Completely Stunned

"It's simple. Just add three qian of copper crystal sand." Knowing how anxious Master Mo was, Su Chen wasted no time beating around the bush and spoke plainly.

At those words, Master Mo rushed to a cabinet like a whirlwind. With an agility utterly at odds with his age, he pulled open a drawer and took out a packet of copper crystal sand. Without even looking, he grabbed exactly three qian and tossed it straight into the pill furnace, whose fire was still burning.

Then a towering plume of black smoke suddenly billowed out of the furnace!

"It's ruined!"

Although the alchemy apprentices in the room knew nothing about the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, they knew that such thick black smoke surely meant the refinement had failed. With smoke like that, wouldn't the pills inside be burned to a crisp?

"This is all your fault! Why did you have to spout nonsense? Now you've caused a disaster!"

"Master Mo is going to fly into a rage! Don't drag us down with you!"

Several alchemy apprentices immediately began blaming Su Chen. Who knew what madness had possessed this newcomer, making him dare to shoot his mouth off in front of Master Mo? They only hoped he wouldn't implicate them!

But just as they were hastening to draw a clear line between themselves and Su Chen, an exultant cry suddenly rang out from beside the furnace!

"It worked!"

Under everyone's gaze, Master Mo took four snow-white pills from the furnace, his face alight with wild joy!

The four pills were translucent and lustrous, perfectly formed, and as large as longan fruit. They also gave off an enticing fragrance. One glance was enough to tell that they were pills of superb quality.

"It... it worked?" The alchemy apprentices all turned to stone where they stood. How was this possible? How could a fledgling apprentice know how to refine the Snow Lotus Creation Pill?

"Hahaha! They really are Snow Lotus Creation Pills! I really succeeded! Hahaha..." Holding the four Snow Lotus Creation Pills, Master Mo was almost moved to tears of joy. He could hardly be blamed for losing his composure. This success had been far too hard-won.

Only after a long while did Master Mo calm himself. He walked over to Su Chen, drew a deep breath, and bowed low, his voice filled with profound respect. "This old man, Mo Shiqiu, pays his respects to you, master!"

Those words left everyone present even more dumbstruck. The distinguished president of the Alchemy Guild was showing such reverence to a fifteen-year-old boy, even calling him master? Were they dreaming?

Su Chen had not expected Master Mo to treat him with such respect either. Unlike Master Qian, Master Mo was a master alchemist of exceptionally exalted standing. A man of his stature commanded deference even from the Anyang Commandery Prince.

Su Chen remembered hearing in his previous life that the Anyang Commandery Prince had personally declared, "Mo Shiqiu alone is worth more than a city of a million people," and bestowed upon him the title "Mo One City."

That alone showed how lofty Master Mo's standing was in the eyes of the world.

Su Chen hurriedly helped Master Mo straighten up. "Old Mo, you are the esteemed president of the Alchemy Guild. How could you bow to me?" Emotion welled up within him. In his previous life, he had seen Master Mo only once, from afar at an alchemy convention. Back then, Master Mo had been a master alchemist revered by thousands, while Su Chen had been nothing more than an unremarkable ordinary man below the stage.

Yet in this life, Master Mo was bowing to him with such respect. Everything was changing.

Another reason Su Chen treated Master Mo with greater re-

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-spect was that he had known of Master Mo's character in his previous life. He knew Master Mo was a man of noble integrity who cared for all living people. He often gave pills to the poor for free, and frequently waived treatment fees for impoverished martial artists with serious injuries or illnesses.

Su Chen remembered that a plague had once broken out in Clear River City in his previous life. It was Master Mo who had led several subordinates in battling it for twenty days without sleep or rest before finally bringing it under control.

Naturally, Su Chen would not begrudge such a man his respect.

"You are too modest, master." Master Mo earnestly shook his white-haired head. "The fact that you could guide me in refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill alone makes you worthy of being called master!"

After speaking, Master Mo could not help asking, "Master, there is still something I don't understand. May I ask exactly what went wrong with this refinement? Why was it failing?"

Su Chen shook his head. "Actually, your refinement procedure could already be called flawless. You simply overlooked one thing: the pill furnace!"

"The pill furnace?"

Master Mo froze, then looked at the purple furnace beside him in confusion. "Is there something wrong with this Purple Silver Furnace?"

The Purple Silver Furnace was one of the furnaces he found easiest to use. Its cold properties also made it well suited to refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill. There should not have been any problem.

"You only noticed that the Purple Silver Furnace's cold properties made it suitable for refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill. You overlooked the fact that it contains infiltrating silver stone. When heated, small amounts of infiltrating silver stone vaporize. When that comes into contact with the netherheart flower in the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, it produces a great many impurities. That is why you fail every time you use the Purple Silver Furnace to refine the Snow Lotus Creation Pill."

"But if you add copper crystal sand just before the refinement fails, it can purge the impurities from the forming pills, allowing you to produce perfect Snow Lotus Creation Pills."

After hearing Su Chen's explanation, Master Mo stood rooted to the spot, completely stunned.

Indeed, the principles behind Su Chen's explanation might not have sounded complicated. But to offer that explanation, one needed a thorough familiarity with the Purple Silver Furnace, the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, and the properties and characteristics of all the different ingredients.

Both the Purple Silver Furnace and the Snow Lotus Creation Pill were highly obscure. Even a veteran who had immersed himself in alchemy for decades might not possess such comprehensive knowledge.

Even conceding that someone did know all this, it would still be difficult to connect those pieces of knowledge in such a short time and determine the cause of the failed refinement.

Even Master Mo himself had not managed it, yet this fifteen-year-old boy had.

Master Mo's heart pounded with shock. He had never imagined that such an unparalleled expert was hidden in Clear River City-and that he had never even heard of him before!

With that thought, Master Mo asked tentatively, "May I ask your name, master, and where you live?"

"Master Mo, you are a man of great virtue and prestige. If you keep calling me master, you'll burden me with an honor I cannot bear," Su Chen said. "Just call me Su Chen."

"So you are Young Master Su." Master Mo nodded, softly repeating Su Chen's name. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he was overcome with astonishment. "You're that Su Chen?"

Su Chen looked at him in puzzlement. Master Mo brushed everything else aside and hurriedly asked, "Half a month ago, did you cure an old man at the Five Treasures Hall who had been bitten by a Coldheart Python?"

"Oh, you mean that?" Su Chen smiled. "Yes, that was me." "It's simple. Just add three qian of copper crystal sand." Knowing how anxious Master Mo was, Su Chen wasted no time beating around the bush and spoke plainly.

"Oh, you mean that?" Su Chen smiled. "Yes, that was me."