He Lan Tianxia

Chapter 258 Crystal Clear Poison Gas Arrives

That being said, when Cangying directly asked Murong Junlan for help, Murong Junlan agreed without hesitation.

"Tell me, what exactly do you need my help with?"

"I want you to save the Pavilion Master no matter how difficult it is." The eagle stared at the pile of ice lotus flowers and said something that even Murong Junlan found unbelievable, "Your Highness, I suspect that the Crimson Spirit Spring Water that the Pavilion Master brought back is the real Crimson Spirit Spring Water."

"What?" Murong Junlan thought he had misheard. But what Cangying said next made Murong Junlan regret it.

"So the jar of Crimson Spirit Spring Water that the Pavilion Master risked his life to obtain and which we then broke should be one of the ingredients for the Spirit Transformation Pill."

Murong Junlan felt like killing someone. He had allowed everyone to splash the jar of Crimson Spirit Spring water because of his own ulterior motives, since he still had the Crimson Spirit Spring water in the desert.

"The Crimson Spirit Spring water we obtained in the desert is probably vastly different from this," the eagle bluntly stated its guess.

Murong Junlan's face darkened immediately. He turned his gaze to Ling Yi, who secretly protested his innocence, but he eventually nodded in agreement.

Murong Junlan suddenly turned and dashed away, then returned in a flash, carrying someone in his arms. He threw that person to the ground.

"Refine him."

"Huh?" What did Your Highness mean by that? Lingyi and Cangying were both completely baffled. How could they know that this was originally Octopus's strange idea, and now the Prince had been infected by it?

Even more pitiful was Murong Dubai, who had just washed the ink off his face and whose back and legs were still aching when he was suddenly lifted into the air and thrown with considerable force, even hitting his head. He wanted to get angry, but in front of this prince, he could only resort to underhanded tactics; nothing else worked. He glared fiercely at the prince beside him, who was even angrier than him, biting his lip so hard it bled.

……

After unloading the last cartload of snow lotus and the pile of semi-finished pills from the carriage, the gorilla hurriedly urged the eagle to start refining the pills. Murong Junlan was puzzled by the way the gorilla was acting, wondering why the guy had suddenly become so sensible and changed his ways.

What's even stranger is that the eagle is quite obedient. Before Murong Junlan could even speak, it had already set up the alchemy furnace at the entrance of the stone cave and started refining pills. Soon, the air in the Lihentian Pavilion was filled with the aroma of ice lotus pills, and everyone was staring intently at the eagle's alchemy furnace, hoping for a miracle.

Half an hour passed, and the pills inside the alchemy furnace showed no change. After another hour of refining, suddenly the eagle cried out, "Not good!"

Then, they heard Hong Xiuying and her group of ordinary people fall to the ground with a thud.

"What's going on?" Murong Junlan looked at the eagle with a worried expression.

The eagle frowned, but it remained calm and carefully observed the changes in the pills inside the alchemy furnace. Lingyi grabbed a pill and put it in his mouth, which startled the eagle so much that it swatted the pill away with its wing.

"The pill is poisonous." The eagle's brow furrowed even more deeply after saying this. It didn't even have time to pay attention to Murong Junlan's reaction, continuing to toss an ice lotus flower into the alchemy furnace. "Your Highness, look, before the ice lotus was put in, the pill was becoming increasingly clear and translucent, but now it's becoming more and more cloudy, and it seems to have a strange odor. Can you smell it...?"

"Eagle, Eagle!" Before the eagle could finish speaking, it collapsed to the ground with a thud. This greatly alarmed the gorilla, which was half a second faster than Murong Junlan. Just as Murong Junlan reached out to apply pressure to his acupoints, the gorilla scooped up the eagle with its long arm and snatched it away.

Murong Junlan panicked and loudly warned the gorilla not to act recklessly. Lingyi also rushed up to save the eagle. Seeing the eagle's dark green face, Lingyi immediately wrapped it up and held it, guessing that the eagle had inhaled a large amount of poison gas while refining pills.

Murong Junlan also got angry. He grabbed the gorilla and threw it away while Ling Yi was holding the eagle.

Murong Junlan swiftly sealed the acupoints on the eagle's body twice, then reached into his robes to check for pills. Hmm, there wasn't a single pill left. He glanced at the pills inside the alchemy furnace, pondering whether to take them or not, when Ling Yi shook his head and suggested that Murong Junlan give the eagle the Crimson Spirit Spring water they had brought back.

Without a second thought, Murong Junlan took it off his person. The Crimson Spirit Spring water they had obtained last time had been stored in a jar. He had filled some bottles with it and carried them with him, while the rest had been carried by the Fire Red Hare. It was inconvenient to carry it while they were rescuing Yan'er, and the Fire Red Hare wasn't always with them, so they had to temporarily store it at the Dark Wood Temple.

After drinking a few sips of the Crimson Spirit Spring water, the eagle's complexion improved and gradually calmed down. However, due to the severe poisoning, its eyes failed to focus several times. Lingyi opened its mouth and blew a few breaths of mist onto the eagle's face, which finally cleared the eagle's mind.

"The elixir is poisonous," the eagle murmured.

“I know.” Lingyi nodded.

"Idiot, hurry up and refine it!" the gorilla roared. It reached out again to try and grab the eagle, but Murong Junlan swiftly struck the monkey's long arm, causing the monkey to recoil in pain.

"If you come any closer, I'll kill you!" Murong Junlan roared at the gorilla.

The gorilla looked eager to try, but it didn't dare to come forward rashly. It wasn't that it was afraid it couldn't beat Murong Junlan, but that it was secretly conflicted when it saw the eagle's dying state. It thought to itself, if the eagle doesn't survive, who will refine the elixir to save it?

The gorilla pounced again, this time not to catch the eagle, but to catch Murong Junlan. Its simple yet shrewd mind now believed that, apart from the eagle, Murong Junlan was the best candidate for refining elixirs.

"Refining pills." The gorilla tried to turn Murong Junlan's face to look at it, but ended up putting its long face right under Murong Junlan's nose.

Murong Junlan couldn't understand what had gotten into this mischievous monkey today. Murong Junlan made a feint, and the gorilla, thinking he was going to grab it, shrank its head. Murong Junlan kicked it, hitting it squarely in the stomach. In pain, the gorilla howled, clutched its stomach, and jumped away.

Lingyi and Murong Junlan gave the eagle some more Crimson Spirit Spring water, and Lingyi sprayed mist again, which finally calmed the eagle's ever-changing expression.

"Lingyi, have you noticed? Those pills are getting increasingly murky. It's probably a waste of time refining them." Cangying said with a regretful expression.

"Let me see if there's any way." Ling Yi walked to the alchemy furnace, picked up a pill, smelled it, and examined it repeatedly in the light before handing it to Murong Junlan. "Your Highness, could you tell if there's anything wrong with this pill?"

Murong Junlan had never refined elixirs, but he had read books on the subject. An ancient saying goes: "Those who refine elixirs must 'repair the alchemy chamber, cultivate their acquired nature, and strengthen their physical body,'" this is the cultivation of body and mind, the foundation for alchemy. "Refine oneself to build the foundation, restrain anger and desires, and practice self-discipline and propriety," this speaks of cultivating the mind and maintaining one's nature, the basis for building the foundation. "Establish the cauldron and set up the furnace, be firm in will, and gentle in practice," this refers to establishing the cauldron and setting up the furnace, with firm will and gentle practice, the beginning of alchemy.

Murong Junlan muttered softly, but Ling Yi still heard him. Ling Yi couldn't help but remind him, "Your Highness, these are requirements for alchemists, not formulas for preparing pills."

"I know. Let me read it aloud: One pill, two oils, the plaster is thick, three up and three down, boil until dry and remove the dregs, drop into water to form a bead, remove from fire and add the pill, the pill is ready and transformed, in cold water it is placed underground, its shape is black like lacquer, clear like a mirror, soft when hot, hard when cold, sticks when applied, and comes off when removed."

"Hmm? Is Your Highness reciting a secret alchemy manual?" Ling Yi remained silent, knowing that Prince Murong was a wise man and there was no need to doubt such common sense. Ling Yi opened his mouth to detoxify the eagle, but Murong Junlan threw out a remark.

"Lingyi, did I read this passage correctly?"

"I am not very knowledgeable and did not understand what Your Highness said," Lingyi offered as an excuse.

"Why do I feel like the main point wasn't read aloud? You read it."

"Me? Your Highness, you've really put me in a difficult position. I've never refined elixirs before." But, I couldn't just stay silent, so Lingyi had a sudden inspiration and replied, "Start with the large, then the small; front then back; high then low; left then right; inside then outside; fast then slow; light then heavy. Put the roots, stems, bones, flesh, nuts, and other solid ingredients into the oil, then add the branches and seeds, and finally the smaller seeds, flowers, leaves, and bark."

Upon hearing this, Murong Junlan chuckled inwardly, "It seems we are both complete novices when it comes to medicine."