The furnace fire roared to life once more.

Chen Ping’s gaze was as calm as a stagnant pool. The repeated failures of the last few days had not shaken his resolve; they had only sharpened it.

He moved through the preliminary steps with mechanical efficiency: melting, purifying, fusing, and Spirit Infusion.

Inside the furnace, the milky-green viscous liquid churned, radiating waves of unstable spiritual power.

It was time for the Restriction step.

Chen Ping held his breath. A sharp, predatory gleam ignited in his eyes.

He did not gather his Divine Sense into a single, lumbering sledgehammer as he had done in his nine previous failures. That brute-force method was a dead end.

This time, his Divine Sense moved with surgical precision.

Guided by his will, threads of Qi swiftly sketched in the air, hovering a foot above the liquid. The lines were simple, the structure clean.

In an instant, a runic array the size of a fist took shape, shimmering with a faint green light.

This array was a stripped-down version of the standard restriction. The restraining force it emitted was weak, almost gentle. It descended slowly, draping over the surface of the spiritual liquid like a net.

This was the First Layer.

Its function was solely to bind the overall shape of the medicinal liquid—a flexible skin designed to keep the mass from disintegrating under stress.

Almost simultaneously, Chen Ping’s hands moved again.

A second stream of Qi surged out, sketching a new pattern half a foot above the first restriction.

This second array was far more condensed. Its structure was complex, aggressive, and dense. Once completed, it emitted a terrifying, inward-collapsing suction force.

It was a vortex. Its target was clear: to crush the violent Heaven and Earth Qi trapped inside the liquid bound by the first array.

Dual Restrictions.

One external binding to stabilize the form.

One internal pressure to force compression.

The two restrictions clamped down on the spiritual liquid at the same instant.

Hummmm…

A low, vibrating drone echoed from within the furnace.

Bound by the first restriction, the liquid churned violently, trying to expand against the heat. But the “skin” held firm, keeping the mass contained.

Simultaneously, the second restriction—the Core Compression Array—acted like a hydraulic press. It ignored the external shape and focused entirely on the agitated Qi trapped inside, forcing it to coalesce inward.

Under this sudden spike in pressure, the Qi inside the liquid reacted like an angered swarm of hornets, erupting with fierce kinetic energy.

But this time, the shockwave was absorbed by the first layer. The violent energy was confined, unable to disperse into black smoke.

The Core Compression Array continued to descend like an indefatigable forging hammer, applying steady, crushing force.

Chen Ping’s Divine Sense clearly perceived the exquisite equilibrium.

Maintaining two restrictions consumed more Divine Sense and Qi than a single one. However, the mental load was distributed. He no longer had to fight a war on two fronts with a single army.

The Shape Binding Array handled the expansion.

The Compression Array handled the density.

His mind was no longer overwhelmed. He had bandwidth left to spare.

The flame.

The temperature was beginning to fluctuate again.

“Now,” Chen Ping whispered.

He split a fraction of his Divine Sense—something he couldn’t do before—and instantly detected the thermal instability caused by the reaction inside the vessel.

With a micro-adjustment of his will, he tweaked the Qi output of the Fire Control array. The furnace flame flickered once, then stabilized instantly.

Inside the furnace, the milky-green liquid began to shrink visibly under the dual pressure.

The viscous fluid was kneaded and squeezed by invisible hands. Its internal structure underwent a profound transformation. The churning subsided. The violent Qi was forcibly tamed, broken, and rebuilt.

When the liquid was finally compressed to the size of a longan fruit, a miraculous sensation of “solidification” washed over his mind.

Chen Ping knew the moment had arrived.

“Condense!”

He uttered a low, guttural command, his Hand Seals shifting abruptly.

The temperature inside the furnace spiked sharply under his precise control.

Sizzle!

The medicinal liquid, compressed to its absolute limit, contracted inward with a violent snap. The light inside the furnace converged into a singularity, then vanished.

A flash of gold flickered in the darkness of the chamber.

Immediately, a rich, intoxicating medicinal fragrance erupted, accompanied by a faint golden halo.

Chen Ping’s heart surged with savage joy.

As the halo dissipated, six perfectly round pills lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace.

Each was the size of a pinky finger, glowing with a warm, milky-green luster. Their surfaces were smooth, revealing an extremely pale, almost imperceptible golden shimmer.

They were Low-grade pills. He hadn’t managed to refine Mid-grade or higher.

But for Chen Ping, producing six pills in a single batch was a monumental victory.

The long-awaited Origin Nourishing Pill.

Success.

More importantly, the “Dual Restriction” method he had devised out of sheer desperation had worked. With this technique, the difficulty of refining these pills had just plummeted.

Chen Ping tried to maintain his stoic facade, to suppress the excitement roiling in his chest, but the corners of his mouth twitched upward.

“My cultivation of the mind still lacks depth,” he muttered to himself, though the smile remained. “With enough experience, I won’t let such small victories break my composure.”

Gingerly, he placed the six still-warm pills into a prepared jade vial.

One successful batch was just the beginning. He still had nine portions of ingredients left.

He did not rest.

Chen Ping immediately began the next refinement.

With the validation of success, his movements became fluid, almost artistic. His use of Divine Sense grew steady and confident.

He constructed the “Shape Binding” and “Compression” restrictions with practiced ease.

Although the drain on his Divine Sense and Qi was immense, the feeling of absolute control—of holding the violent forces of nature in the palm of his hand—filled him with a profound sense of accomplishment.

For the first time, he wasn’t refining pills out of survival or obligation. He was doing it because he enjoyed the mastery.

The remaining nine portions of materials went into the furnace, one after another.

Melting. Purifying. Qi Infusion. Dual Restrictions. Condensation.

Success. Failure. Success again.

Hours later, when the final furnace cooled and the fire died, four warm jade vials sat neatly arranged before him.

Three of the vials contained five milky-white Origin Nourishing Pills each.

The fourth vial held a solitary pill.

Sixteen pills from the grind. Plus the six from the first success.

Total count: Twenty-two Origin Nourishing Pills.

Chen Ping stared at the harvest, a satisfied smile blooming on his weary, soot-stained face.

These weren’t just pills.

They were the sledgehammer he would use to smash through his bottleneck. They were his ammunition.

His alchemy session was over.

Now, it was time to cultivate.