Zi Lingling interrupted Huangyi's words, wiping away her tears.
Huangyi nodded, tears at the corners of her eyes, and said, "Master, let's start again."
Zi Lingling's expression immediately turned serious.
"Huangyi, we can fail, and we can start over, but that is built on the foundation of our earnestness."
"Earnestness means being fully immersed in something in a good state, rather than rushing for success when your emotions are in turmoil."
"So, are you sure you are in the right state to begin now?"
Huangyi lowered her head in shame.
The recent failure had depressed her. Therefore, she had indeed been too eager for success, wanting to salvage her image in Zi Lingling's eyes.
Now that Zi Lingling had seen through it, she finally realized her mistake.
"Master, Huangyi was wrong!"
Zi Lingling nodded, her expression softening again, and said, "Huangyi, even though you've lived for a hundred thousand years, your state of mind is still not mature enough."
"Of course, this is also my fault. I didn't fulfill my responsibility as a master during your crucial growth period."
"So, I'm not blaming you, but I want to tell you that no matter what others think of you, you must maintain your original intention."
"Stop being so anxious about gains and losses! In my eyes, you, Jiu Ji, Long'er, Xiao Hu, and Bai Ze are all my closest and most excellent partners, do you understand?"
Huangyi's eyes sparkled, especially Zi Lingling's last sentence, which completely opened her heart.
She took a deep breath, calmed her emotions, and then said, "Master, Huangyi is ready. We can start anytime!"
Zi Lingling nodded with relief and said, "That's our proud little fire phoenix! Alright, communicate with Jiu Ji about the intensity and size of the flame. I'll go pick the Bodhi leaves!"
"Okay," Huangyi responded, and began communicating with the Jiuji Qiankun Cauldron.
The reason for communicating with the Jiuji Qiankun Cauldron was that once all the medicinal ingredients entered Jiuji, their properties were within Jiuji's perception.
Therefore, Jiuji could easily determine the required flame intensity.
Zi Lingling watched the two, or rather, two spirits, communicating, and smiled with satisfaction.
She reached out and picked ten more leaves from the Bodhi tree, saying thank you to the tree.
The Bodhi tree shook its branches in response.
Zi Lingling seemed to see the Bodhi tree smiling at her like a kind old man.
She threw the Bodhi leaves into the Jiuji Qiankun Cauldron and said to Huangyi, "We can begin!"
Huangyi nodded, a look of seriousness appearing on her face.
Under Huangyi's control, the scorching phoenix fire separated a wisp and approached a Bodhi leaf, carefully wrapping it, and then slowly increasing the temperature to that capable of refining the Bodhi leaf.
Huangyi was extremely focused, not distracted at all.
After the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the first drop of Bodhi juice was extracted.
With this experience, Huangyi's movements became more skilled. This time, it took her a quarter of an hour to extract the second drop.
A quarter of an hour later, the third drop.
Half a quarter of an hour later, the fourth drop.
After that, Huangyi's movements became extremely proficient and she could maintain a steady pace.
Zi Lingling smiled with satisfaction, then closed her eyes and carefully examined the content regarding the Bodhi Attraction Pill in the "Human Emperor's Medicinal Canon Alchemy Chapter."
Technique, sequence, speed, time...
Every point was read three times by her, ensuring that she would not forget any detail or make any mistake.
When she had digested all of this, she opened her eyes, and Huangyi had just finished refining the ten Bodhi leaves.
Zi Lingling praised Huangyi a few times, then asked Huangyi to sit aside and rest, while she re-entered the tedious and boring alchemy state.
Melting the pills was the most important step in alchemy, as it considered the ratio of ingredients and the mutual repulsion between them.
Therefore, melting the pills was the most mentally taxing step in the alchemy process and also the most challenging for soul power.
Zi Lingling first fused the refined essences of ordinary auxiliary medicinal ingredients two by two, and then repeated the same process until all one thousand two hundred and ninety-six types were fused.
During this process, it was necessary to control the spiritual fire to re-refine the medicinal ingredients.
Otherwise, impurities would remain in the pill, not only affecting the quality of the Bodhi Attraction Pill but also forming pill poison.
By the time Zi Lingling finally finished fusing the ordinary medicinal ingredients, half of her vast spiritual consciousness had been consumed.
The next step was even more dangerous, as the eight main ingredients had to be fused and evenly distributed throughout the Bodhi Attraction Pill.
This Bodhi Attraction Pill already contained the essences of one thousand two hundred and ninety-six medicinal ingredients, maintaining a precarious balance.
Therefore, when the eight main ingredients were added, the dosage had to be calculated with extreme precision, establishing a new balance on the basis of the original one.
The meticulousness was no less than that of manufacturing precision instruments. Any slight error could lead to the pill or the furnace exploding.
Exploding the pill was not too bad, at most it would be a waste of medicinal ingredients, spiritual power, and soul power. However, exploding the furnace was not fun, and Zi Lingling herself might be seriously injured or killed.
Therefore, Zi Lingling spent twice as long fusing the eight main ingredients as she did on the ordinary medicinal ingredients.
After finally fusing all eight main ingredients, fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, and her soul power was further depleted by half of its remaining half.
Next, the medicinal guide, Bodhi juice, had to be infused into the formed pill.
This infusion had to be even more precise, equivalent to operating under a microscope.
One drop!
Two drops!
Three drops!
...
By the time Zi Lingling had completely infused the ten drops of Bodhi juice into the pill, her soul power, comparable to that of a minor god, was completely depleted.
However, there was still one last step to complete.
Zi Lingling gritted her teeth, took out ten bottles of Soul Nourishing Pills, and stuffed them all into her mouth.
The Soul Nourishing Pills took immediate effect after being consumed.
Her depleted soul instantly recovered one-tenth of its strength. Although it was not much, it was enough to complete the final step – consolidating the pill.
Consolidating the pill was essentially post-processing the pill.
That is, by using flame, the efficacy of the Bodhi Attraction Pill would be maximized, and the medicinal essence and spiritual energy would be completely locked into the pill.
In this step, the control of flame and the abundance of soul power determined the final quality of the pill.
"Clang clang clang!"
A series of violent collisions sounded from the Jiuji Qiankun Cauldron, which was the Bodhi Attraction Pill absorbing spiritual energy.
"Jiuji, control the furnace lid tightly, don't let the pill escape!"
Zi Lingling gritted her teeth, continuing to output flame, and instructed Jiuji with difficulty.
The Jiuji Qiankun Cauldron said steadily, "Master, rest assured! It will not escape my seal!"