When Ji Yuan had made all his preparations, with both his mind and spiritual power adjusted to their current optimal state.
In the grand hall where he was located, two rich medicinal fragrances suddenly emanated one after another, accompanied by low cracking sounds.
He subconsciously turned his head to look, and then saw the pill furnaces in front of the other two people, under the scorching of the crimson flames, emitting a fragrance that seeped into his nostrils.
Within the cauldron, which was about ten feet tall, bursts of cracking sounds would occasionally be heard, with overflowing spiritual energy and special fluctuations emanating from it.
Just from a wisp of medicinal fragrance, Ji Yuan could be certain that the pills being refined by the middle-aged man and the white-haired old man were definitely of grade seven or higher!
Pills of this grade were already capable of greatly benefiting cultivators in the late stage of the Spirit Condensation realm, and even had a considerable effect on those in the early stage of the Dao Enlightenment realm.
If their medicinal effect was to increase cultivation, then the value of the pills would multiply several times over. Once they were brought to an auction, they would surely be bid up to sky-high prices, no less expensive than a top-tier magical artifact, and perhaps even more so!
Now, the pills these two were refining had both entered their final stages, with their success or failure depending on their respective skills.
During the process of a pill master refining pills, there were three most crucial stages: the first was the integration of medicinal properties in the early stage, the second was the gentle nurturing and tempering of medicinal properties, and the last was the pill condensation technique before completion.
In any of these three stages, even the slightest deviation or error would immediately render a batch of pills useless, with almost no possibility of remedy. Even if there were, the cost would be extremely high, making it completely not worth it.
It would even be better to refine another batch of the same pills with that amount of effort, as the success rate for any attempt at salvaging was extremely low.
As if sensing a gaze upon him, the middle-aged man and the old man let out a cold snort. They formed a few hand seals, and immediately tri-colored auspicious clouds and pale red mist appeared, enveloping their forms.
In the blink of an eye, the figures of the two became blurred and invisible. Even with their spiritual eyes open, they could not discern any scene within.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan felt a tinge of regret, but he was not surprised. For a pill master, their unique pill condensation technique, developed through their own accumulation and learning, was as important as their own life.
This condensation technique could greatly improve the success rate of pill formation and was incredibly important to every pill master, regarded as a secret ultimate skill.
Even disciples who were to inherit their legacy were not easily taught it, let alone let outsiders see it. Thus, using a spell to block others' sight was a very normal occurrence.
Although he could not see the condensation techniques of the two, Ji Yuan still paused his own pill refining and his gaze lingered on the tri-colored auspicious clouds and pale red mist around them.
As he waited silently, half an hour passed in a flash. The medicinal fragrance in the hall had become so strong it was almost like mist, and the air was filled with the sounds of spiritual energy bursting forth.
"It's coming!"
Ji Yuan's expression suddenly tensed, and he muttered to himself.
As his words fell, the old man's pill furnace suddenly erupted with a suction force, drawing back all the previously dissipated spiritual energy and pill energy, re-absorbing them into the furnace.
In just about fifteen minutes, the old man's pill furnace completely calmed down, with no more unusual sounds or dissipation of spiritual or pill energy.
After a few breaths, the old man suddenly let out a low roar. The pale red mist around his body dispersed, and strong fluctuations of spiritual power spread out in all directions.
He no longer cared about his own consumption and poured all the spiritual power within his body into the pill furnace, using it as fuel for the furnace's flames, causing it to erupt with an even more intense temperature.
Finally, the old man slammed his palm down fiercely. The surging spiritual power, accompanied by whistling wind, struck the sturdy pill furnace with great force, instantly causing a series of strange vibrations.
And in the next moment, the lid of the pill furnace burst open with a bang. Immediately, a pill emitting a rich golden light shot out from the furnace and was quickly captured by the old man, who had already prepared, using his own spiritual power to place it into a jade box he held in his hand.
Witnessing this scene, Ji Yuan's heart was stirred by waves of emotion. The few actions of the other party at the end seemed very simple and unremarkable, but to an expert, many profound details could be discerned.
It could be said that in just over ten breaths of time, he had benefited greatly and was deeply moved.
"Grade Seven High-grade!"
The old man let out a hearty laugh, his voice filled with intense pride.
It was no wonder he was so smug. Being able to refine a high-grade seventh-tier pill meant he stood at the pinnacle of pill masters, just one step away from becoming a Pill Dao Grandmaster.
Once he took that step, he would become a honored guest of major sects and powers, easily obtaining the status of an honored elder, and would be a figure of universal admiration wherever he went.
As the old man placed the jade box in his hand onto a jade platform beneath him, a radiant halo immediately emanated, as if it had been approved. Shortly thereafter, formation patterns appeared, moving it to another location.
With the old man passing this trial, the middle-aged man on the other side also reached the final moment of pill condensation. However, despite having used all his lifelong learning, he was still a sliver short of luck.
Perhaps it was because of the jade bead that came before, or perhaps he had lost a bit of confidence in himself.
With a "boom" from within the pill furnace, dense black smoke immediately began to rise, and the air was filled with a pungent smell of burning.
Ji Yuan's eyebrows furrowed. It was evident that this batch of pills he was refining had ultimately ended in failure.
Just as he was feeling regret for the other party, for a pill of at least grade seven to have become scrap, a dazzling ball of light suddenly erupted from the jade platform where the middle-aged man was seated.
In almost an instant, the middle-aged man had no chance to resist, nor could he even make a sound before he turned into a pile of ashes on the spot, scattering away with a light breeze that seemed to come from nowhere.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan's heart turned cold. He subconsciously wanted to leave the jade platform he was seated on, but he suddenly discovered that he was unable to move even an inch.
His heart sank. Although he had long known that failure would result in immediate forced annihilation, seeing such a scene unfold before his eyes was still difficult to accept.
Fortunately, his will was strong, and he had already condensed the embryonic form of a Dao heart. In just a few breaths, he had already returned to his normal state.
After a long silence, Ji Yuan took a deep breath and then began to refine the third type of pill.
This time, he was refining the 'Three Revolutions Divine Dew Pill'. Its formula was obtained from the white jade pillar in the first trial. Although he had studied it dozens of times in his mind, with his current attainments in the Dao of Pills, he still lacked great confidence.
However, according to his estimation, to pass the third trial, one would need to refine at least three high-grade eighth-tier pills.
It was just that he had been chased by a demonic elder and had experienced several life-threatening situations, which had caused him to use up one of his opportunities, refining the 'Mythical Heart-Preserving Pill' that could keep someone alive even with severe injuries.
Although this pill had excellent effects, it was only of mid-grade ninth tier. This meant that if he wanted to pass this trial and avoid being annihilated by the light flame from the jade platform, this third type of pill would have to be at least low-grade seventh tier.
Therefore, no matter what, he could only refine this batch of 'Three Revolutions Divine Dew Pill', as he had no other pill formulas of at least seventh grade in his possession.
However, during his first attempt, Ji Yuan made a mistake in the integration of medicinal properties, which immediately caused dense smoke to rise from the pill furnace, a waste of the spiritual herbs for this batch.
This naturally caused his expression to darken. Although the difficulty of this pill was immense, with his attainments in the Dao of Pills, he should not have made a mistake in the initial integration of medicinal properties.
Whether he was willing to admit it or not, the scene of the middle-aged man being annihilated by the light flame had, after all, had some impact on him.
Glancing at the remaining two portions of materials, Ji Yuan took a deep breath, then closed his eyes and silently recited the general principles of the Xuan Tian Dao Scripture in his mind, over and over again.
At the same time, he also circulated the Wonderful Origin Derivation Divine Technique, and while completely calming his mind, he was also doing his best to recover his mental energy.
Several hours passed, and Ji Yuan slowly opened his eyes, looking at the huge pill furnace before him with a serene gaze.
A moment later, he began to put the spiritual herbs into the furnace mouth, refining them at an extremely slow pace to extract their medicinal essence and the most important spiritual substance.
Spiritual herbs were called spiritual herbs not only because of their potent medicinal properties but also because of this extremely rare spiritual substance.
In fact, even the spiritual energy in the heavens and earth was a diluted product of this spiritual substance, but it required dozens or even hundreds of miles of spiritual energy, processed through complex methods, to extract even a small amount.
At this moment, Ji Yuan appeared extremely focused, a state he had never experienced before in his past pill refining endeavors. Yet, he was only dealing with the simplest of steps.
However, he performed them with extreme seriousness, constantly adjusting his spiritual power to explore the optimal temperature range, meticulously drying the spiritual herbs as perfectly as possible, and extracting their medicinal properties and spiritual substance.
A step that normally took less than half an hour, he took nearly three hours to complete. Then, while gently roasting with a low flame, he circulated the Secret Pill Refining Art to recover his depleted mental energy.
After his state had recovered, Ji Yuan then proceeded to further purify the medicinal properties, and then meticulously mixed different spiritual herb essences together in precise proportions.
Soon, several round pills were formed, already resembling pills to some extent, though their shapes and surfaces were still rough, and their medicinal properties had not yet been perfectly integrated.
The next step was to use alternating low and high heat to thoroughly integrate these spiritual herb essences and to harmonize and release their even more potent medicinal properties.
This stage tested a pill master's patience the most, as well as their most meticulous control, requiring constant switching between low and high heat. The temperature could not fluctuate, and at times it needed to be slowly increased or decreased, and at other times, it needed to be achieved instantaneously.