Meeting

Chi Miao no longer cared what Elder Ye called him; he was used to it. He clearly had his own name, yet they always called him Water Old Man.

He was obviously very young, all right? And with his rounded figure, he looked even younger.

Just like Elder Ye—his original name was Ye Qing, and his strength was extraordinary. Now he looked even younger than Chi Miao, yet he insisted on having others call him Elder Ye.

All one could say was, what a damned peculiar hobby.

Just an alchemist from Courtyard One?

Why had he suddenly taken an interest in this matter?

Chi Miao scratched his head, looking puzzled. Hadn't he said he was merely going out for a stroll? Could he have discovered something?

"I don't know the specifics. I'll take you over to have a look in a while."

Elder Ye nodded. Fine. It would be a good chance to see whether there were any other promising seedlings.

"What's going on? Why were we called out here to wait so early in the morning?"

"Could there be some kind of mission?"

"I don't know either. Why make wild guesses? We'll know soon enough."

"..."

Everyone from Courtyard One stood in the middle of the courtyard, looking bewildered as they discussed it in low voices.

Listening to the others' discussion, Jiang Lu was curious as well. Perhaps because she had not needed to work yesterday, she was in an exceptionally good mood today.

As two voices sounded from outside the courtyard, they immediately fell silent and stood properly in line.

The alchemists stood in the front row, while the other disciples stood behind them.

Yet even so, everyone craned their necks, their gazes involuntarily drifting toward the entrance. Their sub-pavilion master walked in with a young man, seeming to show him a measure of respect.

"Elder Ye, all the disciples of Courtyard One are here."

Chi Miao looked at the disciples in the courtyard and spoke to Elder Ye.

Elder Ye nodded. With a sweep of his Divine Sense, he spotted Jiang Lu. Yet she was actually standing at the very back, which left him somewhat puzzled.

"Which of you are alchemists?"

Elder Ye's steady voice rang beside everyone's ears.

Alchemist Lin Wei immediately stepped forward, gave a slight bow, and pointed to the disciples in the first row.

"These are the alchemists of Courtyard One."

Elder Ye was stunned. Only these?

He was secretly startled. Wasn't that little girl one?

At Medicine King Pavilion, only those who passed the assessment could be called alchemists. If that little girl was not one, yet could refine pills, then she must never have displayed her pill-refining skills before others or taken the assessment.

But wasn't taking the assessment and becoming an alchemist admired by all supposed to be their life's goal?

He suppressed his astonishment.

Since he was already here, there was no harm in having them all demonstrate their skills. He wanted to see whether that little girl would participate.

"All of you, demonstrate your pill-refining skills. As for the remaining disciples, if any of you can refine pills, you may demonstrate as well. You will be considered to have passed the assessment directly."

He waved a hand as he spoke, leaving Chi Miao no time to stop him.

Chi Miao's hand froze in midair. Let him do as he pleased. Elder Ye had this much authority.

At those words, delight burst from everyone's eyes as they looked excitedly at Chi Miao.

Chi Miao nodded helplessly.

"Then this disciple will go make preparations."

After saying so, everyone immediately scattered, searching for the spiritual plants needed to refine pills.

Since they were refining pills before them this time, naturally they would not have disciples process the spiritual plants for them. They would handle them personally.

Jiang Lu had no intention of showing off before everyone, nor did she want to watch the excitement. She only wanted to quickly finish processing the spiritual plants Senior Sister Huang Mei needed today, then go do her own things.

She then entered the spiritual plant room and began processing the spiritual plants.

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Seeing this, Elder Ye chuckled to himself.

Sure enough, he knew that this little girl could definitely refine pills. She must never have had the chance to display her talent before, or perhaps she had been excluded. He needed to speak with Water Old Man—this sort of atmosphere could not be allowed to spread.

The disciples: Now they knew what it meant to sit at home while a pot fell from the sky.

But before he could gloat for long, something began to feel increasingly off.

Everyone else had already begun refining pills. Why was she still processing spiritual plants? Yesterday, she had not been this slow.

His Divine Sense swept toward her, and rage rose within him.

How was she preparing to refine pills? She was clearly just completing her task of processing spiritual plants.

Outrageous!

Outrageous!

She was simply neglecting proper work for side pursuits!

At this moment, Jiang Lu had no idea that every move she made was being watched by him. She was only pleased with her results.

She was becoming more and more adept at processing spiritual plants. Forget these first- and second-tier spiritual plants—even if she were given fourth- or fifth-tier spiritual plants, she was confident she could process them.

She swiftly sorted out the spiritual plants and, as though no one else existed, placed them behind Senior Sister Huang Mei.

She quietly stood behind her and took a look. She had thought Senior Sister Huang Mei was preparing to refine a third-tier pill, but unexpectedly, she was only refining a second-tier one.

Then, after giving it some thought, she understood why.

She secretly glanced at the man. Could he be some extraordinary elder?

Looking again at the other disciples refining pills in the courtyard, she had not expected that many of the disciples who processed spiritual plants alongside her every day could also refine pills.

They simply had not yet gone to take the assessment. Now that they had this opportunity, they naturally exerted themselves to the fullest, eager to make an appearance.

Jiang Lu took one look, then stood to the side. Before long, a disciple finished refining.

A wave of pill fragrance wafted over, and Jiang Lu looked toward where it had come from.

Seven pills lay on a jade plate: four High-Grade Pills and three mid-grade pills.

Seeing this, Chi Miao nodded in satisfaction. These disciples had naturally not been fools to make it into Courtyard One. Now that they had improved, he was naturally pleased.

The greater the value they created, the more beneficial it was to him.

As everyone finished refining, Elder Ye nodded in satisfaction. He then kept his promise and declared several of them to have passed the assessment. As for the other alchemists—

He sighed inwardly. How could such a small place possibly have so many geniuses?

He had been too greedy.

He then turned and left, leaving Chi Miao utterly baffled.

What did that mean?

He still had not told him why he had come here!

Jiang Lu greeted Senior Sister Huang Mei, then left and continued on to the medicinal garden from yesterday.

Elder Ye followed close behind. After Jiang Lu finished refining her pill, he emerged from the shadows.

"Little girl, why didn't you refine a pill just now?"

At his words, Jiang Lu's heart leaped. She whirled around, her eyes widening as she stared at the person before her.

Why was he here?

"Se... Senior."

Jiang Lu awkwardly bowed to him.

"Little girl, you still haven't answered me."

Hearing that, Jiang Lu fell silent for a moment. Then she raised her head and looked into his eyes. His gaze was bright, and the aura around him was gentle, untouched by karmic burden.

After considering it, she said, "I just felt there was no need. For now, I don't rely on being an alchemist to survive. I want to wait until later."

Her mindset was quite steady.

He stepped forward and told Jiang Lu to hold out her hand, then placed his fingertips against her pulse.

Jiang Lu was awed by his bearing. Her hand lifted slightly. Could it be that the person before her had also noticed the abnormality in her Spiritual Roots?

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