14: Chapter 14 Shock

Of course, this thought only flashed through his mind. As the Grand Elder's exceptionally talented youngest daughter, both her Spiritual Root and natural talent were top-tier; he was simply not worthy of her.

"There's no need to be so modest. My father often praises you."

"Praise me? Yeah, right. He's probably praising my ability to sire children!" Chen Fan smiled faintly in his heart.

This was his first time entering Qin Lingxi's Pill Refining Room. The interior was much larger, and to his surprise, there were actually three decent-quality Pill Furnaces, each about ten feet tall. Moreover, these Pill Furnaces were not the standard ones distributed by the Alchemy Hall, but had been purchased privately at a high price.

"As expected of the Grand Elder's beloved daughter," Chen Fan thought with a hint of envy.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. I've just received a task to refine the Xuanning Pill, but for some reason, I've been trying to refine it for three consecutive days and failed every time."

"The Xuanning Pill?"

Chen Fan was somewhat curious. He knew that this Medicinal Pill had only recently appeared on the market. It was a low-grade pill that the Su Family was selling in massive quantities. Because of its low price and few Impurities, it was highly popular among Loose Cultivators.

"Currently, there is no detailed Pill Formula. The ingredients inside don't seem very complex, but I just can't find the reason for the refinement failures."

Hearing this, Chen Fan's interest was piqued, and he began to examine it closely.

The Medicinal Pill in front of him had three pill-veins. It was perfectly round and blue in color, emitting a faint, delicate fragrance.

He then scraped off a tiny bit of powder with his fingernail, slowly placed it into his mouth, and tasted it carefully.

"The ingredients inside include Queyin Flower, Changxiang Grass, Yuegui Grass, and Hanning Flower..." Chen Fan quickly listed the ingredients one by one.

Qin Lingxi's eyes lit up. "It is indeed these Spiritual Plants, but why does the refinement always fail?"

With that, she extended her jade-like hand and began to refine them in a smooth, flowing motion.

Sure enough, just as the pill was about to form, the Medicinal Pill suddenly shattered without warning, emitting a pungent odor.

Failing the refinement once again, Qin Lingxi shook her head repeatedly in extreme disappointment, unable to find the root of the problem.

As her father's daughter, she deeply wished to contribute to the Family and ease her father's worries.

"Right now, the entire Alchemy Hall is worrying over this matter. If we can't find a way to crack it, our Qin Family will suffer a massive loss."

Chen Fan had not expected the matter to be so serious. However, since even the high-level Alchemists in the Family could not solve it, let alone the two of them.

For a brand-new Pill Formula, although the ingredients were clear, different refining techniques, degrees of Fusion, and the order of adding the Spiritual Plants would naturally yield different results.

Trying to refine an identical Medicinal Pill in a short period of time was indeed quite difficult.

For ordinary Alchemists, this task was as difficult as ascending to heaven. But for him, who possessed the System and had a vast amount of ancient Alchemy knowledge in his mind, it did not seem difficult.

The refinement of the Xuanning Pill had long been mentioned in the ancient Dao of Alchemy, and there were multiple methods of refinement.

The modern Xuanning Pill was already completely different from the ancient version, having been modified beyond recognition.

Not only were several Spiritual Plants added or removed, but the refining techniques were also vastly different.

Judging by its appearance, color, and smell, it seemed that one of the Spiritual Plants in the original Pill Formula had been replaced.

That was the lingling flower, which had a very faint, hard-to-detect scent.

Once he had a clear idea, the refinement method for the Medicinal Pill quickly played out in his mind.

This was a long-established habit of his. Before refining, he would run simulations in his mind multiple times, fearing any mistake.

After some consideration, Chen Fan decided to refine it himself.

He looked at the shelves filled with various Spiritual Plants, his gaze finally landing on the common lingling flower.

"The lingling flower?" Qin Lingxi was somewhat puzzled. She hadn't noticed this Spiritual Plant when tasting it, and besides, very few people used it nowadays.

Just as she was wondering, Chen Fan had already set to work refining.

His movements were highly skilled, without any hesitation. His hand seals, in particular, were refreshing to behold.

Before long, a faint fragrance wafted from the Pill Furnace.

"Chen Fan, now is the most critical moment. Earlier, I was..."

Qin Lingxi was slightly worried, but she quickly realized her concern was entirely redundant.

The shattering of the Medicinal Pill did not occur. Instead, the sounds of the pill's various components fusing echoed out, and she could even clearly hear the sound of the pill-veins condensing on its surface.

Qin Lingxi almost doubted her own eyes. One had to know that this Medicinal Pill had stumped a whole host of mid-grade and high-grade Alchemists.

An hour passed. As the activity inside the Pill Furnace grew quieter, Chen Fan finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Clan Sister, the Medicinal Pill has been successfully refined. Let's open the furnace and take a look!"

"Mhm." Qin Lingxi's eyes were filled with anticipation.

As the Pill Furnace slowly opened, three Xuanning Pills appeared before them.

"It succeeded? And they are three-veined!" A look of shock appeared on Qin Lingxi's face. After confirming it, she saw Chen Fan in a whole new light.

At this moment, she realized that he didn't look that old; in fact, he was quite young and handsome.

"Clan Sister, actually, this Medicinal Pill and the Pill Formula..."

Just as Chen Fan was about to explain in detail, Qin Lingxi cut him off. "I will notify the deacons immediately. We'll talk when they arrive."

"Ah! There's no need." Chen Fan did not want to draw attention to himself.

However, Qin Lingxi had already departed like the wind.

Before long, a commotion arose nearby, and several elderly Alchemists quickly walked into the Pill Refining Room.

Leading them was Deacon Qin Yunhe, the person in charge of the Alchemy Hall's Back Courtyard, followed closely by Qin Daoyuan of the Middle Courtyard, and Wu Shouzhuo of the Outer Courtyard.

The three of them stared intently at the newly refined Medicinal Pills.

"Are these the Xuanning Pills you refined?"

Deacon Qin Yunhe sent out a stream of magic power to examine them from a distance, then scraped off a tiny bit of powder with his fingernail and tasted it.

The next moment, his eyes lit up slightly.

Seeing this, the other two also observed closely and tasted them slowly.

"Not bad. It is indeed the Xuanning Pill, and with even fewer Impurities. Tell us, how did you refine it?"

Deacon Qin Yunhe looked doubtful. He could tell at a glance that the Cultivator before him had ordinary Aptitude. More importantly, the young man was only at the third layer of Qi Refining, making it hard for him to believe no matter what.

"There is no need for the three clan elders to doubt. It was indeed Chen Fan who refined them just now," Qin Lingxi explained quickly upon seeing the imposing expressions of the three.

"It's like this. In my earlier years, I happened to read some ancient Pill Formulas, which mentioned the refinement method of the Xuanning Pill..."

Unhurriedly, Chen Fan explained his refining logic and wrote down the brand-new Pill Formula and refinement method.

"So that's how it is. It is truly impressive that you did not rigidly adhere to the ancient methods and instead created something new."

After reading the Pill Formula, Deacon Qin Yunhe casually began to refine. Sure enough, he quickly refined a six-veined Xuanning Pill.

Seeing this, Chen Fan was secretly astonished. The other party's Dao of Alchemy was much stronger than he had imagined.

Seeing this, joy appeared on the faces of Qin Daoyuan and Wu Shouzhuo.

"The Su Family's hope of using this Medicinal Pill to strike at our Qin Family is bound to fail. From today onward, all Alchemists must put their full effort into refining this pill." Deacon Qin Yunhe finally breathed a sigh of relief, a rare expression of ease appearing on his face.

Having said this, his gaze fell upon Chen Fan and Qin Lingxi.

He spoke in a gentle tone: "From this day forward, the two of you shall enter the Alchemy Hall's Middle Courtyard. By virtue of this contribution, you are directly promoted to Tier One Medium Grade Alchemists."

However, Qin Daoyuan, who was in charge of the Middle Courtyard, showed a look of hesitation. "Clan Brother, I'm afraid this might be somewhat inappropriate!"