Verifying the Supreme Grade

The next morning, just as the sun rose above the horizon and its pale golden light had not yet fully pierced the thin desert mist, lamps were already burning inside the stone shelter that served as Hoa Van’s medicine room.

Hao Nhien and Tieu Lan had both risen early. They had finished their work quite late the previous night, but after sealing the supreme-grade Qi-Recovery Pill separately in a jade bottle, they both knew the next step could not end with simply looking at it and making guesses.

If they wanted to confirm that yesterday’s refinement had truly succeeded, they first needed to know how the pill would behave after entering the body.

Hao Nhien sat beside the stone table. In front of him lay Tieu Lan’s notebook and several passages she had marked the previous night from the Medicine Peak alchemy texts. The supreme-grade Qi-Recovery Pill rested in his palm. Its orange-red color was clearer than that of the four high-grade pills, and the faint golden pill pattern that nearly formed a complete ring around its surface seemed to move subtly with the medicinal aura circulating within.

Tieu Lan stood opposite him, her eyes never leaving the pill. The joy from the previous night was still there, but now her concern was far more obvious.

“Young Master really intends to take the entire pill?”

Hao Nhien looked at it for a moment, then nodded.

“Mm.”

Tieu Lan’s fingers tightened slightly.

“We only have one supreme-grade pill.”

“I know.”

“Once it is used, there will be no physical sample left for comparison later.”

Hao Nhien did not argue immediately.

He understood why she was reluctant.

The value of a supreme-grade pill did not lie only in its medicinal force. If preserved, it could later be compared against future batches, its pill pattern could be studied, and it might even serve as proof that their method truly produced something different.

But what Hao Nhien needed now was not a treasure preserved untouched inside a jade bottle.

He needed to understand it.

“Tieu Lan.”

Hao Nhien placed the pill on the tray.

“I want to know whether the characteristics described in those alchemy texts truly exist in the pill we refined.”

He pointed toward the notes in front of them.

“The pill pattern, the self-circulation of medicinal force, absorption efficiency, the amount of residual impure qi, and any new property that might appear in a supreme-grade pill.”

Hao Nhien paused before continuing.

“These aren’t things I want to understand only through someone else’s description.”

He looked at Tieu Lan for a moment.

“I’m already at the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment.”

“A Qi-Recovery Pill is meant for Qi Condensation cultivators. Even if this one is supreme grade, I should still have enough control to deal with unexpected changes.”

Tieu Lan watched him for a long time.

She understood his reasoning.

If they gave the pill to a Qi Condensation cultivator first, that person might be able to describe whether it worked, but might not be capable of distinguishing every subtle change in the medicinal force.

Hao Nhien was different.

His meridians and dantian were far stronger, and his Divine Sense was refined enough to follow the entire absorption process from beginning to end.

More importantly, he was the one trying to turn this result into something that could eventually be reproduced.

If he did not experience it directly, too much would remain only a subjective description.

In the end, Tieu Lan nodded.

“Then we need to record your condition before you take it.”

“Alright.”

She immediately opened her notebook.

Hao Nhien examined his body once with Divine Sense, then spoke slowly so she could write.

“Cultivation: fourth layer of Foundation Establishment.”

“Spiritual power remaining: roughly seventy percent.”

“No serious meridian injuries, but there are several small accumulated fissures from repeated battles.”

“Divine Sense stable.”

Tieu Lan finished writing, then looked up.

“If anything feels wrong, Young Master must stop immediately.”

“I know.”

“Don’t endure something just because you want to keep observing it.”

Hao Nhien laughed.

“I’ll listen to you.”

Tieu Lan did not smile with him.

She watched as he placed the supreme-grade Qi-Recovery Pill into his mouth.

The moment the pill touched his tongue, it began to dissolve.

Hao Nhien felt none of the bitterness common to some pills, nor any burning sensation. Only a warm, remarkably clean stream of medicinal force slid down his throat and entered his meridians.

He immediately closed his eyes.

His Divine Sense turned inward.

The medicinal force did not erupt violently.

It spread more slowly than he had expected, yet its stability was precisely what made him notice the difference almost at once.

The ordinary Qi-Recovery Pills he had used before always required some degree of active refinement. Their medicinal force often entered the body unevenly, some portions moving faster than others, and there were times when he needed to guide his spiritual power through the meridians to force the more resistant parts to integrate.

This pill required almost none of that.

Wherever the medicinal force passed, areas lacking spiritual power were replenished almost immediately.

Hao Nhien only needed to guide it lightly.

The rest seemed almost capable of finding its own path.

He circulated his spiritual power through a full cycle.

After the first circulation, the deficit had already begun to recover noticeably.

By the second, the medicinal force still maintained the same steady rhythm. There was no clash between heat and cold, nor any obvious impure qi scraping against the meridian walls.

After several more cycles, the spiritual power in his dantian had nearly returned to full.

But what caught Hao Nhien’s attention most came afterward.

Once his need for spiritual-power recovery decreased, the remaining medicinal force did not continue accumulating inside his dantian.

Instead, it slowly dispersed.

Part of it flowed into smaller branches of the meridians, while another portion settled around places that had previously been injured.

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Hao Nhien immediately focused his Divine Sense there.

The tiny fissures had not disappeared.

But the tight, dry sensation surrounding them had clearly eased.

The medicinal force was not directly repairing the meridians in an instant. Rather, it seemed to be creating more favorable conditions for the damaged areas to recover on their own.

Hao Nhien did not interfere.

He simply observed.

By the time the medicinal force was nearly exhausted, he circulated his spiritual power through another complete cycle to check the result.

His meridians felt more stable than before.

His dantian was once again close to full.

Most importantly, he could detect almost no residual impure qi after the absorption process.

After a while, Hao Nhien opened his eyes.

Tieu Lan immediately asked,

“How was it?”

“The primary medicinal effect is still recovery.”

Tieu Lan let out a small breath.

“How effective?”

“For someone at the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment, the amount of spiritual power restored can’t be considered especially large.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“But that wasn’t what I wanted to test in the first place.”

He looked down at his hand.

“The important part is the absorption.”

Tieu Lan immediately picked up her brush.

“I barely needed to actively refine it.”

“The medicinal force integrated on its own wherever spiritual power was lacking.”

“Once my dantian was nearly full, the remaining medicinal force didn’t continue concentrating in one place. It dispersed through the meridians instead.”

He paused.

“The small fissures in my meridians are still there, but the tightness around them has clearly decreased.”

Tieu Lan looked up.

“Meridian nourishment?”

“Possibly.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“But for now, we’ve only observed it in me.”

“We can’t conclude that this is a fixed property of every supreme-grade Qi-Recovery Pill.”

Tieu Lan nodded and continued writing.

Hao Nhien pulled the alchemy text closer.

Together, they began comparing each point.

The pill pattern was present.

The medicinal force remained stable.

Its ability to integrate on its own was much higher than that of a high-grade pill.

Residual impure qi was so low that its effects were almost negligible.

Once the pill had completed its main function, the remaining medicinal force tended to distribute itself rather than accumulate chaotically.

Most importantly, it appeared to possess some capacity to support meridian recovery, matching the records stating that certain supreme-grade pills could develop beneficial properties beyond the original purpose of the formula.

Tieu Lan looked over the notes, then raised her head.

This time, there was more than happiness in her eyes.

There was certainty.

“Young Master.”

“Mm?”

“We can confirm it now.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“The pill we refined yesterday truly was a supreme-grade Qi-Recovery Pill.”

She spoke slowly, as though she wanted to remember the moment clearly herself.

“And that batch truly succeeded.”

Hao Nhien remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

That was the conclusion he had wanted.

After Hao Nhien rested for a while and allowed his spiritual power to stabilize completely, Tieu Lan looked toward the jade bottle beside them.

Four high-grade Qi-Recovery Pills remained inside.

She thought for quite some time before speaking.

“Young Master.”

“I want to try one too.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“Alright.”

Tieu Lan seemed slightly surprised.

“You’re not going to stop me?”

“There’s no need.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“But not immediately.”

She looked at him.

“First, we need to create conditions that match the actual purpose of a Qi-Recovery Pill.”

Tieu Lan understood at once.

Qi-Recovery Pills were meant to restore true qi.

If she took one while her true qi was nearly full, it would be difficult to judge the result properly.

“I should expend some true qi first?”

“Mm.”

Hao Nhien said.

“About half.”

The two left the medicine room and went to the medicine garden behind it.

Tieu Lan did not need to waste true qi on meaningless techniques.

She simply did the work that already needed to be done.

She continuously circulated Wood true qi while checking the newly planted herbs, supporting the vitality of weaker plants, testing how different soil types affected them, and helping several spirit herbs adjust to the hot, dry environment.

The process lasted nearly an hour.

By the time she returned to the stone shelter, her complexion had become slightly pale and the true qi in her dantian had fallen to roughly half.

Hao Nhien checked her condition with Divine Sense, then nodded.

“That’s enough.”

Tieu Lan sat down.

Hao Nhien took out one high-grade Qi-Recovery Pill.

Tieu Lan prepared a measured amount of spirit-spring water and dissolved the pill in it.

They waited until it had completely dispersed, then she divided the liquid into two equal portions using a marked bottle.

One portion was sealed away.

The other was placed in front of her.

“Half a pill.”

Hao Nhien said.

“We’ll test this amount first.”

Tieu Lan nodded.

She drank the entire portion, then immediately sat cross-legged.

The medicinal force began taking effect after only a few breaths.

Compared with the supreme-grade pill, the response of the high-grade Qi-Recovery Pill was more direct. Fresh true qi quickly spread through her meridians, carrying a warm sensation while remaining relatively clean and stable.

Tieu Lan circulated her own true qi.

Hao Nhien only observed from outside with Divine Sense.

From the first complete cycle, the true qi in Tieu Lan’s dantian began replenishing noticeably.

By the third cycle, more than half of what she had expended had already been restored.

Tieu Lan continued circulating.

Hao Nhien noticed that her absorption was better than expected.

It was not because the pill was overwhelmingly powerful.

It was because Tieu Lan herself had already been close to her bottleneck.

Her Wood-aligned meridians were stable, and her accumulation of true qi had long been sufficient. She simply had not actively pursued a breakthrough because most of her attention in recent months had gone toward medicine, pharmacology, and treating the wounded.

As her true qi was replenished, the accumulation she had built over time began to change.

Hao Nhien noticed immediately.

“Tieu Lan, your bottleneck is moving.”

Her breathing shifted slightly.

“Should I stop?”

“No.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“But don’t force it. Just keep circulating normally.”

Tieu Lan did as he said.

She did not gather all her true qi into the dantian and attempt to smash through the bottleneck, nor did she accelerate the circulation.

Her true qi simply continued along its familiar path.

After another two cycles, the barrier between the fourth and fifth layers of Qi Condensation began to tremble noticeably.

Hao Nhien said nothing more.

This was something Tieu Lan had to complete herself.

She maintained the same rhythm.

When the true qi returned to her dantian once again, the already-thin bottleneck finally opened on its own.

Tieu Lan’s aura immediately changed.

Her dantian expanded slightly.

Her meridians widened with it.

The true qi that had been steadily returning suddenly gained more space to circulate.

Tieu Lan did not stop.

She continued running the circulation cycle, using the remaining medicinal force to stabilize her new state rather than trying to push her cultivation any higher.

Hao Nhien watched carefully.

Only after some time did her aura at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation fully stabilize.

A thin layer of impurities began appearing on Tieu Lan’s skin, mostly around her wrists and other areas where qi and blood circulated more strongly.

There was not much.

But it was enough to show that the breakthrough had expelled a small amount of accumulated impurity from her body.

Hao Nhien noted the phenomenon but did not attribute it to the Qi-Recovery Pill.

It could simply be a natural result of the meridians opening further and true qi circulating more smoothly after the breakthrough.

Nearly an hour later, Tieu Lan slowly opened her eyes.

Her gaze was brighter than before.

Her aura was also much more stable.

She raised one hand, circulated true qi between her fingertips, and said softly,

“Fifth layer of Qi Condensation.”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“How does it feel?”

“Lighter.”

Tieu Lan replied.

“My true qi flows faster.”

“A few smaller meridian branches that used to feel obstructed are much smoother now as well.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“But we need to record this clearly.”

“You didn’t break through because the Qi-Recovery Pill directly raises cultivation.”

Tieu Lan understood immediately.

“I was already close to the bottleneck.”

“Exactly.”

Hao Nhien said.

“Half of a high-grade pill replenished clean true qi at a time when your body was already prepared.”

“It created favorable conditions.”

“It didn’t replace your accumulation.”

Tieu Lan nodded and pulled the notebook closer.

She began writing:

Test Subject: Fourth layer of Qi Condensation. Bottleneck to the fifth layer had already shown signs of loosening.

Condition Before Use: Approximately fifty percent true qi remaining.

Dosage: Half of one high-grade Qi-Recovery Pill dissolved in spirit-spring water.

Result: Rapid true qi recovery, relatively pure medicinal force, stable absorption.

She paused, then added:

Test subject advanced naturally to the fifth layer of Qi Condensation during recovery, but this cannot be confirmed as a direct effect of the pill. Foundation and accumulation were already sufficient, and the bottleneck had already loosened beforehand.

Hao Nhien read the line and nodded.

“Add one more point.”

Tieu Lan looked at him.

“A small amount of impurity appeared on the skin after the breakthrough.”

Her face reddened slightly.

Hao Nhien continued in a perfectly calm tone.

“But we don’t know whether that has anything to do with the pill or is simply part of the breakthrough process.”

Tieu Lan immediately wrote it down.

Then she glanced at her wrist, and her expression became slightly uncomfortable.

“Young Master.”

“Mm?”

“I want to go change my clothes.”

Hao Nhien looked at the thin layer of impurity and wisely only nodded.

“Go.”

Tieu Lan stood, but after taking a few steps, she turned back.

“Don’t laugh.”

Hao Nhien kept a serious expression.

“I’m recording data.”

Tieu Lan gave him a deeply suspicious look before finally leaving the shelter.

Only after she disappeared beyond the wall did the corner of Hao Nhien’s lips rise slightly.

But his amusement did not last long.

His attention soon returned to the notebook.

Today’s results had allowed them to confirm two things.

The supreme-grade pill truly displayed the characteristics described in the records, and it had even shown a possible meridian-nourishing effect that still required further verification.

The high-grade Qi-Recovery Pill had also shown stable effectiveness in an actual Qi Condensation cultivator.

But the amount of data was still far too small.

One Foundation Establishment cultivator.

One fourth-layer Qi Condensation cultivator who had broken through during the test.

That was nowhere near enough to establish a complete set of usage rules.

Some time later, Tieu Lan returned in clean clothes. Her hair was still slightly damp, but her fifth-layer Qi Condensation aura had become even more stable.

She had barely sat down when Hao Nhien pushed the notebook toward her.

“I think we should start writing usage guidelines.”

Tieu Lan looked at the page.

“Right now?”

“Only what we actually know.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“Anything we don’t know gets marked as awaiting verification.”

Tieu Lan thought for a moment, then nodded.

At the top of the page, she wrote:

Guidelines for the Use of Qi-Recovery Pills

Outside the shelter, Hoa Van still echoed with the sound of hammers, carts carrying materials, and people working.

No one knew that inside this small room, a supreme-grade pill had been completely used up in exchange for something Hao Nhien valued more than preserving it as a treasure.

A conclusion that could be verified.

A first standard.

And another step toward turning Hoa Van’s alchemy from the experience of two people into something that could be recorded, tested again, and eventually passed down.