A Mere Eighth-Tier Pill?

After a while, Cao Ying arrived at the entrance to the inner hall. Standing outside, she took a deep breath and composed herself before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

As soon as she entered, Cao Ying spotted Jiang Yuan seated to one side, then saw her teacher, Xuan Kongzi, in the seat of honor.

She bowed slightly in greeting. "Teacher, you wanted to see me?"

Xuan Kongzi nodded and motioned for her to sit. Only after Cao Ying had settled into her seat did he speak slowly. "You should know why I called you here today. What exactly are your thoughts on your engagement to Jiang Yuan?"

Cao Ying fell silent for a moment upon hearing this. She did not deny the engagement and spoke plainly. "Yes, there is an engagement. His grandfather saved my grandfather's life back then, so our families arranged this marriage."

"But no one ever asked for my opinion, from beginning to end. I don't agree to it."

Xuan Kongzi frowned. "The elders of both families arranged this engagement. Once a promise has been made, it should be honored. How can you go back on it so casually?"

"Teacher, I know you value integrity and keeping promises, but have you ever considered how I feel? If I marry someone who can't even refine a Third-Tier Pill, what will become of my future?"

At this, Xuan Kongzi's expression darkened, and his tone grew stern. "Whatever you say, an engagement is an engagement. You are my disciple, and my disciple cannot have any stain on her reputation. You cannot break your word and betray a promise."

"Since your families arranged this marriage, you must marry Jiang Yuan."

Hearing her teacher take such a hard line only deepened Cao Ying's resentment, and she pressed her lips tightly together.

She turned to look at Jiang Yuan beside her, only to find him sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, apparently cultivating.

He was still pretending to cultivate at a time like this?

Cao Ying could not help sneering and mocking him. "What are you putting on an act for?"

"You're only playing the victim to get my teacher to intervene. Do you think I can't see through you?"

Jiang Yuan was immersed in cultivation, thrilled beyond measure as he felt the Dou Qi within him continuing to grow.

He had not stopped after breaking through to One-Star Dou Emperor. While Xuan Kongzi and Cao Ying were talking, he had continued circulating his cultivation method for a while longer.

By now, his Dou Qi had grown considerably denser, and reaching Two-Star Dou Emperor no longer seemed far off.

He was thoroughly enjoying himself when he suddenly heard someone speaking to him, so he slowly opened his eyes and stopped cultivating.

Once his eyes were open, Jiang Yuan saw Cao Ying glaring at him, her face filled with unmistakable disdain and coldness.

But Jiang Yuan could not be bothered to argue with her. After all, he was in an excellent mood.

This Dou Di bloodline was fucking incredible. How little time had passed, and he was already a One-Star Dou Emperor? If this kept up, reaching Dou Zong and Dou Zun would only be a matter of time.

His silence only emboldened Cao Ying. Crossing her arms, she said coldly, "How about this? I can agree to the marriage."

"If you can refine an eighth-tier pill, I'll marry you. How does that sound?"

Xuan Kongzi's expression changed at once, and he said disapprovingly, "Cao Ying, aren't you deliberately making things difficult for him? Do you think eighth-tier pills are that easy to refine? Jiang Yuan is only an ordinary disciple. Even among the Pill Tower's elders, very few can refine eighth-tier pills."

Cao Ying, however, replied dismissively, "Teacher, I'm not making things difficult for him."

"If he wants to marry me, he should at least show some ability. Surely he can't expect me to marry him willingly just because of an engagement. I, Cao Ying, am the best of the Pill Tower's younger generation, and I can refine seventh-tier pills. How could a man who can't even refine eighth-tier pills be worthy of me?"

As she spoke, Cao Ying took a scroll from her Storage Ring and tossed it straight onto the table in front of Jiang Yuan.

"This is a recipe for an eighth-tier pill. I'll leave it here."

"If you really can refine it, I, Cao Ying, will marry you immediately without another word, and I will never go back on my promise."

"But if you can't, don't blame me for sparing you no dignity. We'll call off the engagement, and you can stop using it as an excuse."

After saying this, Cao Ying turned to Xuan Kongzi. "Teacher, isn't my proposal fair?"

"I haven't rejected the engagement outright. I've given him a chance. Whether he can seize it is up to him."

Xuan Kongzi opened his mouth to speak, but swallowed the words before they came out.

Although Cao Ying's words sounded fairly reasonable, and she had indeed offered a chance, anyone with eyes could see that she was deliberately setting an impossible condition.

How could an ordinary disciple who could not even refine Third-Tier Pills possibly refine an eighth-tier pill?

It was simply an impossible task.

Xuan Kongzi sighed and was about to speak up on Jiang Yuan's behalf, but before he could say anything, Jiang Yuan suddenly spoke.

"Isn't it just a mere eighth-tier pill?"

The inner hall instantly fell silent. Xuan Kongzi froze, and Cao Ying was dumbstruck as well.

Both thought they had misheard him.

Cao Ying frowned at Jiang Yuan. "What did you say?"

"I said, what's so difficult about a mere eighth-tier pill?" Jiang Yuan repeated, then reached for the recipe scroll on the table and tucked it into his robes.

After staring at him for quite some time, Cao Ying could not help laughing aloud.

Her laughter carried unmistakable mockery. "You're bluffing, aren't you?"

"You? A useless fool who can't even refine Third-Tier Pills, claiming you can refine an eighth-tier pill?"

"Do you know what an eighth-tier pill means? You can count the people in the entire Pill Tower who can refine one on a single hand. What is an ordinary disciple like you doing making such outrageous claims?"

Jiang Yuan did not get angry at her words. Instead, he smiled. "Didn't you just say you'd marry me as long as I refined it? If I really do, you'd better not go back on your word."

His brimming confidence made Cao Ying pause for a moment, but her look of disdain quickly returned.

"Rest assured, I, Cao Ying, keep my word."

"Forget eighth-tier pills. If you could refine even a single seventh-tier pill, I'd think more highly of you. Unfortunately, you can't even refine third-tier pills, yet here you are boasting."

Beside them, Xuan Kongzi looked at Jiang Yuan with a deep frown, also feeling that his words had been far too rash.

What did refining an eighth-tier pill entail?

Refining an eighth-tier pill required not only exceptionally powerful soul strength, but also absolute mastery over flame control. The age and combination of the Medicinal Ingredients had to meet extremely exacting requirements as well.

Forget an ordinary disciple—even he would not lightly attempt to refine an eighth-tier pill without complete confidence.

Could this young man, Jiang Yuan, have been so angered by Cao Ying that he had lost his head and said such a thing?

But then Xuan Kongzi reconsidered. Jiang Yuan had just suffered such serious injuries, so it was only natural for his emotions to be unstable.

He quickly spoke up to smooth things over. "All right, all right. We'll discuss this another time."

"Cao Ying, go back for now. We'll revisit the engagement another day."

Cao Ying could tell that her teacher was trying to give Jiang Yuan a way out, but she had no intention of letting him off so easily. She sneered. "Go ahead, then. Let's see just how you're going to refine an eighth-tier pill!"