Chapter 67: Chapter 67: A Pill King of a Generation, Revered by All
Today is my first time.
Such an understatement sent ripples of mockery across the faces of everyone present.
It was common knowledge that for an Alchemist to master the refinement of a new Elixir, they needed to make many attempts.
Even a Grandmaster Level figure, having just acquired a new Pill Formula, was almost certain to fail on their first attempt. Only by fumbling through trial and error and accumulating experience could they achieve true mastery.
However, on such a momentous occasion, while refining such a crucial Elixir, Ning Jiang actually claimed it was his first time.
"His first time? That bastard! It looks like the old man was tricked by him."
Liu Zhengkun said hatefully. He already knew that the Elixir Ning Jiang was refining was directly related to Liu Yuanlong’s injuries, which was why Liu Yuanlong had always placed such great importance on Ning Jiang.
Some time ago, Liu Yuanlong and the Twelve Golden Guards had even personally ventured into the Demon Mist Mountain Range to hunt a Peak Innate Demon Beast, the Iron-Armed Demon Ape, just to retrieve its Demon Core—all to meet the requirements of Ning Jiang’s Pill Formula.
But now, Ning Jiang was saying this was his first time refining this elixir. Didn’t that mean he had been deceiving Liu Yuanlong all along?
It wasn’t just him; even Liu Yuanlong, who had trusted Ning Jiang completely, felt his conviction waver. ’Have I been deceived by Ning Jiang all this time?’
Liu Xianyu’s delicate fists clenched slightly. ’Could this boy, the one who taught me sword techniques and helped my skills improve by leaps and bounds, truly be a fraud?’
’So he lost after all?’ Wei Yanran sighed softly, recalling Ning Jiang’s words.
’Too bad. You still underestimated me!’
’Wei Yanran, after today, you will know what kind of existence I truly am!’
It seemed now that Ning Jiang’s grand boasts would be impossible to fulfill.
"Hmph. I bet he used some kind of trick to refine that High Grade Elixir last night," someone else speculated maliciously.
After all, the pitch-black lump he held now was simply too ridiculous.
Even an Entry Level Alchemist wouldn’t refine something so absurd.
’That brat had better stay arrogant to the very end, keep defying Grandmaster Tan, and get himself killed on the spot,’ Liu Zhengkun thought viciously.
In such a dire situation, perhaps the only one still willing to believe in Ning Jiang was Ning Yu’an.
’Little brother, I know you’ll shock them all.’
Ning Yu’an stood there silently. While her faith in Ning Jiang was firm, she also felt a suffocating tension. Her tightly clenched fists had long since betrayed her true feelings.
"I suppose it’s time for you to admit defeat, wouldn’t you say?" Tan Jinglin said slowly.
"Defeat? Who said I lost?" Ning Jiang replied, his gaze lowered.
"Everyone knows you’ve lost." Tan Jinglin’s expression darkened, and his tone grew uncharacteristically severe. "When you lose, you must admit it. If you can’t even bring yourself to do that, then I have overestimated you."
"You all put too much faith in what your eyes see. Sometimes, seeing isn’t believing."
Ning Jiang’s gaze shifted to the sky as he spoke unhurriedly. "Are you familiar with how a caterpillar breaks out of its chrysalis to become a butterfly? The caterpillar is ugly and humble. I imagine most people don’t care for it. But after it spins its cocoon, it can undergo a Rebirth and emerge as a butterfly."
"Become a butterfly? Are you trying to say there’s something profound hidden inside that monstrosity of yours? You’re just twisting words," Fei Yanqing sneered.
CRACK.
A sound like shattering porcelain suddenly rang out.
It came from the black sphere in Ning Jiang’s palm—the one everyone had been mocking!
A crack had appeared on its surface.
HISSS!
Instantly, a burst of pill fragrance erupted from the crack like air from a punctured balloon.
CRACKLE. CRACKLE.
But the changes were far from over. The cracks gradually spread, multiplying until a dense web covered the entire surface.
The black sphere became like a balloon riddled with a thousand holes, jets of pill fragrance continuously shooting out from within.
Then, Ning Jiang gave his palm a light shake.
Like dust scattered by a strong wind, the shattered fragments on the sphere’s surface fell away instantly.
BOOM.
An irrepressible wave of pill fragrance, like a bursting dam or an erupting volcano, swept out in all directions.
"What?!" Everyone’s face was a mask of astonishment.
The pill fragrance rapidly swept outwards, reaching a hundred zhang.
A hundred-zhang fragrance—the mark of a Treasure Elixir!
But an even greater shock was yet to come.
The black sphere had only shed its outermost layer.
CRACK.
Another layer on its surface shattered.
The pill fragrance intensified, reaching one hundred fifty zhang, two hundred, two hundred fifty, two hundred sixty, two hundred seventy... all the way to three hundred zhang.
In that instant, all the previous mockery turned into dumbfounded shock.
Three hundred zhang, versus Tan Jinglin’s two-hundred-zhang fragrance.
The victor was clear!
Tan Jinglin’s lips were pressed tightly together. He remained silent, and his aged face seemed to have grown even older in that moment.
All the Alchemy Masters were rendered speechless.
"To think, he’s also a Grandmaster... a teenage Grandmaster!"
After an unknown amount of time, Du Wanqing’s voice trembled. "A sixteen-year-old Grandmaster... If word of this gets out, it will undoubtedly cause a massive uproar in the Cyan Cloud Country."
Even Pill King Lu Changsheng himself, upon hearing such news, would rush to Luoyang City at once to fight for the chance to take Ning Jiang as his disciple!
"Master, could there be... another layer?"
Wei Yanran’s lips trembled. The Iceberg Beauty’s eyes were fixed intently on the Elixir in Ning Jiang’s hand.
After cracking twice, the Elixir had already shrunk to less than a tenth of its original size.
Although it was much smaller, it was still a size larger than a normal Elixir. Of course, it wasn’t unheard of for some elixirs to be larger than average.
"I don’t think... there can’t be another one, can there?" Highland’s mouth twitched.
Three hundred zhang had already stunned the entire crowd. If there was more, their hearts might not be able to take it.
CRACK!
Suddenly, as that sound echoed, the entire space fell into a dead silence.
All the Alchemy Masters stared, wide-eyed, at the Elixir in Ning Jiang’s hand, not daring to breathe.
A single breath felt as long as a century.
The cracks spread, encasing the entire Elixir.
This was the third time it had cracked!
Finally, the Elixir was only the size of a fingertip. It was entirely purple and covered in a dense web of patterns.
BOOM!
The pill fragrance exploded outwards.
Four hundred zhang.
Five hundred zhang.
Six hundred zhang.
...
Nine hundred zhang.
One thousand zhang!
Outside the Liu Family estate.
"Did you smell that? What is that scent? It smells amazing!" cried out the many Martial Artists who had not yet left.
A sudden wave of pill fragrance sent the entire crowd into an uproar.
However, the fragrance lasted for only the blink of an eye before vanishing just as quickly.
"Huh? Where’d it go?"
The Martial Artists were baffled and confused.
"Big sister, did you smell that just now?"
Zhou Lingwei and Zhou Chuchu had just stepped into the Liu Family estate when they caught a whiff of the fleeting scent.
"Was it just my imagination?" Zhou Lingwei asked, surprised.
"But it’s so strange. Why are so many people gathered outside?" Zhou Chuchu muttered. The two girls had no idea what was happening.
After arriving at the Liu Family estate and giving Ning Jiang’s name to the Guards at the entrance, they were smoothly admitted inside.
Back in the Liu Family courtyard.
All the Alchemy Masters were completely stupefied!
The Elixir, covered in strange patterns, was like a peerless treasure that no Alchemy Master could look away from.
Even Alchemy Grandmaster Tan Jinglin’s eyes were wide and bloodshot, his old face drained of all color.
A thousand-zhang fragrance, covered in Pill Patterns.
It was a Supreme Grade Elixir!
A Supreme Grade Elixir that only Pill King Lu Changsheng was said to be able to refine in the entire world!
’So I’ve been a complete joke all this time.’
’So he was right in front of me, and I never even knew.’
’So he’s the mysterious Pill King.’
Wei Yanran’s face was as pale as paper. The mysterious Pill King she had been searching for had been this close to her all along.
In that moment, Wei Yanran suddenly realized just how laughable her past disdain for Ning Jiang had been.
The boy’s words, which she had once dismissed as arrogant boasting, now thundered through her mind like a bolt of lightning.
"Wei Yanran, I told you your horizons are too narrow. One day, you will learn what kind of existence stands before you. At that time, you will naturally understand the awe you should hold for me."
Men do not recognize the Lingyun Wood in their time; only when it towers to the clouds do they speak of its height.
"Tan Jinglin, who has won now?"
Ning Jiang stood there, his gaze distant and empty, like a great Buddha looking down upon the mortal world from high above.
Tan Jinglin’s body trembled.
Then, the revered Alchemy Master, famous throughout Cyan Cloud and admired by all, took a few steps forward, bowed deeply, and clasped his fists respectfully. "I was not aware I was in the Pill King’s presence. This junior, Tan Jinglin, pays his respects to the Pill King!"
Before his words had even fallen silent,
"This junior, Du Wanqing, pays his respects to the Pill King."
"This junior, Highland, pays his respects to the Pill King."
"This junior, Fu Shan, pays his respects to the Pill King."
"This junior, Lü Dong, pays his respects to the Pill King."
"This junior..."
Of the eight great Alchemy Masters of Luoyang, seven bowed down respectfully.
Only Fei Yanqing remained standing.
"This junior, Fei Yanqing, was blind and insulted the Pill King. My crime is unforgivable. I am willing to sever an arm. I beg the Pill King’s forgiveness."
Luoyang’s second-greatest Alchemy Master seemed to age ten years in that instant. The moment the words left his mouth, he acted decisively, using his hand as a blade to chop off his own left arm.
He didn’t even grunt from the pain of the dismemberment.
Only after doing all this did he bow deeply to Ning Jiang. "The sinner, Fei Yanqing, pays his respects to the Pill King!"
At that moment, Cyan Cloud Alchemy Grandmaster Tan Jinglin and the eight great Alchemy Masters of Luoyang—
—all bowed their heads!
THUD.
In the silent space, the sound of someone dropping to their knees rang out.
Fei Hai fell to his knees, his face ashen, his voice trembling. "This sinner was ignorant and offended the Pill King multiple times. I beg the Pill King to spare my life."
THUD.
Another person fell to their knees.
Liu Zhengkun’s expression was reverent as he pressed his forehead deeply to the ground. "The sinner, Liu Zhengkun, harbored malicious intent and ill will toward the Pill King until just a moment ago. I beg the Pill King to forgive my transgression."
"A divine being, a celestial man! It truly wasn’t an exaggeration at all! To think my own faith wavered just now, that I thought I had been deceived... For shame, for shame!" Liu Yuanlong laughed heartily and took three steps forward. "Liu Yuanlong of the Liu Family pays his respects to the Pill King!"
"We pay our respects to the Pill King."
Liu Xianyu, Liu Shiyi, Wei Yanran...
Everyone present, without exception, bowed down in unison.
The sixteenth day of the twelfth month.
Ning Jiang refined an elixir.
Its fragrance spanned a thousand zhang; its body was wreathed in Pill Patterns.
And became a Pill King of his generation.
Revered by all.
