musicians of old

Chapter 184 "Return to old business" (4K [-]-in-[-])

"What do you want to do?..." Joan took it suspiciously, "Actually, let me tell you. Although elixir science has a relatively large mystic component, it has a relatively independent threshold and is inextricably linked with natural science... Does it mean that you, as a musician, are ready to enter the field of chemistry to develop your personal business?"

She lowered her head and opened the layers of paper folded in half. First, she saw some uncomplicated glass instrument styles or connection diagrams that she had never seen before.

"A vacuum distillation device with a suction pump? I didn't buy this, and I don't use it much, but remember that there are spirit medicine refining rooms in your school. You need a special shape flask and a mechanical rotor that can rotate? This is not there. I've seen it, but it shouldn't be too difficult to assemble."

Joan checked one by one: "Such a slender glass pillar? What are you going to use it for? The top is frosted, and there are openings and plugs on the bottom. I have never seen it before, but it is very simple. It is not difficult for the manufacturer to burn it."

"A glass ball with openings at the upper and lower ends? I've never seen it before. It's not difficult to make."

"Cylindrical glass vial with a lid? Don't know what you're using it for, but it's not difficult."

"..."

"The rest of the checklist form... a lot of small test tubes, capillary tubes, glass plates, flasks. It's all commonplace stuff, with some adjustments at most to your size requirements."

"Crystal ball? Gemstone altar? I have a lot of them in my house, but you have such a strong spiritual sense, do you need this kind of object that is mainly used to assist the ignorant?"

Fan Ning asked: "I want to start using it before I leave for the imperial capital. Is there time to prepare these?"

"Today is Monday, we leave on Friday, that is three days of preparation time, enough." Joan thought for a while and said, "Although some of your requirements are very strange, they don't involve any complicated inventions, or they are not common. Glass shape, or some modification on the existing machinery, I will go to an instrument factory sales point I frequent later to see."

But she still asked anxiously: "Caron, what formula did you get, are you going to refine the elixir by yourself? If you lack experience before, it will be difficult to succeed at the first time. It is probably a waste of precious extraordinary materials... Why don't you let me Help you try?"

Refining elixir is definitely not the "iron pot stewing" that many people imagine: just boil a pot of water, pour in the ingredients in the formula according to the prescribed order, heat it and cook it out of the pot, and you will get a sparkling color. of liquid.

This definitely belongs to the stereotype or pure imagination of ignorant people about elixir refining.

Fanning had communicated with Joan and Cyndia before. He knew the actual situation and could easily understand why.

——Psychic potions are often a mixture of extraordinary components and ordinary components that are mutually transmuted and dissolved in a solvent. However, most substances with extraordinary attributes and ordinary substances will repel each other in terms of physical properties, for example, as Water, a common solvent, has extremely limited applicability in the refining process, and many pure organic solvents are also difficult to use.

Therefore, the first important issue of elixir science is to study how to make the formula ingredients organically combined instead of mechanically mixed, and at the same time avoid unnecessary and uncontrollable additional reactions similar to the "chemical" level.

The essence of the mysterious field is chaos. If it is "one pot stew", the combination is forcibly combined, but in addition to the transmutation required by those who know, there will also be a large number of unknown "side reaction" components, elixir There will definitely be strange differences between the final effect of taking it and the original expectation...

Therefore, it is necessary to do a lot of complicated pre-processing on the raw materials, and to match them with specific emotions, prayers or ritual vessels. It is also necessary to consider the influence of the transpiration ratio of the different phases of the radiant spiritual liquid on refining.
The waters of this science are deep and the ceiling is high.Extraordinary substances have a deeper connection with Yi Chung naturally, theoretically using them well can play an essential role in transforming human beings.However, those who are willing to delve into this field and have the talent to achieve real results have always been a minority. The official organization of those with knowledge can only try to equip each branch with one person, while the elixir experts at the headquarters belong to the organization. Talents of very high status.

Although he was a chemical dog in his previous life, Fan Ning never thought that he could become familiar with the laws of material changes in this mysterious world in just three or four days.

"I'm not planning to refine." Fan Ning said, "I'm planning to try to separate the Extraordinary components of the suspicious substances currently in hand. I was in a bad state a while ago, so I didn't start this matter. Now I've slowed down a bit. .”

"Separate extraordinary components!?" Joan's eyes widened. Judging from her expression, this matter is even more unreliable than refining elixirs.

"Caroun, I told you before that once the extraordinary components are mixed, it is extremely difficult to separate, and this field is in chaos. Even if you refine it by yourself, you only know the initial formula. As for the composition of the final elixir product Most of the time, it is a confused book, and if it is a sample obtained from the outside, it is almost impossible to analyze the components, at most some targeted experiments are done to determine its application properties in certain aspects.”

As if trying to dissuade Fan Ning, Joan thought for a while and said, "You know, actually, as far as I know, quite a few of the elixir formulas handed down today can theoretically slowly and permanently improve the human body or Spiritual functions, and even help in exploring the movement or climbing the Hui Tower."

"Oh?" Fan Ning became interested when he heard this, "I have seen several knowledgeable people involved in this field, including you, and the elixirs they refine are basically used to heal injuries, stabilize the mind, restore spirituality, and assist Temporary aspects such as dreaming, I haven’t heard of anything that can permanently improve physical or spiritual functions, you mean, do you know some such high-level formulas?”

"I know some." Joan recalled, "For example, the 'Oil of Black Skeleton' that can delay aging to a certain extent, the 'Blood of Gray Dawn' that can improve the strength and responsiveness of the human body, and it can be used when passing through the door. The 'Pure White Holy Ointment' that protects the spirit body."

"It sounds like these effects are very attractive, but why do you feel that they are very rare?" He was a little curious at this time.

And at this moment, he suddenly realized, that's right... It's not just about changing the function of the human body?Some high-ranking spirit potions can even be used as keys, such as the one that Dean Gould took before his death-although the key is indeed relatively bad, it cannot be ruled out that there are other spirits that can allow people to pass through the door safely. agent exists.

He began to speculate on the reason why this type of elixir is so rare: "Is it because these formulas contain extremely rare transmutation substances? Or is it that the process of refining them requires too much spiritual control from those who know?"

Joan shook her head: "They do need some rare migration substances, but this is not the core reason. Although many displacement substances are expensive, compared with the effect of the elixir after refining, those secret or official organizations with knowledge It’s still tolerable. The problem is mainly due to the difficulty of separating the Extraordinary matter I just mentioned—”

"The refining principles of spirit potion and secret atmosphere are similar, but the difference is that the spirit potion is used to smear, inhale or take, so the human body's reaction to it is more delicate and sensitive... and the finished products refined according to these formulas In the formula, a large amount of hallucinogenic or lethal substances produced by chaotic transmutation are mixed, and under the premise that they cannot be separated and purified, these formulas are just a piece of waste paper."

"There are very few cases that can be successfully separated, and they are limited to specific operations in a few specific situations, and require at least a high-level spiritual control ability. This has led to the extreme scarcity of this type of elixir. Most of the elixir masters The idea is to improve the refining process, minimize the generation of dangerous substances that are chaotically transmuted, and the elixir that can achieve less side effects is already expensive..."

When Fanning heard this, he fully understood that it was similar to an organic chemical reaction.

False organic reaction: A reacts with B in the bottle and finally becomes product X.

Real organic reaction: the reaction of A and B in the bottle requires solvents C and D, catalyst E, ligand F, and oxidant/reductant G. After a period of reaction, there are both unreacted A and B in the bottle, and The main by-products X, Y, Z, and the A1, A2 produced by A itself due to a series of reasons such as hydrolysis, rearrangement, oxidation, etc. A1 and B produce D1, A2 and B produce D2, and the by-products are not It must be stable, and immediately decomposes into Y1, Z1... The above situation will change randomly with different solvents, temperatures, pH, catalysts and ligands...

Especially for more complex reactions, you never know how many substances are in the small bottle of yellow-black reaction solution.

I heard that the essence of the mysterious realm of this world is chaos?Learn about organic chemistry.

If the refining process of the elixir is really similar to it, how about getting a bunch of things to eat in the end? ...Fan Ning probably understood why Dean Gould ended up in that way after using that elixir to forcefully break through the understanding ones.

Follow the formula of the elixir?As long as you have hands.

The difficulty is always the details, how to optimize the conditions, reduce the chaotic transmutation ratio as much as possible, and how to purify the target Extraordinary substance after refining, or perform a characterization analysis on the suspected target Extraordinary substance.

"Anyway, I'll give it a try." After getting the information from Joan, Fan Ning felt more confident, "I want you to help me select a batch of commonly used reagents for the adsorption and dissolution of Extraordinary substances. .”

"Okay...you can try it if you really want to, it's fun anyway..." Joan grinned at this moment, "Hearing that your words are so purposeful, you seem to have made some preparations...but if your If the method is fractional distillation, recrystallization, centrifugation, etc., it is recommended not to hold too much hope... Do you have any directional requirements for my primary election? Maybe you can go to my house and my father asked you several times. Time to go to the exhibition again…”

"Let's talk about it after the concert." Fan Ning thought for a while and said, "The adsorbent needs to be solid, sufficiently dispersed, stable enough in the solvent, not to swell, and the adsorption ratio should be as large as possible...Can silica gel be used? ?”

"I don't know what you need to absorb." Joan said, "I usually use some silica gel balls to dry the water..."

"What I need is silica gel powder, can it absorb the Extraordinary substance in the elixir?"

"Under normal circumstances, it is not possible. In order to allow them to accommodate each other, some special extraordinary substances need to be mixed in the adsorbent powder, such as flint particles, such as the ash that is calcined and ground from the black skeleton's spot glands..."

"Then silica gel powder." Fan Ning nodded, "Then the solvent, first of all, it must have properties similar to ordinary organic solvents, with a low boiling point, strong volatility, and weak interference with spiritual perception, and then it is best to list them in two categories , one type is better and wider for extraordinary substance solubility, and the other type is relatively worse and narrower..."

Fanning just wanted to try, using the mystical version of "column chromatography" to separate and mix extraordinary components.

The reason why high-level elixir is so rare in this world is not because the formula is hard to find, nor is it because the transfer material is too expensive, but because their subsequent separation technology is too backward.

Drop a drop of mixed pigment solution on the paper, and as the moisture diffuses, you can see concentric rings appearing one by one-this kind of chromatography phenomenon has been discovered by the ancients, but it is really applied to the separation of substances, that is, " Chromatography" only appeared in the early 20th century in Fanning's previous life, and it began to develop rapidly after the [-]s.

As for this mystical world, although the overall style of painting is close to that of the previous life at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, some technology trees are obviously not lit up in the direction of modern development, and chromatography is one of them.

If Fan Ning's conjecture proves to be valid, those "waste formulas" mentioned by Joan may all be refined into high-level elixir in his hands, and they are high-level elixir with a very high safety factor—as long as those " The lethal by-products of chaotic transmutation" are separated.

In this case, if I "return to my old business" and sell one or two of the elixir that I can't use up, I'm afraid that the symphony orchestra will not be able to buy musical instruments or pay wages?

The confidence he had previously announced about the treatment of the orchestra mainly comes from the short-term record sales and publishing revenue, as well as the long-term orchestra operation and investment in paintings. Is this a new potential way to make money?
Next, Joan accompanied Fan Ning to several chemical instrument companies and reagent companies for customization and purchase. Under the urgent request, all his miscellaneous expenses did not exceed 100 pounds, which fully shows that music is the best. Money-burning things.

And Joan provided him with all kinds of extraordinary reagents... Fan Ning gave her a large bottle of [-]% pure brilliance spirit fluid again.

Next, in order to thank Joan for her consulting services, Fan Ning invited her to have a meal at Hu Chi Hai on the first floor of the Woodpecker Consulting Office—in fact, this restaurant had already attracted her attention, and she had almost tried all the dishes. over and over again, but this does not hinder her continuous enthusiasm, and the speed of research and development of new dishes of Guidance School is always amazing.

The two fought until closing time. They ate staple food, snacks, snacks, drinks and seasonal fresh fruits. After the friendship was wiped out, Fanning spent a total of 10 pounds.

It was Thursday, and after the last rehearsal at noon, Fan Ning went straight to the elixir refining area behind the training room on the third floor of the Guiding School.

There is almost no patronage here except Cyndia who is resident here. After Fan Ning made a request earlier, he was directly allocated a room with common basic equipment.

At this time, on the operating table where he was sitting, in addition to the things he had purchased before, there were three samples on the table: the paint used to paint the dial by the laborers of the Jinlangya Watch Factory, the paint (yellow branch) purchased by the workhouse, Paint knocked out of an underground building.

Among them, the latter two are not bad, and the quantity is large enough, but the only pigment samples left in the watch factory are only the size of a pitiful small toothpick box, and the "radioactive" Extraordinary substances that Fanning suspects are only in a certain concentration. If no chromatographic column is used, This is basically inseparable.

"Caroun, have you ever considered wearing this kind of white coat to conduct on stage?" Seeing Fan Ning sitting upright, concentrating on his thoughts, as if he was preparing to perform, Joan on the side felt very novel, "Maybe you You can choose a baton made of glass."

"I understand that he knows oil painting, but when will he have this skill?" Sheeran's tone was full of interest.

Fan Ning turned his head and looked at the curious eyes of the two little girls: "Joan, Xilan, you two are so serious, why don't I give you a task?"

"What task?" Sheeran asked subconsciously.

Fan Ning quickly put on the mask, then snapped a few times, threw off the dark green rubber gloves, and skillfully put them on his hands.

"Wash the bottle for me later."

　Thanks for the reward on August 8th, I don’t love the country and love mathematics~Thanks to Xiaoxiang Yeyu Heartbreaker, Le Niuma, book friend tail number 18, and the monthly pass of Chao and Beicici~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)