“Are you kidding?”
Chen Yuyang’s expression turned serious, his brows lifting slightly.
“You’re kidding? Can you really joke about something like this?”
Chen Yuyang grinned with a suggestive look.
“How about Junior Sister just submits to me and goes with the flow? How does that sound?”
Ling Xi felt her heart skip two beats at that moment.
Submit to Senior Brother…
Go with the flow…
The young girl’s throat moved slightly as she quietly swallowed.
Her eyelids trembled, her gaze filled with struggle and hesitation.
It seemed…
Not so bad?
She turned her head away, her pretty face flushing a deep crimson.
Her pursed lips quivered, but she couldn’t find the words to speak for a long time.
Neither words of agreement nor words of refusal would come.
Chen Yuyang leaned in closer, his face almost pressing against hers.
At this distance, Ling Xi could even feel his warmth and his breath—hot and carrying a teasing intent as it brushed against her neck.
It was so tingling that her whole body felt weak, and her heart throbbed.
“I… I…”
Her eyes closed.
Because of that intense sense of shame, Ling Xi was afraid to meet his gaze again.
“Mhm.”
The response was very, very soft.
It was so quiet that Chen Yuyang almost didn’t hear it.
Her bitten lips parted slightly, still carrying a sense of fear and tension.
“Senior Brother… be, be gentle… I, I have no experience…”
Chen Yuyang’s movements froze.
Wait, she actually agreed?
You said you were kidding.
Wasn’t he the same?
The reason Chen Yuyang acted this way was partly because his state of mind had changed, and partly because he wanted to teach this girl a lesson.
“Dummy!”
Immediately, Chen Yuyang gave the little girl a flick on the forehead.
Ling Xi let out a cry of pain, clutching her head with teary eyes as she looked at Chen Yuyang in confusion.
“Why did Senior Brother hit me?”
Chen Yuyang shook his head and stepped back.
“Alright, no more jokes. Senior Brother was just teasing you.”
As he spoke, Chen Yuyang turned and walked toward the door.
“The second round of the Alchemist Assembly is in two days. I need to go study alchemy. Don’t think about nonsense and focus on your cultivation… Oh, right, take this!”
With that, Chen Yuyang tossed a jade bottle behind him.
Ling Xi was stunned and reflexively caught the bottle.
“This is…”
“The Heavenly Evolution Creation Pill… This thing can improve your Spirit Root to a certain extent.”
Chen Yuyang stopped his pace and glanced back at the girl out of the corner of his eye.
The scene from last night surfaced in his mind once more.
“If you don’t want to be left behind by your Senior Brother, make good use of this and hurry up with your cultivation.”
Ling Xi stood dazed, cradling the jade bottle.
The youth had already left the room.
Only after a long while did Ling Xi feel the heat radiating from her entire body.
What was that!
That big villain!
He actually wanted her… How hateful, how hateful!
She had finally made up her mind and prepared herself… Hmph!
However, for the sake of the pill, she would temporarily stop arguing with him.
Still, what grade was this Heavenly Evolution Creation Pill?
Why had she never heard of it?
Wasn’t the pill that could improve Spirit Root grades called the Spirit Tempering Pill?
Supposedly, a cultivator could only take one Spirit Tempering Pill in their lifetime.
It could improve Spirit Roots below the fourth grade and provide a slight boost to those above the fourth grade.
Moreover, the Spirit Tempering Pill was a Grade 7 pill and was extremely precious.
A single one was said to be worth the entire assets of some small and medium-sized sects.
Senior Brother likely didn’t have something that valuable.
In that case, this Heavenly Evolution Creation Pill was probably just another pill with a similarly weak effect.
Ling Xi thought as she poured the pill out of the jade bottle.
It didn’t have much of a scent.
In her hand, it was a pill the size of a longan, covered in intricate golden patterns.
Its appearance looked quite extraordinary.
Ling Xi didn’t think much more of it.
She sat cross-legged and swallowed it in one gulp.
On the other side, having stepped out of Ling Xi’s room, Chen Yuyang actually felt his own heart racing.
That’s right, he was nervous.
Because in that moment just now, he almost felt an impulse.
An impulse that would have been unfair to his Master.
He said he was going to prepare for the Alchemist Assembly, but he knew himself that he had essentially fled in panic.
The Heavenly Evolution Creation Pill he threw was compensation for his Junior Sister, who had shown her true heart.
That Heavenly Evolution Creation Pill was not simple at all.
It was an Unranked pill.
But calling it Unranked wasn’t because it was poor; rather, its level had already surpassed the limits of the conventional Grade 9 and reached a higher realm.
As for how much higher, it was unclear.
The cultivation world had no corresponding classification, and he was too lazy to come up with another name to distinguish its grade.
In short, this Heavenly Evolution Creation Pill was anything but simple.
It possessed the effect of significantly improving the grade of a Spirit Root.
It was considered one of the best items in the foundation Chen Yuyang had accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years.
The pill also contained fragments of Laws and Small Worlds, which were of great use for comprehending the Laws of Heaven and Earth and one’s own Laws.
If it weren’t for the fact that the origin of this item was hard to explain, and the fact that his Junior Sister was easy to fool because she didn’t recognize its value, Chen Yuyang would never have taken it out.
Otherwise, he would have brought it out when he was helping Bu Lingxuan.
With his Junior Sister’s current fifth-grade Spirit Root, combined with the Heavenly Evolution Creation Pill… Chen Yuyang estimated she could reach a seventh-grade Spirit Root.
However, the difference in Spirit Roots mainly affected cultivation levels before the Soul Transformation realm.
After all, no matter how high the grade of a Spirit Root, it couldn’t help a person comprehend the Laws of Heaven and Earth.
At most, it would make early-stage cultivation smooth and make it easier to break through the shackles of the first few realms.
Thinking idly, Chen Yuyang returned to his own room.
At this moment, he also needed to properly adjust his state of mind.
To adjust this heart that had been touched and changed because of the women surrounding him in this lifetime.
Three days later, the second round of the Alchemist Assembly began in full swing.
The content of the second round was simple, and the rules were clear; the winners and losers could be decided within a day.
Five hundred alchemists each randomly drew three types of Natural Treasures.
What they needed to do was perform further processing on these three medicinal ingredients according to the specific recipe requirements provided by the Assembly.
Based on the difficulty of the processing techniques, the degree of medicinal properties preserved after processing, the purity of the medicinal strength, and the time taken to complete the entire process, a comprehensive evaluation would be made.
The top one hundred would advance to the next round.
Actually, by this stage, the purpose of the Alchemist Assembly was to select the best of the best and screen for truly top-tier alchemical talents.
In fact, let alone these five hundred alchemists who made it to the second round, even the several thousand who were screened out in the first round had gained a bit of fame through this assembly.
Within their sects and families, they had all received more attention.
The purpose of the first round was a large-scale open audition.
This second round was a genuine test of an alchemist’s basic skills.
It was important to know that various Natural Treasures had different attributes: some were Yin, some were Yang, some were hard, some were soft, some were highly toxic, and some contained life force.
Depending on the pill to be concocted, the methods for processing the ingredients were entirely different.
Moreover, in a situation where ingredients were drawn completely at random, it tested the alchemist’s reservoir of alchemical knowledge, their personal techniques, their refining experience, and their understanding and insight into alchemy itself.
Zhu Tian offered no extra words, only saying “Begin” softly.
The voice wasn’t loud, yet it spread clearly throughout the entire venue.
Immediately, a crisp gong was struck, and the second round of the Alchemist Assembly officially raised its curtain.
Five hundred alchemists were already in position at their respective seats, their expressions solemn.
As the sound of the gong faded, everyone couldn’t wait to open the three jade boxes placed before them.
Inside the jade boxes lay three different types of Natural Treasures, and next to them was a jade slip containing the corresponding pill recipe.
Contestants needed to understand the characteristics of the ingredients according to the requirements of the recipe and choose appropriate techniques to process these Natural Treasures.
The alchemists opened their jade boxes one after another, inspecting them carefully.
In an instant, a wave of subtle gasps echoed through the venue.
Some alchemists immediately furrowed their brows, their faces turning grave.
Some of the ingredients in the jade boxes were things they had never heard of or seen before, or they were varieties whose names they had heard but had never actually touched.
Experienced alchemists could still deduce some processing directions based on the characteristics of the pill to be refined and the attributes of the ingredients.
However, some alchemists from small sects or small families had limited knowledge and mostly dealt with common ingredients.
Facing these unfamiliar Natural Treasures, they couldn’t help but run into trouble, their faces showing bitterness.
On the judge’s stand, Qi Tian’s gaze swept across the field, finally landing in a certain direction.
A faint, imperceptible arc curled at the corner of his mouth as he muttered, “That kid’s technique is good and his talent is strong, but he comes from a small place like the Acacia Sect after all. His knowledge is limited.”
Beside him, Ling Pozhu heard this and nodded in deep agreement, adding, “Experience and insight are things that cannot be compensated for by high talent alone.”
“What you haven’t seen, you simply haven’t seen. Even if the processing method is simple, if you’ve never seen it and don’t know it, you won’t be able to think of it.”
The surrounding alchemists opened the three jade boxes one by one and prioritized processing the Natural Treasures they were familiar with, leaving the unknown ones for later.
Chen Yuyang, however, wasn’t so meticulous.
He opened a jade box, took out the ingredient, and didn’t even read the contents of the slip.
He directly controlled the Solar True Fire to envelop it.
The ingredient melted, impurities were rapidly eliminated, and soon only a glob of pure, ink-colored medicinal liquid remained.
Chen Yuyang put it into a jade bottle and set it aside.
“This… what is this?”
Seeing this scene, Qi Tian couldn’t help but be stunned.
“This is… directly refining the ingredient to an absolutely pure state… In this state, there’s no need to consider special processing methods at all. When needed, one can just take the corresponding amount.”
Zhu Tian’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help but speak.
“Is this… considered a shortcut?”
Qi Tian stammered slightly.
“The Great Dao is simple. Although it’s simple and crude, isn’t this the most ultimate processing method for this type of plant-based Natural Treasure? If you’re not convinced, you can try controlling the Solar True Fire with that level of proficiency too.”
Qi Tian immediately fell silent, and Chen Yuyang casually opened the second jade box.
Inside the box lay some yellow powder.
“That is Sulfur Gold Sand, a mineral-type Natural Treasure. Surely it can’t be processed in that way.”
“The Solar True Fire will indeed be a bit strained. After all, that is a spiritual mineral mined from deep within the earth’s veins, and its resistance to fire is extremely high.”
Zhu Tian nodded, his gaze still locked on Chen Yuyang.
Seeing the Sulfur Gold Sand, Chen Yuyang indeed frowned.
But in the next second, a more intense violet-red began to gestate within the blue flames in his palm.
That was the Profound Sun Extreme Fire, a flame even higher in rank than the Solar True Fire.