A Small Test of Skill (3)

After a long while, the essence of the spiritual herbs, which had been divided into more than twenty clumps, shrunk into white pills the size of quail eggs. It was done! Yue Qianchou slapped open the furnace lid with a palm strike, and the pills inside were quickly ejected by the hot air current. Yue Qianchou sprang up quickly, spread his robes, and stuffed them all inside. He didn't Guan Wei Wu, who could absorb them all with a single hand.

After landing, Yue Qianchou counted them carefully. There were twenty pills, not one missing, and none of them were the black, defective pills his master had refined. However, the color seemed a little different from what his master had refined. He picked one up and examined it closely. It had a rich fragrance, was white and bright, smooth and round, and had a faint white glow on it. It seemed to look even better than the ones his master had refined.

Wait a minute! With my novice skills, how could I possibly refine it better than my master? Could it just look good, but be much less effective? Yue Qianchou suddenly remembered the Foundation Establishment Pill he had refined. Chen Feng used two to successfully Foundation Establishment, Guan Yu used seven, and he had also used three more on Fu Xian Island, making a total of ten. He himself was even more outrageous, using twelve. Could this have nothing to do with the efficacy of the pills?

No! I have to take it to the master to take a look. Maybe the master will know where the problem lies.

Yue Qianchou, holding the hem of his clothes, walked to the largest Alchemy Chamber in the center, completely puzzled. When he entered, Guan Wei Wu was holding a pill in his hands, shaking his head and sighing. He had obviously refined another batch of unsatisfactory pills.

"Master," Yue Qianchou called out.

"Hmm?" Guan Wei Wu said without looking up, "Not enough spirit herbs? Go get some yourself."

"No, Master, I just finished refining a batch of Qi Replenishing Pill. I'm not sure how well it turned out, so I brought it here for you to take a look," Yue Qianchou said apologetically.

Guan Wei Wu looked up in surprise and said, "You refined a batch of Qi Replenishing Pill? So fast? Let me see them." He didn't believe it; he didn't know anything about alchemy, how could he possibly refine pills on his first try?

Yue Qianchou walked over, lifting the hem of his shirt, and spread out twenty smooth, round, white beads, lying quietly inside, waiting to be picked. Guan Wei Wu glanced at them first; with his experience, he could easily tell the quality of the pills at a glance. Then, he stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

"Damn it! It turns out I made a mistake in my refining, but it shouldn't have alarmed you this much! Just say what you think, I'll humbly accept it." Yue Qianchou smiled awkwardly and said, "Master, where did I go wrong? I'm completely baffled, I hope you can point me out!"

With Guan Wei Wu reached out and pinched one out, examining it closely and then smelling it. Finally, he said with a serious expression, "Did you really refine this yourself? How many spirit herbs did you use to make it?"

"Uh..." Yue Qianchou was stunned. Damn it! Could it be that they're afraid I'll waste more spiritual herbs? I said I used one portion, and they might make me take back the extras. Damn it! Don't be so stingy, Master. I'm even stingier than you. Once something's in my hands, it's not so easy to take it back.

Yue Qianchou said somewhat awkwardly, "Look at what you're saying, of course it was refined by my own hands. I wouldn't dare to lie to you, Master! That... that was barely enough to refine one batch using four portions of spiritual herbs."

Upon hearing that four portions had been used, Guan Wei Wu revealed an expression of certainty. He grabbed all the Qi Replenishing Pill refined by Yue Qianchou and stuffed them into his Storage Bag. He then turned to a corner and picked out a few more portions of spiritual herbs for refining Qi Replenishing Pill. He said to Yue Qianchou, "Come on, take me to the place where you were refining pills."

Seeing that his master wasn't going to pursue the matter of using too many spiritual herbs, but instead was going to personally instruct him, he nodded excitedly and led the way. As soon as the two of them came out, they immediately attracted the attention of many people, and those who passed by bowed and said, "Elder Guan." Guan Wei Wu was preoccupied with his own affairs and ignored everyone who called him, only knowing to follow his disciple.

Yang Qian, who was directing the work, saw this and, not knowing what had happened, wondered if there was a problem with the place he had arranged for Yue Qianchou. He quickly followed to check.

Yue Qianchou pointed to the Alchemy Chamber where they had just refined pills and said, "Master, this is the room." Guan Wei Wu nodded and said, "Let's go in and take a look."

Yang Qian, who had followed, thought to himself, "As expected, there's something wrong with the Alchemy Chamber, but it's impossible for anything to go wrong! It's been used for thousands of years, and I've never heard of anyone saying anything has gone wrong! How come problems only arise when Elder Guan's disciple comes?"

Remembering Guan Wei Wu's domineering attitude towards alchemy, anyone who dared to cause trouble in alchemy would be killed by him; otherwise, how could he have earned the title of 'Alchemy Fanatic'? Yang Qian's heart tightened; he hoped nothing would go wrong! He quickly followed him inside.

When Yue Qianchou left, the fire beneath the furnace was still burning, and it remained exactly as it was when he returned. Guan Wei Wu circled the Pill Furnace twice, examining it closely, but couldn't discern anything unusual, although it wasn't as good as his own Pill Furnace. He pointed at the Pill Furnace and asked, "Did you just use this furnace to refine the pills?"

"Yes, Master!" Yue Qianchou nodded. Yang Qian, who followed in, also looked him over carefully but didn't find anything wrong.

Guan Wei Wu took a portion of the pile of spiritual herbs he was carrying and handed it to Yue Qianchou, saying, "Refine them again using the same method as before, and refine them with care."

Yue Qianchou was overjoyed. His master was indeed going to personally guide him in alchemy. He quickly replied, "Yes." He skillfully added the spiritual herbs, closed the furnace lid, and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the process of refining the Qi Replenishing Pill.

Guan Wei Wu his disciple had entered the state of alchemy, Guan Weiwu wanted to inject his Divine Sense into the Pill Furnace to see how his disciple was refining the pills. However, he was afraid of disturbing his disciple, so he stood aside without daring to breathe. He put away the spiritual herbs and took out the Qi Replenishing Pill Yue Qianchou had just refined to examine it in his hand.

Yang Qian found it strange. What were the master and disciple doing? He walked over to Guan Wei Wu to ask what was wrong. Guan Wei Wu anxiously waved his hands repeatedly, making a shushing gesture, which frightened Yang Qian so much that he stood there with him, too afraid to move.

Having gained experience from refining Qi Replenishing Pill in the previous batch, Yue Qianchou controlled this batch with even greater ease, performing a wonderful game of Divine Sense manipulation within the Pill Furnace. Unfortunately, no one else witnessed it.

After a long while, Yue Qianchou finally opened his closed eyes. As soon as he slapped open the furnace lid, he heard Guan Wei Wu shout, "Come!" He raised his hand and sucked up the pills that had been ejected. He compared the pile he had sucked up with the original pill in his hand. After looking at it, he found that it was indeed the same pill made by the same method, and there were a full twenty pills, without a single wasted pill.

Yue Qianchou stopped what he was doing, walked over, and asked, "Master, is there a problem?"

Guan Wei Wu hissed coldly, shook his head, stuffed all the pills in his hand into his Storage Bag, and shouted at Yue Qianchou and Yang Qian, "You two are not allowed to disturb me while I'm refining pills." Seeing his seriousness, the two nodded repeatedly.

Guan Wei Wu rolled up his sleeves, took out a portion of spiritual herbs, and threw them directly into the Pill Furnace to begin refining.

Yue Qianchou knew that this refining process would take a long time, so he stood aside quietly to recover his vital energy and slightly damaged Divine Sense. He then refined two batches of pills, which resulted in some losses, but it was still much better than when he refined Foundation Establishment Pill before.

Yang Qian, standing to the side, was shocked. He had seen the batch of Qi Replenishing Pill that Yue Qianchou had just refined. The shape, the luster, and the faint halo around the pills—having spent nearly a hundred years in the Alchemy Pavilion, he could naturally distinguish good pills from bad ones. A full twenty pills! Not a single one was defective, and they even had that halo usually found only on top-grade pills! Heavens! They were actually refined by Guan Wei Wu's disciple. How could this be? Even Guan Wei Wu probably didn't have this level of skill.

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