by Feng Yise
Xiao Ruyan used the back of her hands to wipe away the sweat on her forehead as she looked restless with anxiety.
"Second Miss, better not force it. This Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill has already been confirmed as a medicinal pill that cannot be refined. Even Family Head can't refine it. Second Miss . . ." Manager Tong consoled her by the side.
Xiao Ruyan's eyes welled up with tears, but it stubbornly refused to flow out.
"Since this Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill was handed down, it's impossible that it can't be refined! There must be something wrong! I'll try again! I can definitely refine it!" Xiao Ruyan said obstinately.
Manager Tong heaved a sigh and said, "I know that Second Miss wish to let First Young Master's body recover before the Grand Pill Assembly begins. But Second Miss, if your own soul force is overdrawn in these two days, wouldn't that affect the overall situation even more?"
"Humph! Didn't that Ji Qing say that he can take on three by himself? Let him go alone then!" Xiao Ruyan was not swayed but pointed the spearhead at Ye Yuan instead.
Evidently, Ye Yuan's jesting action made her very displeased.
"Miss Ruyan, can I presume that you're praising me?" Ye Yuan's voice suddenly sounded out.
Xiao Ruyan saw Ye Yuan, and she became even more incensed and said huffily, "Your skin is really thick! A punk that doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth. Do you know how strong Tong Yongchang's strength is? Don't think that there's anything impressive about you refining a Jade Dragon Heart Calming Pill. When you're in front of Tong Yongchang, you're nothing!"
Ye Yuan shrugged and said, "The Tong Yongchang that Miss Ruyan is talking about is the Quasi-Alchemy King known as the Tong Family's junior generation's number one genius, right? How about this? During the Grand Pill Assembly, I'll handle him and leave the rest to you all. How does Miss Ruyan feel?"
"Leave to you? Truly overrating your own abilities! Enough crap! Don't hinder me refining pills!"
Xiao Ruyan already completely lost patience with Ye Yuan's arrogance. She did not have time to bicker here.
A middle-rank Alchemy Grandmaster dealing with a Quasi-Alchemy King?
Was this insulting people's intelligence?
"Oh? So, Miss Ruyan is currently refining pills huh. Then I'll have to learn well by the side!" Ye Yuan suddenly became interested.
He also really wanted to know what kind of standard this Xiao Ruyan was at.
20 years of age was merely around the same as Nanfeng Ruoqing, but her strength was a full major realm higher than Nanfeng Ruoqing.
While there was the support of the Xiao Family in-between this, Xiao Ruyan's monstrousness need not be mentioned.
The Huang and Xue Family taking fancy on Xiao Ruyan were most likely not just because she was one of the two beauties in the capital, but probably because of her unlimited potential in the Alchemy Path.
To marry a future Quasi-Alchemy King, maybe even Alchemy King back home, this deal was worthwhile no matter how one looked at it.
But Xiao Ruyan did not buy it. "Stay far away from me!"
Ye Yuan curled his mouth and said, "Do you think that I want to curry favor with you? Isn't it still because that old man of yours asked me to interact more with you, saying that it can improve everybody's alchemy standards. Honestly, I'm unwilling to do so. My level is so high; what if you secretly learn from me?"
Xiao Ruyan nearly spewed out a mouthful of blood.
Your level was high? How high?
Refined a Tier 3 high-grade medicinal pill and you really think that you're invincible?
Do you have shame or not?!
Xiao Ruyan confirmed with Manager Tong's opinion. Seeing Manager Tong nod his head slightly, she knew that the first half of what Ye Yuan said was true.
Since it was Lord Father who made him come, then it was not good to chase him out.
"Stay at one side and watch properly! Don't interfere with my refining! If you ruin my furnace of medicinal pills, see how I take care of you!" Xiao Ruyan warned.
As for the latter half of Ye Yuan's words, she chose to directly ignore it.
Her old man was an Alchemy King. Did she need to secretly learn from Ye Yuan?
After saying this, Xiao Ruyan began refining the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill once more.
This Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill's refinement was extremely challenging. Not only did it have a humongous expenditure on soul force, but it was also an immense burden on the alchemist's essence energy.
Xiao Ruyan already refined two furnaces of useless pills prior to this. Hence, not long after this refinement started, she appeared to be struggling very hard.
But it was as if Xiao Ruyan was at loggerheads with herself; gritting her teeth hard and persevering.
Ye Yuan watched Xiao Ruyan calmly. With his vision, he could naturally see through Xiao Ruyan's depth.
Although it was just this short while, Ye Yuan was also able to see that Xiao Ruyan's foundation was rather solid.
Even under a situation where the expenditure was so huge, not the slightest bit of error appeared in her refining.
Just from this aspect, Xiao Ruyan was a qualified alchemist.
Though they were both high-rank Alchemy Grandmaster Realm, Xiao Ruyan was way stronger compared to Qiu Zhi and the like.
But very soon Ye Yuan discovered some problems appeared in Xiao Ruyan's refinement.
The control of fire was of utmost importance to the refinement of the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill. One needed to continuously control the changes in temperature of the medicinal cauldron to adapt to the medicinal pill's transformation.
But Xiao Ruyan's refinement did not have such changes. The medicinal cauldron's temperature was consistent from beginning to end.
Even if her refining technique was not wrong, due to the control of the medicinal pill's temperature being lacking, she simply could not refine the pill either.
"Miss Ruyan, do you think that if this medicinal pill was refined this way, it would be a little better?" Ye Yuan suddenly interjected.
At the same time as he spoke, Ye Yuan already fired out a seal, submerging into the medicinal cauldron.
Xiao Ruyan was currently fully engrossed in the refining. Having the procedure being disordered by this seal that arrived unexpectedly, she instantly had an impulse to kill Ye Yuan.
But the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill was already being refined. Giving up at this time would cause everything to fall short of final completion. She could only forcefully suppress the fury in her heart and glare viciously at Ye Yuan.
Ye Yuan stuck out his tongue to show his innocence and retreated to one side embarrassedly.
But right at this moment, Xiao Ruyan's expression changed! Because she discovered that being disrupted by Ye Yuan, not only was the medicinal pill was damaged, it became even more solidified instead!
Xiao Ruyan clearly remembered that during the refinement previously, it seemed like she would lose total control over the medicinal pill at this time. Why did it have signs of the pill forming instead this time?
Xiao Ruyan unwittingly recalled that scene earlier. When that seal of Ye Yuan's hit over, it did not seem to have any change towards the medicinal pill, but rather . . . it seemed to have offset a portion of her essence energy!
It was precisely because this portion of essence energy was canceled off that it seemed to have made some changes happen to the cauldron's temperature.
Could it be that . . . when refining the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill, one needed to grasp the cauldron temperature at all times according to the process of the medicinal pill's refinement?
This discovery made Xiao Ruyan pleasantly surprised!
She started to experiment with increasing or decreasing a portion of essence energy to control the temperature of the medicinal cauldron.
Grasping the temperature of the cauldron was an alchemist's basic skill. But those able to truly grasp the cauldron temperature well were very
rare.
Just a short while passed, and Xiao Ruyan was already drenched in sweat.
Chapter 373 - You All Are Bullying Me!
Controlling fire was like cooking. Cooking a dish was easy, but cooking a delicious dish was very hard, especially those complex dishes.
The control towards fire needed to be precise to the extreme.
The Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill inside the medicinal cauldron was like a dish with exceedingly complex procedures. Wanting to cook it required an enormous expenditure of mental strength to control the fire.
Xiao Ruyan's expenditure previously was already huge. Now, it was naturally even more taxing.
But Xiao Ruyan's willpower made Ye Yuan view her in a completely different light from before. Under the situation where both essence energy and soul force reached the limits, she forcefully persisted.
"Condense pill!" Xiao Ruyan gave a lovely cry. Mild detonating sounds came from within the medicinal cauldron.
"Second Miss!"
"Miss Ruyan!"
When the medicinal pill formed, Xiao Ruyan finally could not sustain anymore and collapsed weakly. Ye Yuan's figure swayed, and he caught Xiao Ruyan.
"Second Miss, are you alright?" Manager Tong asked.
Being hugged by Ye Yuan, Xiao Ruyan seemed to be oblivious to it, her gaze glued on the medicinal cauldron.
"Manager . . . Tong . . ." Xiao Ruyan was already faint and weak, barely able to speak.
But Manager Tong understood and hurriedly went to retrieve the medicinal pill.
It greatly startled Manager Tong. A formed medicinal pill laid inside the medicinal cauldron quietly. Xiao Ruyan actually really refined successfully?
"Second Miss! You really refined it! It's really the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill!" Manager Tong carried the medicinal pill with both hands as he said agitatedly.
Although Xiao Ruyan was feeble, a satisfied smile finally showed on her face. Then, her eyes closed, and she fainted away.
. . . . . .
No idea how long had passed, Xiao Ruyan woke up abruptly and sat up at once.
"You . . . Why are you here?!" Xiao Ruyan exclaimed in shock.
She sat up to have a look. Ye Yuan was currently playing with the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill that she refined with a disdainful look.
Not knowing why, the rage inside Xiao Ruyan's heart surged up all at once.
Ye Yuan turned his head over and looked at Xiao Ruyan with a smile as he said, "Hey, if it wasn't for me helping you, you can forget about participating in that whatever Grand Pill Assembly the day after tomorrow. You're not thanking me and still yell at me?"
Xiao Ruyan had a doubtful look. She did not know what Ye Yuan was talking about.
But she discovered very quickly that not only was her essence energy already fully recovered, but even her soul force had also already reached the peak state.
This . . . How was this possible?
What on earth did he, Ji Qing, do? She clearly already overdrew her soul force when refining. It simply could not be recovered from without several days of recuperation. Why was she completely fine right now?
"Did . . . Did you help me? What did you do? Why are my soul force and essence energy both fully recovered?" Xiao Ruyan asked with a frown.
"Nothing much either. I just happened to know a kind of divine soul mystic art that allows me to use my divine soul to nourish other people's divine soul, achieving the effect of perfect harmony. I've never tried it before. Trying it out today, the effects are indeed pretty good!" Ye Yuan said with a rather satisfied smile.
It was just that when Xiao Ruyan heard that, her pretty face immediately flushed scarlet red. A thick killing intent enveloped Ye Yuan.
How was this divine soul mystic art that Ye Yuan said? It was simply defiling her!
Dao companions would dual-cultivate through such means, so as to nourish each other's divine soul.
When Xiao Ruyan heard that Ye Yuan used this sort of method to help her recover her divine soul, the killing intent in her heart could not be any greater.
Bang!
Ye Yuan flew aside, while the table he was originally sitting at already turned into fine powder.
"You lecher! Go to hell!" Xiao Ruyan's voice was somewhat quivering.
"Hey, hey, just making a joke! There isn't any need to be like this, alright?" Ye Yuan cried out weirdly as he ran for his life.
"Making a joke? Is this also called a joke? Don't run! I'm going to kill you!" Xiao Ruyan was already thoroughly rampaging.
"Hey, I'm really joking! If you continue to be like this, I won't be courteous anymore!" Ye Yuan dodged a palm and yelled out weirdly once again.
"Alright then! I want to see just how discourteous you will be!"
With Xiao Ruyan's Late-Stage Crystal Formation Realm strength, how could she be afraid of Ye Yuan, a Second Level Crystal Formation Realm's threat?
But the next moment, she crumbled.
Her palm whistled forth, heading straight for Ye Yuan's face. But right at this moment, a medicinal pill suddenly appeared in front of her. It was precisely the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill that she painstakingly refined!
This Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill was used to help Xiao Rufeng recover his strength. She would rather overdraw her soul force and being unable to take part and also had to refine it. How could she bear to destroy it?
No choice, Xiao Ruyan could only avoid the medicinal pill, and attack Ye Yuan from another place.
But no matter how she attacked, that medicinal pill could accurately block her, making her simply unable to attack!
Xiao Ruyan was quivering with rage. Finally, she could not help bursting into sobs.
"Ah . . . I say, don't cry! If you let other people see this, they might think that I really did something to you." Once Ye Yuan saw Xiao Ruyan cry, he immediately knew that he went overboard.
What men could not stand the most were women's tears. Ye Yuan was no exception either.
He did not have much experience coaxing girls and was actually at a complete loss on what to do for a moment.
It was fine if he did not talk. When he spoke, Xiao Ruyan cried even more miserably.
"Sob, sob, all bullying me! Xiao Family elders bully me. Huang Family and Tong Family, those two bastards, also bully me. Now, even you this stinking brat also bully me! Sob, sob . . ."
Ye Yuan had an embarrassed face. He was really only joking around. To think that Xiao Ruyan looked so strong but was actually a woman in the end!
"Cough, cough! I . . . I really didn't do anything to you. Actually I only let you eat two medicinal pills. If you don't believe it, you can try refining the medicinal strength. It shouldn't have dissipated yet at present," Ye Yuan said somewhat bewilderedly.
Xiao Ruyan's sobbing sound finally quietened a little. She looked at Ye Yuan doubtfully and said, "Is what you said true?"
"Aiya, wouldn't you know once you test the medicinal strength? One pill is an essence energy recovery medicinal pill. The other pill is a soul force recovery medicinal pill," Ye Yuan explained.
Xiao Ruyan revolved her essence energy and soul force half-believingly. Indeed, she sensed that there were two strands of medicinal strength circulating within her body.
The medicinal strength was very gentle, making her feel very comfortable.
Xiao Ruyan could not help being very astonished. What medicinal pill could actually have such a miraculous effect?
She suddenly recalled that move from Ye Yuan when she was refining. Xiao Ruyan even thought that Ye Yuan was intentionally interrupting back then. Could it be that there was a purpose to doing so?
He knew that the way I was controlling the fire had a problem, so he was giving me pointers?
This . . . How was this possible?
The Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill's formula did not mention how to control the fire inside. Therefore, even Lord Father could not refine this Tier 3 medicinal pill.
And this pill for
mula was passed down by Xiao Family's ancestors. Other factions were completely unaware of the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill's formula. How did Ji Qing know?
Looking at Ye Yuan once again, Xiao Ruyan suddenly felt like she could not quite see through this youngster.
"That seal, was it intentional?" Xiao Ruyan asked probingly.
Ye Yuan had a blank face as he said, "What seal? What are you talking about?"
"When I was refining the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill. Didn't you struck out a seal?"
"You're talking about that? Actually, I was thinking of pulling a prank. To think that it actually failed. How boring!" Ye Yuan said, seemingly as if he was annoyed.
Chapter 374 - Being Ignored
Xiao Ruyan stared at Ye Yuan with her beautiful eyes, wanting to see if Ye Yuan was lying.
But how could she discern Ye Yuan intentionally masking it?
"You really didn't do it on purpose?" Xiao Ruyan heaved a sigh in relief but also felt somewhat disappointed.
"Really unintentional. It's just that your luck was good!" Ye Yuan said sulkily.
"You!" Xiao Ruyan nearly broke down.
"Alright, alright, I'll give you the medicinal pill. Since you're already fine, then I'll leave first. Still want to make us interact more? Isn't it just at this level? Refining a medicinal pill but nearly crippled yourself at the end."
As Ye Yuan was talking, he exited the Four Seas Building and did not see the murderous gaze from behind.
Ye Yuan naturally did it on purpose. This place was not the Endless World. He did not wish to stand out too much.
If Ye Yuan was willing, he could refine a High-Grade Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill. But Xiao Rufeng had nothing to do with him. Helping Xiao Ruyan up to this step was already doing what was humanly possible to help.
Although he knew that Xiao Ruyan would surely cast her mind back to this, that was not important. He would just let her go and guess then.
. . . . . .
Two days later, the day of the Grand Pill Assembly finally arrived.
What Ye Yuan never thought of was that the Grand Pill Assembly was actually held in the Fierce Gale World's Alchemist Association Headquarters!