Chapter 30: The Pill Is Done!
Chapter 30: The Pill Is Done!
Upon hearing Shen Yan's words, Lin De immediately handed the Snow Ginseng Creation Pill materials over to Chu Feng.
"Young Master Chu, the master's life is in your hands!" Lin De said solemnly.
Shen Wanbao was now hanging by a thread, and there was only this last set of Snow Ginseng Creation Pill materials remaining.
If Chu Feng failed to refine the Snow Ginseng Creation Pill, Shen Wanbao would surely die!
Chu Feng accepted the materials and gave a calm nod.
"Young Master Chu, you can do it!" Shen Qianning looked at Chu Feng with a face full of anticipation.
Earlier, Shen Qianning had gone to plead with Shen Yan, promising that if Chu Feng failed at alchemy, she would willingly accept any punishment the clan saw fit — and it was only through that promise that she had secured this one set of materials.
Now, all of Shen Qianning's hopes rested on Chu Feng. She eagerly awaited him to succeed in one attempt!
Chu Feng glanced at Shen Qianning without a word, then directly produced his fifth-grade alchemy furnace.
At that moment, everyone's gaze converged on Chu Feng, and a flurry of discussion broke out!
"This Chu Feng carries a fifth-grade alchemy furnace with him — maybe he really is a fifth-grade Alchemist!"
"Ha! Just because someone carries a fifth-grade alchemy furnace makes them a fifth-grade Alchemist? By that logic, if I carried a sixth-grade alchemy furnace around, would that make me a sixth-grade Alchemist?"
"Never mind a fifth-grade Alchemist — the way Chu Feng is acting doesn't even look like an alchemist at all. Alchemists normally burn incense and pray before refining pills. He just dove straight in — he's bound to fail!"
"The Shen Clan's patriarch really made a mistake, giving the last set of materials to this Chu Feng instead of Master Hua Rong!"
......
Chu Feng paid no attention to the crowd's chatter. After setting up the alchemy furnace, he opened the lid and placed all the materials inside at once.
Then he gathered his alchemy flame and began refining!
"He... he actually put all the materials into the alchemy furnace at once — is he seriously refining pills???"
"Hahaha! Maybe he thinks he's making soup — just throw everything in and simmer for a while until a pill forms!"
"This is hilarious! I've never seen any alchemist put all the materials in at once. There's absolutely no way a pill can form like that!"
.......
The crowd burst into loud laughter upon witnessing Chu Feng's method of pill refinement!
Pfft!
Yun Qingying couldn't help but let out a stifled laugh!
The more embarrassed Chu Feng looked, the happier she felt!
She was already itching to see the moment Chu Feng opened the furnace — by then, everyone would surely mock and ridicule him even more mercilessly!
"To waste the last set of materials on someone like this — it's enough to make me furious!" Master Hua Rong was livid at the sight!
Shen Yan's face darkened instantly as well, and the look he directed at Shen Qianning was filled with gloom.
"Patriarch, this is simply how Young Master Chu refines pills. Please wait a little longer — Young Master Chu will definitely produce the Snow Ginseng Creation Pill!" Shen Qianning hurriedly explained.
"Thirteenth Sister, you've clearly been deceived by this fellow, and you still haven't come to your senses!" Shen Qianluo sneered loudly.
Shen Qianluo turned to face Shen Yan and said, "Patriarch, we should throw him out immediately and let Master Hua Rong continue the refinement!"
"It's useless! The materials have already been put into the furnace and processed — they're ruined now!"
"If those materials had been given to me just now, I could have definitely refined the Snow Ginseng Creation Pill. What a shame!" Master Hua Rong sighed with a look of regret!
"Thirteenth Sister, this is all your fault. You were the one who insisted on letting this fellow refine the pill, which left Master Hua Rong without materials. You're the one who has harmed Father!" Shen Qianluo pushed all the blame onto Shen Qianning.
"Hmph! Since the materials are already ruined, let Young Master Chu finish the refinement!"
"When Young Master Chu is done, if it doesn't succeed, I will accept any punishment!" Shen Qianning declared loudly.
"Then we wait," Shen Yan said, his expression dark and grim.
The materials could no longer be used for anything else — there was no choice now but to let Chu Feng finish.
Fifteen minutes later, Chu Feng slowly withdrew his hands and spoke calmly to the crowd: "The pill is done!"
"Hahaha! Done already? In just fifteen minutes — even soup wouldn't be cooked through in that time!"
"I thought he'd drag it out until nightfall, waiting for us to leave. I didn't expect him to give up so quickly!"
"He probably just couldn't keep up the act anymore!"
"This is too funny! A fifth-grade pill absolutely cannot be refined in such a short time. I'm actually a little eager to see what he's produced!"
"What else could it be? It's definitely a lump of black slag!"
......
When the crowd heard Chu Feng announce the pill was done, they immediately erupted in mocking chatter, as though everyone was waiting to see him make a fool of himself!
Not far away, the members of the Qinglan Sect were also watching Chu Feng and murmuring among themselves.
"To think this Chu Feng turned out to be a fraud — good thing we expelled him from the Qinglan Sect earlier!"
"Indeed, it's a good thing we drove him out of the sect before. Otherwise, our Qinglan Sect would have been dragged into the ridicule as well!"
At that moment, a white-haired elder standing beside Yun Qingying suddenly spoke up: "This person was once a disciple of our Qinglan Sect?"
"Yes, Supreme Elder. You have been in seclusion for many years and may not have seen him before," a blue-robed female disciple of the Qinglan Sect replied to the white-haired elder.
The white-haired elder was the Supreme Elder of the Qinglan Sect — Li Taiqing — whose cultivation was at the second level of the Earth Spirit Realm. He was also Yun Qingying's master.
Li Taiqing had long been in seclusion within the Qinglan Sect. Years ago, he had owed the Shen Clan a favor, and this time he had been invited by the Shen Clan to help prolong Shen Wanbao's life.
"What did he do wrong to be expelled from the sect?" Li Taiqing asked with a slight frown.
Upon hearing this, the Qinglan Sect disciples all turned their gazes toward Yun Qingying, saying nothing.
Seeing this, Li Taiqing also looked toward Yun Qingying in puzzlement, unsure why no one was answering.
"That scoundrel peeped on me while I was bathing. His cultivation was stripped and he was expelled from the sect," Yun Qingying said flatly.
"What?! This person is a depraved lecher — why wasn't he killed on the spot?" Li Taiqing's expression turned cold upon hearing this!
"It was the Holy Maiden's mercy that led the Sect Master to spare his miserable life," the blue-robed female disciple said.
"Qingying, you should have killed him then and there!" Li Taiqing said coldly.
Yun Qingying silently gazed at Chu Feng in the distance, saying nothing.
She had indeed been too merciful. At the time, she had seen that Chu Feng was unconscious and had not struck the killing blow.
But the last time they met, Chu Feng had claimed he had seen every inch of her body — which meant he must have feigned unconsciousness by some means to evade her inspection.
"Scoundrel — I should never have gone soft. I should have killed you right then!"
As Yun Qingying recalled the scene of Chu Feng infuriating and insulting her, a surge of fury rose in her heart!
Yet, after all, Chu Feng was the first man to have ever seen her body. Deep within Yun Qingying's heart, she harbored a strange, inexplicable feeling toward him — as though... she didn't quite want him dead either.
"Young Master Chu, did you succeed?"
In contrast to the crowd's mockery, Shen Qianning stepped forward with a face full of anticipation and asked Chu Feng.
"It worked," Chu Feng said calmly.
"Wonderful! Young Master Chu, thank you so much!" Shen Qianning's face instantly lit up with overwhelming excitement!
"Thirteenth Sister, you've truly been bewitched by him. Even now, at this point, you still believe him!" Shen Qianluo sneered at the sight of Shen Qianning's excitement.
Shen Qianning paid Shen Qianluo no mind. Instead, she looked at Chu Feng with barely contained excitement and said:
"Young Master Chu, please open the furnace!"