The formula included the best spirit density for each herb. Determining the correct density would test the Alchemist's perception and talent. There was no machine or scale that could quantify how steeped in Qi a plant was, an Alchemist had to use his or her experience and familiarity with the Leeshen scale to grade each herb.

Ilia Leeshen was the first Alchemist to understand that Qi density could be quantified with gradients divided into four groupings. Every herb could be divided by Qi density into groups that had none, low, medium, and high grades. For this formula, each plant needed to be rated high on the Leeshen scale.

The Leeshen standard allowed Cultivators to define the potency of each herb, it is one of the reasons non-cultivators could never be anything more than novice alchemists. They were unable to refine their Qi perception well enough to assign an herb a potency based on Leeshen's standardization.

Elder Tye had been manic when it came to the Leeshen standard, testing my perception and understanding until I could place an herb on the Leeshen scale effortlessly. It was only when he was satisfied with my familiarity and expertise with this standard that he allowed me to fill pill requests that satisfied contribution missions.

The blue citrus peel I selected for my catalyst would do have to do double duty, it would balance the Yang, as well as acting as a stabilizing agent. Although the formula gave exact measurements of each herb, the amount of blue citrus peel would be left to my discretion. I needed to consider the dual nature of the ingredient would be expected to play before I could decide the quantity.

I thought the most effective solution was to further divide the amount of processed blue peel I would need for each attempt into four equal portions. The first portion would be introduced along with the ginseng root, establishing the first Yin/Yang pairing. I would introduce each additional portion of the peel as the Yin when introducing each Yang root ingredient.

This would allow me to keep the duality in harmony and stabilize the process each time a new ingredient was introduced. The final portion would be added after I had stabilized each pair bond and used at the end as the catalyst. The resulting amalgamate should solidify, capable of being shaped into pill form.

I wasn't sure this process would be successful, but based on my limited body of knowledge, it had the greatest chance for success. I would have been more confident if this had been a tier-one pill, as I'd barely begun to study pill creation for advanced tiers. Elder Tye had refused to share a tier-two formula for me to practice with. I wasn't sure if that was by design, part of his process for instructing disciples, or his assessment that it was a waste of time.

He could be stubbornly fixated on what he thought right or wrong at times.

Time was running out to requisition my ingredients, they had only allowed us an hour to make a decision. The blue citrus peel would have to be my choice. If that wasn't the correct ingredient, I would be eliminated. I wouldn't be happy about the elimination, but I would be satisfied that I made the best decision I could, based on what I knew and had studied.

As I walked to the requisition counter, I had one last moment of misgiving, wondering if I should request the rhizome. But everything I had been taught screamed at me that rhizome was wrong. It would be disastrous to use something so steeped in Yang as a catalyst.

There were only a few attendants working the counter. I wasn't sure if most of the other participants in this test had already made their selections or not, but the counter was bereft of anyone else. I made my way to the person closest to my alchemy station and presented a written prescription for ingredients.

I had included my request for blue citrus peel and enough to allow me to use it both as a stabilizer and catalyst. Blue citrus fruit was easily farmed, and orchards of the fruit were harvested annually. It was the cheapest ingredient on the list, but I wasn't concerned about cost, not when ginseng root was part of the formula. It was the real expense because ginseng needed to be harvested from plants that was over a hundred years for ideal Qi saturation.

The attendant accepted my prescription but before she moved to fill it; she was joined by one of the judges for the event. He spent just a second to browse my selection before nodding his head and allowing the young woman to fill my order.

The tension in my shoulders eased. I had not been aware that my worry had manifested physically until the tension was released. I still wasn't sure if blue citrus was the ideal ingredient, but it was one of the three that would work and with the Elder's approval I had made it past stage one of the competitions.

It didn't take long for the attendant to gather the ingredients. A basket of fresh spirit herbs and vegetables were delivered ready for my use. Each item had been wrapped in cloth that had been soaked in water that had been infused with a preservation solution. The water solvent was ideal for protecting herbs, once removed from the array formations protecting them. It would regulate the Qi density each plant had absorbed, blocking the decay of Qi.

Ingredients in hand, I managed a quick bow towards the attendant in thanks before turning to return to my assigned station. I couldn't refrain from spending a few seconds checking out the other people that were participating. Each was focused on their task, interestingly over half of the stations that had been allocated were now empty. Those people having failed the first elimination stage.

I carefully inspected each herb once I arrived at my station. The entire plant was made available, root, stem, leaf, and flower but part of the test required me to consider the nature of each plant, as well as how different parts of each herb could have unique properties.

Ginseng root, dang gui root, and shou wu root were actually tubers, vegetables that were steeped in rich Yang energy. The tuber themselves were part of the root system, so the part of the plant that stored the most spirit Qi was easily identified. The white stractylodes on the other hand was a flowering plant of the sunflower family, the stractylodes that were available were classified as white because of the color of the flowers. The leaves and flowers were all rich in Yin energy with the small buds just beginning to open the most steeped in Qi and Yin.

As I began to sort each ingredient, I extended my perception to classify how they fell on the Leeshen Scale. There were very few specimens that fell below mid-level on the scale, those that did were quickly placed in a pile of herbs that I rejected. The few that resonated high, I also separated, there were not many, and I would use those that I gathered for my last attempt.

The entire blue citrus fruit was provided, and I was expected to harvest the peel myself. Blue citrus peel was a bit of a misnomer. Many laymen would think that I would need to zest the fruit to obtain the peel, but they would be wrong. The fruit was similar to an orange, juice sacs segmented and protected by a thick film of the endocarp. It was this endocarp that I needed to source, the outer peel of the fruit allowing the endocarp to retain Yin potency.

I thought it safest to use the ingredients I had sorted that resonated just barely mid-level on Leeshen's Scale first. I only had ten attempts, and it made sense for the first attempts to use substandard ingredients as I practiced with and perfected the formula and my technique. The last few attempts would use those plants with the strongest efficacy, and if I managed to succeed, I would use the one portion that had the highest saturation hoping for success, and a pill that was higher in purity.

The next few hours were exhausting, my attention and focus had to remain constant as I processed, chopped, dried, and ground the herbs into useful products. It was more efficient to process and store everything at once, but that would only work if I knew what worked. Instead, by processing ingredients as I needed them for each attempt, I could modify how they were processed. It was a risk to do it this way, if I was not able to maintain concentration, even the preparation stage would fail because of that lack of focus.

The good thing was that I had never had a problem working in this manner before, my ability to ignore my surroundings and concentrate completely on what I was doing often amusing and frustrating Elder Tye as he observed and attempted to instruct. He'd realized that while I was in the 'zone' there was no point trying to gain my attention, his guidance would have to be given once I returned to reality.

I would like to say my first attempt at pill creation was a success, but that would be wishful thinking. My first eight attempts were major failures, one so badly botched that the array's protection formations were triggered to suppress the explosion. I had to requisition another cauldron after that, there was no time to repair and restore the one that I had damaged. That event put me even further behind because I had to transfer to a new workstation, one that hadn't been damaged.

On the ninth attempt, I was finally greeted with success, five purple pills with white striations threaded throughout them. The pill releasing an aroma and energy that my perception analyzed and found barely acceptable, impurities reaching almost forty percent.

I barely had fifteen minutes left for the last attempt before the judging would occur, enough time, but just barely. I was able to ignore the pressures of time, working until the very last few seconds. But my tenacity paid off, and I had a pill that could be submitted, it probably wasn't enough to win the competition, even this last attempt was formed with twenty percent impurities. No matter the outcome, my success meant that I would not bring shame to the Flowing Water Sect.

My actions and movements for this last attempt were smoother, the serenity and joy I found in alchemy restored now that the pressure to create was removed. My Qi and Dharmic fire flowed with an assuredness that hadn't been present for any of my other attempts, and as I added the final blue citrus peel to serve as a catalyst, the difference in how I worked translated into a moment of inspiration.

I separated the last portion of blue citrus peel into three parts, introducing them into the mixture at different areas of the cauldron, areas where temperature varied slightly. I held each specimen in place using Qi, isolated until I applied Dharmic fire releasing the properties of the herb. By introducing the final catalyst at different temperatures, I was able to control the reaction. The Yin/Yang pair bonds I'd taken such an effort to create finally materialized. Harmony achieved the solution that I had been aiming for took shape.