Heavenly Heart Pavilion

After Ning Ri left the Wonderful Pill Workshop, Zhou Hai and Xun Zang immediately ran out of the teahouse and slipped into the Wonderful Pill Workshop.

They planned to ask Kong She about Ning Ri's learning progress.

The two had already made a bet to see just how fast Ning Ri truly learned.

Zhou Hai bet that Ning Ri learned faster than he could return to Golden Osmanthus Garden.

Xun Zang bet the opposite.

Originally, Xun Zang had only wanted to record evidence, documenting exactly how long it took Ning Ri to learn alchemy. He was worried Zhou Hai would renege on the bet.

But at this moment, he had no time to care about the wager...

Because when they arrived, they found that Kong She completely ignored their questions. The door to the alchemy room was left open as he continued refining pills.

One pellet after another.

Kong She being so engrossed in alchemy that he forgot himself and the world was one thing. That could be explained by Ning Grandmaster's talent being so great that Kong She had directly attained enlightenment.

But...

After taking a careful look at what Kong She was refining, they became frightened.

Kong She had been refining Qi Replenishing Pills for Qi Refinement cultivators.

If he had truly attained enlightenment, why was he refining these?!

This was bizarre, you know?

And in less than half a day, there were already 140 Qi Replenishing Pills beside Kong She.

As they watched the little mountain of Qi Replenishing Pills grow to 154, Zhou Hai hurriedly interrupted Kong She, his tongue cracking like spring thunder. "Old Kong, calm down!"

The moment his words fell—

Bzzzz—

Rings of sound waves surged out from around Zhou Hai and swiftly spread through the entire alchemy room, making Kong She's body tremble. Yet, astonishingly, they did not disturb any of the medicine cabinets or pills in the room...

This was a spell Zhou Hai had invented specifically to call back students whose minds had wandered during class.

After being forcibly called back, Kong She steadied himself, then stared straight at Zhou Hai. After a moment, he shook his head. "The way you interrupted me was worse than his. He could find the perfect moment, but you can't. Aren't you an alchemist? How have all these years of refining gone straight into a dog's belly?"

Zhou Hai: "?"

"Has something bizarre gotten into your brain?"

Seeing this, Xun Zang deliberately aimed the main perspective of his recording at Zhou Hai's livid face...

Kong She took a deep breath and shook his head. "My condition is far more serious than having something bizarre enter my head."

Zhou Hai knitted his brows. "What happened?"

It was rare to see such an expression on Kong She's face!

Kong She stared at Zhou Hai and said in a low voice, "Let me ask you a question first. You're sure you've refined pills before, right?"

Zhou Hai's expression darkened. "You're still going to humiliate me?"

"I'm not humiliating you. Answer me first."

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Then you should know roughly how many pills a furnace of Qi Replenishing Pills, with ingredients of this quality, can yield through Pill Separation, right?"

Hearing that, Zhou Hai gave Kong She a suspicious look, then turned his head to inspect the pile of ingredients beside him from top to bottom. Finally, after some thought, he said carefully:

"At my current level, if I'm lucky, twelve pellets. If I'm unlucky, eleven. It won't differ by much."

"But you're different. You wrote the Qi Replenishing Pill formula, so you can definitely make fourteen."

Only after seriously analyzing the situation based on the facts did Zhou Hai ask, "All right, I've finished. What about you?"

Kong She stared intently at Zhou Hai. "Do you know how many pills Ning Ri separated when he refined Qi Replenishing Pills?"

Zhou Hai hesitated. His first instinct was to say fourteen, but he immediately stopped himself and fell into thought—

The last time Ning Ri practiced the Spirit Absorption Technique, he had nearly turned it into a demonic art.

When he practiced Mo Cui Dao's artifact-refining techniques, he had caused Chen Xingfeng's side to erupt with the heaven-defying Rune of the Artifact Spirit.

Given that, this round of Pill Separation definitely would not be simple either.

Combined with Kong She's crazed, possessed-looking state of pill refining...

Zhou Hai immediately understood.

Ning Ri must have separated an utterly shocking number of pills.

That number had deeply stunned Kong She. That was why Kong She had continued refining pills even after Ning Ri left.

Kong She must have wanted to imitate Ning Ri and verify whether he himself could separate the same number of pills as Ning Ri.

Thinking this, Zhou Hai immediately declared with confidence, "Did Ning Ri separate eighteen pellets?"

"What do you think? Isn't my guess bold?!"

The moment his words fell—

Kong She suddenly threw his head back and burst into inexplicable laughter. "Hahahahahaha..."

His laughter was deafening.

Zhou Hai and Xun Zang, who was still recording: "..."

It was over. Joy Anomaly had entered his brain!

Zhou Hai frowned. "What are you laughing at?"

Kong She stopped laughing and said seriously, "You."

Zhou Hai: "?"

He immediately rolled up his sleeves, ready to kick over Kong She's pill furnace...

Kong She stopped him, then sighed. "Ning Ri separated twenty-three pellets."

Zhou Hai: "???"

Xun Zang: "???"

Even Xun Zang, who had been single-mindedly recording, could no longer remain calm...

Zhou Hai gaped. "How many???"

"Twenty-three!" Kong She emphasized again. At the same time, he said with a grave expression, "And I dare say that was absolutely not his full strength."

Zhou Hai: "What kind of joke are you making?"

Kong She did not explain much. He directly told them about secretly hiding ten Qi Replenishing Pills...

After he finished, Zhou Hai and Xun Zang both stood frozen in place...

"I'm refining pills here now because I want to see whether I can reproduce his Pill Separation results, but I simply can't do it..."

Kong She's face was full of melancholy. "I once thought the limit of an alchemist had already been touched. Only now do I understand that an alchemist's limit lies far beyond that. Ning Grandmaster is creating new history. Zhou Hai, you need to pay close attention."

Zhou Hai asked, "Pay attention to what?"

Kong She said, "Pay attention and learn. Your pill refining is complete trash."

Zhou Hai: "?"

He immediately carried Kong She's pill furnace away in fury...

"Where are you going?"

The Disciple Token was asking Ning Ri.

Ning Ri said, "I want to go to Heavenly Heart Pavilion."

"Heavenly Heart Pavilion is to the left of the Pillars of Cultivation Pavilion."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

After practicing his blade for most of the day and farming a wave of skill points, Ning Ri asked the normal-setting Disciple Token for directions and headed straight for Heavenly Heart Pavilion.

According to Zhou Hai's explanation, Heavenly Heart Pavilion stored cultivation resources and magical treasures.

He planned to take a look and see if he could get himself some Life Price money!

Though he planned to reset his points and enter the Yin De Sect to lower the price of buying his life, he still had to prepare himself mentally...

Excellence could not be hidden. What if the bizarre was keen-eyed as a torch, saw through the fact that he was a dragon among men, a firefly in the dark night?

"Ning Grandmaster!"

At the entrance to Heavenly Heart Pavilion, a familiar figure entered Ning Ri's sight. He was smiling gently at Ning Ri.

He wore a gray robe. He was Elder Guan Yan, the one responsible for making everyone shut up on the day of the disciple trial.

When Guan Yan called out "Ning Grandmaster," several disciples passing by were stunned.

Ning Ri was startled as well. He hurriedly said, "Greetings, Elder Guan. Just call me Ning Ri!"

Guan Yan smiled gently. "Ning Grandmaster, what you did will be made public sooner or later. There is no use concealing it any longer."

"So admit it openly."

Ning Ri: "?"

Did I do something so unforgivable that I deserve to die?