Novel Full Chapter 84: A Competition!
Chapter 84: A Competition!
At Lin Shan’s signal, both Li Yun and Su Lan immediately began their preparations for alchemy.
Li Yun first took out his high-grade mortal rank alchemy cauldron. This was the cauldron he had purchased from the Treasure Pavilion after finishing his work refining perfect-grade Marrow Cleansing Potions.
Ever since then, he had practiced alchemy relentlessly using this very cauldron, and it was through months of repeated refinement that he had finally succeeded in producing excellent-grade Body Tempering Pills.
Su Lan, on the other hand, moved directly to the cauldron that Lin Shan himself had taught her to use and began her own preparations with practiced ease.
Rather than starting the refinement right away, Li Yun paused and observed Su Lan carefully.
In truth, he was still a complete novice when it came to formal pill refinement. While he had been taught potion brewing by the Ninth Elder of the Li Family, the art of refining pills was something he had entered blindly, without guidance or instruction.
Only Li Yun himself knew the price he had paid to reach his current level. Before he ever refined his first ordinary-grade Body Tempering Pill, he had gone through countless failed attempts. Each failure meant wasted ingredients, and over time, thousands of materials had been consumed without result.
That struggle did not end there. To advance from ordinary-grade to intermediate-grade Body Tempering Pills, he had repeated the same grueling process.
Through endless trial and error, burning through vast quantities of materials, he had eventually forced his way forward until he could reliably refine intermediate-grade pills.
Every step of his alchemy had been carved out through persistence alone.
Excellent-grade Body Tempering Pills had been refined in the same arduous manner. Through relentless repetition, Li Yun had forced his way forward until he mastered this unorthodox approach to such an extent that he could now refine excellent-grade Body Tempering Pills with a one hundred percent success rate.
Even so, Li Yun knew that he could not take all the credit for this achievement. Half of it belonged to his all-attribute internal energy, while the other half came from his terrifying comprehension, which allowed him to endure thousands of failures and gradually determine the precise ratios of every material required for the pills.
Perfect-grade Body Tempering Pills, however, were an entirely different matter.
After achieving complete success with excellent-grade pills, Li Yun had once believed that refining perfect-grade pills would only be a question of time. Only now did he realize how naive that assumption had been.
No matter how many attempts he made, he could not refine even a single perfect-grade Body Tempering Pill. He tried again and again, repeating his usual method of trial and error, yet he was unable to identify where his process was failing.
Now, with a rare opportunity to observe and examine what true, orthodox alchemy looked like, Li Yun could not suppress his excitement.
Su Lan, unaware of the thoughts racing through Li Yun’s mind, remained fully focused on her own task. After carefully gathering all the required materials, she finally began the refinement of the Body Tempering Pills.
Li Yun quickly noticed a crucial difference between their methods. Unlike him, who always measured and added the materials in precise amounts, Su Lan placed all the medicinal ingredients directly into the cauldron at once. After that, she began controlling the flames beneath the cauldron in a manner that made Li Yun’s eyes light up.
It felt almost magical.
Her hands moved with a natural rhythm, and the flames responded as if alive, rising and falling in perfect coordination beneath the cauldron. The fire danced around her palms, obedient and fluid, and the scene left Li Yun genuinely stunned. He had never witnessed anything like it before.
“Is there a specific method for controlling flames when refining pills?” Li Yun wondered silently.
The Ninth Elder had never taught him any special flame-control techniques while instructing him in potion refinement. At the time, such methods had not been necessary, since potion brewing did not demand such delicate manipulation of fire. Pill refinement, however, clearly operated on a completely different level.
“But I also control flames using my cultivation art,” Li Yun thought, frowning slightly. “So how is what she’s doing different from my method?”
As he stood there, fully absorbed in watching Su Lan’s alchemy, Su Wan walked over to his side and asked calmly, “Are you planning to refine your own pills, or are you just going to keep watching?”
Li Yun smiled faintly and nodded. “I gave her a small head start so she wouldn’t complain if she loses.”
“Is that so?” Su Wan replied with a light smile, though she clearly did not take his words seriously. To her, it seemed more likely that Li Yun was unfamiliar with proper alchemy, which was why he had been observing her younger sister with such intense focus.
“Then go ahead and start refining,” Su Wan said. “Let us see what grade of pills you can produce to compete with my little sister.”
“Just watch,” Li Yun replied with an easy smile. However, just as he was about to begin, he paused, turned to her, and asked casually, “By the way, how many pills are we required to refine at minimum?”
“Refining thirty six pills in a single cauldron is considered one complete set,” Su Wan explained with a gentle smile. “So your task is to refine one full set of Body Tempering Pills.”
“I understand. Thank you, Miss Wan,” Li Yun replied politely before turning his attention back to the cauldron.
He first gathered the exact quantities of materials required to refine precisely thirty six pills, not one more and not one less. After that, he began cutting the ingredients down with meticulous care.
This action stunned both Su Wan and Lin Shan.
“What in the world is this kid doing?” Lin Shan muttered in shock. In all his years as an alchemist, he had never seen anyone cut down medicinal ingredients while refining pills. It was his first time witnessing such a method. Even so, he did not interrupt Li Yun, since disturbing an alchemist during refinement was a grave taboo, something Lin Shan understood better than anyone.
“I knew it,” Su Wan said with a playful smile, her tone full of mischief. “This guy clearly has no idea how pill refinement works.”
Li Yun paid them no mind and continued cutting the ingredients one by one. He did so to maintain the precise ratios required to refine all thirty six pills successfully.
Once he finished, he placed the prepared ingredients into the cauldron.
After that, Li Yun began controlling the flames beneath the cauldron using his high grade mortal rank cultivation art, the Crimson Flame Scripture, which he had already mastered to the ninth layer.
The way he controlled the flames was completely different from Su Lan’s method. At first glance, it seemed similar, yet in essence, the two approaches were fundamentally different. Li Yun himself could sense that difference clearly.
“Does this kid not have a flame control art?” Lin Shan raised an eyebrow as he watched. To even begin studying alchemy, one had to first learn a proper flame control technique. It was the most basic requirement for refining pills.
Yet Li Yun possessed none of that and was instead relying on the crude method of using a cultivation art to manipulate the flames.
“Can he really refine excellent grade Body Tempering Pills using such a method?” Lin Shan began to doubt him seriously. Based on what he had seen so far, it already felt like a miracle if Li Yun could refine even an ordinary grade pill.
Time slipped by, and before anyone realized it, a full hour had passed.
“I’m finished,” Su Lan announced, handing a bottle of pills to her master, Lin Shan.
After that, she turned her head and noticed Li Yun watching her. She frowned slightly and asked, “What are you staring at me for?”
“I was just thinking that you took quite a while to refine a single set of Body Tempering Pills,” Li Yun replied with a light smile.
“Took a while?” Su Lan laughed. “If I was slow, then why haven’t you finished yet?”
Li Yun’s lips curved into a faint smirk. “I gave you a head start.”
“What?” Su Lan immediately turned to Su Wan, who gave a small nod in confirmation.
“So what?” Su Lan snorted, refusing to back down. “You still haven’t refined your pills, and who knows if yours will even be better than mine.”
“We’ll see,” Li Yun replied calmly, still smiling.
Almost as soon as those words left his mouth, his cauldron began to tremble. Li Yun instantly understood that the refinement had reached completion. He took out an empty bottle and waited for several breaths before lifting the lid of the cauldron.
In the next instant, a stream of pills shot out from within. Li Yun caught them with ease and smoothly stored them inside the bottle.
“Elder Lin, I am finished,” Li Yun said as he stepped forward and handed his bottle to Lin Shan.
Lin Shan nodded and accepted the bottle from Li Yun. “Since Su Lan finished first, I will examine her pills before moving on.”
He removed the stopper from her bottle and carefully inspected the contents. After a brief moment, he spoke in an even tone, “Thirty ordinary-grade Body Tempering Pills and six intermediate-grade ones. Very good.”
Su Lan’s face immediately lit up with delight at her master’s evaluation.
Lin Shan then turned his attention to Li Yun’s bottle. He uncorked it and began to examine the pills inside. Almost instantly, his expression shifted. Then it changed again, and again, until his eyes widened in disbelief and the hand holding the bottle started to tremble slightly.
“What’s wrong, Master?” Su Lan laughed when she noticed the dramatic change in his expression. “Did he fail to refine even a single ordinary Body Tempering Pill?”
Lin Shan slowly raised his head and announced in a heavy voice, “Li Yun refined thirty-six excellent-grade Body Tempering Pills.”