71: The perfect elixir

"No... impossible... This is absolutely impossible!"

Zhou Kai staggered back two steps, pointing at the crimson, fiery Medicinal Field, pointing at the lean figure standing quietly before the Medicinal Field, his voice becoming sharp and shrill due to extreme shock and a hint of imperceptible fear!

"It's an illusion! It must be an illusion! This kid... this kid must have used some sinister trick to create an illusion, trying to sneak through!"

His words, rather than warning the crowd, were more about desperately trying to convince himself!

However, the moment his voice fell—

A pungent Medicinal Fragrance, full of vibrant vitality and pure fire-elemental spiritual energy, came rushing over with the mountain wind!

Just by smelling a whiff, all the Disciples of the Pill Hall present felt the spiritual energy within their bodies joyfully pulsate!

Illusions can create visual deceptions.

But this unmistakable Medicinal Fragrance, pure to the extreme, was like a resounding slap across Zhou Kai's face, utterly shattering his last, ridiculous self-deception!

"Gulp."

Someone, he didn't know who, swallowed with difficulty.

Everyone's gaze subconsciously converged on the young man who had remained calm and unruffled from beginning to end.

At this moment, there was no trace of ecstasy or excitement on his clear, handsome face.

There was only a profound, unperturbed tranquility.

He looked at the flustered Zhou Kai and slowly spoke, his voice not loud, but every word was clear.

"Senior Brother Zhou."

"This first step, I suppose I've... completed it?"

Zhou Kai's body trembled violently!

He looked at Lin Ye's calm, unruffled eyes, and a bone-chilling coldness instantly rushed from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head!

From the very beginning, they had completely... underestimated this young man!

However, once an arrow is shot, there's no turning back!

Now that things had come to this, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue this act!

"Hmph! You just got lucky and managed to revive it!" Zhou Kai forcefully suppressed the surging waves in his heart, sneering with a false bravado, "This fire saliva grass is ultimately used to refine a 'fire spirit pill'! You're just a farmer who knows how to grow grass!"

His intention with these words was to use the 'Alchemy' as a mountain to belittle Lin Ye's achievement of 'only knowing how to grow grass'.

However, Lin Ye's reaction once again exceeded his expectations.

Lin Ye looked at him, and a playful curve slowly appeared in his calm eyes.

"Oh?" Lin Ye calmly retorted, "Does Senior Brother Zhou mean to upgrade the task, asking me not only to revive this fire saliva grass, but also... to refine it into a 'fire spirit pill'?"

"I..." Zhou Kai was momentarily stunned by the counter-question, then sneered, "What? Are you scared?!"

"What's there to be scared of?" Lin Ye's smile grew even brighter, "Since Senior Brother has such an elegant interest, then this Disciple will accompany him to the end."

"It's just, if I truly succeed in refining it, how should the bet be calculated?"

"If you can refine it, let alone those five hundred contribution points, I, Zhou Kai... I, Zhou Kai, will add another five hundred and give them to you!" Zhou Kai, already cornered, shouted indiscriminately, "But if you fail to refine it, blow up the Pill Furnace, and ruin these High Grade Materials, then you will have to compensate the Sect... double! Three thousand contribution points!"

"Good." Lin Ye nodded calmly, crisp and decisive.

He made a 'please' gesture towards Zhou Kai.

"Then, Senior Brother Zhou, please lead the way."

...Half an hour later.

Outside the most secluded and dilapidated earth-fire Alchemy Chamber in the Pill Hall, it was already packed with people.

Almost all the Disciples of the Pill Hall who had heard the news gathered here, surrounding the already small Alchemy Chamber so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.

They all wanted to see with their own eyes if the young man who had created the miracle of 'dead wood coming back to life' could continue to... create miracles in the Dao of Alchemy!

Zhou Kai stood at the very front of the crowd, his face no longer showing the previous panic, replaced by a cold sneer full of malice and satisfaction.

He admitted he had underestimated Lin Ye's strange methods in the Dao of Spiritual Plants.

However, Alchemy and cultivating Spiritual Plants were two entirely different Domains!

Alchemy required precise control of the heat, a deep understanding of medicinal properties, and even more, years of accumulated experience!

And Lin Ye, an outsider who had been initiated for less than two months and didn't even understand the most basic knowledge of the Dao of Alchemy, what could he do even if he possessed the top-grade High Grade fire saliva grass?

He would be squandering a heavenly treasure!

The only possible outcome would be... an explosion of the Pill Furnace!

He had specifically chosen this half-abandoned Alchemy Chamber for Lin Ye! The earth-fire here was the most unstable! The Pill Furnace here was even a discarded, cracked, inferior product from the Pill Hall!

He wanted Lin Ye, under everyone's gaze, to personally... refine that priceless High Grade fire saliva grass into a pile of dregs!

At that time, the enormous compensation of three thousand contribution points would still be like an unshakeable mountain, completely... crushing this arrogant wretch!

"Junior Brother Lin," Zhou Kai pushed open the creaking stone door, pointing to the old Pill Furnace inside, covered in verdigris and cracks, and said with a forced smile, "Please enter. The Materials, we have already prepared for you. Don't... disappoint us."

Lin Ye ignored him, simply walking in calmly.

He glanced at the obviously inferior auxiliary Medicinal Materials placed on the stone platform alongside the High Grade fire saliva grass, and a cold sneer flashed in his eyes.

Then, he slowly closed the heavy stone door.

Completely isolating all the noise and prying eyes from the outside.

"System."

His mind stirred.

"Exchange, 'Basic Alchemy Art'."

"[Exchange successful! One hundred contribution points consumed.]"

A torrent of the most basic and core knowledge about Alchemy instantly flooded his mind.

"Activate emergency AFK mission! Target — 'Basic Alchemy Art'!"

Having done all this, Lin Ye slowly walked to the old Pill Furnace.

He reached out and gently pressed his hand against the cold body of the Pill Furnace... Outside the Alchemy Chamber, time was ticking by, minute by minute.

Everyone craned their necks and pricked up their ears, waiting for the violent... explosion they anticipated to erupt from within the sealed stone chamber!

However, a stick of incense passed... half an hour passed... an hour passed... Inside the stone chamber, it remained... deadly silent!

"What's going on? Why is there no movement at all?"

"Could it be that kid knew he couldn't do it and just fell asleep inside?"

Zhou Kai's brows also furrowed tightly. The unease in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

However, just then—

A completely different, brand new fragrance, suddenly, gently wafted out from within the sealed stone chamber, like the most docile stream!

This fragrance, at first, was very faint, very light.

But gradually, it became richer and richer... more intoxicating!

It wasn't the pungency of a single Medicinal Material, but a refreshing... Pill Fragrance, full of spirituality and vitality, formed after perfect purification and Fusion!

Just by smelling a whiff, all the Disciples of the Pill Hall present felt their minds, which had become slightly irritable from the long wait, clear up! The spiritual energy within their bodies, moreover, began to accelerate its circulation uncontrollably, as if drawn by some mysterious force!

"This... this is... the fragrance of a finished Medicinal Pill?!"

A seasoned Disciple of the Pill Hall, in a disbelieving, dream-like voice, uttered these five words with difficulty!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Zhou Kai shrieked hysterically like a rabid dog whose tail had been stepped on, "With him, an outsider! With that broken Pill Furnace! How could he possibly refine a Medicinal Pill?! This must be... he burned the Medicinal Materials! Yes! He must have burned them!"

However, the moment his voice fell—

The Pill Fragrance suddenly intensified tenfold!

Buzz!!!

A visible, ripple-like azure halo suddenly burst forth from within the stone chamber, instantly sweeping across the entire Number Three Medicinal Garden!

Pill Qi overflowing! Auspicious signs manifesting!

This... this was clearly a sign that only appeared when an extremely High Grade Medicinal Pill was refined!

And at this very moment, in the deepest part of the Pill Hall, within the Alchemy Secret Chamber perennially enveloped by earth-fire, Elder Zhao Wuji, who was exhausted from focusing on a batch of 'Body Tempering Pills' about to take form, his tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open!

His old eyes, which had been slightly cloudy from mental exhaustion, instantly burst forth with an unprecedented, brilliant gleam the moment he smelled this Pill Fragrance!

"This... what kind of pure medicinal properties are these?! What kind of perfect heat control?!"

He exclaimed in shock, his old face, already covered in wrinkles, was filled with unprecedented shock and... fanaticism!

He didn't even care about the precious Pill Furnace before him, which was about to complete its Medicinal Pill. His figure flickered, transforming into a crimson streak of light, instantly rushing out of the secret chamber, frantically searching for the source of that Pill Fragrance!

..."Boom!!!"

The stone door of the Alchemy Chamber was suddenly blasted open from the inside by a tremendous force!

Lin Ye's lean figure slowly emerged from the pervasive Pill Qi.

In his hands, he held twelve perfectly formed Medicinal Pills, entirely crimson-gold, plump and round, their surfaces even adorned with natural Pill patterns!

"No... impossible..."

Zhou Kai looked at the twelve Medicinal Pills, like works of art, and completely collapsed, his face ashen.

And at this moment—

"Get out of the way!!!"

A furious roar, filled with endless majesty and urgency, suddenly exploded in everyone's ears like a clap of thunder!

Elder Zhao Wuji's figure, like an enraged lion, instantly appeared in the field!

He didn't even bother to glance at the collapsed Zhou Kai on the ground, his eyes, full of fanaticism, were fixed on the twelve... perfect Medicinal Pills in Lin Ye's hand!

He flashed, appearing before Lin Ye, and snatched a 'fire spirit pill' from his hand!

He brought the Medicinal Pill to his nose and sniffed it deeply.

Immediately, his old face, already flushed with excitement, instantly surged with a sickly, disbelieving crimson!

"Pure! Flawless! This... within this Medicinal Pill, there isn't even a trace of Impurities!"

"This medicinal effect... heavens! This medicinal effect... at least... at least one and a half times that of an ordinary 'fire spirit pill'!!!"

He exclaimed in shock, his voice distorted by extreme astonishment!

He suddenly looked up, his eyes, like burning stars, fixedly locked onto the young man before him, whose expression remained calm and unruffled.