"Snakeberry, two qian; Heavenly Bamboo, one liang and six qian; Oleander, four qian..."
Quinn Shepherd brought Lina the Spirit Fox to the Imperial Academy's storehouse, handed over his prescription, and bought the herbs he needed. He said to Lina, "This time I'm refining a medicine called Lost-Mind Incense. It's an anesthetic. Apothecary once used it to knock out a flood dragon. That ox may be strong, but this will definitely put it down! Still, this drug must be refined in a special sealed furnace—there can't be the slightest carelessness."
Lina asked curiously, "Why?"
"The fragrance this medicine gives off can knock out even a flood dragon—let alone the alchemist refining it."
Quinn laughed, "If the furnace isn't sealed, once the medicine is done and the scent escapes, anyone who passes by will drop—even a great cultivator at the Divine Firmament realm. I don't have a sealed furnace, so I'll need to borrow one from the Imperial Medical Hall..."
Suddenly, a familiar voice called out, "Little divine doctor, where are you off to?"
Quinn turned toward the voice and smiled, "Doctor Qu! Oh, right, you're a supervisor at the Imperial Academy now—I should call you Professor Qu."
Doctor Qu hurriedly waved his hands, "Please, don't say that, you'll embarrass me! Little divine doctor, I'm supposed to give a lecture this afternoon on medical theory to the scholars. You're a divine doctor—why don't you substitute for me and give the talk instead?"
Quinn laughed, "I'm just a student—how could I teach a class? Besides, I've got things to do this afternoon, so I'm afraid I can't make it. I'm planning to refine a batch of medicine that I'll need later today."
Doctor Qu looked a bit disappointed, but then his eyes lit up. "You're going to refine medicine?"
Quinn laughed, "It's not really alchemy, just medicine refinement."
Doctor Qu's eyes gleamed. "Little Apothecary, may I observe?"
Quinn hesitated, then nodded. "I'm planning to borrow a furnace from the Imperial Medical Hall. If you want to watch, come along."
Doctor Qu was delighted. "Little divine doctor, you head to the Imperial Medical Hall first—I'll be right there!" With that, he dashed off like the wind.
Quinn walked toward the Imperial Medical Hall. Before he even reached the entrance, Doctor Qu was already waiting for him outside, along with Doctor You, Doctor Yu, and several others from the Imperial Medical Office—all of them looking excited.
Quinn was puzzled—he was only planning to refine a simple anesthetic, so why all the fuss?
"Little divine doctor, hurry!"
The imperial physicians urged him on, all talking at once: "Do you need to start the earth-fire and main furnace?"
"We can help out!"
"Which herbs are you using? What's the sequence for adding them?"
"When do you use finesse, when brute force? How do you channel your yuanqi for each technique?"
...
Quinn entered the Imperial Medical Hall with them, and was greeted by a massive main furnace. Refining pills in that furnace would take two or three years to finish—clearly meant for the military, or for concocting some earth-shaking spirit pill.
There were also other furnaces, big and small, each set atop rune arrays that connected to the earth-fire three thousand zhang below. Drawing up the earth-fire, they could be used for pill refinement.
"Is there a sealed furnace?" Quinn asked.
"This way, little divine doctor."
Doctor You quickly led him to a stone furnace. "This is the sealed furnace. Will this do, little divine doctor?"
Quinn's eyes lit up. The stone furnace was carved from a single block of jade, hollowed out top and bottom, with an internal arrangement of Eight Trigrams and Five Elements—airtight once the lid was twisted shut. Even if a pill exploded inside, it wouldn't burst this furnace.
"Perfect!"
Quinn lifted the lid, inspected it carefully, then placed each herb inside according to the prescribed order, setting them in the Eight Trigrams and Five Elements compartments. Each compartment would open at the right time, dropping the herbs into the furnace without needing to lift the lid.
After arranging the herbs, Quinn slapped his palm down, drawing earth-fire from the rune array beneath the floor to heat the stone furnace.
Fox Ling'er showed little interest in the process, glancing around, while the elderly imperial physicians watched intently. Doctor Yu's eyes lit up at Quinn's technique and he exclaimed, "Such skill—truly marvelous! Little divine doctor, why do you tap thirteen times in a row?"
Quinn replied, "Purple Pill Jade is a type of jade—its medicinal properties are hidden deep within, making it harder to extract than other herbs. That's why I tap thirteen times, to draw out its effects. My cultivation is weak, but if you seniors were stronger, you wouldn't need thirteen taps—just enough to extract the properties."
The elderly physicians nodded and quickly jotted down notes.
Quinn refined medicine while discussing with them, mostly answering their questions and explaining the pharmacology and pill-refining techniques.
"Is this the Dragon-Tiger Harmonization technique?"
Suddenly, Doctor Qu's expression changed. "That's a lost technique!" he exclaimed.
The other three elderly physicians were also shocked, staring at Quinn's hands, eager to memorize his technique.
Doctor Yu murmured, "The Dragon-Tiger Harmonization technique has been lost for two centuries. I can't believe we're seeing this legendary pill-refining method again—am I dreaming?"
"If you want to learn, I can teach you when I have time. But I'm a bit busy these days."
Quinn was now at the critical stage of refinement and couldn't be distracted. The Dragon-Tiger Harmonization was just one of hundreds of techniques Apothecary had taught him—nothing special in his eyes. He didn't see any harm in sharing it.
The most important aspect of pill refinement is mastering pharmacology—technique is just a supplement.
Still, to the physicians, technique was crucial. Besides technique, pill recipes were also highly coveted treasures—if one obtained a unique recipe, they'd guard it jealously and rarely share.
This was completely different from Apothecary's teachings. He didn't put much stock in recipes or technique—his main focus was always pharmacology.
Quinn never thought Apothecary's lessons were anything special—just ordinary knowledge. The physicians' astonishment struck him as odd.
(This chapter isn't finished yet~.~ Click next page to continue reading!)
By now, Quinn was preparing to collect the medicine. His hands moved so quickly they blurred, and in just moments, the physicians saw more than a dozen lost techniques—some even more complex than the Dragon-Tiger Harmonization.
His hands flashed through technique after technique, each causing the earth-fire to change in a different way. The physicians barely had time to take notes before Quinn finished, then waited quietly by the stone furnace.
Once the stone furnace cooled, Quinn's yuanqi suddenly shifted into Black Tortoise form—his palm grew colder and colder, until frost formed on the furnace wall.
After a moment, Quinn had the physicians and Fox Ling'er step back, then held his breath and carefully opened the stone furnace. A thin layer of pink mist clung to the bottom.
With one hand, Quinn channeled Black Tortoise yuanqi to cool the mist, while with the other he fetched a small jade vial. Using a guiding technique, he drew the mist from the furnace and collected it in the vial.
He quickly screwed the cap tight, then, still uneasy, sealed the mouth with a layer of Black Tortoise ice before finally relaxing.
"The medicine I need is finished."
Quinn thanked the physicians with a smile. "Thank you, teachers. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll skip this afternoon's class..."
Doctor You smiled, "Just take care of your own affairs. In the future, you don't need to attend lectures—if you have time, come teach us old bones, or refine pills with us, that's enough."
Quinn took his leave.
No sooner had he left than the elderly physicians gathered together. Doctor You, beaming, asked, "Everyone, did you get all the herbs down?"
Doctor Yu replied shakily, "How could you hide them from us? I can tell which herbs just by their scent, even the exact weight!"
"And what about the order for the monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy herbs in the Eight Trigrams and Five Elements?"
Doctor Qu laughed, "Don't worry, I've got it all down!"
"What about the techniques?"
The old men laughed in unison, "We each memorized half—put it together and we've got the whole technique!"
Doctor Qu hesitated. "But when he collected the medicine, he made us stand back—I didn't catch that part. And besides, we don't know what kind of medicine he refined. If we try it blindly..."
"Collecting the medicine is a minor step, not too troublesome. As for what it is, we'll know by the scent once it's refined! If the little divine doctor made it, it must be extraordinary!"
Excited, the physicians sprang into action. Doctor Yu hurried off to the storeroom for herbs, while the others cleaned the stone furnace. When Doctor Yu returned, they placed the herbs in the Eight Trigrams and Five Elements compartments in order.
Working together, the physicians drew up earth-fire, each wielding one or more techniques as they refined medicine around the stone furnace.
Soon, many scholars arrived at the Medical Hall for lectures, but the physicians were too busy with their critical refinement to pay attention. Recently, the Academy had been beset by Daoist and Buddhist disciples at the gates, injuring many and reminding the students of the Medical Hall's importance. Naturally, they flocked to attend its classes.
The students watched as the physicians' techniques shifted unpredictably, each move astonishingly skillful. Doctor Yu and the others circled the furnace, their movements intertwining like old butterflies around the fire—truly masters with the bearing of immortals.
Suddenly, the physicians stopped, withdrew their hands, and steadied their breathing, waiting for the stone furnace to cool.
At this stage, the physicians hesitated. Doctor Qu placed his hand on the furnace, "I think this is how he did it—his hand was pressed like this..."
Doctor Yu smiled, "If it doesn't work, we'll just refine another batch. Open the furnace!"
Doctor You stepped forward and lifted the lid. Instantly, a wave of fragrance hit him. He began to say, "So fragrant—eh—so—aromatic—ah—ah—ah..."
Thud.
Doctor You collapsed, a strange smile frozen on his face—like a flower half-bloomed, his smile only halfway formed.
Thud, thud, thud.
Doctor Yu, Doctor You, and the others all collapsed with smiles on their faces. The scholars watching cried out—some rushed to help, others tried to flee. Suddenly, everyone felt their limbs vanish, and one by one, they toppled to the ground.
Not only did their limbs disappear, but their eyes, noses, ears—even their heads—seemed to vanish!
Even their spirit embryos were suddenly paralyzed, unable to move, and their yuanqi was frozen!
———Announcement: The Shepherd's Record will launch on September 1st! Please remember to subscribe and support the author with your votes!