Emperor of Nine Suns - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Elder Ling Xin’s Elixir Refinement Method

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After having passed through the Hidden Frost Valley, he arrived at the ancient temple. The first thing he saw was that the pretty elder stared coldly at him with an angry look.

“What’s the time now?” Elder Ling Xin stood in front of the temple with a gloomy expression.

Chu Chen subconsciously scratched his head. He did not understand why the whimsical elder had been angry. He had still been on time.

“This disciple doesn’t understand and begs for Elder to explain.” Without any options, Chu Chen bowed and greeted her.

“Yesterday, I told you to be here at 5.15pm. See how late you are!” The pretty elder pointed to her side. “At 5.15pm, I lit this incense. From the time I’ve lit this incense up till now, it’s already 10 percent burnt through. Which means you’re late by five snaps!”

Elder Ling Xin stared at Chu Chen and her expression turned colder. “What does five snaps mean? If this was a battle and you’re slow by five snaps, you would have died ten times. If you’re refining a batch of elixirs, regardless if you over refine or under refine by this much time, it is a sufficient amount of time to lose all the medicinal properties of a cauldron’s worth of good elixirs, ruining everything.”

Elder Ling Xin’s seriousness caught Chu Chen off guard.

To be honest, the rules were lax for Crystal Spring Sect’s external disciples. They had only asked for them to have filled the monthly herb quota. At other times, the sect had not placed much restrictions on them. Due to that, it had resulted in many external disciples to have been slow and lazy.

The path of cultivation had been extremely boring. If the teachings had to be conducted with an impeccable timing everyday, how many would have been able to have endured it?

Chu Chen travelled around all the time and had been disciplined well. He was one of the rare external disciples that had always been on time. This time, it had been because of the eldest senior brother that caused him to run late.

“I will always remember Elder’s teaching and not make this mistake again.” Chu Chen bowed respectfully. He finally experienced first hand on how strict this pretty elder could have been. With such an attitude, it had been evident how anyone could have hardly tolerated her.

“If you’re late again, you can stop coming over!” Seeing Chu Chen’s humbleness, the pretty elder seemed to have calmed down slightly. “Alright, I’m going to start refining a new batch of elixirs. You’ll start by learning the fundamentals!”

Only when Chu Chen began learning, did he realize that although refining elixirs had been a minor task, the complexity of the process had been unimaginable when he went into the details.

Putting other things aside, just the washing, soaking, and separation of herbs took a lot of effort and time. Elder Ling Xin had been strict during her teaching as the requirement for each step had been detailed to allow maximized potential for each cauldron of elixir. Hence, not even the slightest mistake was allowed.

In the beginning, because Chu Chen had been unfamiliar with the process of washing herbs, he had coldly been corrected by Elder Ling Xin every now and then.

Chu Chen did not take her criticisms personally. Instead, he would remember all his mistakes and inaccuracy because he understood that refining elixirs had been a skill that required strong foundations.

If his foundations had been insufficient, then he would never be able to be a successful elixir refiner.

Even with a perfectionist like Elder Ling Xin as his teacher, Chu Chen did not mind her strictness. He abided by her instructions without question, slowly having brought himself closer to her standards of perfection.

Chu Chen felt like a sponge, continually having absorbed every shred of knowledge Elder Ling Xin had passed onto him. Without having him realized, he had begun his own path as an elixir refiner. 

‘This kid is quite a moldable talent.’

Elder Ling Xin thought to herself, feeling satisfied after seeing Chu Chen’s attention to detail. Having put all else aside, no matter how much she berated him, he never talked back. Instead, he tried his best to do better. With that attitude, she was sure that he had a bright future.

Ever since she became an elder, Ling Xin had seen too many disciples who caved under the slightest bit of mistreatment because of their youth and headstrong attitude. If she criticized them once, they returned 10 times the retort.

Having faced those disciples, Elder Ling Xin had been very experienced. She would bestow upon them a “Scram!” and then kicked them out of her door.

Instead, Chu Chen’s attitude was just like a piece of raw gem that required lots of cutting and shaping in the process. 

Although he had to go through such a tedious process, after having experienced and overcome all the hardships, he would one day hold a talent so incomparable!

Elder Ling Xin had always treated the disciples coming to her for missions to be passing guests. However, she realized that she had been looking forward to this young man’s future, be it his achievements as an elixir refiner or as a cultivator.

On the other hand, as Chu Chen continued his physical labor as an elixir refining intern, he slowly realized that ancient elixir refining temples constantly gave off a rich aroma of elixirs, formed by the collected essence of countless completed elixirs. It was extremely beneficial to the body.

Having worked within the ancient temple, even when Chu Chen did not focus on his cultivation, he still felt the lingering effects of the elixir’s power slowly having tempered his body and strengthened his muscles and bones.

Although it had been slow, the process was constant.

In fact, even his spiritual energy that he cultivated to the ninth-level of the Spiritual Mist Stage became more condensed under the effects of the elixir’s power. The ancient elixir refining temple had truly been a treasure trove!

It seemed that he would have to find more chances to come over here for work in the future. It would be extra helpful to have him strengthen his body.

Time passed quickly. When Chu Chen completed the things he had and helped clean the ancient temple, he noticed that it had already turned dark outside.

After a whole day of work, the pretty teacher’s preparation for elixir refinement had more or less been done.

Just the prep work for elixir refinement took a whole day’s time. If it were other elixir refiners1, they would most likely have thought that it wasted too much time. 

It seems only Elder Ling Xin, the perfectionist, took the finer details of this seriously. At the same time, Chu Chen understood that Elder Ling Xin intentionally slowed her pace so that he could learn the fundamentals properly.

“Alright, tomorrow 5.15am, when the day breaks, right at the crossing of the sun and moon, we will start the refining process. As for today, go home and rest early. Don’t be late tomorrow and waste my time.”

Seeing that most of the prep work had already been done, Elder Ling Xin nodded and tossed him a small ceramic bottle. Chu Chen caught it quickly. “This is your reward for today. Remember, you mustn’t be late tomorrow.”

“I’ll remember that well.” Chu Chen received the elixirs and felt speechless. In Crystal Spring Sect, he had only been afraid of Elder Ling Xin. Yet, the master elixir refiner could afford to be generous and rewarded her disciples with a bottle of elixirs each day.

That small little white ceramic bottle could fit approximately three elixirs. If they were all level-1 regular grade spirit gathering elixirs, then it would be quite a sum over the span of a month!

At the same time, Chu Chen realized that the strict Elder Ling Xin was quite considerate as well. He did not need to say anything but she had already known that he needed spirit to gather elixirs and tossed it at him.