Chapter 213: Higher Quality

Mu Yanxi felt somewhat helpless. The reason she spat out her pill last was not to attract attention or embarrass Lin Xiaofeng, but simply because her Holy Fire Pill had just reached the perfect state of the seventh turn, and she could try for the eighth turn.

So just now, when Qiongdann Laoren had the disciples spit out their pills, Mu Yanxi was still controlling her heart fire to refine the living elixir, attempting to complete the eighth turn. But in the end, she found that time was insufficient.

Moreover, her own mindset was no longer right. Pill refining is a meticulous process that requires patience.

Once impatient, the pill might explode. Since she could no longer stay calm, Mu Yanxi finally chose to stop refining and spat out the Holy Fire Pill.

Although she felt a bit regretful about this Holy Fire Pill that had the potential to become an eighth-turn pill, “a man’s heart is not enough to swallow an elephant.” How many supreme-grade pills were ruined because the alchemist wanted to go a step further? Mu Yanxi understood this lesson.

Facing the second seventh-turn Holy Fire Pill, the girls were dumbfounded.

Both pills were equally crimson, both burning with faint flames, both emitting a rich medicinal fragrance. For a moment, it was almost impossible to tell the difference.

“This… what do we do with two seventh-turn Holy Fire Pills?”

“A draw?”

“I think Teacher Qiongdan said earlier that the one who used fewer ingredients wins?”

The disciples below discussed the two pills.

But Qiongdann Laoren just smiled. With a wave of his hands, both seventh-turn Holy Fire Pills flew before him. Then he asked Lin Xiaofeng:

“Which pill do you think has higher quality?”

Ordinary cultivators might not be able to tell immediately, but for a professional alchemy cultivator like Lin Xiaofeng, she could see it at a glance. Besides, Qiongdann Laoren, as a Grandmaster of Alchemy, certainly saw it more clearly than she did.

Her words caused an uproar.

“How is that possible? Lin Xiaofeng, as an alchemy cultivator, refined a pill inferior to Mu Yanxi’s?”

“Aren’t both seventh-grade pills?”

“Wait a moment, looking closely, there does seem to be some difference.”

After casting an incredulous glance at Mu Yanxi, Lin Xiaofeng said reluctantly:

“Her Holy Fire Pill is higher in quality than mine.”

Although the two seventh-turn Holy Fire Pills were very similar, when placed side by side for comparison, subtle differences could indeed be seen.

The flame enveloping Mu Yanxi’s pill seemed thicker, the crimson color deeper, and the more one looked, the more obvious the contrast became. Mu Yanxi’s Holy Fire Pill had higher quality.

Qiongdann Laoren directly revealed the truth:

“Mu Yanxi’s Holy Fire Pill is close to the eighth turn. Its medicinal effect is comparable to a primordial grade mid-grade pill.”

“If the refining hadn’t been interrupted by the class assignment, this pill had a high probability of reaching the eighth turn. Meanwhile, Lin Xiaofeng’s Holy Fire Pill is just barely at the seventh turn.”

Qiongdann Laoren had calculated accurately. Three days was only enough to refine the Holy Fire Pill to the seventh turn. For first-year disciples, the seventh turn was the limit. Attempting the eighth turn would almost certainly fail.

This limit was based on the level of alchemy cultivators, specifically Lin Xiaofeng’s level. In fact, Lin Xiaofeng herself knew she couldn’t reach the eighth turn. She stopped after completing the seventh turn; forcing the eighth turn would very likely result in a pill explosion.

So when she saw a Holy Fire Pill close to the eighth turn, her shock was immense.

There was actually someone in this class who wasn’t even an alchemy cultivator, yet her pill-refining skill surpassed her own.

‘Does this make sense? Is this immortality cultivation?’

There were only a few possibilities.

For example, the other party was born into an alchemy family. Although not an alchemy cultivator herself, she grew up immersed in the knowledge and experience of alchemy.

Or she had a Grandmaster of Alchemy personally teaching her, far surpassing her own instruction. Or perhaps the other party’s mastery of the Living Elixir Technique far exceeded hers.

But regardless of the reason, Lin Xiaofeng instinctively felt a strong hostility toward Mu Yanxi.

She was undoubtedly her biggest rival in the future.

If her own progress couldn’t surpass Mu Yanxi’s, then first place in the alchemy course would be monopolized by Mu Yanxi from now on. Her plan to join the Spiritual Moon Sect specifically to become a pill apprentice under Qiongdann Laoren would also fall through.

Meanwhile, Qiongdann Laoren was just sighing at the unpredictability of things.

His original plan was to give the disciples only three days.

Because if given four days, those who completed the fifth turn would definitely try the sixth turn, and most of them would fail at the sixth turn due to insufficient skill. So three days yielded the highest benefit.

Unexpectedly, a Holy Fire Pill almost reached the eighth turn.

If it had been successfully refined, the price of one eighth-turn Holy Fire Pill would be enough to offset the cost of those potential fifth-turn failures.

‘Truly a pity. Plans never keep up with changes.’

But Qiongdann Laoren still wore a kind expression and smiled:

“This is Student Mu Yanxi, right? Congratulations on taking first place. This alchemy notes is your reward. However, if you have other rewards in mind, feel free to discuss.”

“Thank you, Teacher. I’ll just take a look at the notes. I wouldn’t dare negotiate terms with you.”

Mu Yanxi said.

She had already attracted enough attention. If it weren’t for her personality of wanting to do everything to the best of her ability, she wouldn’t have snatched this reward.

Qiongdann Laoren handed the jade slip to Mu Yanxi.

Mu Yanxi pressed the jade slip against her forehead. Instantly, a vast ocean of alchemy knowledge flooded into her mind.

Just as she had imagined, the notes did not contain specific alchemy techniques or deep content.

Only refining insights for primordial grade and huang grade pills—essentially only the beginner part. The truly valuable content, Qiongdann Laoren had not yet brought out.

But even so, the insights recorded in this jade slip were extremely precious.

It contained not only multiple methods for herb selection, fire control, and alchemy techniques, but also several practical dan prescriptions, though recorded as typical cases.

These techniques were completely new to Mu Yanxi. They were far more advanced in technical skill than the alchemy of her past life. There was also much knowledge about water refining and alchemical pharmacy.

Just as Qiongdann Laoren said, after reading his notes, one could become a Junior Alchemist.

Of course, Mu Yanxi also knew that since he wanted to use the method of assigning homework to harvest the living elixirs refined by his disciples, he would definitely have to improve the overall alchemy level of the disciples.

He would probably find an excuse to teach these notes to the disciples later, but it was indeed a measure that benefited them.

Just then, a young girl wearing a qipao of the Spiritual Moon Sect ran in. She should be Qiongdann Laoren’s pill apprentice. She ran up to Qiongdann Laoren and said:

“Master, Young Master Lin is here.”

Qiongdann Laoren frowned.

“Huh? That kid from the Lin family? Why is he the one coming?”

Then he said to the disciples below:

“This class is free time. I’ve already approved the materials for the Holy Fire Pill. You can practice as you like. The student council has matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”

With that, he walked out with the pill apprentice, leaving a group of female disciples looking at each other in confusion.

Before long, Shangguan Yun also looked at the Spirit Moon Ring, as if conversing with someone.