Chapter 387 - The Union of Fire and Water

Pill-refining was different to identifying herbs.

When identifying herbs, one could rely on Martial Skills, eye-techniques, etc. to accomplish the task.

However, pill-refining was highly demanding in terms of knowledge acc.u.mulated from past experiences, the methods used in the process, the control of the process, talents, etc. Only when these were achieved would a Pill Alchemist then be able to refine a pill.

If any of the criteria mentioned above were lacking, the Pill Alchemist would end up detonating the cauldron, causing the pill to be destroyed.

As such, no one would admit to Qin Nan’s talent even though he scored full marks in the first part of the examination.

The partic.i.p.ants at the venue were not in a rush to start the pill-refining process. They spent their time playing around with the herbs while figuring out what pill they should try to make with the herbs provided.

“Time to find a suitable pill formula.”

Qin Nan began to browse the memories of the Demonic-Cored Highness.

The Demonic-Cored Highness was a tenth-grade Yue ranked Pill Alchemist, who was familiar with countless different pill formulae. Qin Nan soon picked a formula for the pill ‘Lunar Fire Pill’.

This Lunar Fire Pill was not difficult to be refined. If refined successfully, it would contain the force of umbra fire, granting huge benefits to cultivators who practiced fire-elemental arts.

After selecting his pill formula, Qin Nan did not begin his refining process straight away. He took his time to scan the partic.i.p.ants.

It was his first time refining a pill after all. There were many things that he had not witnessed before, due to his lack of experience.

BANG!

One of the disciples had blazing purple flames on his hands that encapsulated the herbs, causing them to be gradually melted, resulting in unique forces. As these forces blended with one another, a series of explosions took place. The entire process felt like a violent battle with exaggerated reactions taking place, grabbing the attention of the crowd.

This method of pill-refining was known as the ‘ath of Raging Flame’, which was achieved by refining the pills while controlling a powerful fire.

Qin Nan glanced at the other partic.i.p.ants. Previously, he had only learned the methods of pill-refining through the memories of the Demonic-Cored Highness, and it was his first time witnessing these methods being executed in real life, allowing him to expand his knowledge.

Meanwhile, the temperature of the venue rapidly increased.

“The Union of Fire and Water!”

A loud roar could be heard all of a sudden.

The crowd could only see a flame being ignited on Zheng Kun’s left hand while a layer of ice was formed on his right hand. The two contrasting forces encapsulated the herbs in the middle, causing them to rotate at a crazy speed, like sand and stones being filtered with the help of surging waves. Each rotation would cause the herbs to be gradually melted, as a drop of mystical liquid could be seen falling down into the cauldron.

Buzzzzzzz.

Even though the cauldron appeared to be unaffected, the scene of fire on one side and ice on the other formed a shocking rare phenomenon.

The surrounding disciples were astonished.

“The Union of Fire and Water! Who would have thought that Senior Brother Zheng Kun had mastered this method!”

“Fire and water are in natural opposition of one another, but he’s able to blend them perfectly without any sign of interference. He has at least achieved the Greater Success Stage of this technique!”

“Judging from his method alone, the pill he is refining is at least a four-yun[1] pill!”

“……”

A series of gasps could be heard among the crowd.

Similar to Martial Skills, the methods of pill-refining were also cla.s.sified into low-cla.s.s, middle-cla.s.s, high-cla.s.s, and supreme-cla.s.s. This method, the Union of Fire and Water, was cla.s.sified as a high-cla.s.s pill-refining method. It was extremely difficult to master it without a certain level of talent in Pill Alchemy.

Zheng Kun raised his eyebrows after hearing the compliments from the spectators.

In order to achieve an impressive result in the examination, he had even robbed the method from someone else. It now seemed like it was worth the effort!

With the help of the Union of Fire and Water, even Chen Ying would have a hard time defeating him in the examination, right?

Chen Ying’s face showed no change after seeing this. She had yet to start her pill-refining process, as she sat with her legs crossed while breathing at a steady pace. Following this, her breathing gradually intensified, as if gusts of ferocious wind could be felt being emitting from a cave located in a mountain.

Shoos.h.!.+

Chen Ying’s eyes sprang open as she suddenly reached out her jade-like hands. A flame could be seen emerging from the tip of her fingers as her hand reached out into the pile of herbs and rotated them as if she was stir-frying them, resulting in a blurry motion.

“Double-Armed Martial Spirit!”

Chen Ying let out a blasting yell. Three rays of green light appeared behind her, together with two floating jade-like arms, which then merged with her own arms.

Whoos.h.!.+

Chen Ying’s s.h.i.+ny hands suddenly accelerated, moving at a speed ten times faster than before, like a tornado encapsulating the herbs within it.

The disciples stared with their eyes open wide and their jaws dropped.

“What a surprise, Chen Ying’s Martial Spirit is able to increase the efficiency of her arms; she is a natural-born Pill Alchemist!”

“Powerful, incredibly powerful! I’m not sure who among the two would be the winner in the end!”

“……”

At that instant, the crowd’s attention was thoroughly attracted by the two, causing Qin Nan’s presence to be ignored.

Suddenly, one of the disciples screamed out, “What is Qin Nan doing?”

The crowd’s gaze immediately focused onto Qin Nan’s figure. With a glimpse, they were all left in awe.

Qin Nan was literally doing nothing, apart from watching Zheng Kun and Chen Ying refine their pills with a pa.s.sionate look on his face.

What the h.e.l.l was he doing?

Was he planning to give up on the examination?

It was clear that the partic.i.p.ants only had one hour to refine their pills in the second part of the examination. It was extremely difficult to refine a satisfying pill in just an hour’s time.

If Qin Nan were to waste his time further, he would not have enough time to refine his pill in the end.

The crowd burst out laughing after their initial astonishment, without expressing their comments.

In their eyes, the final result would still be the same whether Qin Nan gave up on the examination or not.

“Senior Brother Qin Nan…”

Lin Xiaoyu and Leng Jianxiong were worried to the extreme.

Although they were not taking part in the examination, they were more nervous than the partic.i.p.ants.

Time gradually pa.s.sed; when a quarter of an hour was gone, Qin Nan finally exhaled deeply while calming his thoughts, before he glanced at the pile of herbs before him.

“He is starting to refine the pill!”

The crowd was immediately aware of his change, as they glanced in his direction in excitement.

After all, they were still curious to see if Qin Nan possessed any trump cards, allowing him to have the guts to challenge Zheng Kun and Chen Ying to a Pill Alchemy duel!

Even Zheng Kun and Chen Ying, who were busy refining their pills, could not help but cast a side glance toward Qin Nan.

“This guy…”

Tie Mu’s eyes glistened slightly. For some reason, his instinct was telling him that Qin Nan would never fail to surprise the world every time he made his move.

Shoos.h.!.+

Qin Nan suddenly moved.

His hands were engulfed in blazing flames as they moved rapidly, grabbing the herbs like raindrops. Each time his hand landed on a herb, the flames from his hand would set the herb on fire, allowing the liquid inside the herb to be extracted and flow into the cauldron. It was as if he was taking a stroll in the park as he carried out his procedures at a steady pace.

Upon seeing this, the crowd of disciples was dumbfounded.

Even Tie Mu stared with his eyes open wide. His jaws almost dropped to the ground due to the shock.

F**k!

This guy never ceased to amaze the crowd!

Was he actually using this method?

[1] TL Note: Yun here means ‘cloud’, but I’ve decided to use yun as it is a label for the quality of the pills. This will be explained later.