by Feng Yise
Chapter 65 - Godlike Technique!
"He's a complete amateur in alchemy who doesn't even know how to prepare the herbs. How could he possibly know how to use the Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique?"
Preparing herbs was something deeply ingrained in alchemists. Even Wang Jinfu who was an Alchemy Grandmaster would not skip it. 1
After all, it was impossible to comprehend how an Alchemy Emperor refined pills with his realm. 2
Hence, in Wang Jinfu's heart, Ye Yuan had long been determined to be a layman.
"Whether he knows it or not, just continue watching, and you will see. Honestly speaking, even I am looking forward to it!" Feng Ruoqing said with a smile.
Wang Jinfu and co's conversation reached everyone's ears. The students started gossiping among themselves.
"Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique? What the hell is that?"
"No clue. Never heard of it before."
"I'm also confused now. Is Ye Yuan the real deal or is he misleading us?"
"Should be misleading? After all, he doesn't even know how to prepare the herbs."
"En, en. I think so too."
Other people did not know about the Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique, but Wan Yuan knew. It was exactly because he knew that caused Wan Yuan's disdain grew even greater.
Although the Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique was very powerful, it was extremely difficult to train. He was all too clear on Ye Yuan's capabilities. How could he possibly know this?
Most likely Ye Yuan saw it on some obscure books or records, and then he purposely took it out now to please the crowd by trying to impress them.
Within the refining room, Ye Yuan swiftly completed the refinement of the medicinal essence. Next, was to open the furnace to refine pills.
Similar to that day when he was assistant to Feng Ruoqing, Ye Yuan formed seals with both hands, and the flame obediently split into two parts to scorch the pill cauldron uniformly.
Finishing the preparation work, Ye Yuan waved a hand, and the medicinal essences flew into the pill cauldron.
Meanwhile, Ye Yuan's hands were like flood dragons out in the sea. His left hand formed seals, and his right hand did so too as he controlled the two portions of medicinal essences.
The entire process was not quick, but it was not sloppy at all.
The essence of the Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique was synchronization! Just based on this point, Ye Yuan's refinement since the start had been impeccable.
Outside the refining room in the hall, Ye Yuan's refinement finally dispelled everyone's suspicions towards him.
Ye Yuan really knew alchemy!
It was just that . . . it was not easy to judge how high his standard was.
"I didn't think that this rascal really knows alchemy. It's just, why are his movements so slow? Could it be that he isn't familiar with the seals?" Wang Jinfu was baffled.
"The Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique has seven by seven, 49 Yang Seals, and seven by seven, 49 Yin Seals. Each of them is supremely complex. Back then, I also tried to learn the Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique. But in the end, I failed. Ye Yuan has been on point since the first seal until now. I also can't see any areas where he's unfamiliar with. Logically speaking, it should be utilized proficiently. I also don't understand why he's so slow. Miss Feng, what do you think?"
Sun Jianming seemed to be rather familiar with the Yin-Yang Separation Flow technique. Most likely, he spent a great deal of time researching it in his youth.
Feng Ruoqing had been staring unblinkingly at Ye Yuan's hands since the beginning. She knew the first 21 seals of the Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique by heart. Currently, the seals Ye Yuan executed were like playing it in slow motion for her to see.
"Could it be that he's specifically displaying it for me to see?" Feng Zhirou quickly rejected this thought.
The Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique was incomparably complicated. If he continued like this, the medicinal pills would definitely be ruined. Even if Ye Yuan were really at the level of an Alchemy King, it would be impossible to save it.
Noticing that Sun Jianming questioned her, Feng Ruoqing also shook her head bitterly. "I also don't know."
"En? The first pair of seals is completed. But isn't this speed too slow? At this rate, the medicinal pill can't even condense. The result will surely be a useless pill," Wang Jinfu said.
Ye Yuan started to execute the second pair of seals. The two sets of medicinal essences jumped joyously about in the pill cauldron one after another; akin to fish frol.i.c.k.i.n.g.
"En? Old Wang, do you feel that the speed of Ye Yuan's seals is increasing?" halfway through the second pair of seals, Sun Jianming suddenly asked.
"Is that so? I didn't notice it. It's still so slow! But Old Sun, did you notice that even though Ye Yuan's actions are very slow, the medicinal essences don't have any signs of dissipating?" Wang Jinfu also seemed to have discovered something unusual.
In reality, when alchemists were refining pills, most would finish things quickly in order to maintain the shape of the medicinal essence.
It was just like a single log bridge. If you charge across in one breath, you would be able to properly grasp the direction and balance, so as to not fall down. But if you crossed it slowly, it would be easy to lose your center of gravity and then fell down.
However, Ye Yuan's refining was the opposite. He clearly decreased the speed, but each step was very stable. There were no instances where the center of gravity was off.
Sun Jianming took a look and was involuntarily astounded. "It's true! Could it be that Ye Yuan already trained the Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique to an extraordinarily high realm? Hence, he deliberately slowed down to allow for the various herbs in the medicinal essence to fuse better? But . . . is this possible?"
Right when the two were debating, Ye Yuan's seals had already progressed to the third pair.
"It's not right. It looks like it sped up again!" Sun Jianming exclaimed.
"En. Now that you said it, it really looks like it's a little faster than at the start. He's increasing his speed!" Wang Jinfu also discovered the change in Ye Yuan's hand speed.
"Don't tell me . . . he plans to keep increasing speed like this?"
Sun Jianming and Wang Jinfu exchanged glances and saw the astonishment in each other's eyes.
Next was the fourth pair of seals.
The fifth pair, sixth pair, seventh pair . . .
Ye Yuan's seal forming speed became increasingly faster and even more elusive.
In the beginning, everyone's eyes could follow Ye Yuan's speed. But towards the end, they could only see a blur.
Ye Yuan's refinement gave people the feeling that he was using his fingertips to dance, dreamlike and mystical.
Sun Jianming and Wang Jinfu no longer discussed Ye Yuan's seals. They were completely drunk on Ye Yuan's refinement and were not able to extricate themselves.
At this moment, their hearts seemed to quiver along with Ye Yuan's hands, becoming excited. Their blood even felt like it was boiling towards the end.
In this place, Sun Jianming's and Wang Jinfu's skill was the highest. But even they were completely immersed in it and unable to extricate themselves; let alone the others.
Even Ye Yuan's enemy, Wan Yuan, was currently lost in it.
Sun Jianming and Wang Jinfu were wholly enraptured as if they were brought into another realm. And this realm was a world that they had never heard of before in their entire lives.
"Yin-Yang! Combine!" Just as that feeling reached its peak, Ye Yuan gave a low cry and suddenly placed his palms together, resulting in the two half portion medicinal pills, which had already taken shape, gathered in the center. A beam of white light shot out from the pill cauldron, blinding everyone's eyes.
Sun Jianming and Wang Jinfu were abruptly woken. The two exchanged looks once again and saw an inexplicable feeling from the other party's eyes.
The entire hall was silent. The students had not woken up from
their stupor yet.
Right then, the door of the refining room belonging to Ye Yuan opened, and Ye Yuan walked out slowly.
Bean-sized sweat drops covered his forehead. It was evident that refining a Tier 2 medicinal pill was still too strenuous for him.
"The medicinal pill is already refined. This Little Lord is tired to death. I'm going back to rest first. You have to tell me later whether I pass or not!"
After he said that, Ye Yuan strode out, leaving behind the dumbfounded crowd. It says Alchemy Master. But previously it was Alchemy Grandmaster. So I'll change this to Grandmaster. I don't comprehend this part either...
Chapter 66 - Miracle, Legendary Realm!
"He . . . he left just like that?"
Wang Jinfu forgot to stop Ye Yuan just now. When he recovered, Ye Yuan was already gone.
Sun Jianming took a deep breath and sighed. "If he doesn't leave, then what? His essence energy is already exhausted. If he doesn't recuperate in time, it might leave behind hidden dangers. Even though he managed to refine a Tier 2 medicinal pill using his Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm cultivation, it was still overly forceful. It would be a pity for such a figure to leave behind hidden dangers because of a single refinement."
"Sigh. So what if it was forceful. He already has the strength to refine a Tier 2 medicinal pill. What's lacking is only the acc.u.mulation of essence energy." Wang Jinfu's words still contained deep shock.
Sun Jinfu nodded in agreement.
However, he suddenly became agitated. Trembling, he said, "A miracle! Ye Yuan's refinement just now was simply a miracle!"
"That's right. It was truly a miracle! Could it be that Ye Yuan's Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique had already reached that legendary stage?" Wang Jinfu wondered.
"It's definitely the Legendary Realm! A Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm refining pills managed to affect even the mental states of us both. It's impossible to not be the legendary stage!" Sun Jianming said in agreement.
The various refinement techniques in alchemy had fundamental similarities with martial techniques. It was just that alchemy techniques did not possess attack power.
However, refinement techniques were differentiated into five realms based on the level of mastery. They were namely: entry stage, small success stage, large success stage, great circle stage, and legendary stage!
The distinction between realms was pretty much the same as martial techniques. The only difference was in the fifth stage's name.
One was the breaking illusion stage, while the other was the legendary stage.
The difference also showed the fundamentally distinct goals between martial techniques and alchemy techniques.
Martial techniques pursued extreme destructive powers. What was necessary was breaking shackles and surpassing limits. Hence the name, breaking illusion.
On the other hand, alchemy techniques pursued a type of boundless creation power. Endless possibilities lay hidden inside a tiny, tiny medicinal pill, and what alchemy methods chased after was the creation of even more possibilities. Hence the name, legendary.
The moment one's alchemy technique stepped into the legendary stage, the refined medicinal pills would produce limitless possibilities and often would also increase the medicinal efficacy multiple times.
An alchemy technique at the legendary stage could even bestow additional attributes onto the medicinal pill and yield unexpected results.
Wang Jinfu seemed to recall something and suddenly bellowed, "What are you still standing there for? Quickly go and 'invite' out the medicinal pill Ye Yuan refined!"
When Wang Jinfu spoke, he subconsciously used the word 'invite.'
The Alchemy Master at the side only came to a realization now and rushed over to retrieve the medicinal pill.
Meanwhile, Wan Yuan's face took on a grim expression. In his heart, he felt inexplicable shock and a strong sense of shame.
He knew that the relationship he just struck up with Wang Jinfu was gone now. It was already impossible for Wang Jinfu to acknowledge him as a disciple.
Things would be fine if Ye Yuan did not know alchemy. Taking advantage of Wang Jinfu's rotten mood from being messed with, he could 'throw dirty water' with all his might by the side.
But now, Ye Yuan and his conflict already came out into the open. Wang Jinfu would most likely not have any good impression towards Wan Yuan as long as he slightly recalled Ye Yuan's words.
What made Wan Yuan feel even more ashamed was that he was actually lost in that mysterious feeling brought by Ye Yuan and could not extricate himself. This showed that his Alchemy Dao was much more inferior to Ye Yuan's.
How did this happen?
A month ago, Ye Yuan was clearly still a good-for-nothing. Now, not only did he achieve dazzling results in the Martial Path, his Alchemy Dao standard broke the general knowledge, and he completed an impossible task.
In this short while, Ye Yuan's medicinal pill had already been carefully brought out on a jade tray by an Alchemy Master. A fire-red pill appeared in front of everyone.
"This is . . . a low Tier 2 Strengthening Pill?" Sniffing the overwhelming medicinal aroma, Wang Jinfu quickly identified the medicinal pill.
"That's right. It's really the Strengthening Pill! A transcendent-grade Strengthening Pill!" Sun Jianming said with a grave expression.
The Strengthening Pill was a very low-level medicinal pill which was frequently used by bottom-tier martial artists.
The use of the Strengthening Pill was to increase the power in a particular area of the body. It was a medicinal pill that allowed a partial part of a martial artist's body to exceed their existing strength.
Tier 1 Strengthening Pills were highly popular among demonic beast hunters as it could often help them defeat demonic beasts that were slightly stronger than them.
It was very low-level but very practical.
On the other hand, Tier 2 Strengthening Pills were not as popular as Tier 1's. This was because Spirit Condensation Realm martial artists were much wealthier than Essence Qi Realm martial artists. They were also much stronger so they could afford higher level medicinal pills.
The difference between each minor cultivation realm after the Spirit Condensation Realm was huge. Even if one used a Tier 2 Strengthening Pill to partially increase their strength, the effects were severely limited. That was because the level of the medicinal pill was too low; barely reaching the level of low Tier 2.
Hence, the position of Tier 2 Strengthening Pills became very awkward.
But no matter what, a Tier 2 Strengthening Pill was a Tier 2 Strengthening Pill; it was a genuine Tier 2 medicinal pill. Nobody was able to refute it.
Of course, nobody would go and dispute it right now. Everyone was sizing up this medicinal pill curiously.
Wang Jinfu and Sun Jianming exchanged glances. Wang Jinfu opened his mouth and said, "Old Sun, what are you thinking now?"
"The same as you," Sun Jianming replied.
"Then . . . try it?" Wang Jinfu asked uncertainly.
But Sun Jianming shook his head instead. "This medicinal pill was refined by Ye Yuan. According to the association's rules, this medicinal pill belongs to him. We don't have the right to test it."
Currently, Wang Jinfu and Sun Jianming felt like their hearts were being scratched by cats. They were highly curious about the medicinal effects of this transcendent-grade Tier 2 Strengthening Pill.
However, the participants who came to take part in the Alchemist Association's test had already paid the test fees. Hence, the medicinal pills refined naturally belonged to them.
Dan Wu Academy had already paid the test fees for their students. Both Wang and Sun obviously could not casually test the medicinal pill.
Wang Jinfu suddenly recalled something. Slapping his t.h.i.g.hs, he exclaimed, "Miss Feng . . ."
Halfway through his sentence, he stopped abruptly. That was because when he turned his head, he found out that Feng Ruoqing currently had her eyes shut, and she had entered a strange state.
>
"Sudden enlightenment!" Wang Jinfu s.u.c.k.e.d in a cold breath.
No wonder he did not hear Feng Ruoqing speak until now. She had actually entered a sudden enlightenment state!
"Her soul strength is growing. She's about to break through!" Sun Jianming clearly also noticed her peculiar state.
'Everyone be quiet! Don't interrupt Miss Feng's breakthrough!" Wang Jinfu said in a low voice.
The test hall instantly quietened down. Everyone was focused on Feng Ruoqing's breakthrough.
Feng Ruoqing had long held a studious mindset when watching Ye Yuan's Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique. After Ye Yuan's refinement became dreamlike and mystical, she felt like she comprehended something. Following which she entered a state of sudden enlightenment.
Nobody here had more profound attainments than her in term of the Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique. Also, nobody understood the Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique better than her.
Towards the end, Feng Ruoqing's divine soul and Ye Yuan's Yin-Yang Separation Flow Technique developed a resonance, and under this resonance, her divine soul gradually grew stronger.
Feng Ruoqing's soul strength was only a hair's breadth away from being a high-rank Alchemy Master. Relying on this resonance, she successfully crossed the threshold and finally became a high-rank Alchemy Master.
Chapter 67 - Testing Medicinal Efficacy!
All of a sudden, the surrounding essence energy gathered around Feng Ruoqing, forming a small essence energy storm around her.
Feng Ruoqing greedily absorbed the concentrated essence energy and broke through the shackles in one motion.
Originally, she was at the Sixth Level Spirit Condensation Realm. Taking advantage of the sudden enlightenment to break through, not only did her soul strength broke through to the high-rank Alchemy Master realm, but her cultivation also broke through the Sixth Level Spirit Condensation Realm, directly rising to the Seventh Level Spirit Condensation Realm.
Only after the essence energy in the hall recovered its tranquility did Feng Ruoqing slowly opened her eyes.