The Real Skill

Lin Cheng's movements were so practiced that he looked just like a battle-hardened master alchemist.

If they hadn't known who he was beforehand, they might even have thought some senior alchemist was deliberately playing a joke on them.

This was nothing like the work of someone who had never studied alchemy!

At that moment, they realized they had done something foolish.

They didn't understand the young man before them at all.

At some point, that still-youthful face had gradually begun to radiate an unfathomable, mysterious aura.

"Almost there."

Lin Cheng hadn't noticed anything unusual about the others. He was completely immersed in his own world.

Undivided concentration was a basic quality of an alchemist.

"The furnace is of average quality. It's a little lacking, but for now, it'll just about do."

After carefully thinking it over and making sure he hadn't missed anything, Lin Cheng began the second step of alchemy: controlling the fire.

Alchemy had three main steps.

Controlling the fire, refining, and forming the pill.

Everything else was just preparation beforehand.

Now came the real centerpiece.

Since he was concealing his cultivation, Lin Cheng couldn't use many of his abilities in front of everyone, so he could only rely on outside help.

Most alchemy rooms had earthfire for refining pills. With the system's help, drawing out earthfire was a piece of cake for Lin Cheng.

He raised a hand and beckoned. The earthfire obediently surged up.

Then, with a sweep of his palm, the flames quickly turned gentle and steady, like a well-behaved child. The sight left several elders utterly entranced.

"That fire-control technique is incredible!"

"I once had the good fortune to watch a Yellow Grade alchemist refine a pill, but even he couldn't control fire like this young brother. What a heaven-gifted genius!"

"Exactly, exactly!"

"While refining pills, the greatest taboo is an unstable flame. The slightest mistake can ruin the pill and waste all your previous effort! If I could learn even a tiny bit of this technique, my success rate would surely rise considerably!"

"Shh! Stop talking and watch carefully."

The elders were awestruck. They didn't even blink, afraid they'd miss the best part and regret it for the rest of their lives.

With a few casual movements, Lin Cheng adjusted the flame to the right temperature.

He began picking out the ingredients he needed next, following the pill formula.

"Qi-Replenishing Pill: two qian of Pulse-Nurturing Flower, one and a half qian of Purple Heart Grass, Vermilion Fruit..."

He murmured as he picked out the herbs, measuring each portion with perfect accuracy. With the system's inherited knowledge, such a trivial task as measuring ingredients was naturally no challenge for him.

Before long, the ingredients were ready.

Little did he know that this perfectly ordinary scene had once again caused an uproar in the eyes of the onlookers.

"He isn't using a scale? He's just measuring by hand?"

"Even a Yellow Grade alchemist wouldn't dare do that. The ingredients for alchemy must follow the formula exactly. Not a little more, not a little less. Is he really that confident?"

Seeing the elders mutter blankly, Meng Tangtang couldn't help asking, "Isn't this just the normal process?"

Wasn't this how alchemy worked?

Measuring by hand might be a little difficult, but surely it wasn't so astounding if you practiced a lot and paid close attention?

The elder immediately shook his head, his gaze toward Lin Cheng filled with admiration. "Young Sect Master, you don't understand. It sounds easy, but it's hard to do! You absolutely can't get it exactly right by hand alone. Only someone born with exceptionally strong spiritual perception—or a supreme expert who has even awakened divine sense—could manage it with ease."

Was it really that incredible?

Meng Tangtang was stunned.

She hadn't expected her junior brother to be a genius born with such powerful spiritual perception.

As for divine sense, she didn't dare even consider it.

That was the mark of a Nascent Soul expert.

Her junior brother was still so young. It was impossible!

Still reeling with shock, she hurriedly focused on Lin Cheng's movements.

Once he had prepared the ingredients, Lin Cheng tossed them all into the pill furnace without even looking. Even though everyone was prepared for him to disregard convention, their eyelids still twitched violently at the sight.

What the hell was this—refining pills or stir-frying vegetables?

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It looked so unreliable!

They thought that, after all, he was still young. Throwing so many ingredients in at once would cause their medicinal properties to clash and ruin everything in an instant.

One elder had already begun shaking his head and sighing, certain that the batch was ruined.

But in the next moment, everyone's eyes widened. The inside of the furnace remained perfectly calm.

The herbs he had tossed in seemed completely unaffected.

A rich medicinal fragrance even began to waft out.

They couldn't see inside the furnace. Curiosity gnawed at them until they were itching to crawl in and take a look for themselves.

What was going on?

Unfortunately, no one could explain it to them. All they could do was patiently keep watching.

Before long, Lin Cheng's alchemy techniques dazzled them once again.

"That's the long-lost Silk-Pulling Hand! He's controlling the herbs from a distance with inner force, as though countless fine threads were at his command. Such delicate control—marvelous, marvelous!"

"That's the Flower-Plucking Finger!"

"The Yin-Yang Separation Technique!"

"Holy crap, that looks like the legendary Samsara Hand Seal, an alchemical divine art!"

Gradually, their eyes grew dazzled. Lin Cheng casually employed every alchemy technique they knew and many they didn't, combining them together with astonishing skill.

His movements flowed as naturally as if born from the heavens, carrying an indescribable beauty.

Watching Lin Cheng refine pills was simply a pleasure.

"The pill's about to form!"

Someone spoke, and everyone's attention was instantly drawn to the crimson furnace. They also noticed that the medicinal fragrance in the air had grown richer and richer, carrying a refreshing, invigorating scent.

"Open!"

Lin Cheng suddenly changed his hand seals and shouted.

As everyone watched expectantly, the pill furnace slowly opened. Lin Cheng reached out and caught a pill that gleamed with a lustrous sheen.

On closer inspection, one could even see a faint, profound pattern winding around the pill.

"Good heavens, it has a Pill Pattern!"

An elder suddenly strode forward and rushed right up to Lin Cheng. Ignoring everyone's astonished stares, he grabbed Lin Cheng's hand and carefully examined the freshly refined pill.

He looked at it as if it were some peerless treasure.

"What? A Pill Pattern? Quick! Let me see!" Another elder rushed over, staring at the pill in Lin Cheng's hand and nearly drooling.

"You two shameless old geezers, move aside..."

In the end, all three elders crowded around Lin Cheng without a shred of dignity, gazing dreamily at the pill in his hand.

At that moment, it was as if they'd all been drawn in.

Everyone, including Meng Tangtang, forgot all about etiquette and rank and rushed forward in a great wave. Some even fought over a good spot.

The scene descended into chaos.

"What are you doing? All of you, get up! Look at yourselves—where's your dignity?"

After a long while, an elder finally came to his senses. When he turned around, he was startled by all the gleaming eyes staring at him, and immediately began scolding them furiously.

"Look at you, a bunch of good-for-nothings. It's only a Pill Pattern-grade Qi-Replenishing Pill. What's there to make such a fuss about? Move along, move along! If you don't clear out, I'll charge you with disrupting order and showing disrespect to your elders!"

At last, his words had an effect.

Though everyone disapproved of the elders' behavior, they understood how serious the matter was, so they reluctantly moved aside.

They still craned their necks and stared longingly, though, leaving the elder with a face full of exasperation.

Still, he didn't blame them for acting that way.

Aside from being classified as Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow, or ungraded, pills were also divided into several levels of quality within each grade, according to the amount of impurities they contained.

From lowest to highest, they were: seven to six tenths impurities (inferior), five to four tenths impurities (ordinary), and less than three tenths impurities (superior).

And then there was the legendary Flawless Quality—Pill Pattern grade—which, according to rumors, could be found across the entire Southern Region.