Look at that 'Jin Huang' guy! The Azureleaf and Dragonroot have been perfectly refined!"zzz
"Brother Jeuchen is rght! There's not even a hint of wastage!"
"What kind of expertise is this?! Even the core ingredients- the Jade Dew Flower and spiritual water- they seem to be of a higher quality than there were just now!"
Jin Huang listened to the reactions of the crowd and threw his head back in laughter. As soon as he felt the efficiency of his methods, he resumed his false identity as a disciple of a Pill Grandmaster, posturing and offering advice to the contestants around him.
His hands maintained a steady blue glow, allowing him to manipulate the ingredients and conduct his alchemy preparation masterfully. In truth, he wasn't in charge of the process, he was just providing the necessary mana to fuel it.
The only difference between him and the Pill Fairy Ao Yueyan was that he wasn't commanding the herbs and tools. They were acting entirely on their own.
Somehow, someway, in that weird place within his own mind where he touched the pill recipe, he was able to access a method of alchemy that no one else could. He did not understand it himself, nor was he actively doing anything.
It was like breathing; his body was autonomically carrying out alchemy with very little influence on his part.
Xiao Chen and Meng Lan did their best to contain their shock, fighting the urge to shoot to their feet and charge at the stage.
Around them, Pill Master Zhao Kun, Herb Sage, and the other senior alchemists were equally stunned.
Zhao Kun's eyes had widened and he leaned forward. "That's... The Azureleaf and Dragonroot were refined without a single trace of medicinal essence being lost."
One of the senior alchemists beside him frowned deeply. "That's impossible."
"Not impossible," Zhao Kun muttered, "But extraordinarily difficult."
His gaze shifted toward Xiao Chen, "Hey, Obsidian. Which Pill Grandmaster was it that taught this kid? Just what kind of technique is that?"
"Once this is all over, I suspect all of us wil have a lengthy chat." Xiao Chen said nothing more, his eyes just remained fixed upon the young man.
Herb Sage observed everything silently. He had seen countless alchemists throughout his long life and had watched numerous geniuses rise and fall.
He had also seen many techniques, once thought impossible, become reality. But he had never seen anything quite like this.
Jin Huang's hands were glowing with a faint blue light. That was all it took.
He wasn't manipulating the ingredients or controlling the furnace. He wasn't even concentrating particularly hard. Even so, everything happened with flawless precision.
The Azureleaf was reduced to its purest medicinal essence. The Dragonroot followed with not a single wisp of medicinal energy escaping. Then came the Jade Dew Flower.
Its petals separated one by one, each portion being processed with such efficiency that the herb seemed to become purer as it was refined. Finally, the spiritual water floated into the furnace.
The moment it entered, the entire mixture shimmered.
Several alchemists stood abruptly, frozen in disbelief.
"Wait..."
"Look at the spiritual water!"
"It wasn't like that before!"
The liquid had become noticeably clearer, its spiritual energy denser and more refined. Even the ingredients themselves seemed different, as though they had somehow been elevated during the refinement process.
Jin Huang looked around at everyone's expressions and his grin widened.
"Ahahaha!" He threw his head back and laughed. "You guys sure do seem surprised!"
A nearby female contestant stared at him. "How... how did you accomplish that?"
Jin Huang folded his arms as he became histrionically philosophical, "Why, it's nothing but an entry-level technique passed on to me by my Master."
"Could you... explain it?"
"Of course!" Jin Huang pounded his chest pridefully.
The young alchemist immediately leaned closer.
Jin Huang lowered his voice as he brought himself closer to her, "You see, Junior Sister, the key to alchemy is..."
He whispered in her ear. The young alchemist simply stared off into space for a while as she listened, then her jaw steadily started getting slacker and slacker. Finally, she sucked in a sharp breath of cold air and reeled in shock, staring into Jin Huang's eyes.
"That's it! Of course! How could I have not realized it sooner?!"
Jin Huang nodded sagely. "Indeed. How oft do we overlook that which lies most plainly before our eyes? Do not blame yourself, Junior Sister. What's your name?"
The young woman hurriedly gave her name with a bow, "Qin Xingxuan, Senior Brother. Thank you for your guidance."
Another contestant hurried over, a young man with sharp eyes. "Senior Jin, what about the Dragonroot? How did you refine it without losing any medicinal essence?"
Jin Huang glanced at the Dragonroot, then at the contestant, then back at the Dragonroot as the newest string of 'BS' took form in his mind.
"Well, young one, when dealing with the noble Dragonroot herb, one must recall the Flood Dragons of old, with their fierce arrogance. Recall how, with naught but a tiny trace of a True Dragon's bloodline, they dared to defy the heavens..."
The young man nodded excitedly, and various other young alchemists moved in to pay closer attention as Jin Huang continued to yap their ears off. Even Song Mei and Lin Fan were among them, listening closely and eventually asking questions of their own.
The young alchemists looked at one another. Some were confused, others were growing increasingly frustrated, but they were all, in their own ways, beginning to look at Jin Huang with genuine admiration.
For what was nonsense in Jin Huang's mind... was beginning to make incredibly good sense to them!
Jin Huang continued to posture, occasionally pointing toward someone's furnace and offering random advice about flame control and herb prep, all with the confidence of an ancient master.
"Your flame is too aggressive," Jin Huang waved his hand lazily.
The contestant immediately raced to adjust it.
"Your herb is upside down."
"The herb doesn't have an upside."
"Oh? This Junior dares to disagree with your father, I?!"
Mortified, that contestant hurried turned the herb around. "Is that better, Senior Brother?"
Jin Huang nodded, his arms folded. Meanwhile, the blue glow around his hands continued. He wasn't actually doing anything- not consciously, anyway.
The moment he supplied his mana, something else took over. The herbs and tools would move, and the furnace would respond. Every process occurred automatically, following the recipe he had received from the tome and some other strange method.
Jin Huang didn't understand it. He didn't even know what to call it.
He simply knew that if he supplied the necessary mana... Everything happened.
It was like breathing. He didn't think about breathing, he simply did it and, somehow, alchemy had become the same.
In the VIP section, Xiao Chen's fingers slowly tightened around the armrest.
He had expected Jin Huang to cause some kind of reaction. He had initially hoped the boy's strange constitution might allow him to interfere with the pill.
He had never expected things to come to this.
Meng Lan eyes were glued to the stage. "Master."
"I see it," Xiao Chen said.
"He's actually doing it."
"I see that too."
Xiao Chen's eyes narrowed and he continued the conversation telepathically.
"I need you to contact one of my people in the Xiao Clan. Get them to do as much investigating as they can into Jin Huang. I want to know as much about him as even the Patriarch himself.
The two remained perfectly still as they spoke. They couldn't afford to react and thus reveal that not even they expected this result from Jin Huang. The lie had already been told, and now it needed to be sold.
After all, every important alchemist in Greenwind Province was staring directly at Jin Huang. This was exactly the outcome Xiao Chen wanted. He wouldn't ruin it, even if he had to take a different route to get there.
Herb Sage and Yuan Zhi were both speechless.
Ximen Ming, who was nearby, adjusted his glinting spectacles. "Pardon my ignorance, Herb Sage, Brat Zhi, but does this Jin Huang truly understand alchemy? From here, his words sound legitimate, but I can't tell if there's any substance behind them."
Herb Sage took a deep breath; Yuan Zhi grit his teeth. It was Zhao Kun that replied to him. "His words touch upon a kind of truth that is not easy for us to see through. After all, all must rely on their own experiences to gleam insights into any Dao."
"However, there are also many similarities when it comes to Alchemy- to any truth. That is all people like me can see, and those are proof enough."
Ximen Ming blinked, "So... you're saying..."
Yuan Zhi groaned in frustration, "That's right, Ximen Ming. Jin Huang's insights into the Dao of Alchemy..."
"... are incomprehensibly deep!