“What?!” All of the alchemists in the room widened their eyes in shock at the exact same moment, expressions of absolute disbelief on their faces. They all looked as if they had just seen a ghostly apparition.
“Master, what’s wrong with all of you?” Qi Zhan Tai asked in confusion. She had just barely entered into the field of alchemy, and had only just learnt the basic theoretical knowledge, thus she had no idea what everyone was so flabbergasted about.
“Gods, seven different ingredients really can be purified at the same time… am I dreaming?” One of them gasped in shock before Zhang Wei Shan could manage to answer.
“All of these seven ingredients require different temperatures to be purified, and it should have been impossible to purify them all at once. But this brat used a very intriguing technique. It seems like he has split a single furnace into seven parts, and the temperature in each separate part is different, allowing for the simultaneous purification of these seven ingredients to be possible.”
“Amazing!”
They slowly regained their composure, though their faces still could not hide the admiration they were feeling.
“But this does not appear to have much meaning,” one of the alchemists said hesitatingly after a while. After all, he was not capable of accomplishing such a feat, so the tone he used to voice out his evaluation lacked a bit of confidence.
“Indeed!” Even Fu Yuan Sheng nodded, “Being able to purify all seven ingredients at the same time is indeed an amazing ability, but to purify the ingredients one by one would only expend a bit more time.”
He pointed out in his own evaluation.
This was what would be called a flashy but useless move, for if there was even the slightest bit of a mistake in the process of purifying all seven ingredients simultaneously, that would mean that all seven ingredients would have gone to waste.
“No!” Fu Yuan Sheng suddenly shook his head, his eyes wide, “How could this herbal aroma be so strong?”
When he brought this up, the others all looked as if they had come to a sudden realization, and consequently, looked very astonished.
As Black Grade alchemists, the number of times they had purified medicinal ingredients in preparation for the concoction process was uncountable. They were especially familiar with those medicinal ingredients that were frequently used in alchemy. But when they smelled this herbal aroma that was currently spreading out in the room, it was obviously very different from the aroma that was produced when they had purified ingredients in the past.
The stronger the herbal aroma was, the purer the essence of the medicinal ingredients produced from the purification it indicated; also, when the alchemist advanced to the actual concoction process, the success rate of concocting the alchemical pill would be much higher as well.
It was a very simple logic. The fewer impurities there were, the less interference there would be with the actual concoction process.
But the problem was that as far as these Black Grade alchemists were concerned, the purification process was already improved to its limits. There was no room for even the slightest bit of improvement anymore, yet why was it that the medicinal essence that Ling Han had obtained from his purification was so much purer than their own?
“Could it be, that this was why all seven ingredients had to be purified at the same time?”
“That is the only possibility!”
“That’s right, I’ve heard a senior of mine tell me before that in ancient times, the really capable alchemists were able to purify various medicinal ingredients all at the same time, taking advantage of the mutual effects of the different ingredients to make it possible for the medicinal essence derived from the purification process to be even purer.”
“Could that actually be true?”
“Hiss!”
Now, everyone could no longer remain calm. Whether the purification process took a longer or shorter time was not something that anyone would really bother about. After all, it was just a bit more or a bit less time. But if it was possible to actually increase the purity of the medicinal ingredients through the purification process, that would be an astonishing feat, and an immeasurably valuable contribution to the field of alchemy.
All of them could not help feeling remorse secretly. Because they had all thought that there was not much significance to this step, they had missed a lot of Ling Han’s moves and techniques. Thankfully, there were still a lot of ingredients left over, so Ling Han would obviously be repeating the purification process.
All nine of them opened their eyes wide, not daring to miss any single movement of Ling Han anymore.
Qi Zhan Tai was very bored, but there were too many important people here, so she did not even dare to breathe too loudly.
Ling Han was very focused. After purifying all of the ingredients, he began the concoction process of the Second Star Pill.
The technique he had used was called the “Four Forms Seal”. It was very effective in controlling the heat of the flames. In his last life, this control technique was also extremely impressive, and found a very widespread use in the field of alchemy at the time.
Because he himself had been an alchemist in his last life, Ling Han could not bear watching the field of alchemy degrade to such an extent. Thus, he did not mind imparting relevant knowledge of alchemy at appropriate times to improve the overall level of alchemy in this age.
While he continued to concoct the alchemical pill, he also spoke about the key details and features of the Four Forms Seal.
All of the alchemists present, including Fu Yuan Sheng himself, behaved like they were absolute newbies to the art, listening attentively to his lecture with their faces filled with utter reverence. If this scene had been witnessed by others, they would definitely go crazy—it could be argued that all of the most capable alchemists of Rain Country were gathered here, yet they were all very seriously observing a young man concocting an alchemical pill.
There was indeed no age limit to learning… whoever’s capable would be the teacher!
When Ling Han had finished the process of concocting the Second Star Pill, all of the nine alchemists were deeply engrossed in comprehending and figuring out the workings of the Four Forms Seal. They were all sitting cross-legged on the floor. Occasionally, it would appear that they were in pensive thought, and sometimes one of them would strike at the air with a palm. They were all trying to digest as much of Ling Han’s lecture as possible.
“Let’s go and eat some meat!” Ling Han smiled faintly, and picked Hu Niu up. He looked very pleased, because he had managed to concoct seven Second Star Pills this time, and this would allow his divine sense to improve a considerable amount.
Hu Niu was instantly happy. Her favorite activity was eating.
“I’m going too!” Qi Zhan Tai said quickly. She was really too bored.
Chapter 108
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
Ling Han, carrying Hu Niu in his arms, stepped out of the room with Qi Zhan Tai accompanying them.
However, Fu Yuan Sheng was still a powerful warrior of Spiritual Pedestal Tier after all. At the very moment the group of three stepped out the door, he immediately came back to reality, and with a quick leap exited as well and said, “Young Master Han, are you leaving?”
“En, my role’s over, so of course I’m leaving.” Ling Han waved around the pill bottle that contained the seven Second Star Pills, looking very pleased.
“Please allow me to see you off, Young Master Han!” Fu Yuan Sheng said in a very sincere tone. He was already completely convinced by Ling Han’s incredible skill in alchemy.
Ling Han smiled and nodded. If Fu Yuan Sheng wanted to see him off, that was fine with him.
They walked down the stairs, and right when they reached the beginning of the stairs, a servant boy approached and said, “Pavilion Master, the Third Imperial Prince expressed his wish to meet with you.”
“Oh?” Fu Yuan Sheng stared blankly for a moment, then sai
d, “I was just about to go down, so don’t concern yourself with this anymore.”
“Understood!” The servant boy nodded quickly. He had just spotted Ling Han and Qi Zhan Tai, which caused him to be lost for words, because they actually had Fu Yuan Sheng leading them downstairs, which was an extreme shock to him.
That was Fu Yuan Sheng, one of the few most powerful and most respected people of Rain Country!
The three of them soon arrived at the ground floor and saw there was a young man and woman standing there. The two of them were standing upright, showing absolutely no sign of impatience.
The man and the woman both seemed to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. The man was quite tall and had thick, black locks. His eyes were bright and expressive, and held a penetrating gaze as if he could look into the secrets hidden in the deepest parts of the heart of anyone his gaze fell upon.
The woman had a very shapely, tempting figure, [1] able to cause any normal man’s mouth to start watering. Her face was very beautiful and her skin was as fair as white jade. Her hair was actually an unusual crimson shade of fire, which granted her a very unique charm.
The man was naturally the Third Imperial Prince, Qi Feng Yun, but who was this woman?
Ling Han was slightly surprised, because this woman was astonishingly in Gushing Spring Tier.
…In Rain Country, this kind of a small place, a martial artist that had managed to reach Gushing Spring Tier before reaching thirty years old had indeed made an astonishing accomplishment. She definitely could be categorized as a genius.
“Pavilion Master!” The Third Imperial Prince performed the proper formalities of greeting an elder upon seeing Fu Yuan Sheng. It was true that he was an Imperial Prince, but even if he had inherited the throne and was crowned the Emperor someday, he would still have to treat Fu Yuan Sheng with utmost politeness and courtesy.
“Zhan Tai hereby greets Third Elder Imperial Brother!” Qi Zhan Tai bowed slightly to greet the Third Imperial Prince.
“En, wait here for a moment. Just let me see off this very honored guest first,” Fu Yuan Sheng said, nodding at the Third Imperial Prince.
Very honored guest?
The Third Imperial Prince could not help casting his gaze at Ling Han, because there were only three people standing behind Fu Yuan Sheng—Qi Zhan Tai belonged to the Royal House of the Da Yuan King, so naturally it was not possible that she would be worth such prioritized treatment from Fu Yuan Sheng, and Hu Niu was too small.
This young man… who was he that he was addressed by Fu Yuan Sheng as ‘very honored guest’ and make Fu Yuan Sheng actually personally see him off?
That was strange. He had obviously gotten hold of all the relevant, important intel of the Imperial City, so how was it possible that such an awesome character would suddenly appear out of nowhere?
“Please go ahead, Pavilion Master!” He said quickly.
As Fu Yuan Sheng escorted Ling Han out the door, he kept repeatedly inviting him to frequently come over and visit him at the Heaven’s Medicine Pavilion before finally turning back round and leaving. He seemed to be slightly impatient—he was very much in a rush to study the Four Forms Seal closely.
Ling Han walked together with Qi Zhan Tai, while Hu Niu waved her little hands around excitedly, and kept saying, “Meat! Meat! Meat!”
“That Brother ahead!” The Third Imperial Prince had caught up with them.
Ling Han paused and looked over at the Third Imperial Prince, and said, “Yes?”
Wasn’t the Third Imperial Prince looking for Fu Yuan Sheng? Why had he chased after them? The answer was very simple. There has suddenly appeared a person that even Fu Yuan Sheng would respectfully escort in the Imperial City—as the Third Imperial Prince, he would of course want to get to know this kind of person at the first opportunity.
One had to understand that the Rain Emperor had seventeen sons in total. Out of these seventeen sons, there were at least five that were qualified to compete for the throne. The Third Imperial Prince would naturally befriend capable people with utmost patience in order to accumulate a power base for the day when he would be joining in the competition for the throne.
“I am Qi Feng Yun. If I may ask, could you tell me your respected name, Brother?” The Third Imperial Prince behaved in an extraordinarily polite manner.
Ling Han smiled faintly, and said, “My name is Ling, Ling Han.”
“Brother Ling, I still have some matters to deal with so it is really not convenient for me to talk too long. I hope that Brother Ling will accept this item as a gift from me; I believe that, in this Imperial City, a lot of people would give you a bit of face because of this item,” The Third Imperial Prince handed over a violet-shaped badge.
“Thank you,” Ling Han did not make any pretenses of modesty and accepted the badge from the Third Imperial Prince.
“Brother Ling, when I am done dealing with these matters, I will definitely seek you out for a chat,” the Third Imperial Prince said, raising his clasped hands in Ling Han’s direction before once again leaving in a rush with that beauty behind him.
Ling Han smiled as he weighed the badge in his hand, and placed it into his pocket.
“Ling Han, this is a token of the Third Imperial Prince. According to the rumors, the holder of this badge can eat at any restaurant of the Imperial City and not pay a single cent. Everything will be paid for by the Third Imperial Prince,” Qi Zhan Tai said enviously.
Ling Han was stunned for a short moment, before suddenly breaking out into loud laughter.
Qi Zhan Tai was curious, so naturally asked him why he had laughed.
“I think that the Third Imperial Prince will definitely regret this,” Ling Han said.
“Why?”
“Because there’s a real glutton right here!” Ling Han said as he rubbed Hu Niu’s head.
Qi Zhan Tai was still baffled. Hu Niu was just a little girl. Even if she ate from morning to night, how much could she eat?
“There really are good people in this world!” Ling Han said ruefully.
The three of them left to have a meal at a restaurant. When she saw Hu Niu’s terrifying appetite, Qi Zhan Tai finally began to worry about that clansman of hers. There was a real chance that Qi Feng Yun would be driven to poverty at the rate that Hu Niu ate.
***
Hu Yang Academy, Feng Luo’s room.
“Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!” Wei He Le was pacing around in the room like a maniac, his eyes bloodshot, looking very surly. He finally stopped pacing, and said to Feng Luo, “Do you believe it? Do you believe it? Headmaster Wu actually expelled me from the Alchemy Department!”
Feng Luo’s mouth twitched a few times. This was not the first time that Wei He Le had complained and grumbled to him. He counted internally—this should be the thirty-seventh… or was it the thirty-eighth time? Previously, he would still offer a bit of response and comfort Wei He Le a bit, but now he was completely not in the mood for it.
Having lost Wu Song Lin’s regard, a mere Yellow Grade low level alchemist naturally would not be someone looked upon too seriously by him.
“It’s all because of that bastard, that damn brat!” Wei He Le’s eyes looked like they were about to spit fire.
He had been so glorious, able to boast and basking in the spotlight as a genius of alchemy. Even those from the royal or noble families had to treat him politely and with courtesy. But now, it was as if he had dropped down from this extremely high position all the way to the bottom of the pit. His future was bleak and dark.
…A person who had been chased out by Wu Song Lin, what alchemist would still dare to take him in as a disciple?
Moreover, alchemy skill depended very much on imparted knowledge. If it was simply dependent on self-learning, what could he even manage to accomplish?
Which meant that he was completely done for.
Feng Luo saw all this happen, and could not hold back a cold smile from turning up the corners of his lips before saying, “Young M
aster Wei, I have a suggestion that would really cause some serious trouble for that brat.” He had lost a considerable number of teeth, so he was forced to speak with a lisp now. One had to cautiously decipher his words before being able to understand what he was trying to say.
“Oh, what suggestion would that be?” Wei He Le immediately turned to look at him. The current him had lost practically everything, so he had become absolutely crazy. As long as he could get his revenge on Ling Han, he was willing to do whatever insane thing it was.
“Here, it’s this!” Feng Luo took out a badge carved in the shape of a violet.
“What’s this?” Wei He Le said blankly.
“This is a token of the Third Imperial Prince,” Feng Luo said with a very devious smirk, “This is something that the Third Imperial Prince gifted to my brother. Tell me, if I said I lost this badge, yet this badge was discovered in Ling Han’s place, how would the Academy deal with him? And how would the Third Imperial Prince react?”
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 65