27: Alchemy

The next day, Lin Zhishou woke up with a jolt, springing up from the bed and looking around with a vigilant expression.

The room was completely silent, with nothing changed.

Lin Zhishou furrowed his brows and got out of bed to begin inspecting his surroundings.

Last night, after he drank the water, he felt his brain become muddled.

He realized right then that he might have been poisoned.

At that moment, his instinct was to call for help, but because the drug's effect was too potent, his vision went black the next second, and he lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, he was in his current situation.

After thoroughly searching the room, he discovered that he didn't seem to have lost any items, nor had anything strange been set up.

"Strange." He sat on the chair, lost in confusion.

Knock, knock, knock—

At this moment, the door was knocked.

"Come in." Lin Zhishou said.

Immediately after, Zhou Luo pushed the door open and entered with a smile, saying, "Uncle Shou, you're awake?"

"Did something happen last night?" Lin Zhishou asked.

Zhou Luo thought to himself: This old man really did notice something was wrong. It's a good thing I came.

"Uncle Shou, something did happen last night. Someone tried to sneak into your room," Zhou Luo said in a lowered voice.

"Who is so bold?" Lin Zhishou's expression darkened as he asked.

"I don't know. Fortunately, I saw it and went to call for people, which is how we drove that guy away," Zhou Luo said earnestly.

"Did the people from the tavern intervene?" Lin Zhishou asked with doubt.

"Yes." Zhou Luo nodded.

To make Lin Zhishou believe him, he specifically called over the man from last night.

Although the man didn't know what the Lin Family was up to, he already knew the antidote was in Zhou Luo's hands, so he cooperated and finished the act.

"Please rest assured, our Tianxia Tavern will definitely investigate this matter to the end," the man said very solemnly.

"Hm, notify me if there is any news." Lin Zhishou ultimately chose to believe it.

Zhou Luo took the opportunity to send the man out the door and secretly handed him a Medicinal Pill.

"Did the Master ask if the matter with the Lu Family was settled?" Zhou Luo whispered.

"It's settled. You can tell the Master to rest assured." Clutching the antidote, the man felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders.

...

The location for the Spirit Pill Gathering martial test was arranged at the Li Family's Alchemy site.

And the content of this martial test was naturally a competition of Alchemy.

Lin Zhishou took Zhou Luo and Lin Nian and headed straight for the Li Family.

As soon as they arrived at the Li Family's Alchemy site, Lin Zhishou was beaming with pride as he conversed with the Alchemists from other Immortal Families.

It wasn't time for the Alchemy competition yet, so others were either strolling around or pondering Alchemy techniques.

"Zhou Luo."

Just as Zhou Luo was studying whether the Pill Furnace in front of him was a Magical Artifact, a melodious female voice sounded behind him.

Zhou Luo turned to look.

Coming into view was a beautiful woman with a graceful figure. She was wearing a white dress with small floral prints, her waist was slender, and her legs were long. What stood out the most were her eyes, which were as bright and crystalline as sapphires.

"Who are you?" Zhou Luo asked, puzzled.

He had seen her before; it was at yesterday's Spirit Pill Gathering. She had been sitting in the Wang Family's area, so she must be an Alchemist from the Wang Family.

"Wang Yuwei." The other party stated directly.

Zhou Luo suddenly remembered.

The fourth-place finisher in this written test was named Wang Yuwei. It seemed it was this beautiful woman in front of him.

"Do you need something?" Zhou Luo asked, confused.

"Do you know the refining method for the Azure Water Pill?" Wang Yuwei stared at him and asked straight to the point.

In yesterday's written test, one of the questions tested the refining method for the Azure Water Pill.

As a First-Order High Grade Medicinal Pill, although the refining of the Azure Water Pill was recorded, for the younger generation present who had just started or had just become Alchemists, it was clearly a question that went beyond their level.

But since Zhou Luo was able to get ninety-seven points, he had obviously answered this ten-point question correctly.

"This..." Zhou Luo hesitated. He first glanced at Lin Zhishou and, upon finding that he was chatting and laughing with others, lowered his voice and said, "I saw it once and remembered it."

"Really?" Wang Yuwei's beautiful eyes brightened. She suddenly reached out, grabbed his right hand, and pulled him to the side.

Seeing that no one was paying attention, Wang Yuwei looked at him, her small face serious, and said, "Can you tell me?"

Zhou Luo was stunned.

The refining method for the Azure Water Pill should, by rights, be recorded in an Immortal Family, right?

Since this beautiful woman in front of him was chosen by the Family to participate in the Spirit Pill Gathering, how could she not know the refining method?

Seeming to see Zhou Luo's doubts, a flash of sadness crossed Wang Yuwei's eyes, and she whispered, "The Family won't let me touch these."

Such an answer couldn't help but surprise Zhou Luo.

The Wang Family was actually unwilling to provide the method for the Azure Water Pill to her?

As a First-Order High Grade Medicinal Pill, the main function of the Azure Water Pill was to treat injuries, and it also had a certain effect in repairing water-type Spiritual Roots.

It seemed there must be some hidden story behind this.

He couldn't rashly help; if he angered such a behemoth as the Wang Family, there would be no benefit to him.

"Sorry, because of Family reasons, I cannot tell you," Zhou Luo said, feeling troubled.

A flash of disappointment crossed Wang Yuwei's beautiful eyes as she slowly lowered her head, looking somewhat dejected.

"Since you need an Azure Water Pill, why don't you just buy one?" Zhou Luo couldn't help but ask.

Unfortunately, the other party didn't answer. She just gave him a deep look and said politely, "Sorry for the disturbance."

After speaking, she turned and left.

Watching that receding figure, Zhou Luo shook his head slightly.

Truly, every Family has its own difficult problems.

Just at this moment, the Family Head Li Shuntian arrived at the venue.

Everyone stood with respect, and Zhou Luo also returned to Lin Zhishou's side.

"Where is the Lu Family?" Li Shuntian looked at the few people present and asked, puzzled.

Everyone looked at each other, and no one answered.

Li Shuntian checked the time and then looked at the middle-aged man beside him: "The martial test is about to begin. Li Zehou, go and ask."

Li Zehou received the order and left.

The others took the opportunity to sit in their own designated areas.

Before long, Li Zehou rushed back, his expression somewhat anxious as he said, "Father, the Lu Family has left."

"Left? They gave up on participating in this Spirit Pill Gathering?" Li Shuntian frowned slightly.

"I heard from the people at the tavern that after the Lu Family finished breakfast, I don't know what happened, but they left in a hurry," Li Zehou reported truthfully.

The others present were all confused.

Only Zhou Luo knew that it seemed his poison had taken effect.

In order to properly punish the people of the Lu Family, Zhou Luo had specifically instructed that man from Tianxia Tavern to put the Spirit Exhaustion Pill and similar Medicinal Pills he had refined into their spirit food.

Although it wouldn't be life-threatening, it would be enough to give them a hard time.

"Forget it. Since the Lu Family isn't coming, let the others compete," Li Shuntian said.

According to the rules of previous years, this martial test needed to select the final five people to enter the Azure Origin Sect to study.

Originally, there were three people from the Lu Family who made it into the top ten, but now that they had all left, only seven people remained to participate in the martial test.

Before long, the Li Family servants placed seven Pill Furnaces in the center.

Zhou Luo and the other six people stood before the Pill Furnaces, waiting for the start.

This time, the person responsible for judging was that First-Order High-Grade Alchemist from the Li Family. Besides him, Alchemists from other Immortal Families, like Lin Zhishou, would also be watching from the side.

Lin Zhishou sat in his chair, no longer beaming with pride as before, and his expression was somewhat serious.

Alchemy is not like taking a test.

The latter might only require theoretical knowledge to support it, but the former is real, solid skill.

Lin Zhishou knew about Zhou Luo's foundation.

So much so that he had no confidence in his heart.

In front of the Pill Furnace, Zhou Luo looked serious.

If it was seven into five, he didn't need to reveal too much of his Alchemy talent.

Otherwise, if he exposed too much at once, it would certainly arouse Lin Zhishou's suspicion.

"Begin." Li Shuntian's voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone walked to the side one after another to start selecting medicinal ingredients.

The martial test had no requirements for what Medicinal Pill to refine; you only needed to choose the one you were most confident in.

The judges would score you based on your performance.

So even if Zhou Luo was only a Low Grade Alchemist, as long as he performed well enough, it was still possible to get a high score.

This time, Zhou Luo did not choose to refine the Bigu Pill, which was a conventional introductory Medicinal Pill.

Instead, he chose the more difficult Five Grains Pill.

Like the Bigu Pill, the Five Grains Pill was also a type of Medicinal Pill used to serve as food.

However, because its taste and nutritional value were higher, the difficulty was also greater.

Seeing the medicinal ingredients Zhou Luo selected, Lin Zhishou immediately realized that he was going to refine the Five Grains Pill, and couldn't help but frown.

Does this kid know how to refine it?