Alchemy Begins

Su Yuanshan did not speak at once. His gaze first swept over the several alchemists whose faces were alight with joy and expectation, then returned to Lin Fan, whose expression remained calm. His demeanor was imposing.

Thoughts surged through Su Yuanshan's mind. On the way here, he had caught some of the discussions and arguments from the people in the courtyard outside the Pill Pavilion. As a Bone Tempering Realm expert, his hearing and eyesight were exceptionally sharp.

He raised his eyes and looked Lin Fan over. Lin Fan was tall and straight, a little over seven feet in height, dressed in a simple fitted outfit of blue cloth. His ink-black hair was casually tied behind him, and his features were sharply defined, his brows and eyes fairly handsome. Even in the face of the spectators' chatter filling the courtyard, he remained neither humble nor overbearing, composed and calm.

Even setting everything else aside, without mentioning Lin Fan's Bone Tempering Realm cultivation, this bearing alone made Su Yuanshan regard him more highly.

"Lin Fan, are you certain you want to wager?" Su Yuanshan asked lightly. "Yes. I ask the Family Head to bear witness." Sensing the martial aura that was even stronger than his own, Lin Fan confirmed that the man before him was the Su Family's Bone Tempering Realm Family Head.

"Very well. Then let us begin." After asking a few simple questions, Su Yuanshan immediately announced the start of the alchemy contest. Since the third floor of the Pill Pavilion had limited space, they ultimately decided to hold the competition in the courtyard outside the pavilion.

Several martial experts from the residence were dispatched to carry the alchemy furnaces from the third-floor alchemy room into the center of the Pill Pavilion's courtyard. The contest would be held in the open air. Before long, six alchemy furnaces stood in a row. Lin Fan and the alchemists stepped forward, each selecting one furnace.

Seeing that the contest was about to begin, the crowd gathered in a circle around the courtyard began to murmur excitedly.

The courtyard floor was paved with bluestone, and six bronze alchemy furnaces sat quietly at its center. The air was thick with tension.

Countless pairs of eyes were fixed on every furnace and every alchemist, keeping watch at all times. This completely cut off any possibility of cheating and made things exceedingly fair. In full view of everyone, even if Su Yuanshan had wanted to give Lin Fan special treatment or manipulate things behind the scenes, it would have been impossible. The five alchemists were quite satisfied with these arrangements. This way, while refining their own pills, they could keep an eye on Lin Fan and see with their own eyes whether he truly was an arrogant braggart.

The five alchemists each began counting and inspecting the medicinal ingredients required for their pills. The pills they had chosen were all Three Body-Tempering Realms pills they had studied for decades, each one their greatest specialty. It could be said that even with their eyes closed, they could refine at least low-grade pills. If they put their minds to it, high-grade pills would not be difficult to produce.

Standing before his furnace, Lin Fan placed the fifteen portions of ingredients he had finished checking onto the medicine rack beside him, one portion at a time. His movements were unhurried, without the slightest trace of nerves.

Su Qingwei stood amid the crowd, her beautiful eyes never leaving Lin Fan. Watching his practiced movements, her heart hung slightly in suspense. His opponents this time were all the residence's finest alchemists. Each of those alchemists only needed to refine three batches of pills, while Lin Fan had to refine fifteen batches at once. Refining batch after batch without pause like a wheel turning would place an enormous strain on his mind. The slightest oversight could cause him to lose everything.

Yet before so many people, she could not say anything to Lin Fan. She could only suppress her worries, her fingers unconsciously tightening around her sleeve. On the other side of the crowd, Su Yuanshan also wanted to take a good look at whether this reportedly gifted young man possessed genuine skill or was merely an arrogant fool who knew how to talk big.

"Let me reiterate the rules." Su Yuanshan's voice rose slowly, echoing through the courtyard outside the Pill Pavilion. "Both sides will compete in refining pills under the joint supervision of everyone present. Victory or defeat will be determined by refining time and pill quality. Anyone caught falsifying results will be expelled from the Su Family at once. Now, the contest officially begins!"

As Su Yuanshan's words fell, the six furnaces were lit almost simultaneously. Blazing charcoal fires burned in the fire chambers, crimson flames illuminating the faces of the six alchemists. Warm, smoky air slowly rose from the charcoal as the furnaces heated up. The lingering fragrance of pills within them gradually drifted through the Pill Pavilion courtyard. The surrounding Su Family members sharpened their focus, all eyes locked tightly on the field as they watched every alchemist's techniques and movements.

Once the five old Su Family alchemists began refining, they swiftly settled into their rhythm. Their expressions were solemn, while their hands moved like flowing clouds and running water. They remained extremely confident about the outcome of this contest. Lin Fan had to refine fifteen batches in succession. Such repeated exertion would heavily burden his mind. Before many rounds had passed, one misstep from Lin Fan would expose a flaw.

One old alchemist gave a low shout and flicked his wrist, sending several portions of herbs accurately into the furnace opening. The others refused to lag behind, grabbing their ingredients and feeding them into their furnaces in order. Every step was seasoned and skillful. The herbs entered the scorching furnaces and immediately released waves of rich, varied fragrances that mixed together and filled the entire courtyard.

Lin Fan stood before the furnace at the very edge. Faced with the pressure brought by all five men working at once, his expression remained as calm as ever. Not a single one of his movements was thrown into disorder.

As the alchemy contest continued, some of the surrounding spectators began whispering among themselves. Yet none dared speak loudly, afraid of disturbing the alchemy within the field. Time trickled by, and the medicinal fragrance from the furnaces grew ever richer.

The first furnace to show activity was, unexpectedly, Lin Fan's. Its body trembled faintly, and the pill fragrance suddenly intensified. Round, smooth pills slowly took shape within the furnace.

"The first batch is about to form!" someone exclaimed in a low voice.

"That boy named Lin Fan actually has some skill. He's the first to finish refining pills."

"Fast doesn't prove anything. Maybe they're all just low-grade pills inside." Others were unconcerned, feeling that speed alone was nothing remarkable.

At that moment, everyone's gaze turned toward Lin Fan's furnace. Even the old alchemists beside him could not help casting sideways glances. This young man's refining speed was actually so fast.

Before long, the pills within the furnace had fully condensed. Lin Fan raised a hand, pressed down on the furnace lid, and lifted it slightly. A clear, rich medicinal fragrance instantly surged outward, gentle and lingering, reaching every person in the courtyard.

Several pills lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace. Each was round and full, with a lustrous, radiant color. Fine pill patterns faintly flowed across their surfaces. Lin Fan took them out and handed them to several Su Family members responsible for inspection.

"They're high-grade pills! They have pill patterns!" One of the Su Family inspectors narrowed his eyes and blurted out in shock. The Su Family was in the pill business to begin with, handling countless pills every day. Though those Su Family members might not know how to refine pills, they were highly skilled at judging their quality.

The others jolted at his words and hurried over. They took turns receiving the pills, lifting them to inspect them closely, rubbing their surfaces with their fingertips, then bringing them near their noses to sense their medicinal potency. The suspicion on every Su Family member's face gradually turned into complete astonishment.

"There is no mistake. These are genuine high-grade Bone-Fixing Pills! Their shape is flawless, without any chips or cracks, and the pill patterns are fine and smooth."

"The medicinal potency has been gathered exceptionally well, without any dissipation or loss. Using the same ingredients to produce high-grade pills requires control over heat and timing that has reached the summit of perfection. Even an ordinary master alchemist might not produce a single high-grade pill in ten furnaces!"

In this world's alchemy, one portion of ingredients produced one pill. However, in practice, some skilled alchemists would, in order to save time, add multiple portions of ingredients at once when refining the same kind of pill. That way, they could produce multiple pills.