Alchemy IX

Kle In woke up the next morning to find out that there was no breakfast on the table, instead he found a wooden container on the table with dry rations in it. Kle In guessed it is probably part of his current arrangement. The concept of days of this world is based on the number of moons seen at night, however if converted to Gregorian Calendar of Earth, today is considered a Saturday. He guessed it is probably her maid’s day off.

He anticipates that he won't have his maid serve his meal again tomorrow so he could only persevere until he can sell his pills.

When he opened the wooden box, an unfamiliar Formation carved within the container took his attention. Similar to his cauldron, it looked like an art however he knew too well it was more than that.

Kle In ate his bread as he observed the Formation patterns. Only now that he realized that while there is no electricity in this world, people seem to rely on Formations. Kle In turned his head then looked around for other items in the house that have Formations in them.

He noticed one of the Firefly Bulbs on a corner that is still lit up and pondered if the Physics involved to light up the bulb has the same concept from Earth.

As he was lost in his thought, he suddenly recalled Formation was the third Factor on his list he wrote yesterday on the wall of his Alchemy room.

"Maybe Formation has its own role aside from it being inscribed in the wall?” he asked himself.

As he blankly stared on the bread, he came up with a new idea.

After eating a course of bread, he went back to his Alchemy room. One thing that has been bothering him all these while is his Failed Superman’s Eyesight. He has yet to understand its practical use but considering the images he can see from that perspective, it appears to involve a gas like substance which he believes to be Spiritual Qi. And his clue for this are the white lights which falls under the exact position of the Qi Nodes when looking at a cultivator and he had already tested this multiple times back when he was in a cage.

Kle In prepared another set of Qi Sensing Pill ingredient and placed them inside the cauldron then activated his Failed Superman's Eyesight 1. He wanted to know how the concoction process looks like from this perspective. His surrounding background immediately turned black and similar to what he had seen countless times, he could see patterns of silver lines and waves.

Just like the image one can see on an x-ray machine, he deduced that the silver light on this black background is Qi Energy. At the same time, he extracted the essences of each ingredient and it now looked like three lumps of silver lights then slowly combined them.

“Wow!”

At this point, all he could see were hundreds of random silver lightning sparks within a sphere. Then slowly, the lively sparks started to calm down and after a few minutes, it looked like a lump of silver lights just like when he extracted the essence from the ingredients

Kle In returned his vision to normal. What a sight to behold. Just like fireworks, it was captivating to see that even passerby would be enamored by its fleeting display.

He closed his eyes to remember everything he just witnessed. Since there is nothing to record the process, he can only rely on his memory.

The room was surrounded in silence as Kle In concentrated and after an hour replaying the entire process in his mind, he did discover a few clues.

One thing there was to note was that while the spark-looking silver lights were random and chaotic, there was a small rotating spark at the center of the sphere. He could not see it clearly because of the random flickering sparks all over within the sphere.

“I’m sure there was something at the center.”

Not contended and feeling like the answer would be revealed at the middle of those chaotic sparks, he took another batch of ingredients. This time he wants to concoct the pill outside the cauldron like when he first refined a failed Qi Sensing Pill and see if he could get a better image of what was happening at the center.

He activated his Failed Superman's Eyesight 1 again then after extracting the essences, he then combined them together to form a pill.

Similar to what happened earlier, tiny silver spark were generated but this time, since it is being concocted outside the cauldron and there is no barrier to contain the herb essences, the silver sparks moved outwards like it is being carried away by a wave.

“What is that?”

After a few moments, he could finally see the true image of what was on the center.

It looked like a dendroid made of sparks as it rotates on its axis. As he looked at the image, it seemed to follow the pattern of a Gathering Formation. Kle In waited until the failed Qi Sensing Pill was formed before switching to normal vision.

“Ha ha ha ha”

Kle In laughed as his useless failed eye technique could finally put to good use. If he is correct, since this world relies on Formations, the basic principle governing Pill Synthesis should be the same. He theorized that what he saw just now is a type of Gathering Formation.

Slowly, everything is making sense.

As he looked at the cauldron, multiple ideas are currently being generated in his mind but after a few minutes, he wanted to test something out.

He placed another set of ingredients into the cauldron and when everything was ready, he combined the herb essences.

He did not dare blink and closely observed the center with his divine eyes activated.

As the pill was forming, he materialized his Qi in the shape of a spoon and directly scoop at the center of the sphere.

Poof!

Similar to the pill explosion that once scared him to his wits, the explosion happened in a split second causing the same layer of Formation that once activated to contain the burst of energy.

Kle In was able to witness everything including the activation of the Formation within the cauldron.

Clang!

The metallic lid dropped on the floor. Unlike before, he was not afraid this time. He was right. The explosion was triggered when the Gathering Formation at the center of the forming pill was damaged. The chemical reaction when the three essences when combined is already volatile and damaging the Formation that is keeping it together will certainly trigger it to explode.

Kle In smiled having figured out the key to concocting High Tier Pills. One thing he learned from the basics of Formation Book is that a lot of them can be activated and maintained by reinforcing it with one's Qi.

Absorbed in the moment, he placed another set of ingredients into the cauldron.

After extracting the essence of each ingredient, he separated a small portion of each essence and combined it. As soon as the Gathering Formation took its form, he extended a strand of his Qi and compressed it to a thread thinner than a hair then connected to it and reinforce the formation with his Qi.

As the Gathering Formation was rotating in its axis, he combined the rest of the essences below it.

From time to time, he would switch his sight to normal for better observation.

When the pill synthesis was reaching its climax, Kle In noticed how the Qi Sensing Pill in its Semi-Liquid Form started to gather while the pure pill essence gravitates on the Gathering Formation he was controlling.

Clocked ticked and after five minutes, Kle In opened the lid to retrieve the Pill.

His heart is pounding in excitement. It still looked like a small murky transparent white pill but its center is a tiny dark dot which is a lot smaller compared to the High Tier Pills sold at Paco Merchant Alliance.

“I knew it!”

He smiled at his success.

His body uncontrollably danced as he walked downstairs. He wanted to celebrate his accomplishment but when he got to the kitchen, what greeted him is a piece of hard brown bread and a cup of water.