Heavenly Spring Island.
Welcoming Immortals Teahouse.
"The Pill Origin Grand Assembly has begun, and quite a few Third-Order alchemy grandmasters have appeared... Green Pill True Person of the Azure Pill Commerce personally refined a whole spring's worth of Third-Order pills at the Origin Rite Spring..."
Cultivators discussed it on every side.
"The Pill Origin Grand Assembly welcomes both water and fire methods... If a few more Fire-Method Alchemy grandmasters came, we'd have water and fire clashing. Now that would be a show..." A cultivator laughed, clearly happy to watch the trouble grow.
"When it comes to alchemy, the water method is naturally best. It nourishes the medicine, making pills gentler and leaving very little Pill Poison."
An alchemist who smelled faintly of herbs slowly sipped his tea. He appeared to practice Water-Method Alchemy.
"Hmph... Your Water-Method Alchemy takes so long that it often delays your own cultivation. What use is gentle medicine? A grave illness needs strong medicine! When we break through to a higher realm, the fierce potency of fire-method pills is best for shattering a bottleneck..."
Another alchemist, dressed in a scarlet robe, spoke up in rebuttal.
The water- and fire-method alchemists immediately began arguing. If they had not been in a market town where fighting was strictly forbidden, they might have come to blows...
The surrounding cultivators did not leave. Every face wore an expression eager for a good show.
Evidently, this was far from the first time such a thing had happened lately.
Fang Qing sat nearby, enjoying the spectacle.
He wore a long azure robe, had delicate features, and carried a faint scent of herbs. A medicine pouch hung at his waist; plainly, he too was playing the part of an alchemist. But Fang Qing had already dissolved his True Core. He now drew only