"Can this thing really be used for alchemy?" Luo Chen muttered, his mind swirling with possibilities as he listened to the faint wails coming from the burning Qinghe demon.
The eerie cries from the flames set Luo Chen’s imagination alight.
Meanwhile, the fire handlers in the alchemy room found the sound incredibly unsettling. After the Hall Leader returned today, he had given them a Qinghe demon. Once ignited, it had proven surprisingly effective.
However, the faint and continuous noises it emitted made them feel inexplicably uncomfortable.
"But its cost is far higher than ordinary firewood." Luo Chen noted.
Functionality was one thing, but cost was an entirely different matter. Luo Chen began pondering how to maximize the value of using Qinghe demons as alchemical fire.
"Whether it’s the Myriad Wonders pill or the Jade Essence pill, this demonic flame isn’t really necessary." Luo Chen dubbed the flames produced by the burning Qinghe demon as demonic fire. "With its powerful and easily adjustable heat, it might be viable for crafting second tier pills, but the cost is likely too prohibitive."
After all, it was the first tier wood-element demonic spirit and could be classified as a first-tier demonic beast. Although it was among the weakest demonic beasts, posed no threat, and held little intrinsic value as a demonic beast.
Yet a single one cost ten spirit stones to purchase. It was useful for artifact forging since some materials required extremely high temperatures.
Typically, forging enchanted artifacts necessitated the use of earth fire. The Qinghe demon was certainly a clever workaround. Moreover, the profit margin for a single artifact far surpassed that of pills.
However, pills didn’t require such high temperatures; the melting points of medicinal materials were far lower than that of metals.
After some thorough research, Luo Chen couldn’t help but sigh at the wasted potential.
This thing was undoubtedly a good resource, but its usefulness was frustratingly limited. At present, I simply couldn’t find an effective use for it.
No, wait... What if I use it to refine Blood-Burning pills?
The firewood previously used for refining Blood-Burning pills wasn’t the common Green Steel wood or peach wood—it was Sweet Wax wood.
Sweet Wax wood got its name from a first-tier demonic beast that secreted a sticky fluid onto it during its hatching and metamorphosis. The fluid had a sweet smell, and when dried, it resembled the waxy residue left by a burning candle, thus earning its name.
In the alchemical recipe he devised, one of the main ingredients for the Blood-Burning pill was Explosive Ape blood. The demonic power contained in the alchemical fire could perfectly help the pure Explosive Ape blood integrate with the other ingredients. Compared to Sweet Wax wood, the demonic flames produced by burning Qinghe demons were far purer!
“A single Qinghe demon can burn for an exceptionally long time, and it allows me to adjust the flame intensity by myself.
“Perhaps I should give it a shot?”
For a moment, Luo Chen felt a surge of excitement. Why hesitate? Just do it!
That very night, Luo Chen, alone in his room, activated his top-grade Four Symbols Cauldron. He placed four portions of raw materials into the cauldron and used a Qinghe demon as firewood.
After the blazing fire had burned for a while, Luo Chen pulled out the half-burned Qinghe demon.
“Isn’t this thing supposed to be dead? Why does it scream when it burns?”
Luo Chen was certain that the Qinghe demons he had purchased from the Lianyun Trade Alliance weren’t alive. Living Qinghe demons were extremely agile and playful, often frolicking among the woods and vegetation.
However, the ones he had purchased were like dried grass, definitely lifeless. Luo Chen couldn’t figure out the reason behind it and assumed it might be some residual instinct left in the muscles and limbs of the creature after death.
He couldn’t wait to open the cauldron lid. The Blood-Burning pill was unlike other pills. Once refined, it emitted a charred and acrid aroma.
For other pills, this kind of smell usually signified failure.
However, for the Blood-Burning pill, it most likely meant success. When he lifted the lid, seven blood-red low-grade pills were lying inside.
“Seven!” Luo Chen exclaimed.
He quickly checked the residual waste and confirmed that three-fourths of the materials had failed, with only one portion yielding results.
In other words, the usual yield of five Blood-Burning pills had now increased to seven!
“Hiss... Simply changing the alchemical fire resulted in a higher yield. Does this mean the recipe itself is influenced by the fire?
"I optimized the Blood-Burning pill recipe?" Luo Chen understood better than anyone what the increase in pill yield meant.
It meant the pills could now be mass-produced and sold externally.
Of course, he had to calculate the costs.
A single Qinghe demon, when half-burned, could refine four sets of raw materials. On average, a complete Qinghe demon could support the refining of ten batches of Blood-Burning pills.
When divided evenly, each batch's cost increased by one spirit stone, bringing the total cost to approximately twelve spirit stones per batch. But the improvement was clear—each successful batch yielded two additional Blood-Burning pills.
Of course, he couldn't only consider successful batches. With a ten percent success rate, it meant an additional cost of nine spirit stones per batch.
"So, can the two extra Blood-Burning pills make up for the additional nine spirit stones?"
The answer was a resounding yes! Even if it didn’t cover the entire cost, the additional nine or ten spirit stones were easily recoverable.
Moreover, the increased yield also significantly boosted his skill proficiency.
On his status panel, Luo Chen’s proficiency with the Blood-Burning pill had risen to 13/100.
"I still have plenty of Qinghe demons. I can try refining more Blood-Burning pills next."
Recently, most of the Poshan Gang cultivators had been dispatched to Ancient Plains, which naturally meant fewer people were monitoring Luo Chen.
Additionally, those who stayed behind were mostly preoccupied with the ruins.
Luo Chen could now act a bit more boldly. Time flowed like water.
Luo Chen continued his alchemical refining and cultivation while keeping an eye on news about the Golden Core Ruins in Ancient Plains.
Since the Poshan Gang had a home-field advantage, much of the information they received was firsthand and untainted by rumors. This time, Mi Shuhua had mobilized many personnel, forming a five hundred strong team of rogue cultivators.
The three main combat halls formed the core of the team, supplemented by cultivators from the Mining Hall and Medicine Hall.
Practically all the ninth stage Qi-Refining cultivators had been dispatched. Apart from Luo Wudi, Zeng Wen, and Yang Wei, even Ke Yuelin, the Beast Hall’s Hall Leader, had set aside his responsibilities to personally join the expedition.