Chapter Sixty-One: Alchemy (Fourth Update)

In the final pages of "A Book," the process of preparing Longan, a kind of traditional medicine, was recorded. To Qin Tian's surprise, it needed to be refined, not simply boiled.

Boiling medicine was something Qin Tian understood well: toss the necessary herbs into a pot, simmer for a few hours, and then serve it to the patient. But refining medicine—wasn’t that something only seen in novels and television dramas? How could it actually exist?

Setting aside the method for now, just seeing the list of required ingredients made Qin Tian’s head spin. Judging by their names, these were highly valuable medicinal materials.

Helpless, Qin Tian called Sun Simin again. When it came to sourcing such rare herbs, only someone like Sun Simin could be relied upon; he was sure to have the connections to obtain them.

“Master, what’s the matter?” Sun Simin sounded surprised—he hadn’t expected Qin Tian to call again so soon after their last conversation.

“I’ll send you a list of herbs in a bit. See if you can gather them for me—get five sets, no, ten—actually, twenty sets,” Qin Tian said.

It was his first time refining medicine, and he feared failure, so he wanted to prepare extra sets, just in case.

The Longan pills only needed to be taken once a year. Last time, Old Kong had refined five of them for someone. This time, Qin Tian planned to make five as well. The book warned that refining these pills was extremely taxing, and Qin Tian worried that making too many might drain him completely.

“All right, Master, send me the list,” Sun Simin replied.

Qin Tian copied the names of the herbs from the book and sent them. After about five minutes, Sun Simin called back.

“Master, these herbs are extremely difficult to find,” Sun Simin said right away.

Qin Tian’s heart skipped a beat—so it really was that hard?

“But for me, it’s nothing,” Sun Simin laughed.

“You’re joking with me now?” Qin Tian was speechless.

“Hehe, where are you, Master? I can probably get ten sets right now. For the other ten, I’ll ask a few old friends. I’ll have them delivered to you tomorrow morning,” Sun Simin promised.

“Just send them to the Jiang family. The address is…” Qin Tian gave him Jiang Tianxiang’s home address.

“No problem. They’ll be delivered first thing tomorrow!” Sun Simin assured him confidently.

“Fantastic! Xiao Tian, you can refine these pills? Then our Griffin family can rely on you from now on!” Wade Griffin exclaimed in delight.

“Brother Griffin, these pills are specifically for replenishing vital energy—for those with congenital cold constitutions or depleted blood and qi. What about the Griffin elder?” Qin Tian asked.

“We Griffins have a peculiar hereditary illness—it causes depletion of blood and qi, typically appearing around age thirty and erupting at thirty-five,” Wade explained. “My father died at thirty-five. Every patriarch of the Griffin family has passed away around that age!”

“Only my grandfather, Pran Griffin, miraculously lived past thirty-five, but at fifty-five, the disease fully manifested.”

“Fortunately, he met Master Kong, who taught him a set of boxing exercises and gave him five Longan pills.”

“By practicing the exercises daily and taking one Longan pill each year, my grandfather has remained healthy ever since.”

“It’s now been five years, and the pills are all used up. My grandfather sent me to seek more from Master Kong,” Wade continued.

“So no male in your family lives past thirty-five?” Qin Tian drew in a sharp breath. The disease was eerie and terrifying.

“No, it only affects the men and only those of direct lineage,” Wade clarified.

“I see,” Qin Tian nodded.

That night, all four stayed at the Jiang family home. Early next morning, Sun Simin’s people delivered the herbs. Qin Tian checked the quantity and types; there were illustrations, so verification was easy.

Once he confirmed everything was correct, Qin Tian cleaned out a storage room and converted it into a simple refining chamber, instructing Jiang Yingying and the others to wait outside and not disturb him.

“You’re sure you’re going to refine medicine?” Jiang Yingying eyed the items in Qin Tian’s arms with an odd expression.

Potato chips, cola, spicy snacks...

Was he going in there to refine medicine, or to vacation?

“Uh… I might have to stay inside for a while, so I need something to snack on, right?” Qin Tian scratched his head, embarrassed.

“Take this, too,” Shen Xiaoqing said, stuffing her half-eaten popcorn into Qin Tian’s arms.

“You’re just encouraging him!” Jiang Yingying rolled her eyes at Shen Xiaoqing.

Shen Xiaoqing stuck out her tongue playfully.

Afraid Jiang Yingying would keep pestering him, Qin Tian hurried into the room.

Inside, he dropped his pile of snacks and began studying the refining process.

After tinkering for a while, Qin Tian’s expression became strange—was refining medicine really this simple?

Just crush the herbs, knead them together, and bake them over fire—that was it.

Wasn’t this a little too easy?

Qin Tian crushed the herbs, shaped them into pills, set up an alcohol lamp, and prepared to bake them over the flame.

But soon, he realized something was off. While a fragrant medicinal aroma wafted up, the pills quickly burned and turned to ashes.

“No, the initial steps are fine, but this last baking step can’t be that simple.”

Qin Tian searched through the book again and finally discovered that the “fire baking” wasn’t actual flame but the internal yang fire—the body’s yang energy.

Some people, with abundant yang energy, could externalize it through special techniques as a medium.

Qin Tian nodded. That made sense; if the Griffin elder was suffering from depleted blood and yang, these refined pills would be effective.

Following the book’s instructions, Qin Tian gradually forced his internal yang energy into his palm, and a faint, almost invisible flame appeared there.

He realized this wasn’t real fire, but a form of energy.

Placing the kneaded pill in his palm, after about half an hour, the pill made a soft pop, its outer layer cracked, revealing a round, dark pill inside.

“It worked!” Qin Tian was elated—he’d succeeded on his first attempt!

A few hours later, five black pills appeared in his palm—these were the Longan pills.

Admiring them for a while, Qin Tian sealed them in a jade bottle. Glancing at the snacks beside him, he felt a little regret. He’d thought the process would take much longer, but it was all done in a few hours.

Maybe he could just stay and finish the snacks before going out.