Hong Qingliu waved a hand. "Don't try to comfort me, brat. I do have to spend a great deal of energy handling the sect's affairs.
"But there are several elders in the sect who are also Third Grade Alchemists. They hardly concern themselves with sect affairs at all, keeping their heads down and refining pills.
"Yet even though they spend more time on it than I do, they still haven't been able to break through their bottlenecks."
Chen Shi'an added, "Who knows? Once their opportunity arrives, those elders might become Fourth-Level Alchemists on the spot."
Hong Qingliu shook his head and sighed. "If they could break through, they would have done so long ago. Why would they have waited until now?"
At this, he gave a soft snort. "Stop trying to muddle your way through this, brat. I'm telling you, of everyone in the sect today, you're the one most likely to become a Fourth-Level Alchemist.
"In the future, the task of refining Origin-Replenishing Pills for our Earth Pill Sect will fall to you."
Chen Shi'an waved his hands repeatedly. "Sect Master, you mustn't put that burden on my shoulders. This little frame of mine can't take the weight. I couldn't bear it.
"I've only just broken through to the second level. I'm still a hundred and eight thousand miles away from becoming a Fourth-Level Alchemist."
Hong Qingliu raised his voice slightly. "I've always had a good eye for people. If I say you can do it, then you certainly can. You need to believe in yourself."
Chen Shi'an wore a bitter expression. "It's not a question of whether I believe in myself. This concerns the rise or fall of our Earth Pill Sect. The responsibility is too great.
"If I fail to become a Fourth-Level Alchemist, wouldn't that make