39. Crafting Compound Potions

"It is just a minor injury, no matter. I have business today; let us speak another time!" Fearing that Ning Xuan might grow impatient, Chen Nan dismissed Qu Jieyou with a single sentence and led Ning Xuan to the earth-fire chamber he had reserved.

Beneath this place lay a vast underground cavity rich in geothermal resources, attracting a multitude of alchemists and psychics with fire-attribute innate abilities to gather here. Beyond the public areas, which carried no extra fees, the facility categorized its earth-fire chambers into three grades—A, B, and C—based on the quality of the fire. Chen Nan had booked a Grade A chamber for Ning Xuan.

The moment Ning Xuan stepped into the chamber, she felt her blood surging. Perhaps practicing here would accelerate the awakening of her innate ability. Chen Nan retrieved the alchemical furnace, crystal vials for reagents, and various exotic plants from his space button, arranging them according to her habits. By the time he finished, Ning Xuan had already sat cross-legged, hands resting on her knees with her thumbs and middle fingers pressed together in a strange gesture, eyes closed, entering a state of meditation.

Chen Nan did not disturb her. He silently withdrew paper, a pen, and his optical computer from his space button to continue transcribing the rules the Bai family had established for their contractors.

Two hours passed as Ning Xuan meditated. She guided the special energy generated within her body out from her blood and dispersed it into her meridians and acupuncture points. The first meridian she sought to open was the Governing Vessel, which runs along the back and enters the crown of the head. This meridian regulates and connects all the Yang energy in the body; it begins at the Changqiang point near the coccyx, ascends along the center of the spine, passes through the lumbar and thoracic vertebrae, reaches the Dazhui point at the neck, continues upward over the neck to the center of the head, reaches the Baihui point at the crown, passes through, runs forward to the forehead, and finally ends near the Yingxiang point by the upper gums.

After two hours of practice, the Changqiang, Yaoyangguan, Mingmen, and the points along the meridian path were illuminated. Once these points were lit, the special energy generated in her body would automatically flow into them in the future. Ning Xuan noticed that the production of special energy was quite rapid when she first began, but the speed slowed down significantly after an hour of meditation. She persisted for another hour, but the efficiency continued to wane. Feeling exhausted, she stopped.

Turning her head, she saw Chen Nan dutifully kneeling to the side, transcribing the Bai family rules. She felt a flicker of hesitation. Honestly speaking, the place Chen Nan had chosen was excellent and well-suited for her; it not only helped with her alchemy but, by happy accident, also aided the awakening of her innate ability. She was truly benefiting from this.

When Ning Xuan looked over, Chen Nan sensed it immediately. He did not look up but continued to transcribe with even greater focus and caution. He could perceive that Ning Xuan’s emotions were stable and that her gaze carried a hint of the warmth he had seen before. It seemed his display of weakness and submission was effective.

Just as Ning Xuan’s heart began to soften, a counter-thought struck her: no, a matter is a matter. Regardless of how suitable this place was, it could not erase the fact that she had been forcibly brought here by Chen Nan without her consent.

Hmph. Ning Xuan turned away and set up the furnace, selecting the herbs she needed. She started with elderwood; the energy of the earth-fire was far more potent than ordinary flames, making the alchemy highly efficient. In just half an hour, she had refined a vial of elderwood reagent.

Next, she intended to attempt a compound reagent—a finished formula created by mixing multiple herbs. These were far more complex than single-ingredient reagents, but as a former master of alchemy, she did not fear complexity. Nevertheless, given her current strength, she opted for a formula with a lower difficulty level for her experiment.

White-flowered Dragon-pattern Grass served to clear heat and toxic fire; Night-hidden Vine possessed properties that were light and diffusive, drawing out evil influences; and Rabbit-fire Stone consolidated vital energy and blood. Together, these three formed a compound reagent known as the Heat-Toxin Clearing Reagent.

First, she extracted the juices of the Dragon-pattern Grass and the Night-hidden Vine. Then, she calcined the Rabbit-fire Stone with earth-fire until it glowed red, dipped it into the grass juice until the liquid was absorbed, and let it cool. She repeated the process with the Night-hidden Vine juice. Finally, she placed the stones, now saturated with both essences, into the furnace with water to steam.

This recipe required few ingredients and simple steps, testing primarily one’s mastery of heat and the precision of one’s mental control. Ning Xuan followed the steps from her textbook. Perhaps due to her formidable mental control or her past high-level expertise as an alchemist, her mastery of the heat was peerless, and she succeeded on her first attempt. She looked at the dual-toned reagent—white on top and black on the bottom—and shook the vial with satisfaction. The earth-fire was indeed effective. It was a pity, however, that her furnace was of poor quality; after completing the reagent, it suddenly cracked and was rendered useless.

Still, she did not panic. Since there were many alchemists here, there were surely shops selling furnaces. If not, she could always find materials to craft one herself. Tomorrow, she would have to visit the market—not just for a furnace, but to purchase more herbs as well.

Ning Xuan had spent a considerable amount of time practicing and refining. Although she could not see the light outside, she felt hungry and guessed it was getting late. It was time to return, eat, and rest.

As she packed her things and stood up, Chen Nan hurriedly followed suit, but having knelt for so long, his knees buckled in pain, and he collapsed back to the floor with a "thud." Seeing his weak state and the exaggerated way he moved, Ning Xuan suspected he might be putting on a performance.

"You've worked hard. How many times have you copied it?" Ning Xuan walked over and took the pages to inspect them.

"Three times!" Chen Nan’s handwriting was neat and orderly, each character of uniform size, resembling printed type. It was clear that he had approached the task with a proper attitude and had not been perfunctory.

"Well written. Have you memorized them all?" Ning Xuan asked.

"I have memorized a portion," Chen Nan replied awkwardly. In truth, with the memory of a psychic, he could have memorized them after a single pass had he truly intended to. However, he deeply resented the content, so he had subconsciously blocked the information as he wrote.

"Then continue writing tonight," Ning Xuan said with a cold smile. She tucked the papers into her space button and turned to leave.

"Contractor, please walk slowly, wait for me!" Chen Nan hurried to catch up, feeling a small sense of relief that his contractor had only asked him to transcribe the rules, not to actually live by them.