Jacob looked at the half-burnt concoction inside the metal pot usually made for pasta.

Well, I guess that Pills and Rigatoni are not that complementary.

Jacob needed an actual Pill Cauldron to cook pills. He had tried making more pastes and liquids, but it was impossible with the tools at hand. He would need to raid many more ruins before hoping to get something capable of improving people’s cultivation.

I mean, I guess that I could actually make some Alchemic Pasta if I wanted to, ah!

He started laughing his ass off before suddenly freezing.

Wait a second.

He looked at the huge pile of herbs he had on one table. He had set up shop in one villa that belonged to the richest people in St. Peter. Their kitchen was huge and had all the latest tools.

Jacob took one of the bigger roots in his hand and started pondering. His knowledge of Alchemy was unparalleled under the Heavens, and if he had been strong enough, he could have made Pills with his hands only.

Now, a crazy idea went through his mind.

Pills are the shape used by mysterious cultivators throughout the universe for Alchemy. But some civilizations concocted other creations, liquids, and paste products above everything else. They were but a footnote in the Alchemy books that I have read, but…

Could it be…

Jacob started looking at his problem from a different angle. This was the third day since his stay in St. Peter. He had three more days before setting off for the expedition. Then, he would have a 24-hours window to kill off all the Charybdes and hunt down the fugitives.

Pills took a long time to concoct, especially at his current level. He barely had raised his Mana cultivation at the 2nd level of the Cockroach realm. His Qi cultivation was still hanging around the 3rd level of the Cockroach realm, sadly. Every other person, even old people, had passed him after giving them the Cultivation Techniques. Even though his effective fighting potential was much higher than that, he needed strength to make Pills.

Pills were a concept, more philosophy than real matter. The Cauldron was used to mix ingredients, the Pill Furnace to refine impurities and solidify them in the perfect state.

Am I going to make what I think I’m going to make?

Jacob did not hesitate for one second more in fear of someone catching him in the shameful act he was about to perform.

He took the roots and grated them as fine as flour, and then he slightly boiled one of the weaker herbs until it dissolved in water. Next, he cooled it off until it reached around 20°C and used it to mix the flour obtained from the roots.

He started to knead the dough softly, using his energy perception to individuate where the most medicinal effects were coagulating. Next, he straightened out the energy density in the dough and started working out the kinks, occasionally adding more of the herbal water and removing certain parts.

Holy Rigatoni, this might actually work!

He started getting excited.

What he was doing was similar to the process of mixing herbs in a Cauldron! And he could feel the energy even better since he was using his hands.

This cannot be. If this process worked, it would mean that all the great Alchemy Saints are pineapple-pizza-eating-idiots.

Jacob finally felt the energy in the dough starting to surge, and…

It worked! F*ck! It worked! San Gennaro, it worked!

He had used his own Qi to direct part of the process, and the direct manipulation had proven even more effective than mixing herbs inside a cauldron. Moreover, it had been so trivial that Jacob thought he could even teach such a step to novices without breaking a sweat.

This is a stainless steel pot. Its melting point should be around 1500°C. These herbs do need a very high cooking point to refine…

He looked at the pot and got an insane idea. He had once read about one of the greatest Alchemy Saints using herbal fumes to empower the process of refining before removing the impurities.

Therefore, he mixed more complementary herbs together and put them inside the pot. Finally, he used his Qi as fuel to enhance the gas-stove flame and slowly brought the Steel to an almost red-hot state.

He immediately stopped the process and took all the necessary precautions to avoid blowing himself up. He had saved some blood from the Demonic Wolves and used some very basic Hardening and Fire-Resistant Inscription Patterns all over the kitchen stove and the immediate vicinity.

Then, he brought the steel pot again around a 1000°C. And then, he stopped again.

Am I a fucking idiot?

He inscribed the pot too.

I probably need leather gloves and more equipment to avoid burning myself alive and losing my sight. Well, this is a proof of concept. So let’s see what I can do in my current conditions.

His perfectionist side wanted him to build all the tools he needed, but he knew he didn’t have enough time to do everything correctly.

He donned some sunglasses he found inside the house and prayed his body was strong enough to take this after inscribing some more patterns on top of oven mitts.

These mitts will probably liquefy in three hours, given the shitty material they are made of…

Jacob started slowly heating the pot again, watching the mixture he had put inside a different bowl. If he were right, this would be the discovery of a century. Nay, of eternity!