Yin Zheng’s expression suddenly turned serious.
Pei Changjing’s perpetually drowsy eyes were now fully open, and even the tear mole at the corner of his eye lifted slightly.
Even Ruan Qin gave him a rare second look, as if something was flickering in her eyes.
The audience erupted in an uproar.
“What did he say? Pre-warming Ice Marrow Jade? What kind of method is that?”
“I’ve studied alchemy for so many years, and I’ve never heard of such a technique. Isn’t that nonsense?”
“Wait, look at the judges’ expressions… it doesn’t seem like nonsense?”
“Could there really be such an operation? Then how deep must this person’s Alchemy Path cultivation be?”
Meng Qiuran was completely stunned. He stared blankly at Lai Li’an and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence:
“Se…Senior, what did you say? Pre-warming Ice Marrow Jade? But Ice Marrow Jade melts upon contact with heat. If you warm it, won’t it…”
“That’s precisely why it needs to reach the critical state of ‘about to transform yet not transformed’.”
Lai Li’an unhurriedly added,
“One fraction less, and the medicinal properties won’t activate; one fraction more, and the essence will be completely lost. The measure of it is indeed hard to grasp.”
He was actually just parroting what he’d learned, but saying it with that effortless expression made it seem like he was declaring,
“The Venerable Self can handle this measure with just a flick of the hand.”
Meng Qiuran suddenly felt that the little confidence he had built during his three months of closed-door training was shattered by the Senior’s two light words.
But after it shattered, he saw a whole new world.
‘Wha…what’s going on? Why is everyone looking at me? I was just reading from the alchemy manual. Is that a mistake too?’
Cold sweat started to form on Lai Li’an’s back. He was frantically racking his brain, wondering if he had said something wrong just now.
“Fellow Daoist, you are magnanimous.”
Yin Zheng suddenly spoke, his tone more solemn than ever before.
Lai Li’an was completely confused.
‘What’s going on? What did I do?’
Before he could open his mouth, Yin Zheng continued,
“To be honest with you, I previously only took you for a somewhat capable rogue cultivator. Even when Qiuran praised you to the skies, I just thought it was a young man who hadn’t seen much of the world.”
He paused, cradling the Blazing Sun Snowmelt Pill in his palm again, his gaze shifting back and forth between the pill and Lai Li’an.
“Until just now,” he said slowly.
“Fellow Daoist mentioned ‘pre-warming Ice Marrow Jade to the state of about to transform yet not transformed.’ This method… has never been recorded in the Dan Sect’s classics. But after repeated deduction just now, I discovered that this method is even more exquisite than our current method of alternating civil and martial fire.”
“The current method uses ‘force’ to suppress the conflict between two medicinal properties; but your method uses ‘momentum’ to guide their self-integration. One controls the medicine, the other follows the medicine—the superiority is clear.”
He took a deep breath and looked up, staring straight at Lai Li’an.
“Fellow Daoist is perfecting our pill formula for us. Such breadth of mind, such bearing—I, Yin Zheng, have practiced the Alchemy Path for centuries and have seldom seen the like. To witness this today is the fortune of three lifetimes.”
An old judge with a grizzled beard was even more excited, his beard trembling.
“The method of warming Ice Marrow Jade—I’ve studied it most of my life and never figured it out. Today, hearing your words, everything becomes clear! Everything becomes clear!”
Pei Changjing leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
He didn’t speak, but his slight nod said it all.
The audience went completely wild.
“Even the Main Sect of Alchemy Sect has no record of this pill formula—who is this person?”
“Didn’t you hear? This is perfecting! How many people in the entire Cangwu Realm can perfect a pill formula of the Alchemy Sect?”
“My master told me that at the pinnacle of alchemy, it’s not about technique but understanding of medicinal properties. This Senior’s understanding of Ice Marrow Jade has reached the level of going with the flow—how could an ordinary alchemist achieve that?”
“Did you notice? He didn’t even look directly at the pill the whole time. He picked it up casually and appraised it without needing careful examination. What does that mean? It means he saw through it at a glance!”
“A great master, absolutely a great master!”
Some people had already started inquiring among the crowd:
“Who is this person? Which sect? Is he taking disciples?”
Lai Li’an stood in the center of the arena, the surrounding discussions washing over him like a tide.
His expression remained unchanged, but inside he was a mess:
‘I just casually said one thing. Is it really that big of a deal? Don’t you people have any experience?’
But of course he couldn’t say that out loud.
He just nodded slightly and waved his hand imperceptibly:
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. All pill cultivators under heaven are fellow travelers. We exchange knowledge and progress together. There’s no such thing as secret teachings.”
At these words, the eyes of the surrounding judges gained a bit more respect.
Pei Changjing even uncharacteristically dropped his lazy demeanor and gave him a slight bow with cupped hands.
Meng Qiuran’s eyes burst with astonishing light, looking at Lai Li’an as if he were a walking deity.
After saying this, Lai Li’an’s heart was bleeding:
‘Did I overdo the act a bit? Even I almost believed it myself.’
The group didn’t linger too long.
There were still so many people waiting for the assembly to proceed.
Next up was Shao Jiao.
Yin Zheng walked over and held Shao Jiao’s pill in his palm.
After examining it carefully for a long time, a hint of surprise appeared on his brow.
“Fifth rank. The quality is even slightly better than that Blazing Sun Snowmelt Pill.”
Yin Zheng looked up at the plainly dressed young man in front of him, a note of curiosity in his voice.
“Who is your master?”
Shao Jiao lowered his eyelashes, paused for a moment, and said in a low voice,
“My master… has passed away many years ago. This junior is a disciple of Wuyue Sect. A small sect, Senior most likely has never heard of it.”
At the mention of Wuyue Sect, the surrounding judges showed subtle signs of emotion.
For such a small sect that no one had even heard of to produce such an alchemist, the hardships were imaginable.
“A precious son from a humble gate.”
Pei Changjing said in rare seriousness.
“To be able to refine pills to such a level under these conditions is not easy.”
The judges took turns commenting, giving high praise to Shao Jiao’s fire control techniques and herb handling.
Shao Jiao listened to each one, his expression unreadable.
Finally, his gaze passed over the crowd and settled on Lai Li’an.
He seemed about to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.
He just lowered his head very, very slightly.
Lai Li’an saw this, nodded slightly, and said nothing.
Last was Ruan Se.
When the group reached Ruan Se’s stone platform, the atmosphere on the field suddenly became delicate.
The pill, a uniform pink-jade color, still lay on the tray.
Six pill patterns flowed with warm luster in the sunlight.
By any measure, it was a top-grade product.
But the problem lay in those medicinal herbs.
Yin Zheng looked at the pill and fell silent.
His gaze shifted back and forth between the pill and Ruan Se, his brows tightly furrowed, as if making an extremely difficult decision.
As the chief judge, he had to make a judgment on every pill.
But this pill was sixth rank, with excellent quality—an indisputable fact.
A Foundation Establishment Stage Alchemist being able to refine a sixth-rank pill was an achievement enough to cause a stir throughout the entire Cangwu Realm.
To go against his conscience and say this pill was no good would be disrespectful to the Alchemy Path and a denial of Ruan Se’s strength.
But those medicinal herbs…
In the perception of righteous cultivators, they carried an inescapable ambiguous connotation.
A pill refined from such things, publicly appraised at the Alchemy Grand Assembly—if word got out, wouldn’t it be a laughingstock?
Yin Zheng was caught in a dilemma.
He couldn’t say it was good, nor could he say it was bad.
This esteemed alchemist of the Main Sect of Alchemy Sect felt at a loss for words for the first time in his life.