<b>Chapter 778: Longevity Medicine Refinement</b>
Minutes turned into days. Although the sun rose and set, the peak remained quiet. It could even be said that the entirety of Alchemy City was silent.
Countless eyes watched the alchemist refine his longevity medicine. This was of the emperor level, so anyone would give their utmost attention. Once finished, this would definitely be a batch worth coveting.
The key moment finally came as the alchemist was about to insert the most important ingredient into the cauldron, longevity blood. The moment the longevity blood flowed down, a glossy amber shade movingly appeared as if nothing was more enchanting than its radiance.
“Raarr—” A fierce roar echoed like an unceasing and ferocious storm, as if a beast wanted to overturn this entire land.
This was longevity blood of more than three million years of age. This type of longevity spirit was extremely powerful when alive. Even though it was dead, its longevity blood still contained its mighty intent.
The blood turned into a powerful spirit that wanted to flip over the cauldron in order to escape. This was a test for an alchemist's abilities. At this time, the alchemist's blood energy soared to the sky. Inside his hand was an alchemy rune. The moment this rune imprinted itself onto the cauldron, it immediately activated the cauldron's great power.
This cauldron that once belonged to the great alchemy emperor instantly emitted its power to suppress the howls of the blood.
As the alchemist stood firm on this land, his dao of alchemy emerged with divine trees everywhere along with flowing true fire. The alchemist was using his dao to connect to the heaven and earth to borrow its momentum.
In this moment, Alchemy City's momentum seemed to be at his command. This momentum combined with the cauldron allowed the alchemist to suppress the longevity blood and refine it in a short period of time.
“Amazing, an alchemy dao capable of borrowing the momentum of the world! “ The older alchemists showered him with praises.
Some alchemists were awed while others were intoxicated by the white hair alchemist's techniques! Although they couldn't steal anything, they gained a lot of experience in pill refinement.
After the alchemist refined all of the longevity blood, everything seemed to change. In a split second, all of the hills in a one hundred mile radius were encompassed by an alchemy energy.
Inside this alchemy energy was the aroma of medicinal herbs. Anyone who smelled this aroma would become spirited and refreshed and feel as if they were decades younger. This was an extraordinary feeling.
Moreover, as the alchemy energy became denser, roars could be heard resounding inside as if there were divine beasts lurking around. The crowd could feel their powerful presence.
“The medicine is about to take form.” The spectators were even more nervous than the alchemist. Many people wished for both sides to succeed in refining the longevity medicines, regardless of how the competition ended.
“Omm…” Finally, clouds gathered in the sky until they formed an ocean. A vortex appeared above the alchemist, emitting a sound that grew increasingly loud.
“This is not a longevity reduction, it is an imperial warning! If he can withstand the imperial warning, then the medicine can definitely take form.” An alchemist from the previous generation exclaimed after seeing the vortex inside the clouds growing bigger and bigger.
Longevity reduction, simply put, was a tribulation. The moment a saint or emperor medicine was about to take form, the longevity reduction would become extremely dangerous. If the alchemist was not able to suppress it, then it would devour their life!
Moreover, if it successfully devoured the life of the alchemist, then the efficacy of the medicine would actually become stronger. However, a failed attempt to devour the alchemist would result in the failure of the batch.
Either way, when the alchemist couldn't control their cauldron and allowed for a longevity reduction to appear, they would lose some of their lifespan. Such a situation was extremely dangerous and could even result in death.
An imperial warning was a phenomenon that only occurred for emperor medicines. During the refinement process, even if the alchemist could handle the longevity reduction, this did not mean that the batch would come out successfully. However, once an imperial warning appeared and passed, the medicine would definitely be formed.
An imperial warning meant that this batch of longevity medicine had alarmed the high heavens. This indicated that the quality of the medicine was superb! Only great quality emperor medicines would be able to cause imperial warnings!
“With this imperial warning, this medicine is absolutely of the finest quality.” Even the ancestors could no longer calmly remain in their chairs. For those who needed this type of medicine, they were ready to pay a monstrous sum.
“Omm—” The imperial warning finally materialized. A rune descended from the vortex, creating a huge buzzing sound. This sound was very unique and belonged only to the dao of alchemy. It resembled the sound of the heavens or the singing of angels.
The moment this sound appeared, the alchemy rune dove straight down while carrying a mighty momentum. During its descent, the sounds of the imperial warning continued on as if it was urging the medicine in the cauldron.
“Open!” The white hair alchemist turned serious after hearing this sound. He shouted and caused the cauldron to unleash its universal laws along with the cauldron flame to protect the medicine within.
With a loud detonation, the fire source of the cauldron spewed out a towering inferno like a volcanic eruption. This inferno turned into a monstrous Heavenly Hound. It shouted then soared into the sky to meet the descending imperial warning head on. [1. A Heavenly Hound is the source of inspiration from the more well-known Tengu from japanese mythology. Tengu is an accepted translation for this, but the image evoked due to western culture is different in this case, so I chose Heavenly Hound instead. The wiki lists it as Heavenly Dog, but hound sounds better.]
“Immortal Emperor Bailian's technique, Sun-Eater Heavenly Hound!” An alchemist who was familiar with the Bailian Clan was overwhelmed with emotion after seeing this technique.
Legend stated that this was the ultimate technique of the Bailian Clan. Across the generations, very few in the clan were able to successfully train this technique, but the white hair alchemist had done just that.
“Phuff!” The hound rushed into the sky and devoured the imperial warning completely. In just a moment, series of explosions occurred inside the hound's body as if it was about to be blown apart by the warning.
The cauldron under the alchemist's control was affected by this powerful backlash as well, making it seem like it could collapse at any second. With a serious demeanor, the alchemist's blood energy reached its highest point as he used the most fortified alchemy dao to stop it from collapsing.
With a final blast, cracks appeared around the hound's body. However, nothing else happened afterward. The clouds in the sky also dissipated along with the imperial warning.
“That was one imperial warning!” An alchemist commented: “This is already quite amazing since imperial warnings are very rare!”
Imperial warnings had nine sounds in total. The more imperial warnings sounded out, the better the longevity medicine would be. However, the difficulty of successfully refining the medicine increased accordingly. This was because the higher imperial warnings were vastly more powerful!
After another cry, the Heavenly Hound turned into a flame and reentered the cauldron.
“Success!” Many nervous cultivators couldn't help but cheer after seeing this scene. A group of ancestors also grinned excitedly: “Another batch of good longevity medicine!”
The white hair alchemist finally opened the cauldron to take out the medicine. He stored the medicine in a pouch before calming the fire source and recalling the cauldron.
“It really isn't easy. This is a longevity medicine with an imperial warning. Even older Legendary Alchemists would not necessarily be able to refine this level of medicine.” The exciting atmosphere was infectious.
“Fairy Ming and gentlemen, please appraise the medicine.” After properly dealing with everything, the white hair alchemist solemnly opened his pouch, and the medicine finally appeared before everyone.
Layers of bright spheres emerged. Just these lights alone were already tempting enough. Inside the pouch was an item with the shape of a resting Heavenly Hound. It seemed animated, as if it had its own life.
“It is a longevity medicine that has taken shape — how unfathomable! This is indeed the Heavenly Hound, the most famous symbol of the Bailian Clan!” Even those who didn't know much about alchemy were amazed by this scene.
A longevity medicine that could take physical form was only found at the emperor level. Moreover, their price would be tens or even a hundred times higher than ordinary medicines.
Although this phenomenon wouldn't innately increase the medicinal effect, it could offset the user's resistance. For example, after a cultivator used one, the second time they took it would be less effective. What should have increased their lifespan by one hundred years would now only be fifty or even less.
However, it was a different story for medicines with special forms. They could bypass the resistance and allow the user to gain sixty to seventy more years!
In an instant, many people held their breaths, waiting for Ming Yexue and the famous old alchemists to appraise the medicine. The ancestors were even more anxious since they definitely wanted a medicine of this level.
Eventually, Ming Yexue and the others came to a consensus while everyone else stared at them and awaited their announcement.
Meanwhile, the white hair alchemist was completely confident in his longevity medicine. He had a smile on his face as he looked at the judges. He secretly knew that this batch was one of the best he had ever refined, and no one in the younger generation could do a better job.