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 build, 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 fetish.

Just an alchemist from Courtyard One?

Why had he suddenly taken an interest in this?

Chi Miao scratched his head, looking puzzled. Hadn't Elder Ye said he was merely taking a stroll? Could he have discovered something?

"I don't know the details. I'll take you over to have a look later."

Elder Ye nodded. Fine. He could take this 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 task?"

"I don't know either. Why speculate so much? We'll know soon enough."

"..."

Everyone from Courtyard One stood in the middle of the courtyard, their faces bewildered as they discussed it in hushed voices.

Listening to everyone's chatter, Jiang Lu was curious as well. Perhaps because she had not needed to work yesterday, she was in an especially 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 first row, while the other disciples stood behind them.

Even so, they craned their necks, their gazes involuntarily drifting toward the gate. Their branch master walked in with a young man, and he seemed to show the man a measure of respect.

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

Chi Miao looked at the disciples standing 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 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 salute, and pointed to the disciples in the first row.

"These are the alchemists of Courtyard One."

Elder Ye froze. There were only this many?

Secretly, he was astonished. Wasn't that little girl one of them?

At Medicine King Pavilion, only those who passed the examination could be called alchemists. If that little girl was not one, yet could refine pills, then she had never displayed her pill-refining skills before others, nor had she participated in the examination.

But wasn't taking the examination 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 pill-refining skills. He wanted to see whether that little girl would participate.

"Show me your pill-refining skills. As for the remaining disciples, if you know how to refine pills, you may demonstrate as well. You will be considered to have passed the examination directly."

He said this with a wave of his hand. Chi Miao had no time to stop him.

His hand paused in midair. Let Elder Ye do as he pleased; he had the authority to grant that permission.

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes burst with delight, and they looked excitedly at Chi Miao.

Chi Miao nodded helplessly.

"Then this disciple will go prepare."

As soon as they finished speaking, everyone scattered at once to find the spirit plants needed for pill refinement.

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

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

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

Seeing this, Elder Ye chuckled inwardly.

Sure enough, he knew that this little girl could definitely refine pills. She must not have had the chance to display her talent before, or perhaps she had been pushed aside. He needed to have a word with Water Old Man; this sort of atmosphere could not be allowed to grow.

The disciples: They finally understood what it meant to sit at home while a black pot fell from the sky.

But before he could gloat for long, he felt that something was increasingly off.

Everyone else had already started refining pills. Why was she still processing spirit plants? That had not been her speed yesterday.

He sent out his Divine Sense to investigate, and fury surged up in him.

Where was she preparing to refine pills? She was clearly just completing her spirit-plant processing task.

Outrageous!

Outrageous!

Simply neglecting her proper work!

At that moment, Jiang Lu had no idea that every move she made was being watched by the other party. She was only satisfied with her own results.

She was becoming more and more adept at processing spirit plants. Let alone these first- and second-tier spirit plants, even if she were given fourth- or fifth-tier spirit plants, she was confident she could handle them.

She quickly sorted out the spirit plants and, as though no one else were present, placed them behind Senior Sister Huang Mei.

She quietly stood behind her and took a look. Jiang Lu had thought Senior Sister Huang Mei was preparing to refine a third-tier pill, but she had not expected it to be only a second-tier pill.

Then, on second thought, she understood why.

She secretly glanced at that man. Could he be some remarkable elder?

Looking again at the other disciples refining pills in the courtyard, she had not expected that quite a few disciples who processed spirit plants with her every day also knew how to refine pills.

They simply had not gone to take the examination yet. Now that they had this chance, they naturally put their backs into it, eager to make themselves stand out.

Jiang Lu watched for a moment before standing off to the side. Very soon, a disciple finished refining.

A waft of pill fragrance drifted over, and Jiang Lu looked toward its source.

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 been able to enter Courtyard One, so naturally none of them were fools. Now that they had improved, he was naturally pleased.

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

As everyone completed their refinement, Elder Ye nodded in satisfaction. He even kept his promise and declared several of them to have passed the examination. As for the other alchemists—

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

He had been too greedy.

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

What did that mean?

He still had not said why he had come here.

Jiang Lu greeted Senior Sister Huang Mei, then left and headed once more for the medicinal garden from yesterday.

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

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

At his words, Jiang Lu's heart leaped into her throat. She whirled around with a swish, staring wide-eyed at the man before her.

Why had he come here?

"Se... Senior."

Jiang Lu awkwardly saluted him.

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

Jiang Lu fell silent for a moment. Then she raised her head and looked into his eyes. They were bright, and the aura around him was gentle, untroubled by karmic sin.

After thinking it over, she said, "I simply felt there was no need. For now, I do not rely on being an alchemist to make a living. I want to wait until later."

Her mentality was quite steady.

He stepped forward and had Jiang Lu hold out her hand, placing his fingertips on her pulse.

Intimidated by his presence, Jiang Lu slightly raised her hand. Could this man before her have noticed the abnormality in her Spiritual Roots as well?