Astounding the Crowd

Elder Xing Yun froze for a moment, as though he had heard an utterly unbelievable joke. His expression was both absurd and amused. "What did you say? You can refine Qi-Gathering Pills?"

He had thought Su Chen had come up with some good reason to defend himself.

Yet after all that, it turned out to be such an absurd claim.

Su Chen could refine Qi-Gathering Pills?

Impossible. Elder Xing Yun was willing to wager his entire fortune that since entering the Orthodox Unity Sect, Su Chen had never even touched a pill furnace.

As for before he had entered the Orthodox Unity Sect, Su Chen had only been twelve years old then. Even if he had studied alchemy, how many days could he possibly have studied?

Qi-Gathering Pills were not something that could be refined so easily!

"Someone, bring him a pill furnace! I want to see exactly how he plans to casually refine Qi-Gathering Pills!" ??

Elder Xing Yun said coldly. In his eyes, Su Chen's words were nothing less than an insult to the profession of alchemists.

Someone who had likely never even touched a pill furnace claimed that he could refine Qi-Gathering Pills?

He wanted to see how Su Chen would refine them.

At Elder Xing Yun's command, two servants soon carried a large bronze pill furnace as tall as a person into the great hall.

Furthermore, Elder Xing Yun even had someone prepare a set of materials for refining Qi-Gathering Pills for Su Chen.

Under normal circumstances, one set of such materials was worth a thousand gold. Yet in order to make Su Chen reveal his true colors on the spot, Elder Xing Yun did not hesitate to take one out. He had truly paid a steep price.

"Since you claim that you can refine Qi-Gathering Pills, then refine them here in the hall right now, so everyone can clearly see just how brilliant your alchemy skills truly are." Elder Xing Yun sneered mockingly.

He thought Su Chen would back down.

But Su Chen's face remained calm, without the slightest hint of retreat. He merely looked faintly at Elder Xing Yun.

The chill in that gaze caused Elder Xing Yun's words to catch in his throat, and an uncontrollable shiver rose in his heart.

Even he himself did not know why he felt fear before a mere young disciple!

Su Chen calmly withdrew his gaze, then raised his right palm and struck the pill furnace.

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> The next moment!

The bronze pill furnace suddenly trembled violently, and its lid, along with the medicinal dregs inside, flew high into the air.

This sight made Elder Xing Yun's eyelids twitch again.

How could Elder Xing Yun not recognize Su Chen's move? It was called Furnace Clearing—using the hidden force within one's body to directly clear out the medicinal residue left behind from the previous refinement.

If those residues were not thoroughly removed, they would severely affect the next refinement, causing impurities to enter the next batch of pills and resulting in failure or a drop in pill quality.

However, ordinary alchemists used specialized tools to clear their furnaces. Very few could perform Furnace Clearing directly with hidden force without relying on external objects.

Yet Su Chen had done it!

Elder Xing Yun narrowed his eyes, an uneasy premonition rising within him.

Could it be that Su Chen truly could refine Qi-Gathering Pills?

No, that was impossible!

That Furnace Clearing just now had to have been a coincidence.

Compared with Elder Xing Yun's complicated thoughts, the thoughts of most disciples present were much simpler. They had not understood Su Chen's Furnace Clearing step at all.

"What is Su Chen doing?"

"Is he performing tricks? Hahaha..."

But Su Chen's next action immediately wiped the smiles from their faces.

Su Chen flicked his finger, shooting a spark from his fingertips into the space beneath the pill furnace. Instantly, roaring flames blazed beneath it!

This step was called Fire Ignition!

If they had not understood the Furnace Clearing step just now, then Su Chen's skillful Fire Ignition technique undoubtedly left them shocked.

Even Elder Xing Yun revealed a stunned expression. If Furnace Clearing could still be dismissed as coincidence, then this Fire Ignition step was undoubtedly genuine alchemist skill.

When had Su Chen become an alchemist?

Before Elder Xing Yun could think further, Su Chen swept out a hand and sent the prepared set of materials beside the pill furnace into it.

Refining Qi-Gathering Pills required six kinds of ingredients. The order in which each ingredient was added and the control of the heat were both crucial; otherwise, the refinement could easily fail.

Yet Su Chen tossed all the ingredients in at once, completely ignoring the proper order of addition!

Tempering!

Purification!

Pill formation!

All in one fluid motion!

The entire process took less than two incense sticks' worth of time.

Although Su Chen had been reborn into the body of a fifteen-year-old, his memories were still those of an Alchemy Emperor. Refining a lowest-grade first-rank pill like a Qi-Gathering Pill was easier to him than eating and drinking.

While everyone still stood there with their mouths agape, dense white mist had already drifted from the pill furnace, accompanied by waves of clear pill fragrance.

This was the sign of successful pill formation!

Su Chen unhurriedly raised his right palm again and lightly struck the pill furnace. The lid flew open once more, and pearl-white pills flew out of the furnace one after another.

Each completed Qi-Gathering Pill was the size of a longan, crystalline and lovely.

Su Chen casually picked up a porcelain plate to catch them. The Qi-Gathering Pills landed on it one by one, making crisp sounds like pearls striking a jade plate, exceptionally pleasing to the ear.

In stark contrast to that pleasant sound were the extremely ugly expressions on Elder Xing Yun's and Lu Yuan's faces.

Even if they were beaten to death, they would never have imagined that Su Chen would truly refine Qi-Gathering Pills.

"Impossible, right?"

"When did Su Chen learn to refine pills?"

The disciples present were also shocked beyond measure!

They had thought Su Chen refining pills on the spot would only make a fool of himself, yet he had truly refined Qi-Gathering Pills.

"Let this old man examine them!" Elder Xing Yun strode over and grabbed several pills from the porcelain plate.

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He refused to believe that what Su Chen had refined were real Qi-Gathering Pills!

Yet the moment he held the pills in his hand, inspected them, and smelled them, Elder Xing Yun's expression immediately darkened further.

With his discernment, how could he fail to see that these truly were Qi-Gathering Pills? Moreover, every pill was full in color, evenly formed, and alluring—clearly of superior quality!

In less than two incense sticks' worth of time, Su Chen had refined a furnace full of superior-grade Qi-Gathering Pills!

This undoubtedly overturned Elder Xing Yun's and Lu Yuan's framing scheme completely.

Just as Su Chen had said, if someone could casually refine Qi-Gathering Pills, would he need to go through so much trouble to steal them?

After all, the raw materials for Qi-Gathering Pills were not particularly precious. What was precious was merely the skill required to refine them.

"What is going on? Su Chen really refined Qi-Gathering Pills. Could he actually be a hidden alchemy genius?"

"If he can really refine them this easily, then it does seem like there would be no need for him to take such a huge risk to steal them."

"Could Elder Xing Yun truly have wronged him?"

Elder Xing Yun's expression darkened. Today, he had been absolutely certain that he could destroy Su Chen's future in one stroke and expel him from the sect.

Yet he had not expected Su Chen to refine Qi-Gathering Pills on the spot at the crucial moment, causing all his plans to collapse completely!

"Well? Elder Xing Yun, will you still refuse to admit that you and Lu Yuan joined forces to frame me?" Su Chen asked calmly.

How could Elder Xing Yun admit it?

For one thing, Su Chen had no evidence proving that he had framed him. For another, he was a long-standing, highly respected elder of the Orthodox Unity Sect. How could his position possibly be shaken so easily by a mere disciple?

Elder Xing Yun immediately sneered. "Su Chen, there are indeed some doubts regarding your theft of the pills. This old man will investigate the matter thoroughly! Your punishment of having your dantian crippled and being expelled from the sect shall be temporarily revoked."

"However, you openly contradicted your elder and showed no respect for your teachers. As your senior, this old man must still give you a small punishment! From today onward, you will go down the mountain and serve as a menial disciple for one year. During that year, you are forbidden from cultivating!"