NOVEL WEB Chapter 333: Growing Success
The fourth batch turned out to be a failure.
Everything went well until the Mending Vine Powder stage, where Han Yu noticed a slight dent in the cauldron's inner lining—likely a long-term flaw in the tool. The powder clumped at the edges and formed a crust, disrupting the pill's fusion phase.
Boom!
The cauldron belched black smoke and foul vapor. The flame extinguished itself defensively, but Han Yu still choked on the sudden stink.
"Ugh…" he grimaced, coughing as he wafted the smoke away. "That wasn't my fault."
Still, he made a note to inspect the cauldron more thoroughly next time and avoid letting it clump in that part. There was more than enough space in the cauldron anyways.
With only one batch left, Han Yu took a brief rest, washing his hands and sipping some spirit-replenishing tea he'd brought in advance from Li Mei's personal stash.
Then came the fifth batch.
The process was smooth—almost meditative. He was so immersed in the rhythmic transitions of heat and timing that the pill seemed to refine itself. The result was a pill with almost no visible impurities—a high-quality sample.
"That one might go for 900 merit points…" he whispered, eyes glinting.
After packing up the pills—four successful batches, six pills total—he prepared to head back to the Exchange Pavilion.
His first foray into mid-grade pills had been a success.
He had spent 5,000 merit points on herbs.
He had 18 hours of free room time left.
He estimated—based on pill quality—that he could sell the six pills for between 3,600 to 4,800 merit points, possibly more if one was assessed at high grade.
If nothing else, he had broken even and proven to himself that he could refine mid-grade pills reliably.
But even more than that—he'd stepped into the next stage of his alchemical path.
And there was no turning back.
Han Yu stepped out of the pill room with confident strides, his storage pouch now holding six warm, freshly refined Flesh Mending Spirit Pills. His robes were still clean—a miracle for any alchemist—and his fingers still smelled faintly of medicinal herbs and burnt vine powder.
With his first real mid-grade pill refinement session completed successfully, Han Yu made his way back down to the Merit Exchange Pavilion, excited to see how much his work would fetch.
He walked up to the pill inspection counter where a familiar-looking disciple stood, tall and lean with a jade token clipped to his sleeve marking his position as an official appraiser.
"Back again already?" the disciple asked with a smirk, recognizing him.
Han Yu nodded, offering the jade boxes. "Yes, these are Flesh Mending Spirit Pills. Six in total."
The disciple raised a brow. "That's no joke for an outer court rookie."
He took the boxes and set them into a side alcove array that automatically scanned the contents for purity, condensation completion, and herbal balance. Blue lines lit up along the surface of the jade disc before flickering through a cascade of color variations as data formed in real-time.
After a few moments, the array chimed.
"Well," the disciple said, slightly surprised. "You've improved. Most of these are mid-tier quality, and one is even approaching high-tier. You're getting 5,600 merit points."
Han Yu blinked.
"Wait. Say that again?"
"5,600," the disciple repeated. "Didn't expect that much?"
Han Yu nearly choked on his own breath. He'd done the math before. Based on Li Mei's constant reminders that his pills were 'average' at best, he'd expected maybe 3,800 to 4,200 merit points or if he was lucky 4800. But this…
His first reaction was disbelief. Then it hit him.
"Wait… don't tell me…"
His mind drifted back to all those times Li Mei had squinted at his pills and said with a bored face, "Eh, average. You'll do better next time." Even when he thought he had nailed the process, she never gave more than a subtle nod.
"That damn vixen! She was holding back praise on purpose!"
It was a trick—a motivation tactic.
If she'd told him he was doing well, he might've slacked. Instead, she'd deliberately downplayed his progress to keep him striving harder.
Han Yu grumbled under his breath, but he couldn't stop the slow grin spreading across his face. There was something oddly satisfying about being teased that way. He was annoyed, sure—but it made him feel warm too.
"Fine, Li Mei. You win this round," he muttered, scooping up his newly fattened merit token.
With a total of 5,600 merit points now jingling in his token, Han Yu felt energized. He checked the time—eight hours still left in his free room allocation.
"I've got time for another round!"
Without wasting a second, he headed right back to the Herb Pavilion and purchased four more batches of the Flesh Mending Spirit Pill ingredients. It cost him another 4,000 merit points, but he didn't even flinch. His confidence was high, and he had the momentum now.
Back in the pill refining room, Han Yu set to work immediately.
He had refined the same pill earlier in the day and still had the muscle memory and mental rhythm imprinted in his mind. The flame control, the heat transitions, the sequencing—all of it felt more natural this time.
Batch one—flawless.
The Silver Thorn Root melted like butter under his careful flame control, the Red Spirit Ginseng was seared just long enough to become translucent, and the Blood Orchid Leaf merged into the mixture without a ripple. The pill formed with a perfect curve and near-zero impurities.
Batch two—another smooth success. One pill again.
Batch three surprised him.
The herbs reacted especially well this time—perhaps due to the freshness of the Moonlight Sap Beads, which let the mixture stabilize faster than usual. As a result, the fusion process condensed two complete pills in one batch!
Han Yu's eyes sparkled.
"Double yield?! This is heaven!"
The fourth batch went without a hitch as well giving him two pills again. All four batches successful, six pills in total. He wiped his brow, heart racing—not with fatigue, but exhilaration.