Chapter 58: Making a Mess of Things

After Luo Bi failed her alchemy attempt, she cleaned the guest living room—which served as her alchemy lab—and began munching on red fruit while searching for instructional videos on extracting energy liquid on her optical computer.

She didn't know what she was getting into until she watched them. Seeing the internal patterns of the Bifei stones in the instructional videos left Luo Bi dumbfounded; the labyrinths were even more intricate than spiderwebs. Trying to memorize them all would truly be a mental death sentence.

Dammit, she decided not to watch. She picked up a Bifei stone and began attempting to extract the energy liquid, but by nightfall, she hadn't even grasped the edge of the patterns. That piece of Bifei stone was a total loss.

When Luo Bi returned to the base cafeteria, no one invited her to sit at their table anymore. Military families had their own small social circles, and they kept her isolated at a distance. For the next few days, Luo Bi would sometimes refine medicine in the morning and practice energy liquid extraction in the afternoon, and sometimes vice versa, scheduling her time according to her whims.

Where there are many people, there is much trouble, especially in the family apartment areas. Some military dependents wanted to see Luo Bi fail; when they didn't hear any commotion in the morning, they approached her with ill intent to ask, "Not refining medicine today?"

A flash of contempt crossed Luo Bi's eyes. "I'll refine in the afternoon."

Weren't they just looking for a laugh? As long as she had enough spiritual plants, she could blow up her furnace twice a day without an issue. To be honest, if it weren't for the heartache over the wasted materials, Luo Bi actually quite enjoyed the furnace explosions. The "bang" was quite a thrill.

The person curled her lip and signaled to her companions. Once they covered their mouths to giggle, she walked back to her group with satisfaction.

Luo Bi spent every day busy blowing up furnaces and ruining Bifei stones. By the time all five Bifei stones were ruined and the spiritual plants needed to refine ten bottles of Hemostatic Powder were exhausted, Luo Bi let out a heavy sigh. Toying with the Red Bifei stone in her hand while staring at the five free young spiritual plants provided by the pharmacy, various thoughts flashed through her mind.

Refining ten bottles of Hemostatic Powder required ten types of spiritual plants. The pharmacy had provided ninety-five plants, but these five complimentary ones were clearly tiny saplings, harvested before they could even mature. With their weak spiritual energy and small numbers, what use were they?

When Luo Bi's gaze fell upon the five ruined Bifei stones again, her heart throbbed with pain. This was all Interstellar Credits! Doing the math, at 5,000 credits per stone, the five stones cost 25,000, and the spiritual plants cost 100,000. Dammit, she had squandered 125,000 Interstellar Credits on her tinkering.

This wouldn't do. Luo Bi felt agitated, and everything she looked at irritated her. In a fit of rage, she tossed the five young plants into the alchemy cauldron. Thinking about it, she still felt unsatisfied, so she threw the five ruined Bifei stones in as well.

Since following the standard procedure would result in an explosion anyway, she decided to mix the freebies with the ruined stones to see what kind of result she could get. If the furnace blew up, she deserved it; she didn't care.

Driven by a surge of impulse rarely seen in either of her two lifetimes, Luo Bi slammed the cauldron lid shut. She then activated her Soul Source Power to merge with the cauldron while simultaneously releasing her mental strength to guide the fire source, causing a small flame to flicker out.

Although Luo Bi was refining in a state of anger, she was a person who valued her life. Since she was refining two completely different substances in the cauldron, she didn't dare use a massive flame; if a major accident occurred, there would be no one to turn to for justice.

Luo Bi channeled her Soul Source Power into the interior of the cauldron, attempting to balance it with her mental strength as she manipulated the flames to burn and fuse the spiritual plants with the Bifei stones.

After observing for half an hour and seeing no abnormalities in the cauldron, along with a faint medicinal fragrance wafting out, Luo Bi summoned her courage. She sent a surge of mental strength straight into the depths of the Red Bifei stone, searching intently for a moment before finally locating those intricate, intersecting patterns.

(End of Chapter)