Chapter 109: Unbelievable Results

Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Unbelievable Results

After their confrontation, it was finally time for the last group to be evaluated. Just as they were about to step forward, Elder Shan Li suddenly rose from his seat. He leaned toward the disciple responsible for checking the results and quietly said something to him. The disciple immediately nodded and stepped aside, making it clear that Elder Shan Li would personally oversee the evaluation of the final batch.

The change immediately caught everyone’s attention. The lecture hall, which had been filled with the low murmur of conversation between evaluation results, gradually quieted as more and more disciples turned toward the front.

Since the evaluation had begun, Elder Shan Li had remained seated, leaving the senior disciple in charge to conduct the testing and announce the results. He had barely shown any interest in the process beyond occasionally glancing at the medicinal herb being examined.

Now, however, he had suddenly stepped forward and taken over the evaluation himself.

Naturally, the disciples couldn’t help but start whispering among themselves.

"Elder Shan Li is actually checking this batch himself. Those disciples are pretty lucky."

"Lucky? I don’t know about that. If they perform badly with Elder Shan Li personally checking their results, wouldn’t that be even more embarrassing?"

"Well, that’s true. But why do you think Elder Shan Li suddenly became interested in this group? He hasn’t personally checked anyone else so far."

"You were probably still focused on refining earlier, so you might not know. Apparently, one of the disciples in the last group caught Elder Shan Li’s attention during the lecture. He even praised that person."

"Really? Which one?"

"I don’t know the name, but it’s the one with the unusual hair color. I was sitting fairly close to them, and I heard Elder Shan Li praise him myself. I’m pretty sure I didn’t hear wrong."

"Wow, really? Then he must be quite talented."

"Exactly. Otherwise, why would Elder Shan Li personally oversee their evaluation?"

Chu Ran and the disciples around her had naturally overheard the conversation. They exchanged skeptical looks, clearly unwilling to believe what they had just heard.

"How could that fool possibly be praised by Elder Shan Li?" Chu Ran scoffed, rolling her eyes. "He doesn’t even have any ability. What could he possibly have done to catch Elder Shan Li’s attention?"

"Exactly. They must have gotten the wrong person," one of the disciples immediately echoed. "That Bai Sui Sui is just a fool with a mental deficiency. How could someone like him possibly do anything worthy of Elder Shan Li’s praise? more likely catched his attention because the fool was so bad at it"

"Maybe they were talking about the disciple beside him," another disciple suggested, glancing toward Ji Ling. "Perhaps they meant Senior Brother Ji Ling when they meant praising."

Their conversation only made the surrounding disciples more curious. More and more people began turning their attention toward Sui Sui’s group, trying to figure out which disciple had actually caught Elder Shan Li’s attention.

Some of them had also heard Elder Shan Li praising someone earlier, but because they had been sitting farther away, they had not been able to tell who he was talking about. Only the disciples seated close to Sui Sui knew for certain who had received that praise.

At the front of the hall, Ji Ling’s medicinal herb had nearly finished being evaluated. Elder Shan Li glanced at the result before holding up the testing artifact, while the disciple beside him immediately announced the numbers for everyone to hear.

"Disciple Ji Ling. First herb: 10%. Second herb: 8%. Third herb: 8%. Pass."

The moment the results were announced, an uproar spread through the hall.

"All three passed?"

"Three high-grade results!"

"As expected of Elder Jingyan’s close-door disciple. Senior Brother Ji Ling really is talented."

This was the first disciple so far to achieve high-grade results on all three herbs, and the accomplishment immediately drew a wave of congratulations from the surrounding disciples. Ji Ling merely smiled modestly and accepted their congratulations without making a big deal out of it.

Sui Sui also smiled and congratulated him. He had known that Ji Ling was good at alchemy, but he hadn’t expected his results to be this impressive.

So this low-key Senior Brother of mine was actually a crouching dragon.

Once Ji Ling’s results had been recorded, it was finally Sui Sui’s turn.

The moment Sui Sui stepped forward, the disciples who had not heard about Elder Shan Li’s earlier praise couldn’t help feeling a little sympathetic. After all, his cultivation was only at the Qi Refining stage, and he was now going after someone who had just achieved three high-grade results. No one would want to be evaluated immediately after such an impressive performance.

Sui Sui, however, wasn’t thinking about that at all.

He carefully stepped forward and handed his three samples to Elder Shan Li before quietly waiting for the testing to begin. Although he looked calm on the outside, he was actually a little nervous.

It wasn’t because he was afraid of embarrassing himself.

He simply didn’t know whether his new method had actually worked.

After waiting for a while, the testing artifact finally finished its evaluation. Elder Shan Li glanced at the results, then, instead of handing the artifact to the disciple responsible for announcing the scores, he looked directly at Sui Sui.

"Your name is Bai Sui Sui, correct?"

Sui Sui nodded respectfully. "Yes, Elder."

"Very well," Elder Shan Li said, his voice as calm as ever. He glanced at the testing artifact once more before continuing, "Bai Sui Sui, first herb: 19%."

The moment the score was announced, the hall nearly erupted. Nineteen percent! Although it had not reached the high-grade standard yet, it was already considered mid-grade and was only a few steps away from reaching high-grade.

Before the disciples could fully recover from their surprise, Elder Shan Li announced the second result "Second herb: 13%."

This time, the uproar was even louder. Thirteen percent! That was also only a few step away from high-grade, and this score was already higher than what some of the Foundation Building alchemists present had managed to achieve.

The surrounding disciples began looking at Sui Sui with completely different expressions. The first result had already been impressive, but the second had pushed everyone’s expectations even higher. Now, everyone was eagerly anticipating the third herb. If the first two were already this good, then what would the final result be?

Elder Shan Li did not keep them waiting for long and announced "Third herb: 7%."

The entire lecture hall went silent, for a brief moment, it was as though everyone had stopped breathing, then the hall exploded into an even louder uproar.

"Seven percent?"

"Are you sure that says seven?"

"Really seven percent?!"

The disciples could hardly believe what they were hearing. Among all the results so far, Ji Ling’s eight percent had been the highest purity achieved. Yet now, someone has actually managed to reach seven percent.

And the most shocking part was the person’s cultivation.

Qi Refining.

He was really only at the Qi Refining stage.

Even though Sui Sui had not managed to purify all three herbs below ten percent, the result was still astonishing. Thirteen percent, eleven percent, and six percent—each attempt had produced an impressive level of purity, and the final result had even surpassed Ji Ling’s best score.

Everyone began looking at Sui Sui more carefully, as though they were seeing him for the first time.

Who exactly was this person?

Why had no one heard of him before?

Did Medicine Peak really have such a talented disciple hiding among them?

The questions spread through the hall, mixed with shock, curiosity, and disbelief as countless gazes gathered on Sui Sui.

The reactions among the disciples were mixed. Some were excited, others were curious, and quite a few were openly envious. Among the latter were Chu Ran and the disciples who had been standing beside her.

"How could this be? Is he really that good?"

"Impossible. Wasn’t he supposed to be a fool who could barely cultivate?"

The whispers reached Chu Ran’s ears, but she didn’t respond. She simply stared at Sui Sui on the platform, her eyes burning with disbelief and resentment. She had been certain that he would embarrass himself in front of everyone. Yet not only had he passed, his final result had even surpassed Ji Ling’s best score.

She really couldn’t accept it and gritted her teeth hard.

Meanwhile, Sui Sui was completely unaware of Chu Ran’s expression. He was still smiling happily to himself. Although only one of his three herbs had actually reached the high-grade standard, at least one of them had succeeded.

One out of three is still a pass, right?

"Congratulations. You passed." Elder Shan Li’s calm voice pulled Sui Sui out of his thoughts.

Sui Sui immediately looked toward him and cupped his hands respectfully. "Thank you, Elder Shan Li."

Ji Ling, who was standing nearby, also smiled brightly and patted Sui Sui on the back. "Congratulations, Junior Brother Sui. I’m really proud of you."

"Thank you, Senior Brother." Sui Sui said happily

After the results had been recorded, Elder Shan Li motioned for everyone to return to their seats. The disciples gradually settled down, though many were still quietly discussing Sui Sui’s unexpected results.

Elder Shan Li waited until the hall had quieted before looking across the gathered disciples.

"I assume that after this evaluation, all of you have seen your own shortcomings."

His voice remained calm and even, without the slightest trace of emotion.

"I do not want you to belittle yourselves simply because your results were poor. But neither should you become satisfied with yourselves simply because you believe you are talented or your cultivation level is high."

His gaze swept across the hall.

"Alchemy is not merely about being able to refine pills. It is about refining them to the best of your ability. No matter how talented you are or how high your cultivation becomes, there will always be room for improvement."

He paused briefly before giving his final words.

"That is all."

With that, Elder Shan Li turned and left, leaving the disciples to quietly reflect on their results and consider where they still needed to improve.