The Only Chance in This Life

Shen Xiyue's pill furnace exploded nine times in total, and each explosion happened at nearly the same point.

Even Shen Xiyue, steady of temperament as she was, was beginning to lose her composure.

If the furnace had exploded later, that would have been one thing, but now it was exploding before the medicinal ingredients had even fused. That meant there was a problem with her pill formula itself.

But she had clearly gone over her pill formula in careful detail. Logically speaking, this should not have happened!

Shen Xiyue fell silent, and the atmosphere at the scene turned somewhat oppressive.

The many disciples present were also puzzled, but unfortunately, none of them could offer any opinion.

After all, the core of forming a pill lay in the blending ratio of the medicinal ingredients and the control of the heat.

And right now, the furnace was actually exploding at the step where the ingredients turned into raw liquid. That was somewhat beyond their understanding.

One had to know that no matter what pill was being refined, the medicinal ingredients first had to become raw liquid, then be proportioned, and with the support of the pill flame, finally condense into pills.

If the furnace exploded at the very first step, then that meant the chosen medicinal ingredients were wrong, or that there was a problem with how they had been processed.

But this was a pill formula that Eldest Senior Sister had carefully worked out, and the elders of the sect must have studied it as well.

Under such circumstances, how could this pill furnace explode?

"Junior brothers and sisters, have any of you noticed anything?"

Shen Xiyue spoke up and asked.

Everyone present looked at one another, yet not a single person spoke.

On the furnace-lid platform, Li Jun stared fixedly at the pill furnace.

He was now certain that he might be able to see entries others could not!

If they made adjustments according to what the entry said, perhaps this pill furnace would not explode.

Should he remind Eldest Senior Sister?

But he was only a little carpenter. Speaking recklessly could cost him his head.

And besides, what if they really lowered the temperature and the furnace still exploded?

Li Jun was torn inside, but very quickly, he firmed his resolve.

The entries that had appeared were very likely his chance to defy the heavens and change his fate. If things continued like this, the entries would surely never change.

He needed the entries to change, and even more, he needed to form a connection with Eldest Senior Sister Shen Xiyue.

No matter what, this might be the only chance he would ever have in this life.

Li Jun took a deep breath, then emboldened himself and said, "Eldest Senior Sister, could it be that the pill furnace's temperature is too high?"

"Hm? Who spoke?"

The moment these words came out, everyone looked at one another, but they actually could not find the person who had spoken.

Shen Xiyue followed the sound and looked over, only to discover that the speaker had actually come from the furnace lid—it was one of the low-level laborers serving as medicinal primers.

"A mere carpenter! Do not spout nonsense!"

At this moment, Zhao Wenjie had already reacted and immediately moved to charge over.

"Hold. All of you, step back first."

Shen Xiyue looked at Li Jun and spoke calmly. "Tell me, why do you think the furnace temperature is too high?"

Li Jun breathed a sigh of relief, then carefully said, "Replying to Eldest Senior Sister, it's only a feeling I have. I feel that the thing flowing out of my body became so hot it swelled up before the furnace exploded, so I was wondering if it was caused by the furnace temperature being too high."

Li Jun found an excuse and deliberately made it sound somewhat uncanny.

In any case, this formation had also been discovered in an ancient text. It was normal for there to be something a bit uncanny about it, right?

"Oh? Do the others have this feeling?"

The other laborers shook their heads. They could not even sense the loss of the essence within their bodies; they only felt unbearably hot and restless.

"Eldest Senior Sister, this man is merely a carpenter. He cannot be trusted lightly."

Li Jun turned to look at the person speaking. It was precisely that steward Zhao Wenjie who had brought him here.

"No matter, Steward Zhao. He is someone you brought?"

Zhao Wenjie nodded, but his expression did not look good.

"This ancient formation is very unusual. Even Elder Zhang within the sect finds it difficult to glimpse its full picture. It is normal for this man to sense something. Whether it succeeds or fails, you will not be blamed."

"Yes! I respectfully obey Eldest Senior Sister's command!"

Zhao Wenjie nodded, and his expression finally improved somewhat.

Oak Garden had always been under his charge. For a subordinate to be so loose-tongued was a dereliction of his duty.

If the elders found out that one sentence from this brat had wasted a furnace's worth of alchemy materials, the elders would certainly make him wear little shoes.

Thinking of this, Zhao Wenjie had already made up his mind.

Once this matter was over, he would cripple this Li Jun and throw him out directly, lest he cause trouble for him.

On the furnace lid, Li Jun keenly caught the killing intent in Zhao Wenjie's eyes, and his heart gave a thump.

Now things were just great. Whether he could latch onto Eldest Senior Sister was still not even at the first stroke of the eight characters, but this Zhao Wenjie was someone he had definitely offended.

"Once more. Carefully sense the temperature and report back to me."

Shen Xiyue spoke up, preparing to try again.

The sect's higher-ups all attached great importance to this pill refinement.

If today ended with the furnace exploding, there would inevitably be people who seized the chance to challenge her authority.

So, no matter what, she had to try again.

The pill furnace restarted, and Li Jun once again saw the entry on the furnace.

[Furnace temperature too high]

"Eldest Senior Sister, the furnace temperature is still too high."

"Good!"

Shen Xiyue controlled the violet flame, constantly adjusting the furnace temperature.

"Eldest Senior Sister, it still needs to be lowered."

"Good..."

After lowering the furnace temperature three times in a row, the entry on the pill furnace disappeared.

Immediately afterward, a brand-new entry appeared before Li Jun's eyes.

[First-grade alchemist: progress 1%]

And Shen Xiyue also discovered in surprise that after the furnace temperature was lowered, the medicinal herb in the pill furnace called Fire Crystal Grass was the first to melt into raw liquid.

And at the same time that the Fire Crystal Grass turned into raw liquid, it released a large amount of heat, transforming the other medicinal herbs into raw liquid as well.

And this time, the pill furnace did not explode!

That worked too?!

Everyone present was dumbfounded. The carpenter's words had actually been true?

"Very good! Keep sensing. If there's a problem, remind me at once."

Shen Xiyue spoke with delight.

"As you command, Eldest Senior Sister."

The pill refinement continued, while Li Jun was inwardly ecstatic!

The entry had really changed. This was an entry related to a pharmacist!

"Why weren't there any entries before? Could it be because of this formation? Or is it related to me?"

Li Jun thought it over and felt it was probably really connected to this formation.

"Try again now?"

Li Jun silently recited the mental formula of the Azure Origin Art. As a widely circulated ordinary cultivation technique, he naturally knew it by heart.

Without a spirit root, even if he silently recited the mental formula, he could not sense spiritual energy.

However, just as Li Jun silently recited the mental formula, an entry appeared in front of him.

[Spiritual root: insufficient spiritual energy]

"Insufficient spiritual energy?"

Li Jun froze. Could there actually be a chance?

Just then, waves of medicinal fragrance came from the pill furnace below.

Rich spiritual energy also rushed toward him head-on, and spiritual liquid even appeared on the ground.

"What a good chance!"

Dragging his exhausted body, Li Jun began madly sucking down the spiritual liquid on the ground.

Fortunately, the people around him had all fainted from weakness by now. On the vast platform, no one could stop him.

On the high platform, Shen Xiyue also noticed this scene.

She was somewhat astonished. After all, the other medicinal catalysts had all fainted, yet this Li Jun could still hold on.

She deliberately controlled the spiritual energy, making all of the scattered spiritual energy surge toward that platform.

On the platform, Li Jun worked hard to drink the spiritual liquid. He did not know how long had passed before that entry finally disappeared.

Immediately afterward, a brand-new entry appeared in his field of vision.

[Mystic Yin Corrosive Spirit Root: Progress 100%]