Determined to Compete in Alchemy

Lin Fan waved a hand to stop Wang Delu, his expression calm and his tone steady, showing none of the emotional loss of control one would expect from someone enraged by provocation. "I know what I'm doing. Manager Wang, please rest assured."

Yet Wang Delu was still anxious beyond measure. He assumed Lin Fan, young and hot-blooded, had been muddled by a few bits of gossip, and hurriedly continued persuading him earnestly. "Young Master Lin, this absolutely cannot be done! In the path of Alchemy, everyone has their own strengths. These alchemists have immersed themselves in the Su Residence for years, and each has their own most skilled pill formula. If you compete against them by refining the pills they are best at, you will already have lost the advantage of terrain. Such a contest is truly unwise. If you insist on competing, then why not let this old man decide? I will choose several types of pills, and then you can compete with them in refining those pills!"

Seeing that he seemed unable to stop the contest between Lin Fan and the alchemists, Wang Delu could only come up with a compromise: he would decide which types of pills would be refined during the competition. This was also the fairest method for both sides. Moreover, if he made a few arrangements of his own—such as choosing pills the alchemists were not skilled at during the contest—he could quietly increase Lin Fan's chances of winning. This was the best solution Wang Delu could think of.

Lin Fan was someone Su Qingwei had specifically asked him to look after. Furthermore, he was a guest elder holding a golden token. If something went wrong under his watch and Lin Fan lost half his monthly salary, Su Qingwei would surely blame him once she learned of it. She might even suspect that he was outwardly obeying her orders while secretly defying them, colluding with the other alchemists to set Lin Fan up. Then he would truly be in trouble. Su Qingwei was the family head's beloved daughter; if she set her mind on targeting him, he would no longer be able to keep his position as manager.

The surrounding alchemists, however, had none of these concerns. They were paid in silver to handle Alchemy and did not care about such twists and turns. Now that they heard Lin Fan was putting up half of his monthly thousand-tael salary as the wager, while their side would merely be unable to complain anymore if they lost, they realized that even defeat would cost them virtually nothing. One by one, their eyes lit up.

The few alchemists who had been whispering behind Lin Fan's back, speaking ill of him in secret, had also lost all traces of wariness and panic from their eyes. Only deep greed remained in their gaze as the alchemists exchanged looks.

One elderly alchemist with half-white hair and beard stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Young Master Lin, Manager Wang has already made himself very clear. Since you insist on gambling, then we shall accept this match. But we have heard that your martial cultivation is profound, while we possess no real martial cultivation at all. The highest among us is merely at the Skin Tempering Realm. If you regret it afterward, there will be nothing we can do, will there?"

Clearly, although these alchemists dearly wished to make this wager, they feared Lin Fan would renege afterward and refuse to honestly hand over five hundred taels to them each month.

Lin Fan's expression remained calm at those words. His gaze swept across everyone present, and his voice rang out clearly.

"Rest assured, everyone. I, Lin Fan, am certainly not one to go back on my word. But since you have raised this concern, then to put your minds at ease, let us invite more of the Su Family's senior figures here at once. They can come to our Pill Pavilion as judges and witnesses, overseeing this competition. That way, if I were to regret it afterward, once word spread, what face would I have left to remain in the Su Residence or this town?"

Upon hearing Lin Fan's words, a trace of uncontrollable delight flooded the eyes of several alchemists. They had not expected Lin Fan to be so bold, to take matters to such an absolute extreme. Hmph, you chose this yourself. Let's see what you do after losing the contest! There was no possibility that their side would lose. Every one of these alchemists had studied pills for decades, and they would be competing with the pills they were each best at. How could they possibly lose to a yellow-mouthed brat? If they still lost under such circumstances, then these old alchemists might as well find a block of tofu and smash their heads into it.

Seeing Lin Fan remain so stubborn and resolute, even blocking off his own path of retreat, Wang Delu saw the matter growing ever larger and hurriedly instructed a nearby medicine boy to notify Su Qingwei.

Meanwhile, Lin Fan and the alchemists began sending the remaining pill boys throughout the Su Family estate, inviting every important person who was free to come witness this contest.

Elsewhere, at the Su Family Shop, Su Qingwei heard that someone from the Pill Pavilion had come looking for her. The Pill Pavilion did occasionally send pills to the shop, but they were usually simply handed over to the servant girls below for registration. This was the first time someone had specifically asked to see her. As Su Qingwei came downstairs, the medicine boy hurriedly reported the events in the Pill Pavilion, his face full of panic.

These pill boys were apprentices to alchemists. Ordinarily, they handled miscellaneous tasks in the Pill Pavilion, such as sorting medicinal herbs, running errands to retrieve pills, and cleaning the pill rooms. They would never dare deceive her.

When Su Qingwei heard that Lin Fan had decided to gamble against the alchemists after overhearing some of their complaints behind his back, wagering half of his thousand taels of silver each month—and even promising to give half of every future monthly thousand-tael salary to the Pill Pavilion—she was only mildly surprised. But then the pill boy continued, saying that in order to make those alchemists fully submit, Lin Fan intended to compete against them in refining the pills each of them was most skilled at.

Su Qingwei looked as if she had heard some wild fantasy. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly. "Is Lin Fan really this arrogant and conceited? But I thought his temperament was fairly decent. How did I fail to notice it before?"

"Miss, those masters have each immersed themselves in the Dao of pills for decades. Young Master Lin is still so young; this wager is far too dangerous. Manager Wang could not stop him no matter what he did, so he specially sent this servant to ask you to come take a look!"

Su Qingwei knew full well how capable the alchemists in the Su Residence were. Each of them held several treasured pill formulas close to their chest, having studied and refined them for decades. Their experience was seasoned, and their success rates were extremely high. At times, they could even refine quite a few high-grade pills.

Pills were also divided into grades: high-grade, mid-grade, and low-grade. For an ordinary alchemist, being able to refine a low-grade pill already counted as passing. Mid-grade pills required experienced alchemists, while high-grade pills depended on a certain amount of luck. Even veteran alchemists dared not claim they could produce high-grade pills in every batch. Their prices differed greatly as well.

Even if Lin Fan possessed extraordinary talent in Alchemy, he was ultimately still young, and he was competing with the pills those alchemists were each best at. Could it be that Lin Fan had become so desperate to cultivate martial arts that he had suffered qi deviation and gone mad?

"Come with me to the Pill Pavilion." Su Qingwei did not dare delay. She summoned several Su Family servants, left the shop, and hurried toward the Pill Pavilion in the rear courtyard. Along the way, she instructed two of them, "You two, quickly go notify the family head."

The family head was Su Qingwei's father, Su Yuanshan, who possessed Late Bone Tempering Realm cultivation. He was the pillar of the Su Family and its only Bone Tempering Realm expert. Lin Fan was, after all, a Bone Tempering Realm cultivator. If his cultivation technique had truly caused mental disorder, Su Yuanshan's presence would be enough to keep the situation under control.