With a mid-grade immortal cauldron, Joe Di could already refine eight-striped seventh-rank immortal pills. Now, with a top-grade cauldron, even if the Foundation Sevenfold Pill was extremely difficult to make, Joe Di was confident he could produce a seven-stripe Foundation Sevenfold Pill.
Since he only had enough medicinal herbs for one batch, Joe Di decided to play it safe. After refining the cauldron, he first made several other seventh-rank immortal pills.
Except for the first batch, which yielded eight-striped seventh-rank immortal pills, all the subsequent batches that Joe Di refined turned out to be nine-striped immortal pills.
This proved that what he lacked now was neither alchemy skill nor pill fire, but a truly excellent cauldron.
After thoroughly cleaning the cauldron, Joe Di carefully took out the medicinal herbs for the Foundation Sevenfold Pill. The pill recipe was clear: to refine the Foundation Sevenfold Pill, one must first add the Hundred Vein Blossom, then purify the medicinal liquid, add the auxiliary herbs, purify again, fuse the pill liquid, and finally add the Dao Essence Fruit for the final fusion.
As soon as Joe Di added the Hundred Vein Blossom, he sensed something was off. According to his understanding of the basic laws, the Hundred Vein Blossom was the herb that formed the pill's meridian pattern and Dao resonance—it should be added last.
Joe Di's alchemy path was derived from the Ninth Prime Law, which gave him insight into various fundamental principles. To Joe Di, a good pill possessed spiritual essence, and the highest-grade pills could even give birth to a pill spirit. Since pills had spiritual essence, they should be treated as living beings.
Such a living entity, when harmonized with a cultivator's Dao body, could help them ascend to a higher realm.
Based on his understanding of alchemy, the first ingredient to add should not be the Hundred Vein Blossom, but the Dao Essence Fruit. Then the auxiliary immortal herbs, and finally the Hundred Vein Blossom.
The pill recipe was the exact opposite of his own understanding of alchemy. Should he follow the recipe, or trust his own insights?