by Feng Yise
"This boy . . ." Xiao Changfeng secretly broke into a sweat in fear.
"If you use a man, don't suspect him. If you suspect him, don't use him! If Family Head feels that I'm messing around, I can withdraw right away!" Ye Yuan said nonchalantly, but his tone became icy.
He was helping the Xiao Family fight for benefits, but Xiao Changfeng actually helped outsiders to reproach him.
Even if he knew Xiao Changfeng's concerns, Ye Yuan also involuntarily felt bitterly disappointed.
Xiao Changfeng, an exalted Alchemy King, was actually pressed down by Ye Yuan's aura for a short while.
"Hahaha! Xiao Changfeng, you're really deteriorating the longer you live! Did you find such a punk to amuse everybody? The answers derived by the seven strongest Alchemy King elders in the association are all not correct answers. Is there anything funnier than this?" Tong Fanshuo was also fanning the flames by the side.
Just as the situation was quite in a stalemate, a rather weak voice sounded out, "Lord Father, I believe that Ji Qing he wouldn't talk nonsense! I . . . I'd like to get an answer!"
It was precisely Xiao Ruyan!
Ye Yuan looked at Xiao Ruyan rather surprisedly. He did not think that this lass would actually come forward to defend him at this time.
Even if Xiao Ruyan was a rarely seen genius, being surrounded by a group of Alchemy Kings, she was still somewhat nervous in her heart.
But having experienced the matters of these few days, especially Ye Yuan's performance when refining the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill, Xiao Ruyan had a feeling that perhaps what Ye Yuan said was really not wrong!
Originally, Ye Yuan was already planning on fl.i.c.k.i.n.g his sleeves and leaving. But he dismissed that sort of thought at this moment.
Xiao Ruyan's words stirred up a huge commotion once more. Two Alchemy Grandmasters were questioning the Alchemist Association's seven great Alchemy King elders; this . . . was way too astounding!
Many people looked towards Xiao Ruyan with strange eyes. Could this lass already be subdued by the brat called Ji Qing?
"Heh heh, this Grand Pill Assembly has been conducted for so many times. As per His Majesty, the Wind Emperor's instructions, it has always been our Alchemist Association hosting it. No problem had ever appeared before. To think that this time, we'd actually bump into two juniors who don't know the immensity of heaven and earth! This match is won by Tong Wenhui! If you're unwilling to submit, you can go and lodge a complaint to His Majesty, the Wind Emperor! Now, carry on with the next match!" Yang Xiu announced the results very domineeringly.
The Alchemist Association hosting the Grand Pill Assembly was the instructions of the Wind Emperor. Yang Xiu had the authority to decide the victor and loser.
Moreover, he touched his heart and felt that what he did was unquestionable. He was not afraid of the Xiao Family going to the Wind Emperor to lodge a complaint.
Furthermore, after today, whether or not the Xiao Family could survive in the capital was still unknown.
Ye Yuan just sneered incessantly. This bunch of arrogant and overweening fellows was seriously hopeless.
But what he did not expect was that right at this moment, the Sovereign Star Abyss who was about to fall asleep spoke unhurriedly, "Yang Xiu, listen to what this junior has to say."
Yang Xiu's expression changed, but he dare not defy, replying respectfully, "Yes."
After that, he turned to Ye Yuan and said, "Since Lord Star Abyss wants you to talk, then you tell us. If you can't say the reason why, it won't be as simple as sentencing the Xiao Family's loss. You'll also be chased out of the Grand Pill Assembly!"
Ye Yuan felt rather surprised but was disinclined to bother with Yang Xiu. He said coolly, "Washstar Grass and Vermillion Spirit Fruit as the main ingredients. Sky Southstar, Violent Flame Sand, and Autumn Pine Nut as supplementary materials. This combination is unable to refine out a medicinal pill. Hence, it simply cannot be considered a correct answer."
Hearing Ye Yuan's words, everyone's gaze involuntarily looked towards the light curtain and found Tong Wenhui and the elders' answers very quickly. Indeed, they were the exact same.
"Ignorant child! The alchemic logic of these five types of medicinal herbs has been analyzed by us. If extensive experiments take place, it can absolutely form a pill formula. What right do you have to say that it can't?" Yang Xiu said with a cold snort.
Ye Yuan paid no heed to his questioning and continued, "From the surface, the alchemic logic of these few types of medicinal herbs doesn't have any conflicting aspects, so it should be able to form a pill formula. But during the medicinal pill refining process, these three types of supplementary materials together will cause a series of changes, destroying the medicinal properties of the Washstar Grass and Vermillion Spirit Fruit. It utterly cannot form a pill."
When Ye Yuan saw that Yang Xiu wanted to refute, he spoke again, "Don't be in a hurry to refute me. If you don't believe it, we can verify it right now."
Yang Xiu was just about to speak when Sovereign Star Abyss suddenly opened his mouth and said, "There's no need to verify. What he said is right."
Chapter 379 - Ye Yuan’s Hint
"What? This . . . How is this possible?"
"Sovereign Star Abyss actually said that this punk is correct! Doesn't that mean that the seven great elders were all wrong?"
"It's too subversive! Does this boy have good luck and randomly stumbled upon it, or is it true skill and genuine knowledge?"
"This . . . I think it should be a random shot in the dark, right? Those . . . Those seven elders are all Alchemy King powerhouses! The depth of their understanding towards medicinal herbs is simply not what the likes of us can imagine! It's possible that this punk saw some obscure knowledge before, and this knowledge just happened to be what the elders don't know."
"True. After all, the elders are not omniscient either. There is bound to be a dead angle in their alchemy knowledge."
. . . . . .
Sovereign Star Abyss's words made everyone explode. What this boy said was actually correct.
And the so-called correct answers that the seven great elders came up with together was actually wrong!
These seven great elders were all old freaks that had been famous for over a hundred years. Each and every one of their strength was unfathomable. Their knowledge about the Alchemy Path was even more inconceivable by ordinary people.
And Ye Yuan?
He was only a 16-year-old little fellow. The time he lived was not even a scrap of the elders'. He actually pointed out the seven great elders' mistakes right to their faces!
No one suspected Sovereign Star Abyss's words. Because in the Central Capital's alchemy world, he was the absolute authority!
He said that it was wrong, that means that the seven great elders were surely wrong. There was no need at all to go and doubt.
Xiao Changfeng looked at Ye Yuan disbelievingly and involuntarily swallowed hard.
He could not help recalling the eyes that Ye Yuan looked at him with earlier. That was a disheartened expression. How could he not tell?
If not for Xiao Ruyan stepping up at the crucial moment, Ye Yuan most likely would have already flicked his sleeves and left at this moment, right?
Thinking about it now, Xiao Changfeng could not help feeling fear after the event.
Ye Yuan was sincerely helping the Xiao Family, while he was suspecting him . . .
Sovereign Star Abyss finished saying that sentence and closed his eyes again as if he slept again.
It seemed like that scene earlier was just him sleepwalking.
Yang Xiu obviously knew that Sovereign Star Abyss was not sleepwalking. It was just that he still did not dare quite believe it.
Initially, he thought that this youth was deliberately causing trouble. Who would have thought that there really was such a thing?
After the Grand Pill Assembly, he would really have to go and verify to see if what this brat said was true or not.
Althou
gh his face was swept away by a youngster in public, the Grand Pill Assembly still had to carry on.
Yang Xiu could only open his mouth to say, "Since Lord Star Abyss says that this answer is wrong, the first match, Xiao Family's Xiao Ruyan wins!"
Tong Wenhui's expression was rather ugly. He had clearly won already. Who would have expected to be thwarted by this brat?
He could not help glaring viciously at Ye Yuan with a sort of murderous impulse.
"The second round, deconstructing medicinal pills! The two of you will each receive three medicinal pills momentarily. These medicinal pills were refined according to the Alchemist Association's pill formulas; they are absolutely impossible for the outside world to have. You need to discern the components of the medicinal pill through sight, smell, and taste. The one who analyzes it correctly wins!" The Quasi-Alchemy King directly brought everyone into the second round of competition.
Tong Wenhui had no choice but to put away his thoughts and carry on with the second round of competition.
Deconstructing medicinal pills was a very high-level skill. It required the alchemist to be exceedingly familiar with medicinal herbs. But the accuracy was hard to guarantee.
Furthermore, even if the components of the medicinal pill was fully deconstructed, wanting to refine it was also something not very likely. Hence, that was why the Alchemist Association could rest assured in taking the medicinal pills out for the two families to deconstruct.
Xiao Ruyan won the first round. Her confidence rose greatly!
This second round of competition, she solved a total of 11 types of spirit medicines from the three kinds of medicinal pills, while Tong Wenhui only deconstructed nine types.
Xiao Ruyan won again!
But, the most critical was still the third round, which was pill refinement!
As an alchemist, the most important was naturally pill refinement. Hence, the weight occupied by pill refinement in the Grand Pill Assembly was also very huge.
In the Grand Pill Assembly, each person had to finish competing in the three rounds before the winner could be determined.
And all of the variables surfaced in this third round of pill refinement!
Even if the first two rounds were losses, as long as one completely thrashed their opponent in the third round of refining, they could similarly be victorious!
The so-called complete thrash was one party completely crushing the other party in terms of medicinal pill quality. Or one side successful refined the medicinal pill while the other party failed.
If the difference in quality between the two people was not great, it was naturally the one who won the two rounds consecutively prior to this that won.
And during this process, the opinions of the judges were actually very important. Therefore, that was why the Wind Emperor appointed the neutral Alchemist Association to host it.
Of course, everyone could see the quality of the medicinal pill. The use of the judges would only surface under the situation where the difference was extremely minute.
"The medicinal pill that the two of you are going to refine is . . . Tier 3 high-level medicinal pill, Jade Pith Ice Clear Pill," said the Quasi-Alchemy King.
Among the Tier 3 pill formulas, some pill formulas were made known to the public and also publicly acknowledged to be extremely hard to refine medicinal pills. This Jade Pith Ice Clear Pill was one of those.
Seeing this pill formula, the expression on Xiao Ruyan's face changed.
The refining difficulty of this Jade Pith Ice Clear Pill was very high. Xiao Ruyan just happened to be weak in refining this sort of medicinal pill. At most, she only had 30% certainty of refining it out.
And on the other side, a pleasantly surprised look appeared on Tong Wenhui's face. Evidently, this medicinal pill suited his taste!
Xiao Rufeng frowned and said, "Why did this topic come out? The Jade Pith Ice Clear Pill just happens to be a medicinal pill that Ruyan is weak at. This battle . . . is not going well!"
Xiao Changfeng's expression was also very grave as he said, "The Jade Pith Ice Clear Pill's requirement towards fire control is very high. But Ruyan's weak point is fire control. It's really quite troublesome."
Xiao Ruyan came before the medicinal cauldron and took in a deep breath. But her eyes involuntarily looked towards Ye Yuan and discovered that Ye Yuan was currently smiling at her.
Suddenly, Ye Yuan's finger moved slightly, forming a seal.
Xiao Ruyan could not help being stunned when she saw the situation. She thought to herself, "Wasn't this the seal that he struck out when I was refining the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill? What does he mean?'
Xiao Ruyan suddenly thought back to the feeling on the day when she was refining the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill. Although she was dog-tired at that time, that sort of feeling was very subtle.
"Could his meaning be . . . to let me find the feeling on that day when I was refining the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill? But . . . I tried several times afterward and kept being unable to find that sort of state!" Xiao Ruyan thought to herself.
Calming down her emotions, Xiao Ruyan finally started to move and refine the Jade Pith Ice Clear Pill.
Preparing the herbs and refining the medicinal embryo, these were all not difficult things to Xiao Ruyan.
On this step, she did an even more outstanding job than Tong Wenhui!
What Xiao Ruyan was most worried about was the refinement. She really did not have much assurance.
"I must refine the Jade Pith Ice Clear Pill! Even if it's only a low-grade! Tong Wenhui's level is most likely at most just refining out a middle-grade pill even if he's adept at this kind of medicinal pills. As long as my medicinal pill isn't too poor, I'll win" Xiao Ruyan gritted her teeth and secretly made her resolve.
Xiao Ruyan beckoned with one hand. The medicinal embryo flew into the medicinal cauldron.
The flames gradually rose. Xiao Ruyan began the Jade Pith Ice Clear Pill's refinement!
Chapter 380 - Counterattack
Although she pulled out all stops to refine the Jade Pith Ice Clear Pill, not long after it started, Xiao Ruyan's rhythm became somewhat disorderly.
Refining was a task that exhausted mental strength immensely. The aspects that needed to be taken care of was far too many.
This was only refining a Tier 3 medicinal pill. When Ye Yuan was refining Tier 9 medicinal pills in his previous life, that was simply a colossal project. Refining a single medicinal pill for a month was something normal.
But, to the present Xiao Ruyan, the Jade Pith Ice Clear Pill was still an enormous challenge to her.
Everyone present was an expert. One look and they knew that Xiao Ruyan's condition was not quite right.
"Ruyan this little girl has talent, but she is still too young in the end!" An Alchemy King elder evaluated her skill.
"Fire control requires very exquisite essence energy control. It isn't the work of a single day. For Ruyan this lass to be able to perform to this step is already very not easy."
"Yeah. The path of fire control doesn't have shortcuts. One can only become very meticulous through large amounts of practice. Tong Wenhui is several years older than her in the end. In this aspect, he's performing better than her."
"Looks like the victor is already determined in this match."
Those few elders clearly did not think optimistically of Xiao Ruyan, because signs of her defeat had already appeared.
Alchemy King experts were Alchemy King experts after all. Even if they were questioned by Ye Yuan, their strength and vision were still right there.
Xiao Ruyan felt that she was straining more and more. The medicinal pill inside the medicinal cauldron also became increasingly unstable, with the possibility of becoming a useless pill at any moment.
But right at this time, she suddenly sensed a seal being struck into the medicinal cauldron unseen, making her jump in fright!
In her panic, Xiao Ruyan nearly caused the medicinal pill in the medicina
l cauldron to be ruined.
"En? What's with Ruyan, this lass? The essence energy undulations earlier were so intense that it nearly ruined the medicinal pill."
"Yeah, just a little more. But . . . even so, it would probably be very difficult for her to rescue this medicinal pill too, right? It's almost certain that it will be refined into a useless pill."
"I've seen this lass refine pills before. Although her skills are still lacking, a mistake like this shouldn't have appeared. Could it be that the mental pressure is too great?"
Xiao Ruyan's little incident was enough to make many people choke up from fear.
One had to acknowledge that everyone liked beautiful women.
Not only was Xiao Ruyan beautiful, but her alchemy talent was also exceedingly high. Everyone naturally liked her even more.
Although the Xiao Family's influence was weak, it did not stop everyone from viewing her positively.
For these Alchemy Kings to compare Xiao Ruyan to Tong Wenchang, it could be seen just how positively they viewed Xiao Ruyan.
Hence, when they saw that Xiao Ruyan actually made such an error, quite a few people heaved a sigh while wringing their hands.
However, Xiao Ruyan in the midst of refining not only did not have the slightest hint of remorse at this time, but she was also excited to the point she was about to scream out.
"It's this sort of feeling! It's this sort of feeling! I found it! I found it!" Xiao Ruyan was wildly elated in her heart.
This sort of feeling was precisely the sort of feeling when Ye Yuan injected the seal while she was refining the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill.
When she was refining the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill previously, she was also in a total mess from the beginning, all the way until Ye Yuan threw in that seal, guiding her into a subtle rhythm.
Later on, Xiao Ruyan also tried it out a few times, wanting to find that subtle feeling of fire control. But all of it failed.
All the way until Ye Yuan gesticulated that hand sign at her just now, Xiao Ruyan finally ascertained that Ye Yuan's seal was absolutely intentional!