"With decades of persistence, the boy became a young man, his cultivation reached the foundation-building stage, and he gained recognition from everyone.
He settled down in Fangniu Mountain, an ordinary hill in Xingchang County, and began to study what he had learned, write books, and began to treat illnesses and save people.
If the person he rescued was a poor person, he would not charge him any money and would only let the person plant an apricot tree on the mountain.
However, the good times did not last long. Within half a year, he discovered that the Foundation Establishment Pill he had refined was actually poisonous. Some practitioners who took the Foundation Establishment Pill developed severe erysipelas.
In mild cases, the true energy is unstable and the cultivation is unsustainable; in more serious cases, the meridians are blocked; in even more serious cases, the meridians and acupuncture points begin to shrink, and there are many people who become obsessed with it.
Everyone denounced it.
In order to appease the public anger, he followed the rules of the world and killed himself three times. This is the so-called three swords and six holes.
Later, after repeated research, it was discovered that the problem lay in the alchemy furnace.
To be more precise, it is the material of the alchemy furnace.
A poor-quality alchemy furnace contaminates the elixir.
He had to buy expensive spiritual materials for alchemy. But he was short of money and could not afford expensive red copper, fine gold, etc., so he could only look for relatively cheap black iron.
However, high-purity, non-toxic black iron suitable for alchemy furnaces has always been controlled by the East. For a pound of black iron with a purity of 99%, businessmen from the East offer sky-high prices ranging from 100 to 500 high-grade spiritual stones!"
"Pfft... five hundred high-grade spiritual stones!" Zhang Hao was stunned. Five hundred high-grade spiritual stones are five million low-grade spiritual stones! That is one thousand tons of spiritual stones, which can be piled up into a hill!
Zhou Jue sighed leisurely, "This kind of black iron specially used for alchemy is said to come from the Kunlun Continent, and even the Canglan Kingdom and the Taihua Kingdom cannot produce it.
The cheapest one hundred high-grade spiritual stones, the best five hundred. One price, no room for bargaining."
After listening to Zhou Jue's little story, Zhang Hao was very troubled. He suddenly realized that he just said that he could produce more than ten tons of black iron for alchemy in a month, which was a bit shocking.
Obviously I have been very careful~~~
However, Zhou Jue was still telling his story: "If you want to refine the smallest and simplest alchemy furnace, you will need ten kilograms of black iron. That would require a thousand high-grade spiritual stones.
He couldn't take it out.
At this time, the people around came. Some of them sent three or five low-grade spiritual stones, and some sent more than a dozen low-grade spiritual stones. Each of them didn't send many, but it only took three days to gather more than a thousand. The wealth of top grade spiritual stones.
After that, he spent a month building a brand new alchemy furnace. Since then, there has never been another erysipelas incident.
However, the good times did not last long, and there was a problem with the alchemy furnace.
After long-term alchemy and long-term baking, the alchemy furnace is no longer pure. It must be replaced."
"Wait a minute, I heard that a good alchemy furnace can be used all the time, right?" Zhang Hao interrupted Zhou Bo's story.
"That is an alchemy furnace made of fine gold. Generally speaking, an alchemy furnace made of dark iron can be used for one year, but at most three years. One made of red copper can be used for more than ten years. One made of mithril can be used About fifty years. Made of fine gold, it can be passed down."
"That's it. Thank you."
Zhou Jue nodded and continued to tell the story: "Fortunately, he already had a reputation and some savings at this time, so he began to study abroad. He communicated with various parties, and even spent a lot of money to borrow books from Jiuyang Sect and various families.
He traveled all over the country of Qixia, he went to the country of Canglan in the East, the country of Taihua, and even countries further east.
After traveling for more than fifty years, he returned to Fangniu Mountain at the peak of the Golden Elixir stage.
It was summer. At this time, Fangniu Mountain had already become a forest of apricot trees. The mountain was filled with the fragrance of apricots, and many children were playing in the forest.
Over the past fifty years, the surrounding people used the money from selling apricots to build a Taoist temple that has begun to take shape. Nomination:
Xinglin Hall.
From that moment on, there was Xinglin Hall in Fangniu Mountain, and there was Xinglin Hall in Qixia Country.
He is my father, Zhou Shuhai.
From that day on, my father settled in Fangniu Mountain, and a few years later he married a female disciple of the Jiuyang Sect. Until today, a hundred years have passed in a hurry.
Now, my father will provide free support to anyone who is interested in alchemy.
Every year, many people come to Xinglin Hall, some from Western countries and some from the East.
There are hundreds of alchemy masters living in Xinglin Hall. This is already the largest alchemy holy land in the country of Qixia, and even in the entire West.
However, my father is well aware that ‘there are many disputes in front of famous people’, so he deliberately keeps a low profile, so that he can practice elixirs with peace of mind.”
Zhang Hao was in awe after hearing this. Although he had not yet met this Zhou Shuhai, he already felt longing for him.
The reason why this world can continue to progress is because there are always people who are making silent contributions and thinking about the entire group.
With a faint sigh, Zhou Jue turned to look at Zhang Hao: "Brother, do you know that if you refine the Yuan Pill, even if you use the most ordinary alchemy furnace, there will be 20 furnaces per day, with an average of 100 pills per furnace, and it will take three years.
Calculated over 1000 days, the cost of the alchemy furnace for each Peiyuan Pill would be 5 low-level spiritual stones.
If you include the failure rate, spiritual stones, medicinal materials, etc. that generate the flame, the cost of one Yuan-Pui Yuan Dan is as high as 15 low-grade spiritual stones. If you include the income and consumption of the alchemist, the cost is as high as 16 spiritual stones!"
Zhang Hao exclaimed: "I heard that the price of Peiyuan Dan in the Eastern countries is only three or two spiritual stones."
"Yes, there is even a spiritual stone." Zhou Jue looked angry, "But we have no choice, we lack medicinal materials, and we do not have black iron specially used for alchemy. Everything can only be purchased from the East; and Canglan
The Kingdom of Taihua and the Kingdom of Taihua monopolized the trade routes again.
We can only stick our necks out and let others slaughter us!"
Zhang Hao did not answer immediately, but thought for a while before asking: "How much special black iron for alchemy does Xinglin Hall need in a year?"
"With a purity of 99.1% to 99.3%, 500 ordinary alchemy furnaces are needed every year. There are large and small alchemy furnaces, which cost almost 2,500 stones. Close to 10 tons.
One with a purity of 99.3% to 99.5% requires 100 pill furnaces, which is almost 2 tons.
If the purity is higher than 99.5%, it will cost more than 20 pieces, about 0.4 tons.
We spend more than 3 million high-grade spiritual stones every year to purchase black iron specially used for alchemy.
If medicinal materials are included, tens of millions of high-grade spiritual stones are leaked out of Xinglin Hall alone every year.
Today, 60% of the Lingshi mineral deposits in Xingchang County have been exhausted; most of the rest have been over-exploited.
It is estimated that in a hundred years at most, we will have no spiritual stones available!
At that time, the Western countries may no longer be able to cultivate a cultivator beyond the foundation-building stage!"
Zhang Hao was shocked by these astronomical figures. Compared with these, the Zhang family's current achievements are really insignificant.
After a while, Zhang Hao asked: "How much black iron specifically for alchemy is needed every year in the whole country, and even in the entire Western countries?"