ping had to rely on his limited knowledge, racking his brains to design multiple fusion protocols. Unfortunately, luck was not on his side this time.
In the subsequent fusion attempts...
First attempt... failure!
Second attempt... failure!
Fifteenth attempt... failure!
Sixteenth attempt... success!
Twentieth attempt... failure!
After the twentieth failure, Qi Ping's face was as dark as a lump of coal.
"**!"
While he hadn't failed twenty times straight, it was essentially the same. When he expectantly tested the only successful batch of medicinal liquid, he found that its efficacy was less than twenty percent of a standard Fire Spirit Tempering Pill!
Qi Ping had felt that forty or fifty percent would be barely acceptable, but what use was twenty percent? It would be more efficient to just refine the raw Fire Spirit Grass!
"Sigh... I overestimating myself."
Having tried it himself, Qi Ping realized how difficult it was to create a medicinal formula. This was not something an alchemy novice like him could just tinker with. He suspected that the only reason he had succeeded even once was because his shared Grand Brewer talent had improved his sensitivity toward medicinal fusion. Otherwise, he wouldn't have succeeded a single time.
'On second thought, it makes sense. Almost every pill formula and medicinal liquid recipe is the result of thousands of experiments and the lifeblood of countless alchemists. How could I modify one so easily?'
'This was truly a case of the ignorant being fearless. I must be more cautious in the future and avoid blind self-confidence. Especially when it involves my own safety, I cannot act on assumptions!'
'The cultivation world has too many mysterious and powerful things. I am likely still a long way from being truly self-sufficient. Only by being meticulous and cautious can I survive.'
This served as a wake-up call for Qi Ping. After this attempt, he thoroughly suppressed the slight complacency rising in his heart. Losing twenty sets of spirit herbs was a minor matter; each set was small, so the loss wasn't significant. What Qi Ping truly feared was losing his life in the future because he overestimated himself.
For the following period, Qi Ping readjusted his mindset. He no longer focused on modifying formulas but instead devoted his energy back to nurturing the Fire Spirit Grass and practicing the Wood-Flame Manual. Increasing the year-count of the grass to a century and raising his own cultivation level as quickly as possible were the top priorities.
With a higher cultivation level, his spiritual power and soul would strengthen in tandem, allowing him to cast Plant Growth more often and accelerate his herb production. As for the fusion experiments, he decided to leave them to the Brewer Pot-bellied Bees.
'Let professional people do professional things, and let professional bees do professional work!'
The honey produced by ordinary Golden Marrow Bees was already excellent. Honey brewed from Blood Ginseng was significantly more effective than refining the ginseng directly. Under the fusion of multiple spiritual items, the volume produced would also increase. The Brewer Pot-bellied Bee was an enhanced version of the Golden Marrow Bee's brewing ability, far surpassing it in efficiency.
Given the same raw materials, the honey brewed by the Pot-bellied Bee could sometimes be several dozen percent more effective than that of the Golden Marrow Bee. Considering the Golden Marrow Bee's honey was already an improvement, one could imagine the sheer power of the Pot-bellied Bee's brewing.
Thus, Qi Ping maintained his confidence in the bees. Even in the worst-case scenario, the result would be better than refining the Fire Spirit Grass raw.
While waiting for the final results from the bees, Qi Ping patiently spent the next week and a half focused on nurturing his crops and his cultivation. His progress grew steadily...
A week and a half later, the Brewer Pot-bellied Bees finally finished converting the fifty combinations into honey!
"Finally finished!"
Looking at the hundred portions of honey neatly arranged in the honeycombs, Qi Ping couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. The true brewing capability of the Pot-bellied Bees was about to be revealed. This was his first real test of their potential.
"A hundred portions of honey. Just right!"
Qi Ping had prepared fifty experimental combinations, and for each group, he had two bees try it to minimize individual variance. As it stood, every single group had successfully produced honey. This success rate was remarkably high. Compared to the success rate of an alchemist, it was simply incomparable.
Now that the success rate was confirmed, he had to see the actual effects.
"Ya Ya..."
Hearing Qi Ping's call, the Li-Fire Crow quickly flew down from the treetops and landed in front of him, looking at him with curiosity. Its master rarely called it unless it was important.
"Try these hundred portions of honey and tell me the differences!"
Qi Ping placed the portions before the crow.
"Honey?" The Li-Fire Crow's eyes filled with doubt. 'Who ever heard of a crow loving honey?'
Nevertheless, it was very obedient and began to taste them. Before it had even tried a few, its eyes suddenly lit up.
"Caw, caw... (What is with this rich fire-attribute spiritual energy?!)"