“Mm, Yan’er, you’ve finished the first batch too—four pills formed. Not bad.”
At that moment, Master Mo’s voice rang out. He had also looked over after hearing the sound, and upon seeing the four Nourishing Spirit Pills in Mo Ruyan’s jade plate, a hint of a smile appeared as he offered a word of praise.
Hearing this, Mo Ruyan snapped back to reality. She took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the shock in her heart to calm herself. Her gaze fell on Lin Xuan, complex and tangled. After hearing her grandfather’s compliment, she forced a faint smile.
Under normal circumstances, her results were indeed decent—even excellent. But now, compared to Lin Xuan on the other side, they seemed utterly ordinary.
At that moment, Master Ren Yuan also came to his senses. His eyes swept over the two of them as he said, “You’ve both finished the first batch. There are four more left. Do you want to continue refining?”
Lin Xuan shook his head upon hearing this. “No need. This result should be enough for me to pass the assessment, right?”
He truly didn’t want to go on. From the shifts in the two masters’ expressions, Lin Xuan knew he had overdone it this time. It was better to hold back. After all, his strength wasn’t sufficient yet. If someone started probing into his secrets, it could be dangerous. As for gathering energy points, he could wait until he returned to the sect. His identity as a top-tier martial arts prodigy was already dazzling enough. Adding a top-tier alchemy prodigy on top of that would be too much to bear.
He had no powerful background to rely on; everything depended on his own abilities. As for not being able to alert the guild leader to come, so be it. His current alchemy talent was already enough to earn him the cultivation resources for the Condensing Whorl and Spirit Opening realms.
On the other side, Mo Ruyan said softly, “I still want to refine more, but let the competition use the results from this batch.” Her demeanor was dejected, completely stripped of her earlier arrogance and aloofness. After witnessing Lin Xuan’s alchemy prowess, there was nothing left for her to be proud of in comparison. Still, she wanted to see the quality of Lin Xuan’s ten formed pills. Though she knew she had lost for sure, curiosity lingered in her heart, urging her to probe further.
“Alright, that’s fine.” Master Ren Yuan nodded with a light chuckle. “Young friend Lin, Yan’er, bring over the Nourishing Spirit Pills you’ve refined.”
With that, Lin Xuan and Mo Ruyan both walked over, holding their jade plates.
“Let’s look at Yan’er’s first?” Master Mo suggested, intending to avoid discouraging Mo Ruyan too much. Master Ren Yuan nodded, and Lin Xuan naturally had no objection.
Everyone’s eyes converged on the jade plate in Mo Ruyan’s hands. Inside, four round pills rolled about, exuding a fragrant aroma and warmth.
“Three without patterns, one with a single pattern. Not bad,” Master Ren Yuan praised. “According to guild rules, one patterned pill counts as two unpatterned ones, so you’ve effectively succeeded in refining five Nourishing Spirit Pills. Yan’er, congratulations on passing the assessment and becoming a high-grade Spirit-rank alchemist. No need to continue refining.”
Master Mo’s face was full of smiles. His granddaughter had tried so many times and finally succeeded, and he was genuinely happy for her. Mo Ruyan’s eyes lit up with surprise at the news. But soon, she realized she wasn’t as overjoyed as she’d imagined. Her gaze unconsciously drifted toward Lin Xuan. With his results looming over hers, and him being over two years younger, the joy in her heart faded by more than half after the comparison.
“Let’s take a look at young friend Lin’s side now,” Master Ren Yuan said after a moment.
Everyone’s attention shifted to the jade plate in Lin Xuan’s hands. Instantly, a far richer fragrance of the pill wafted over, and the group felt a jolt of refreshment. Their hearts tightened. Setting everything else aside, just this aroma alone made it clear that Lin Xuan’s results far surpassed Mo Ruyan’s—both in the number of pills formed and their quality.
Hearing this, Lin Xuan gave a slight flick of his hand, and the ten Nourishing Spirit Pills, like jade beads, rolled around in the plate for easier inspection. The others all fixed their eyes on the rolling pills.
“Is that a triple pattern?” “One triple pattern, three double patterns, six single patterns?” “All cloud-pattern pills?” “This… how is this possible?!” “...”
Suddenly, the group couldn’t help but gasp in shock. Their eyes widened, filled with disbelief and incredulity. Cloud-pattern pills were already much harder to refine than unpatterned ones, let alone having an entire batch of cloud patterns! Even an Earth-rank alchemist would find it difficult to achieve, wouldn’t they? And it wasn’t just single patterns—there were several double patterns, and even one triple pattern! The difficulty of refining a triple-pattern pill skyrocketed by more than tenfold! Such a scene was too much for them to believe!
For a few moments, they all stood frozen, their minds a blank blur, unable to react.
Hiss… hiss… hiss…
After several breaths, they finally snapped out of it. Involuntary gasps of cold air escaped them. When they looked at Lin Xuan again, their gazes turned into boundless shock. Even Master Ren Yuan and Master Mo were the same. Because the results Lin Xuan had presented were simply too terrifying! Even if the two of them had attempted it, they would have struggled to match it—or even found it basically impossible! Yet Lin Xuan, a sixteen-year-old youth, had achieved it, and in an extremely short time. All of this only highlighted the sheer terror of Lin Xuan’s alchemy talent. It had far exceeded their imagination! How could they not be utterly astounded?
On the other side, Mo Ruyan stood dazed, staring at the ten Nourishing Spirit Pills in Lin Xuan’s jade plate. Her pupils dilated, shocked to the extreme. She had never imagined Lin Xuan’s results could be this high! Not only had he formed ten pills, but they were all cloud-pattern pills, including one triple pattern! This wasn’t just surpassing her—it was leaving her far behind. The gap was like a chasm between heaven and earth, utterly incomparable.
Coming back to her senses, Mo Ruyan’s eyes showed a bitter smile. She had lost this competition completely and utterly! Thinking back to how she had arrogantly proposed the challenge and deliberately provoked him, she now felt like finding a crack in the floor to crawl into. It was too embarrassing. She looked at Lin Xuan again—his strikingly handsome face and extraordinary bearing. His martial arts and alchemy talents were both remarkable. Item by item, he fit her requirements perfectly. At this thought, a flicker of admiration shone in Mo Ruyan’s eyes, and a faint blush crept onto her cheeks.
But unfortunately, Lin Xuan didn’t notice any of this. His focus was on the expressions of Master Ren Yuan and Master Mo. Seeing their reactions, his heart gave a slight lurch. Had he overdone it again? This was only his second time refining pills; he had just done his best. Lin Xuan let out a bitter laugh inwardly. Still, he quickly calmed down. The alchemy process involved too many variables and elements of luck. As long as he performed worse next time, he could chalk this up to a fluke and allay their concerns. Besides, he was only a Spirit-rank alchemist, not yet reaching Earth-rank, so he wouldn’t truly enter the upper echelons or attract too much attention.