Chapter 10 (2/2)

“I shall stay and observe from the side.”

Fang Lin darted a look at him. “It’s best that you go ahead with your chores. I’m not used to having someone watching me when I refine the pills.”

“But what if something were to happen during the process? Won’t I be able to help you if need me?” asked Xu Shangao.

Fang Lin rolled his eyes at Xu Shangao. “Don’t worry. Just wait and receive your token of appreciation.”

“Alright then. I’m going to hand in the Clear Heart Pills to the elder. Be careful there and don’t ruin my athanor,” Xu Shangao reminded over and over again. Soon afterward, Fang Lin pushed him out of the courtyard.

After Xu Shangao left, Fang Lin began to refine the Meridian-opening Pill which required a large number of medicinal herbs. Fortunately, these herbs could be found in Xu Shangao’s little herb garden, so it saved Fang Lin the trouble of searching for the herbs.

Fang Lin prepared the necessary herbs, then he entered the alchemy room and closed the door behind him. As he looked at the pitch-black athanor, his usual playful smile faded as his expression turned complicated and emotional.

Once upon a time, he was supplied with the highest grade athanor as he wished. To his chagrin, he could not remember when was the last time he used an athanor that was beyond ordinary akin to the one he had now.

“Sigh, it’s alright if it’s a bad athanor. It’s still better than having none,” muttered Fang Lin to himself. He gave the athanor a pat and ignited a fire inside.

An athanor needed to be lit up with fire. The higher the rank of the alchemist, the better the quality of the fire used. Fortunately, the Meridian-opening Pill was an unorthodox elixir, thus it could be refined with ordinary fire.

The fire heated up the athanor soon. Fang Lin had a calm and composed expression while his gaze appeared especially serene. He had already refined elixirs countless times in his past life. However, it was his first time doing so in this life.

Even though he had yet to begin the process, he had already practiced the act in his mind countless times. Due to his experience, he could already remember each and every step even before he began.

When Fang Lin was still refining the Meridian-opening Pill, the concerned Xu Shangao had already arrived at the alchemy academy and was prepared to hand in the refined Clear Heart Pills to the elder for appraisal.

The alchemy academy was where official disciples learned to refine elixirs. As a holy ground for the alchemy sect, a total of three elders was assigned to guard the alchemy academy each day. At the moment, some official disciples had already arrived at the alchemy academy and were prepared to hand in the Clear Heart Pills that they had refined to the elder for their appraisal.

“Huh? Isn’t that Junior Brother Disciple Xu? What is he doing at the alchemy academy now?” announced an official disciple with huge and tall stature loudly on purpose upon noticing Xu Shangao.

The group of people turned their heads to look toward Xu Shangao upon hearing the announcement. Some were surprised to see him while some were contemptuous. Some did not even care at all.

The elder was looking at Xu Shangao as well. He frowned ever so slightly and scolded, “Why are you running around instead of refining the pill? It’s just a few more days until the end of the month. Are you still going to refine your Clear Heart Pills or not?”

Many official disciples were giggling in secret. One could see that Xu Shangao’s status amongst the official disciples was genuinely not that great.

Xu Shangao did not speak but held his breath and made his way to the front of the elder.

The huge and tall youth named Lin Xu felt embarrassed when he realized that Xu Shangao disregarded his remarks. However, he stopped himself from throwing a fit because the elder was there. He could only use his cold, gloomy gaze to stare straight at Xu Shangao.

“I have refined five Clear Heart Pills. Please examine the product, Elder,” Xu Shangao said to the elder with the jade bottle raised high in his hands.

Upon listening to his words, the official disciples there were astonished. The people that despised Xu Shangao in the past even found it unbelievable.

“What? Did I hear it right? Has Xu Shangao has actually refined the Cold Heart Pills?”

“That’s impossible. I’m well aware of his standards. He’s incapable of refining the Cold Heart Pills.”

“Let’s see. If he’s just making this up, the elder will be the first to punish him.”

…

As the group of disciples discussed with one another, Xu Shangao’s expression appeared slightly unpleasant, but he did not speak.

The elder frowned ever so slightly. He took a glance at Xu Shangao and accepted the jade bottle though he still felt it was rather incredulous. After all, he was well aware of Xu Shangao’s standards. One would need to pay close attention to the order of adding medicinal herbs during the process of refining Clear Heart Pills. It would be quite difficult for a person to learn that on his own without any guidance. Therefore, it was impossible for a low-grade disciple like Xu Shangao to learn that on his own.

“Please go ahead and examine the product, Elder,” Xu Shangao reminded once again upon noticing that the elder had not taken any action for the appraisal.

“Hmph. I shall examine it myself naturally. However, don’t blame the old man for punishing you if you have the audacity to use tricks on me,” said the elder coldly.

Xu Shangao clenched his fists tightly. He detested being looked down upon by others.

The elder opened the bottle and poured five pale green round pills out.

The astonishment in the elder’s eyes vanished as soon as they appeared. He lifted the pills to his nose and took a sniff. The astonishment in his eyes was as obvious as day.

The rest of the disciples felt very surprised to see that those were real Clear Heart Pills.

“Could Xu Shangao finally be enlightened? Has he really succeeded in refining the Clear Heart Pills?” The idea arose in many people’s minds.

“These have actually achieved medium-grade rank!” the old man exclaimed in astonishment abruptly.