Chapter 1525: Chapter 1525: Secret Admiration for His Insight
Seeing that Han Yan was completely unmoved and had no intention of stopping, a barely noticeable look of delight appeared at the corner of Han Yutang’s mouth.
Han Yan’s Six Senses were extraordinarily sharp; she suddenly raised her head and looked toward Han Yutang. Han Yutang hurriedly pressed his lips together, putting on a face full of mockery.
Although his reaction was quick, that subtle change in his expression still fell into Han Yan’s eyes.
"Judging from this guy’s expression, he seems to be dying for me to start doing Alchemy. What other tricks is he hiding?" Suspicion rose in Han Yan’s heart, and the speed of her practice hand gestures slowed down as well. She had already suspected that Han Yutang still had a backhand; now Han Yan was even more certain of it. But what could it be?
Just then, a Holy Court Disciple in coarse linen clothes walked in dragging a big broom. As he passed in front of Han Yan, he swung the broom a few times, kicking up a cloud of dust that made Han Yan frown slightly from the choking.
Zhuang Ping’an and the others were all furious. It was one thing for Han Yutang and his group to harbor hostility and keep making things difficult for them, but this Holy Court Disciple in coarse clothes without even a Sword at his waist was clearly just a servant, yet he actually dared to act so arrogant.
"Impudent, is this a place you should be? Get out of here!" Before they could flare up, Han Yutang had already started cursing.
"Oh, oh, I’ll leave right away, leaving right away." That Holy Court Disciple hunched over, dragging the broom, and hurriedly backed out in a panic.
"Blind fool." Han Yutang cursed again, still not venting his anger, but he didn’t make things harder for the man.
Han Yan’s heart stirred. Even if this Holy Court Disciple had blundered unintentionally, he clearly hadn’t taken her seriously at all, which practically counted as an insult. By rights, that should have suited Han Yutang just fine, so why was he the one to fly into a rage first?
With suspicion in mind, Han Yan looked toward that Holy Court Disciple. Dawn was just breaking, and in the faint morning light, Han Yan recognized him at a glance.
Dan Tai Xuan! How had this guy fallen to such a state?
Noticing Han Yan’s gaze, Dan Tai Xuan slightly lifted his head and winked at her, motioning subtly toward the Pill Furnace beside her.
Although Dan Tai Xuan quickly exited the main hall and his eyes only moved a fraction, so that no one else noticed anything amiss, Han Yan still saw the warning in his eyes.
Could it be that there was something wrong with this Pill Furnace? Han Yan had originally been ready to start refining Elixir, but after Dan Tai Xuan’s reminder, she didn’t rush to act. While pretending to continue practicing her Hand Formation, she carefully began inspecting that Pill Furnace.
"Are you going to do Alchemy or not? If you’re not, then take your Elixir and hurry out. We don’t have time to waste on you." Seeing Han Yan still not making a move, Han Yutang urged impatiently.
Seeing how anxious he was, Han Yan was all the more certain there was something wrong with this Pill Furnace. Her Divine Sense swept rapidly through the furnace again and again, and suddenly her gaze sharpened.
At the very bottom of this Pill Furnace, there was actually a Prohibition hidden. This Prohibition was extremely delicate, concealed within the original rune patterns. If she were not herself well-versed in Artifact Refining Technique, with Six Senses stronger than ordinary people, and on top of that hadn’t received Dan Tai Xuan’s reminder, she would never have discovered it.
So this was why Han Yutang wanted her to go ahead and do Alchemy. The Elixir Recipe itself was already tedious and complicated, the techniques exquisite and Mysterious; forming a pill was incredibly difficult. On top of that, this Pill Furnace was ancient and much-damaged, so the slightest mistake could lead to failure and an explosion. Although this Prohibition had no real offensive power, at the moment of Core Formation it would absolutely become the key factor determining success or failure.
Judging from the material of this Pill Furnace, even if it exploded, it wouldn’t suffer much further damage, but all the force would be vented outward, very likely blasting the person doing Alchemy into serious injury.
This Han Yutang was not as simple and brainless as he looked on the surface after all; he actually had such scheming depth, and what’s more, he even possessed such Sealing Restriction techniques.
If she hadn’t noticed beforehand, Han Yan might really have fallen for his trick. With her strength and adaptability, she wouldn’t have been seriously injured, but looking a mess would have been inevitable. Now, though, Han Yan smiled slightly, a plan forming in her mind.
"Since you’re in such a hurry, I’ll let you see what my Alchemy Technique is really like." Han Yan said with full confidence, her tone sounding uncannily similar to that of Zhuang Ping’an and the others earlier.
Hmph, let him enjoy himself for a moment; soon enough he’d be crying. Seeing Han Yan so sure of herself, Han Yutang felt a stuffiness in his chest, but he didn’t say much more, only gave a cold snort.
Han Yan waved her right hand, and several hand gestures shot out rapidly. After practicing them slowly several times just now, these hand gestures had become second nature to her.
A strange radiance flashed across the Pill Furnace, and that Gray Dragon seemed to come alive, soaring amid the clouds and mist. A nearly transparent flame appeared at the bottom of the Pill Furnace, like an illusion, yet radiating scorching heat.
This was precisely the marvel of the Cloud Dragon Nine Heavens Furnace: using the Heaven and Earth Power to condense Heavenly Spirit Earth Fire, with no need at all for charcoal to heat it. Although it was extremely difficult to control, once a pill was successfully formed, its quality would be a cut above the rest.
Han Yan sent her Divine Sense into the Pill Furnace. When the heat reached the proper level, she began adding the Medicinal Herbs in sequence.
Zhuang Ping’an and the others stared unblinkingly at her movements, their hearts involuntarily hanging in suspense. They didn’t know the hidden secrets and dangers within this Cloud Dragon Nine Heavens Furnace, but as Han Yan had said, they shared honor and disgrace with her. They naturally did not wish to see Han Yan fail.
Soon, all the medicinal ingredients had been thrown into the Pill Furnace, and Zhuang Ping’an and the others grew even more nervous. For an Alchemist, this was when the real Alchemy began. They had no idea how well Han Yan had comprehended the Alchemy Techniques noted on the slips of paper. After all, many of those techniques were very different from, even completely at odds with, those passed down among the Mainland Countries, to the point that none of them had dared to attempt them. Could Han Yan really integrate those techniques with what she had learned before in such a short time?
Right under everyone’s tense and expectant gaze, Han Yan’s movements suddenly changed. She began circling the Pill Furnace, and as she circled, she punched and kicked at the furnace.
With a series of muffled booms, Zhuang Ping’an and the others all gaped in disbelief.
It wasn’t just them; even Han Yutang and those guards from Sacred Pill Peak, as well as the Stewards from Divine Elder Peak, were all dumbfounded.
The techniques Han Yan was using were indeed correct; they were exactly the Holy Court’s secret Alchemy Techniques. But this kind of punch-and-kick Alchemy Technique was simply something they had never seen or even heard of.
"Did Young Master Mu used to learn blacksmithing?" Zhuang Ping’an couldn’t help turning his head to ask Huayue.
He had originally wanted to say Sword Casting, but looking at Han Yan’s punch-and-kick posture, he felt that calling it Sword Casting would be an insult to Sword Casting Technique; blacksmithing seemed more appropriate.
Huayue and the others were speechless for a moment, secretly impressed with Zhuang Ping’an’s eye. He really hadn’t been wrong: Lady Mu had indeed started out learning blacksmithing. Although she herself insisted it was Sword Casting, Huayue and the others knew she had merely learned blacksmithing from the old blacksmith at the east gate of Heishi City.
