Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Although the sound echoing from the inside of the cauldron was not loud, every single person there could hear it clearly. At once, the elders stared at Elder Sun with peculiar gazes. Meanwhile, Elder Sun’s face was flushed scarlet. He appeared to be at a loss about what to do as he stood over his cauldron.
“Look! Elder Wan is about to complete the process!”
A loud gasp was heard as the crowd shifted their attention back to Elder Wan immediately. Elder Sun exhaled in relief while his gaze trailed theirs to Elder Wan as well.
Elder Wan was seen giving his cauldron a slap suddenly that sent the lid flying up at once before landing on the side. A large plume of white smoke surged into the sky. At the same time, a gush of rich fragrance filled the entire great hall.
“It’s a success!”
“That’s successful for sure! Otherwise, we won’t be picking up such a rich fragrance!”
“That’s miraculous!”
…
Elder Wan had a rather proud expression on his face when he was showered by the gasps of the crowd. He scooped out the pills from the cauldron at once.
“Here are the Purple Heart Pills. There are nine medium-grade pills,” Elder Wan announced as he raised the pills in his hand.
The group of people shifted their gaze to his hand, their expressions turning astonished when they saw that there genuinely were nine medium-grade Purple Heart Pills.
“He actually managed to refine the Purple Heart Pill in a single attempt. The success rate is truly quite surprising!” an elder muttered to herself.
Another elder nodded and said, “My success rate is only 60% at the most even if I had been chosen to refine the pills. I’m afraid that it’s not that easy to succeed in a single attempt even for me.”
“Perhaps he’s just lucky. This doesn’t mean anything at all,” an elder standing by Zhao Dengming said in disdain.
Similarly, Yu Zhen echoed, “That’s right. The Purple Heart Pill is only a Grade-1 pill. Due to Elder Wan’s accomplishment as a Cauldron-2 alchemist, it doesn’t mean anything even if he managed to succeed in one attempt.”
“How about Elder Sun’s failure then? What do you think about that?” said an elder recalcitrantly.
Zhao Dengming took a glance at him and said coldly, “Perhaps it’s because Elder Sun is out of form today.”
The person was rendered speechless at once. He was incapable of refuting at all.
Meanwhile, Elder Sun feigned calmness and said, “That’s true. I failed because I wasn’t in a calm state of mind earlier. If I were to try again, I’d succeed for sure.”
Meanwhile, Yan Zhengfeng stepped forward and instructed, “Discuss less and continue to refine the other elixirs.”
Upon listening to him, Elder Sun and Elder Wan had no choice but to continue refining elixirs.
Elder Sun failed again when it came to the second elixir while Elder Wan achieved complete success in one go. Elder Sun was exceedingly offended. He wished that he could find a hole in the ground and bury himself in it. Compared to Elder Sun’s furious expression, Elder Wan was glowing in pride as he appeared to be delighted.
The refinement process continued until all 17 alchemy prescriptions were tested and verified one by one.
Elder Sun finally succeeded when he was refining the eighth elixir. However, the quality of the elixir Elder Wan refined was a grade higher than Elder Sun’s. As a result, Elder Wan won that round.
The longer the people watched, the quieter they became. Even the elders that strongly opposed the test and verification process earlier were so shocked that they could not speak anymore.
On the contrary, the first elder’s expression did not change much all this time. It felt as if he was completely unassociated with this alchemy test and verification process.
Fang Lin stood by Meng Wuyou’s side. He laughed to himself secretly in his heart as he watched the two elders bustling about to refine the elixirs. While the 17 alchemy prescriptions he improved did not appear to be that much different, in reality, they were worlds apart.
The replacement of just a single type of medicinal herb was enough to change the structure of the entire elixir. In turn, the other parts would be affected including the success rate and quality.
Fang Lin wanted to change these alchemy prescriptions not because he wanted to show off, but because he did not wish to see the alchemists of the sect being constantly deceived by their predecessors’ mistakes.
Because the alchemy prescription played the most crucial role in the legacy of the alchemy sect, in Fang Lin’s opinion, there should not be any mistake at all.
In Fang Lin’s past life at the Alchemy Saint Palace, a predecessor had carried out a series of dynamic reformation on the alchemy prescriptions. As a result, it triggered an immense upheaval in the alchemy scene at that point in time. Even though it impacted the alchemy world tremendously, the final result was exceptional.
Fang Lin was only making some slight changes to the Grade-1 alchemy prescriptions. Even though it was nothing serious, he could make peace with his heart and soul as an Extreme Alchemist. If he were to remain unmoved in this situation, he did not deserve the Extreme Alchemist’s soul which was deeply ingrained in his body and could never perish in eternity.
Finally, the process of refining the 17 types of elixirs was completed. Elder Sun was dejected and disheartened as he stood over there absentmindedly. On the other hand, Elder Wan looked surprised. He was overjoyed when he saw the elixirs his own hands had refined.
The atmosphere in the great hall was rather strange. The fragrances of all sorts of pills were combined together in the hall. Even though it smelled weird, it was still a rather pleasant smell.
Fang Lin inhaled deeply twice. His expression revealed the satisfaction that he felt in his heart.
However, none of the people was as relaxed as him. Every single person had a solemn, burdened expression on their faces as if they were carrying a mountain on their backs. In fact, even Gu Daofeng, who appeared extremely calm previously, also had his sword-like brows furrowed ever so slightly at this very moment.
After a long while, the most experienced alchemist, Yan Zhengfeng, heaved a long sigh. His sigh was filled with so many emotions including loneliness, complicated feelings, sorrow, and relief. “So, it turns out that we are wrong,” he said as tears coursed down his old cheeks.
Yan Zhengfeng’s words made all the elders on the scene cringe in shame. On the other hand, the elders that strongly opposed the experiment earlier were blushing from head to neck as they were deeply ashamed of their own actions.
Meng Wuyou exhaled a long breath. With things turning out this way, he finally completed the task to benefit the alchemy sect at last. His heart was swarmed with complicated emotions.
Mu Yan looked at Fang Lin with glowing eyes. He was both a participant of this entire event as well as a bystander that had nothing to do with this.
One had no choice but to admit that the 17 alchemy prescriptions he amended would benefit the alchemy sect such that the sect’s legacy in Grade-1 elixirs would be improved to a brand new level. Just by relying on this meritorious contribution, it was enough for Fang Lin to receive the same respect as the numerous elders.
Yan Zhengfeng shook his head and heaved a sigh. He cupped his hands before his chest to salute Gu Daofeng and said, “I’m a fool. Even though the alchemy prescriptions left behind by our predecessors are precious, all of us aren’t progressive enough as alchemists. We did nothing but only guard the results of our predecessors. We were way too far from just being wrong.”
“Don’t be like that, Elder Yan. Today’s event is a great service to our alchemy sect. We should be happy about it. Why should we condemn ourselves?” Gu Daofeng immediately said.
He paused for a moment before standing up and gazing towards the crowd to announce loudly, “The low-grade disciple Fang Lin and the elder of our alchemy sect, Meng Wuyou, have improved our sect’s alchemy prescriptions today. We, as the alchemy sect elders and disciples, should look upon their distinguished service as our role model.”
Fang Lin’s ears perked up when he heard that. This was glorious for him! His expression turned excited at once. On the other hand, Meng Wuyou appeared indifferent. It was as if he did not mind whether he was rewarded for his service or not.
On the contrary, Zhao Dengming, Yu Zhen, and the other elders had a resentful look in their eyes that could not be concealed. Most of them were in a bad mood. Who do you think you are? Why do you, Fang Lin and Old Meng, get to be in the limelight again?
Gu Daofeng turned to Meng Wuyou and Fang Lin with a smile to ask, “Both of you, what would you like as a reward?”
Meng Wuyou looked at Fang Lin, hinting him to go ahead.
Fang Lin was straightforward. He asked with an innocent expression, “First Elder, can I be promoted to a high-grade disciple?”
Cough, cough, cough!
Meng Wuyou coughed at once while Yan Zhengfeng’s old face froze instantaneously. The rest of the elders had a mix of different expressions as well.
Fang Lin, what a fool! Zhao Dengming sneered in his heart as he was surprised by Fang Lin’s audacity.