Completely Stunned

"It was simple. All you needed was to add three qian of Copper Crystal Sand." Knowing Master Mo was anxious, Su Chen did not beat around the bush and stated it directly.

At this, Master Mo whirled like a gale toward a cabinet. With agility utterly at odds with his age, he pulled open a drawer, took out a packet of Copper Crystal Sand, grabbed exactly three qian without even looking, and tossed it straight into the alchemy furnace, whose fire had not yet gone out.

Then, a column of black smoke suddenly surged from the furnace!

"It's over!"

Although the alchemy apprentices did not understand the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, they knew that such dense black smoke could only mean the refinement had failed. If even the smoke looked like this, would the pills inside not have been burnt to charcoal?

"It's all your fault! Why did you spout such nonsense? Look at the trouble you've caused now!"

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

Several alchemy apprentices immediately began complaining to Su Chen. This newly arrived brat had apparently gone mad, daring to make such wild claims before Master Mo. They could only hope he would not implicate them later.

But just as they were impatiently preparing to draw a clear line between themselves and Su Chen, a delighted howl suddenly came from the furnace!

"It worked!"

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

Not only were the four pills crystal-clear, full in color, and the size of longans, but they also gave off an enticing fragrance. One glance was enough to tell that they were pills of superior quality.

"It... it worked?" The alchemy apprentices were all petrified on the spot. How could this be possible? How could a novice little apprentice who had only just begun his journey know how to refine the Snow Lotus Creation Pill?

"Hahaha, they really are Snow Lotus Creation Pills! They really succeeded! Hahaha..." Master Mo held the four Snow Lotus Creation Pills in his hands, nearly weeping with joy. It was not that he was being overly undignified; this success had simply come too hard.

After quite a while, Master Mo finally calmed himself and walked over to Su Chen. He took a deep breath, bowed deeply, and said with profound respect, "This old man, Mo Shiqiu, greets Master!"

The moment those words came out, everyone present froze. The dignified president of the Alchemy Guild was showing such reverence to a fifteen-year-old youth and even calling him Master? Were they dreaming?

Su Chen had not expected Master Mo to treat him with such respect. After all, Master Mo was unlike Master Qian; he was an alchemy grandmaster of extraordinarily lofty standing. At Master Mo's level, even the Anyang Commandery Prince had to show him some respect.

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

This showed just how lofty Master Mo's standing was in the eyes of the world.

Su Chen hurriedly helped Master Mo up. "Old Mo, as the president of the Alchemy Guild, how can you bow to me?" A wave of emotion rose in his heart. In his previous life, he had only seen Master Mo once from afar at an alchemy convention. At that time, Master Mo had been an alchemy grandmaster revered by thousands, while Su Chen had merely been an insignificant ordinary person beneath the stage.

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

On the other hand, Su Chen treated Master Mo with even greater respect because he had understood Master Mo's character in his previous life. He knew that Master Mo possessed noble integrity and cared deeply for the common people. He often gave pills to the poor for free, and he frequently waived treatment fees for impoverished martial artists who were severely injured or seriously ill.

Su Chen remembered that in his previous life, an epidemic had once broken out in Clear River City. Master Mo had led several subordinates in fighting without sleep or rest for twenty consecutive days before finally bringing the epidemic under control.

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

"Master is too modest." Master Mo earnestly shook his head of white hair. "Since you were able to guide me in refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, you deserve to be called Master by me!"

After saying that, Master Mo could not help asking, "Master, there is still one thing I do not understand. I would like to ask where exactly my refinement went wrong this time. Why did it fail?"

Su Chen shook his head. "Your refining process could actually be called nearly perfect. You merely overlooked one thing: the alchemy furnace!"

"The alchemy furnace?"

Master Mo was startled. Looking at the purple furnace beside him, he asked in confusion, "Is there something wrong with this Purple Silver Furnace?"

The Purple Silver Furnace was one of the furnaces he handled most smoothly. Its cold attribute was also highly suitable for refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, so there should not have been any problem with it.

"You only saw that the Purple Silver Furnace's cold attribute was suitable for refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, but you overlooked the fact that the Purple Silver Furnace contains Infiltrating Silver Stone. When heated, Infiltrating Silver Stone volatilizes in small amounts. When it encounters the Netherheart Flower within the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, it produces many impurities. That is why you failed every time you used the Purple Silver Furnace to refine the Snow Lotus Creation Pill."

"However, if you add Copper Crystal Sand just before the refinement is about to fail, the Copper Crystal Sand can purify the impurities within the finished pills. Then you can refine perfect Snow Lotus Creation Pills."

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

That was right. What Su Chen said might have sounded simple in principle. Yet to be able to say it required an extremely thorough familiarity with the Purple Silver Furnace, the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, and the attributes and characteristics of all sorts of materials.

Both the Purple Silver Furnace and the Snow Lotus Creation Pill were exceptionally obscure things. Even veterans who had immersed themselves in the Dao of alchemy for decades might not know them so comprehensively.

Even taking ten thousand steps back, even if one knew, it would still be difficult to link all that knowledge together in such a short time and analyze the reason for the failed refinement.

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

Master Mo's heart pounded violently. He had never imagined that such a peerless expert had been hidden in Clear River City, and that he had never even heard of this person before.

With that thought, Master Mo cautiously asked, "May I know Master's honored name and where you reside?"

"Master Mo is highly virtuous and greatly respected. If you keep calling me Master, you will be shortening my life." Su Chen said, "Just call me Su Chen."

"So it is Young Master Su." Master Mo nodded, softly murmuring Su Chen's name. Then he suddenly seemed to recall something, and his face filled with shock. "So you are Su Chen?"

Su Chen looked at him in confusion. Master Mo could not bother with anything else and hurriedly asked, "Half a month ago, were you the one who cured an old man bitten by a Coldheart Python at Five Treasures Hall?"

"That matter?" Su Chen smiled. "It was me."

"It was simple. All you needed was to add three qian of Copper Crystal Sand." Knowing Master Mo was anxious, Su Chen did not beat around the bush and stated it directly.

At this, Master Mo whirled like a gale toward a cabinet. With agility utterly at odds with his age, he pulled open a drawer, took out a packet of Copper Crystal Sand, grabbed exactly three qian without even looking, and tossed it straight into the alchemy furnace, whose fire had not yet gone out.

Then, a column of black smoke suddenly surged from the furnace!

"It's over!"

Although the alchemy apprentices did not understand the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, they knew that such dense black smoke could only mean the refinement had failed. If even the smoke looked like this, would the pills inside not have been burnt to charcoal?

"It's all your fault! Why did you spout such nonsense? Look at the trouble you've caused now!"

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

Several alchemy apprentices immediately began complaining to Su Chen. This newly arrived brat had apparently gone mad, daring to make such wild claims before Master Mo. They could only hope he would not implicate them later.

But just as they were impatiently preparing to draw a clear line between themselves and Su Chen, a delighted howl suddenly came from the furnace!

"It worked!"

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

Not only were the four pills crystal-clear, full in color, and the size of longans, but they also gave off an enticing fragrance. One glance was enough to tell that they were pills of superior quality.

"It... it worked?" The alchemy apprentices were all petrified on the spot. How could this be possible? How could a novice little apprentice who had only just begun his journey know how to refine the Snow Lotus Creation Pill?

"Hahaha, they really are Snow Lotus Creation Pills! They really succeeded! Hahaha..." Master Mo held the four Snow Lotus Creation Pills in his hands, nearly weeping with joy. It was not that he was being overly undignified; this success had simply come too hard.

After quite a while, Master Mo finally calmed himself and walked over to Su Chen. He took a deep breath, bowed deeply, and said with profound respect, "This old man, Mo Shiqiu, greets Master!"

The moment those words came out, everyone present froze. The dignified president of the Alchemy Guild was showing such reverence to a fifteen-year-old youth and even calling him Master? Were they dreaming?

Su Chen had not expected Master Mo to treat him with such respect. After all, Master Mo was unlike Master Qian; he was an alchemy grandmaster of extraordinarily lofty standing. At Master Mo's level, even the Anyang Commandery Prince had to show him some respect.

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

This showed just how lofty Master Mo's standing was in the eyes of the world.

Su Chen hurriedly helped Master Mo up. "Old Mo, as the president of the Alchemy Guild, how can you bow to me?" A wave of emotion rose in his heart. In his previous life, he had only seen Master Mo once from afar at an alchemy convention. At that time, Master Mo had been an alchemy grandmaster revered by thousands, while Su Chen had merely been an insignificant ordinary person beneath the stage.

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

On the other hand, Su Chen treated Master Mo with even greater respect because he had understood Master Mo's character in his previous life. He knew that Master Mo possessed noble integrity and cared deeply for the common people. He often gave pills to the poor for free, and he frequently waived treatment fees for impoverished martial artists who were severely injured or seriously ill.

Su Chen remembered that in his previous life, an epidemic had once broken out in Clear River City. Master Mo had led several subordinates in fighting without sleep or rest for twenty consecutive days before finally bringing the epidemic under control.

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

"Master is too modest." Master Mo earnestly shook his head of white hair. "Since you were able to guide me in refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, you deserve to be called Master by me!"

After saying that, Master Mo could not help asking, "Master, there is still one thing I do not understand. I would like to ask where exactly my refinement went wrong this time. Why did it fail?"

Su Chen shook his head. "Your refining process could actually be called nearly perfect. You merely overlooked one thing: the alchemy furnace!"

"The alchemy furnace?"

Master Mo was startled. Looking at the purple furnace beside him, he asked in confusion, "Is there something wrong with this Purple Silver Furnace?"

The Purple Silver Furnace was one of the furnaces he handled most smoothly. Its cold attribute was also highly suitable for refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, so there should not have been any problem with it.

"You only saw that the Purple Silver Furnace's cold attribute was suitable for refining the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, but you overlooked the fact that the Purple Silver Furnace contains Infiltrating Silver Stone. When heated, Infiltrating Silver Stone volatilizes in small amounts. When it encounters the Netherheart Flower within the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, it produces many impurities. That is why you failed every time you used the Purple Silver Furnace to refine the Snow Lotus Creation Pill."

"However, if you add Copper Crystal Sand just before the refinement is about to fail, the Copper Crystal Sand can purify the impurities within the finished pills. Then you can refine perfect Snow Lotus Creation Pills."

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

That was right. What Su Chen said might have sounded simple in principle. Yet to be able to say it required an extremely thorough familiarity with the Purple Silver Furnace, the Snow Lotus Creation Pill, and the attributes and characteristics of all sorts of materials.

Both the Purple Silver Furnace and the Snow Lotus Creation Pill were exceptionally obscure things. Even veterans who had immersed themselves in the Dao of alchemy for decades might not know them so comprehensively.

Even taking ten thousand steps back, even if one knew, it would still be difficult to link all that knowledge together in such a short time and analyze the reason for the failed refinement.

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

Master Mo's heart pounded violently. He had never imagined that such a peerless expert had been hidden in Clear River City, and that he had never even heard of this person before.

With that thought, Master Mo cautiously asked, "May I know Master's honored name and where you reside?"

"Master Mo is highly virtuous and greatly respected. If you keep calling me Master, you will be shortening my life." Su Chen said, "Just call me Su Chen."

"So it is Young Master Su." Master Mo nodded, softly murmuring Su Chen's name. Then he suddenly seemed to recall something, and his face filled with shock. "So you are Su Chen?"

Su Chen looked at him in confusion. Master Mo could not bother with anything else and hurriedly asked, "Half a month ago, were you the one who cured an old man bitten by a Coldheart Python at Five Treasures Hall?"

"That matter?" Su Chen smiled. "It was me."