The golden radiance inside the alchemy furnace suddenly surged, and the drop of medicinal liquid wrapped in starlight made a "pop" sound, condensing into a pill the size of a thumb. Nine golden patterns rippled across its surface, each one writhing as if it were alive.
Master Yun’s alchemy ladle dropped onto the bluestone with a clatter, sending a violent twitch of veins over the back of his hand—having practiced alchemy for sixty years, this was the first time he had ever seen pill patterns that could move on their own. "It's done," Ye Fan said, his voice carrying a hoarse edge.
The Jiuxiao Huanpei in his palm suddenly grew scalding hot, and the silver patterns within the star map darted into the alchemy furnace like living creatures, gently lifting the pill out and suspending it before him. A wave of medicinal fragrance mingled with a surge of vitality rushed toward them. Su Qingxue’s zither string snapped with a sharp *twang*, and she covered her mouth, taking half a step back as her eyelashes brushed a smudge across the rouge at the corners of her eyes—this fragrance actually reminded her of the warmth in her mother’s arms from her childhood, a memory she had long thought pickled deep in poisonous miasma.
Chapter 258