166: Chapter 166 What kind of monsters and demons haven't I seen?

Song Yu was a Disciple of Elder Lu from the Alchemy Hall. He didn't speak much, but every word was to the point, making him like a living pharmacopeia.

As the person in charge, Han Jing handled the coordination work efficiently.

Instead, Su Cheng became the one receiving the most attention among them.

It wasn't because of his cultivation; everyone could see that his Early Foundation Establishment Stage was the lowest present.

The reason for the attention was quite simple: it was heard that he came from a Family in a small county town.

This information spread during a gap in their discussion when Zhou Ping casually asked, "Junior Brother, where are you from?"

Coming from a county Family, having no exotic fire, no precious artifact pill furnace, and a cultivation only at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage.

Yet, during the selection trials, he achieved a 100% pill formation rate, scored full marks in both purification and Fusion, and within half a year of joining the sect, he was personally named by Immortal Master Elder Lu Yuan to be included in the assistant list for a third-rank pill.

This resume wouldn't be considered dazzling within the Danding Sect, but under the prerequisite of "coming from a county Family," it became quite intriguing.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Su Cheng possessed an Opportunity.

As for what that Opportunity was, no one asked; the rules of the cultivation world were clear on that.

By the second day of discussion, Chen Yuan finally spoke up.

Strictly speaking, these few days of discussion did not involve the Pill Formula for the huayuan pill. The Pill Formula belonged to Immortal Master Elder Lu Yuan, and none of the six assistants had the right to inquire about it.

The only information they could obtain were the operational parameters for their respective tasks: Su Cheng was responsible for the spiritual processing of the azure soul flower and yuanling grass, Wei Tian for the quenching and purification of the golden nectar marrow, Lin Xuewei for monitoring the spiritual power feedback of the medicinal liquid, and so on.

But people are people; with a brain in their head, even if they only see one piece of the puzzle, they can't help but guess what the whole picture looks like.

As the group huddled around the stone platform discussing, the topic drifted from "how to do my part" to "how to connect the different parts together."

No one said this was overstepping their authority because, in a strict sense, this was just a free exchange between assistants. The final decision-making power rested with Immortal Master Elder Lu Yuan. Deducing the coordination rhythm of each stage in advance could be called proactive at best, or just technical small talk over tea at worst.

Song Yu was the one who loved to ponder the most. Although he didn't know the complete Pill Formula, based on his years of Foundation in the Alchemy Hall, he had his own conjectures regarding the pharmacological framework of the huayuan pill.

Today, he put forward an idea: if the timing for adding the azure soul flower could be moved forward by half an incense stick's duration, its gentle medicinal properties could provide a base layer first, acting as a buffer for the subsequent fierce properties of the yuanling grass.

"Of course, the final arrangement must be decided by Elder Lü," Song Yu added. "I just feel that from a pharmacological standpoint, this line of thought makes sense. We can mention it to the Elder when the time comes."

The others present thought about it and nodded; logically, there was indeed nothing wrong with it.

But Chen Yuan coughed from a corner.

"This sequence is good, but there is a risk."

The six pairs of eyes turned toward him in unison.

Chen Yuan was stared at for a few breaths, his earlobes turning slightly red, but he didn't stop: "Adding the azure soul flower early to provide a base will indeed make the activation of the yuanling grass's medicinal power smoother. That's correct.

But with the azure soul flower staying in the Pill Furnace for an extra half-incense stick of time, its direct contact with the pill fire will be lengthened.

The azure soul flower has gentle properties, and its fire resistance threshold is much lower than that of the yuanling grass.

If there is even a single fluctuation in the pill fire temperature during that half-incense stick of time, a portion of the azure soul flower's medicinal power will dissipate prematurely.

When that happens, having the base effect diminished is a minor issue; the real problem is that the harmonizing function the azure soul flower performs in the huayuan pill will be affected, which impacts the entire process."

Once these words were spoken, the stone platform fell silent for a few breaths.

Song Yu looked down and scanned the pharmacological notes he had compiled, then mentally reviewed the corresponding passages in ancient texts before nodding.

"Senior Brother Chen is right. I only considered the buffering effect of the azure soul flower on the yuanling grass and neglected the fire resistance issue of the flower itself."

"Let's record it." Beside them, Han Jing added this risk point to the discussion records with a note: "We will present it to Revered Master for his review later and let him make the final decision."

This sentence pulled the boundaries back. No matter how much they discussed, once they were in front of the furnace, what to add, how much to add, and when to add it all depended on a single word from Immortal Master Elder Lu Yuan.

What the assistants could do was handle their own tasks efficiently and report any risks they had thought of in advance.

As for whether to adopt the suggestions, that was the judgment of a Third-Rank Alchemist, not something for Foundation Establishment Disciples to worry about.

Wei Tian glanced at Chen Yuan a few times but said nothing.

Su Cheng watched from the side, gaining a bit more respect for this Eldest Senior Brother.

On Qingmu Peak, Chen Yuan was always smiling and joking, either refining pills or tinkering with Artifact Refining. On the surface, he looked like a leisurely person who dabbled in everything but mastered nothing.

But his analysis just now—from medicinal properties to pill fire temperature control to the chain reaction on the final pill quality—had a logical chain so rigorous that there wasn't a single gap.

Crucially, like everyone else present, he did not have the complete Pill Formula either.

He deduced this risk from a side angle purely based on his own understanding of pharmacology and Alchemy processes; this was where true skill was shown.

In other words, these weren't words one could say after reading a few books; they were experience forged furnace by furnace over decades of practice.

It turned out that Senior Brother was not as simple as he appeared on the surface.

Six days passed quickly.

On the evening before the Alchemy began, Immortal Master Elder Lu Yuan received Han Jing in the pill room at the mountain peak.

The pill room wasn't large, with the nodes of a Spirit Gathering Formation embedded in the four walls, making the Spiritual Qi concentration several times higher than outside.

In the center stood that third-rank precious artifact pill furnace, the "nine-turn profound light furnace." The furnace body was ancient and heavy, standing on three legs, with a dull golden luster over its entire surface.

Elder Lu Yuan sat on the stone platform in front of the Pill Furnace, looking over tomorrow's procedures for a final deliberation.

"Are all six people here?"

"They are." Han Jing stood below. "The details of the discussions over the past few days are in this Jade Slip; I have made a summary."

Elder Lu Yuan took the Jade Slip, pressed it to his forehead, and scanned it very quickly.

After reading it, he put down the Jade Slip and asked, "Who do you think is the most noteworthy?"

Han Jing thought for a moment.

"Su Cheng."

Elder Lu Yuan didn't press further, implying for him to continue.

"His cultivation is the lowest among the six, at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage. But his grasp of the medicinal properties of spiritual plants has a certain... something hard to describe, as if he was born able to speak with spiritual plants.

During the previous restoration of the azure soul flower, I watched the whole process. The way he injects spiritual power is completely different from ordinary Wood-attribute cultivators.

When ordinary people inject spiritual power, the spiritual plant accepts it passively.

The spiritual power he injects is like he's making an exchange with the plant, and the plant actively cooperates with him."

Han Jing paused, then added: "Wei Tian's exotic fire and Song Yu's pharmacological Foundation are both top-tier, but in terms of perception and handling of spiritual plants, Su Cheng ranks first among the six. I believe there is no dispute about that."

Elder Lu Yuan remained expressionless and continued, "That observing Disciple named Chen Yuan, what is his level?"

Han Jing was slightly surprised; he hadn't expected his Revered Master to ask about Chen Yuan.

"Chen Yuan is Elder Qingmu's eldest Disciple, at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage. His Alchemy level should not be low among second-rank alchemists; his skills are varied but his Foundation is solid.

He has dabbled in spiritual plant pharmacology, Artifact Refining Array Inscriptionss, and the control of heat in the Dao of Alchemy. He sees some issues more clearly than Disciples who specialize solely in Alchemy.

During the discussions, he only spoke once, correcting a loophole in one of Song Yu's plans."

"Mhm."

Elder Lu Yuan said no more and handed the Jade Slip back.

After Han Jing took his orders and withdrew, Elder Lu Yuan was the only one left in the pill room.

He stared at the Pill Furnace for a while. What kept turning over in his mind wasn't tomorrow's procedure, but Su Cheng.

Regarding the matter of the azure soul flower, he had naturally noticed the coincidence in timing.

An Alchemy Revered Master who had lived for hundreds of years—what kind of monsters and demons had he not seen?

The timing of the problem with the azure soul flower overlapped with the timing of Su Cheng's appearance at Wanhua Peak; anyone with a normal brain would think about it for a breath or two.

But that was all.

The reason was very practical: setting aside the fact that this hypothesis itself lacked any supporting evidence, even if the problem with the azure soul flower was caused by Su Cheng, so what?