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Although refining the essence of medicine could be considered a foolproof operation, attention to detail was still crucial.

The essence of medicine exists in the form of tiny granular spheres that contain the drug's medicinal properties without losing potency like damaged herbs might, making them convenient to store.

However, these essences are very small and almost identical in shape, so other than Qin Fang's Herb Identification Technique and Scouting Skill, they could mostly be distinguished by their different colors.

But there are only so many colors and, with the main and auxiliary ingredients adding up to thirteen kinds, several of the essences are almost the same color or very similar to one another.

Although Qin Fang extracted the essences one by one, placing each kind separately, there's always the fear of the unexpected. A slight moment of negligence during the process could lead to a mix-up, accidentally integrating one kind of essence with another.

Then, when Qin follows the prescription to allocate them, it would naturally result in a mix-up.

Alchemy is also foolproof—it only succeeds with the correct recipe, though there is also a significant chance of failure.

But with an incorrect recipe, there's no need for the progress bar to move even slightly; it would instantly announce a failure, and all the essences would disappear in an instant.

Therefore, there must be no mistake with the placement of these essences, as failing to pay attention to even a single one could lead directly to a failed concoction.

And Qin didn't have an abundance of ingredients for the Heart Nourishing Pill; if even one ingredient were missing, it would significantly decrease the success rate, an absolutely heavy loss.

Of course, there was a chance of successful concoction, but the resulting product would not be a Heart Nourishing Pill—it would be some other elixir or a mutated version, with completely unknown medicinal properties.

But such chances were incredibly slim, hundreds of times lower than Qin's chances of successfully concocting elixirs...

In this quiet room, Qin Fang was the only person there; he had to complete all the work by himself, with no one to help him. The extraction from the dozens of herbs might take quite some time, and Qin needed to be fully focused and dedicated, as the process was extremely exhausting.

And when fatigued, it's easiest to make mistakes...

For this, Qin could only rely on the stamina-restoring properties of Superior Soup Dumplings to barely keep himself awake, though the effect was quite limited!

It was also because Qin had relatively few ingredients. Gritting his teeth, Qin persevered and then began to sort and combine the various essences.

The proportions in the prescription were fixed, and one must strictly follow these ratios to succeed in concoction. Fortunately, these essences were standardized, making it easy to measure them out in the required proportions. Instead of mixing them all together, Qin first divided each essence based on the ratios, calculating every single one's amount.

For instance, if the prescription stated that 3 units of a certain essence were needed for one Heart Nourishing Pill, Qin would group that essence accordingly into thirty batches, marking it as thirty batches.

He proceeded similarly with the other essences, with the final amount being determined by the essence of which he had the smallest quantity.

In the end, Qin calculated he could attempt the concoction twenty-two times, meaning he had twenty-two chances to succeed. How many Heart Nourishing Pills he could ultimately create was up to fate and his own luck.

However, considering his current Proficiency in Pharmacopeia, he estimated the success rate would not exceed 30%.

With the numbers accounted for, Qin kept only twenty-two portions of each ingredient, then mixed the thirteen herbs to form twenty-two sets of the blend—a preparation for the formal process of concocting Heart Nourishing Pills!

The concoction process was foolproof. Once the ingredients were prepared, all he needed to do was use the Pharmacopeia Skill, and the System would automatically begin the concoction.

There was no need to add the ingredients one by one or control the heat, nor was it necessary to slowly simmer over time—just watching the progress bar extend from 0 to 100 would suffice.

Of course, reaching 100 meant success, but most of the time, the bar would break off midway, indicating a failure.

Having already experienced concocting Detoxification Pills, Qin Fang was no stranger to this, even though the Heart Nourishing Pills he was working on now were two grades higher than the Detoxification Pills in both rarity of the ingredients and elixir grade. Nonetheless, Qin did not feel too much psychological pressure.

Taking a deep breath, Qin immediately used the Pharmacopeia Skill, and thus the alchemy officially began.

"Concoction failed, Pharmacopeia Skill Proficiency +3."

"Concoction failed, Pharmacopeia Skill Proficiency +3."

"Concoction failed, Pharmacopeia Skill Proficiency +3."

"Concoction failed, Pharmacopeia Skill Proficiency +3."

The beginning was not smooth; Qin tried four times and ended in failure each time. However, the Skill Proficiency gain was much more significant than during his earlier Detoxification Pills attempts.

Detoxification Pills were First-grade Pills, while Heart Nourishing Pills were Third-grade. The two being two levels apart in grade meant the Proficiency gain was entirely different.

But now, it seemed that not only the Proficiency gain was different, but the success rate also appeared to be much lower. Four consecutive attempts all failed without even a hint of progress.

"Continue…"

When Qin Fang first began refining Detoxification Pills, he faced a similar situation; he failed continuously at the start, only succeeding after several attempts.

After taking a brief respite, Qin Fang immediately immersed himself back into the process, his Pharmacopeia skill continued to be used, and the progress bar resumed its journey.

"Refining failed, Pharmacopeia Proficiency +3."

"Refining failed, Pharmacopeia Proficiency +3."

"Refining failed, Pharmacopeia Proficiency +3."

Three more attempts at refining resulted in failure, leaving Qin Fang feeling somewhat frustrated. After seven tries, he had used up one-third of his materials, yet hadn't produced a single Heart Nourishing Pill. Anyone in his shoes would inevitably wonder: Is the proficiency too low? Is it just not possible to succeed in making high-grade pills?

"Damn it, I refuse to believe this is impossible!"

Qin Fang was stubborn by nature—the more he failed, the more he felt hopeful about success. It was a gambler's mentality, the need to break even.

Prior to this, Qin Fang wasn't one to gamble, in fact, he found it quite disagreeable. However, his experiences with gambling stones, several fierce battles in gambling houses, and his title as a Thousand Gates Acolyte, all had their effect, subtly influencing and changing his character.

"Refining failed, Pharmacopeia Proficiency +3."

The refinement continued, meeting with failure once again, Qin Fang's expression turned noticeably grim, but he still tried to suppress the nervousness in his heart, quietly reassuring himself, "Stay calm! You must stay calm! Victory is just around the corner…"

He used the Pharmacopeia skill once more; a variety of colorful essences of herbs vanished in an instant, and the progress bar for the Pharmacopeia skill started moving as before.

"It can't stop! It mustn't stop…"

Qin Fang's eyes were fixed on the progress bar, watching it move forward bit by bit, while he kept murmuring to himself.

Finally…

The progress bar successfully reached the end, and at the same time, a very cheerful voice rang in Qin Fang's ears: "Refining successful! Heart Nourishing Pill obtained, Pharmacopeia Proficiency +15."

"Fuck!!"

Almost at the same moment the notification arrived, Qin Fang immediately clenched and swung his fist fiercely, expressing the excitement he felt at that time.

Clearly, he had gambled right!

Even if his Pharmacopeia proficiency wasn't high, it was still possible to succeed in making Third-grade Pills, although the success rate was ridiculously low.

"Nine attempts… nine attempts for one success, the success rate is barely ten percent!"

Qin Fang silently did the math, his face sporting a bitter smile; he found the pitiful success rate quite vexing.

Looking at the remaining materials, only twenty-two parts were left. Based on the success rate of one in nine attempts, at best he could make two Heart Nourishing Pills; the third would depend on Qin Fang's luck. It might succeed, but failure was more likely.

Of course, if Qin Fang were exceptionally lucky, he could turn the remaining thirteen parts into more Heart Nourishing Pills, but this possibility was minuscule.

"Regardless, continue…"

Qin Fang didn't think too much about it; even one successful pill was already a great success, and any additional pills would be a bonus for him.

"Refining failed, Pharmacopeia Proficiency +1."

"Refining failed, Pharmacopeia Proficiency +1."

"…"

Failures continued, becoming the main melody. Qin Fang felt somewhat numb to it—after all, there was nothing he could do about the damned success rate.

As time slowly passed, Qin Fang remained engrossed in the process.

"Hoo~~~"

Only after the last batch of refining did Qin Fang finally take a long breath and relaxed his expression significantly, because he had at last completed this arduous journey of pill refining.

Gazing at the quietly resting Heart Nourishing Pill in his palm, a radiant smile spread across Qin Fang's face…

Despite an incredibly tough start that almost drove Qin Fang to give up, in the end, his persistence and unwillingness to accept defeat led him to a surprising and unexpected victory… (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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