Staring at the table full of jade bottles and inhaling the rich fragrance of the pills spreading through the air, everyone present was utterly stunned. Their expressions froze as they gazed at the scene before them, their minds struggling to process it.
"Here are the results from sixty sets of materials: a total of fifty-seven three-stripe pills, one hundred forty-two two-stripe pills, and two hundred twenty-one one-stripe pills. Master Sun, please inspect them."
Lin Xuan spoke calmly, his voice cutting through the silence and snapping the crowd back to reality.
Hiss...
Instantly, everyone present couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath of cold air. The room erupted into a clamor.
"Holy crap, it really is a seventy percent success rate!"
"And they're all cloud-stripe pills, not a single plain one!"
"How the hell is this even possible?!"
"I've been refining pills for decades and have never seen anything like this!"
"Even an Earth-tier alchemy master might not be able to pull this off, right?"
"..."
The crowd buzzed with exclamations, their gazes darting between Lin Xuan and the table full of jade bottles, filled with disbelief and incredulity.
Everyone knew that cloud-stripe pills were far harder to refine than plain ones. And now, this entire table was covered in cloud-stripe pills, not a single plain one in sight. The difficulty had skyrocketed by dozens of times. In theory, even a low-level Earth-tier alchemist might not achieve this. Yet here it was, right before their eyes—how could the alchemists not be utterly shaken?
Especially since it was crafted by a youth clearly under twenty, which left them even more astounded. They felt as though years of knowledge and worldview were crumbling in that moment. Their minds grew heavy, barely able to think, because the sight before them was too staggering to comprehend.
Beside them, Sun He stood frozen for a long time, only snapping back to reality when the room grew noisy. He stared at Lin Xuan, equally horrified, unable to respond for a moment. His heart churned with emotion.
"As expected of an elder of the Alchemist Guild," Sun He sighed inwardly.
When he was notified by Master Ren Yuan that a registered elder from the guild wanted to see him, he had arrived with some skepticism. Though he knew Ren Yuan, a guild elder and Earth-tier alchemist, wouldn't deceive a small pill shop owner like him, Lin Xuan's youthful appearance made it hard to believe. He had felt the same way.
But now, all doubt had vanished. He was one hundred percent certain that Lin Xuan was that registered elder. Because none of the alchemists he had hired could achieve such results—far from it. So, the only one capable of this feat was Lin Xuan, the guild's registered elder. And such an outcome was something even Earth-tier alchemy masters struggled to reach. That a young man like Lin Xuan had done it left Sun He in awe, stunned by Lin Xuan's terrifying alchemy talent.
Then, Sun He forced a smile and said, "No need to count. I trust Elder Lin on this."
With that, his expression turned stern as he looked at the alchemists around him, especially the older ones who had earlier criticized and shouted at Lin Xuan. He barked coldly, "Apologize to Elder Lin at once! If you can't earn his forgiveness today, there's no place for you in Yuandan Pavilion anymore!"
His tone was icy, and his stance was unyielding. With Lin Xuan's alchemy talent so extraordinary, already a guild elder, not to mention his boundless potential, Sun He couldn't afford to offend him. He had to ensure Lin Xuan was satisfied.
Hearing this, those alchemists bowed and apologized earnestly, filled with reverence. Though their hearts were still reeling with disbelief, the facts before them left no room for doubt. Facing someone who was likely an alchemy master, even if he was so young that he might be younger than their own grandchildren, this world valued strength over age. They had to show respect and bow their heads; an apology was the least of it.
Lin Xuan waved a hand, too lazy to dwell on it. After exchanging a few words with Sun He, he left and returned to his guest room.
Closing the door, he leaned back in a chair. With a thought, a jade bottle appeared in his hand, containing a pill as smooth as jade. Three cloud stripes swirled on its surface—a three-stripe pill. Even the alchemy talent of the Fengyun City Alchemist Guild's president was only at the Spirit rank. His own talent was a grade higher, at the Mystic rank. How could there be any failure rate in refining fifth-tier pills?
In truth, all sixty sets of materials had a one hundred percent success rate. But Lin Xuan didn't want to appear too extraordinary, so he claimed a seventy percent success rate. He even deliberately lowered the pill quality, resulting in mostly one-stripe pills. Otherwise, with his alchemy skill, there wouldn't be any one-stripe pills—at least two-stripe ones. Besides the over four hundred pills he handed over, he had kept over a hundred, nearly two hundred, for himself, all three-stripe pills. This was one of them.
"Three-stripe Spirit Gathering Pill, it's you again," Lin Xuan murmured, gazing at the pill in the bottle with a smile.
A few days ago, he had watched Zhang Chen refine a Spirit Gathering Pill and copied his alchemy talent, stepping into the path of alchemy. Now, just days later, he was casually churning out large quantities of Spirit Gathering Pills. While Zhang Chen, with all his effort and luck, could barely produce a one-stripe Spirit Gathering Pill, Lin Xuan had effortlessly created hundreds of three-stripe ones. The gap was unimaginable, a testament to the terror of high-grade talent.
Lin Xuan sighed softly. Then, he moved to the bed, sat cross-legged, and poured the Spirit Nourishing Pill from the jade bottle into his mouth, closing his eyes to begin cultivation.
Indeed, the reason he chose to mass-produce fifth-tier upper-grade pills wasn't just because they were profitable or because Yuandan Pavilion's scale was too small. Another reason was to conveniently refine some pills for his own use. He was still at the Condensation Whirl realm, and fifth-tier pills were perfect for boosting his cultivation. In truth, pills were more effective than spirit stones for aiding cultivation. But he had rarely used them before because pills carried pill toxins. Overconsumption could lead to toxin buildup, potentially stalling cultivation permanently.
The grading system, from plain to three-stripe, reflected decreasing toxicity as quality improved. At three stripes, the pill became truly flawless, with no toxins at all. That's why three-stripe pills were so hard to refine and so valuable. Now that he could easily refine flawless three-stripe pills, he naturally chose to switch to using them.