The Nine Godheads Chapter 44

 Chapter 44: Knowledge Is Power. Science Changes The World.

“Nah, this is actually no big deal,” Hong Xiaobao was trying to say that he had seen even larger scenes. “It’s just that I’m lucky, hehe. This is only a toy I made when I was bored.”

“What do you think? Tian Can. This brat is quite impressive, right?” At this moment Meng Xianji also came out and said happily, “The moment I saw this kid, I knew that he had potential! I walked in the Jiang Hu for so many years. This a.s.shole is actually the smartest kid I’ve seen!”

Meng Xianji’s praising made Hong Xiaobao shy. “Hehe, I’m actually not that smart. However, I don’t mind if you continue to praise me. Hehe…”

“I think I’ll go back to sleep,” Meng Xianji decisively went back into the bracelet.

G.o.d d.a.m.n it!

“Okay, now that we’ve overcome the weight problem, let’s make the medicine next.” Tian Can directed Hong Xiaobao to carry out the next step. “The process to make medicine is not that difficult. The only challenge is to grasp the time well. You cannot afford to make even the slightest mistake when counting time to make this Qi-concentrating elixir, otherwise, you’ll fail. Later, listen to my orders carefully and you must remember to not have any hesitation.”

Oh, the timing is the key? Then I have to do it very carefully. Once I mess it up, I’ll have to start from the beginning which is to get the accurate ratios of different ingredients. I can’t bare the consequences. “Let’s not rush haha. Hmm, let me think of a way to calculate time.” Hong Xiaobao rubbed his chin for a while. Suddenly, his eyes s.h.i.+ned, “En, I have an idea!”

“You have an idea?” Tian Can asked, “What idea?”

“Hehe, I just thought of an ultimate way to measure time. It is guaranteed to be efficient!” Hong Xiaobao chuckled and ran away. After a short while, he got back, with a wooden cup in his hands. “This can be used to measure time!”

Measuring time had always been a challenge for all medicine refiners for a few thousand years. Since in this world, there was no sensitive unit of time like second. The people of this world measure time with something like an incense stick, a blink of an eye, a short moment or something else that was based on abstract concepts. In other words, there was not even on standard unit of time. What Hong Xiaobao usually said like half an hour or an hour are all considered a general concept.

These methods of time measurement were not reliable and medicine refiners have immensely high requirements for them. While refining a medicine, time tended to slip by. As a result, even the slightest mismeasurement like one or two seconds could lead to failure. Under this condition, the chance of failing exponentially increased.

And so, once the five old folks got to know that Hong Xiaobao intended to use a wooden cup to measure time, they all got curious. “Hey brat, this wooden cup… can be used to count time?” “I know right! I have never heard of a wooden cup being used to measure time. Quickly explain to us how this works! If this method is reliable, your medicine-refining success rate would increase by a whole lot, reaching an unbelievable level!”

“Kid,” even Tian Can’s eyes s.h.i.+ned. “If you can solve the issue of measuring time, amongst the few hundred kinds of medicines I know, you can easily refine seven to eight of them! And that includes a sixth grade medicine!”

“Hehe, no problem. There certainly isn’t a problem. To me Hong Xiaobao, this is just a small issue!” Hong Xiaobao chuckled and fetched a pin from his sleeves, after which, he poked a few fine holes on the wooden cup and filled it with water fully.

Very quickly, the water in the holes dripped drop by drop.

At first everyone still did not get the idea. Out of the blue, Tian Can widened his eyes and said, “This idea is brilliant! The time between each drop is constant right?”

Meng Xianji also laughed loudly, “Hahahaha. What a smart kid. This idea is great!”

It was no surprise that they were so happy. This method was simple to set up and efficient. The time between 2 water droplets was one or two seconds did not really matter, what mattered was that it was constant.

“Hehe, this is a great idea, right? Knowledge is power, science changes the world!” Hong Xiaobao was in a very good mood and said, “Big Brother Tian Can, according to the dropping speed, how many drops are required to make this Qi-concentrating elixir?”

“Let me think…” Having such a smart disciple was really a blessing. Tian Can’s mood improved drastically and he felt the speed carefully. “En, boil the water first and put in the Freeze Flower. After 60 drops, put in Mohe Ginseng and another 98 drops later, the Bluefall Gra.s.s. Lastly, put in Bodhi Dew after 116 drops. Yep, this is the order.”

Hong Xiaobao carefully recorded the order. With this water droplet system to measure time, in addition to the ratio machine. G.o.d d.a.m.n it, refining medicines could never be easier!”

Since everything was set up, Hong Xiaobao started to make his move. He took some herbs and the wooden cup into the kitchen, set up the fire, heat up the water. In a blink of an eye, the water started to boil. Just as he was going to put the herbs in, Tian Can suddenly shouted, “Wait! Don’t put it in first. We’ve forgotten something.”

“What have we forgotten?” Hong Xiaobao’s body was filled with cold sweat. If he had made even a minor mistake, he would have to restart all over again.

“Heat. At this moment, we have to adjust the heat.” Tian Can was just long-winded. Fortunately he discovered the issue early. The heat required to refine medicine was different. Judging from how fast the water boiled, the heat was obviously too overwhelming…

“En, can you turn down the heat for a bit?” Tian Can asked.

“Of course I can,” Hong Xiaobao said as he adjusted the valve. The fire became a lot less vigorous, “How about this?”

“En, this is good. Next, put all of these and the water in. Refill the spatula with water, just as much as before, and start boiling the water. Tian Can looked at the water droplets that have flowed out of the wooden cup and said, “Change of plans. Put in the Freeze Flower first. After 66 drops worth of water, put in the Mohe Ginseng followed by the Bluefall Gra.s.s after another 108 drops. Lastly, after another 127 drops, put in the Bodhi Dew. Alright, this time it’s correct.”

Did you see it? This is the great part about that time keeping method! The rate at which the droplets flowed out wouldn’t change at all!

And so, Hong Xiaobao officially started his path to medicine refinement at that moment.