Chapter 158 (1/2)

Chapter 158: Concoction

Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu

“Heavens, how could merely separating the ingredients look so beautiful?”

“My goodness, to purify seven different ingredients at the same time?”

“What, I thought purifying seven different ingredients at the same time was only meant to speed up the concoction process a bit, but smelling this herbal aroma, it seems like the ingredients are far purer than those purified in the usual manner!”

“This is too shocking!”

Those who had gasped out in shock were the few Black Grade low level alchemists who had not managed to observe Ling Han’s concoction process the last time. The other Black Grade middle level alchemists all bore haughty expressions, secretly calling the people who had exclaimed in shock a group of country b.u.mpkins who had never seen the world.

Yet they did not recall that when it had been their first time seeing Ling Han concoct an alchemical pill, their reactions were also the same as these people’s—making a fuss about nothing, one moment erupting in clamor, and the next stunned into silence.

However, as Ling Han proceeded further, all of them kept their eyes wide open, staring determinedly at Ling Han. This included Fu Yuan Sheng. Every move that Ling Han made seemed to guide along their focus, which would follow every move Ling Han made.

In their eyes, Ling Han was no longer just a wet-behind-the-ears youth, but an Almighty Alchemist of indomitable spirit. Every move he made was filled with an air of perfection, exuding a beautiful rhythm that only alchemists could feel.

That’s right. It was rhythm or what was so-called tempo.

Alchemy could be claimed as a kind of art. An art of controlling flames, an art of observing as the various ingredients transformed and merged together under high heat. It was an art filled with a very unique rhythm of its own.

However, everyone here could not manage to display that feeling of rhythm. They were only following the written instructions, doing everything as what the pill formula described. They would put in specific ingredients at the time that was written on the pill formula, use flames of a certain temperature at a certain time. Everything they did was done mechanically and stiffly.

Yet Ling Han had stepped beyond these limitations. Sometimes, he would obviously not be following the instructions of the pill formula strictly, but through a strange rhythm that linked all his actions together, it was a display that was too amazing for words.

Grandmaster Alchemist! No, no, no, Almighty Alchemist! Or even, Alchemist Emperor!

They all nodded their heads. If it was not for the fact that Ling Han was too young and his cultivation level too low, perhaps he would be able to concoct Earth Grade pills now, or even the mythical Heaven Grade pills.

When they thought this, they all could not help but experience shock. Theoretically, an alchemist in Element Gathering Tier would only be able to concoct Yellow Grade high level pills. This had nothing to do with the alchemist’s ability, but was completely determined by the alchemist’s cultivation level. There was nothing that could be done about it. If an alchemist’s cultivation level was not high enough, he would not be able to produce a high enough temperature for higher grade pills.

Thus, the only result would be Ling Han’s failure.

But when they looked at the brilliant alchemic abilities that Ling Han had already displayed, he really did not seem like someone who would try out something even though he obviously knew it would fail.

Unless, could it be…

They all stared at Ling Han closely as a possibility rose up in their minds.

Hong!

A crimson flame suddenly erupted from Ling Han’s palm. It was the Strange Fire.

As expected!

All the alchemists exhaled in shock as they finally understood why Ling Han would dare to concoct an alchemical pill so close to Earth Grade and where his confidence came from.

Strange Fire would be able to compensate for an alchemist’s shortcomings in terms of cultivation level. In fact, there were some alchemists who had found an alternative by cultivating some kind of Fire-aligned secret arts to increase the heat of their flames. This could be considered a dishonest way of doing things, but it allowed them to achieve a similar result.

Of course, when compared with a real Strange Fire, all of these secret arts could only be considered inferior.

Ling Han’s movements became faster and faster, and more and more sweat beaded on his forehead. Due to the high heat rising from the furnace, signs of dehydration once again appeared on him as even his lips cracked slightly.

It felt like a blur to the eyes of all the others. The rapid speed at which Ling Han was moving caused them to slightly feel as if they were unable to follow his moves. This was because they not only had to observe carefully each move that Ling Han made, but understand the rationale and logic behind each and every move. Just contemplate for a moment about one move in their heads, and they would have missed out on quite a number of consecutive movements from Ling Han.

But that was all right. If they were able to learn one or two moves, it would be enough for them to study for quite a while and drastically increase their own ability as alchemists.

…The million coins that they had spent was completely worth it.