Chapter 258: Guidance on Pill Forging

Translator: StarveCleric Editor: - -

This time, Mo Yu really cried.

Are you toying with me?

The moment I scored the top in the beast tamer examination, you ran over immediately, pummeled my savage beast, and became an official beast tamer.

Just when I proudly declared that I am an apprentice physician, you popped out once more. Not only did you criticize a 2-star physician, you even explained the illness of the Howling Firmament Beast and offered a solution to the problem...

Just when I thought that I can brag about my accomplishments in the Way of Pills... you took out your apothecary emblem and said that you passed the examination through Pill Debate...

Who in the world did I offend?

Can't you allow me to show off my capabilities for a bit?

"Pill Debate? What is that?"

"It is an examination where one challenges ten official apothecaries and forces them to admit defeat! I heard that this method of examination is extremely harsh, and the success rate isn't even one percent."

"An examination with a success rate below one percent?"

...

Most of the beast tamers present weren't knowledgeable about apothecaries. Upon hearing the explanation, they became dumbfounded.

How incredible does one have to be in order to force ten official apothecaries to admit defeat?

All along, Yun Tao thought that he was a genius. However, after the various affairs, he finally understood that his talents were nothing in comparison to this Elder Zhang Xuan.

Formation, beast taming, medical skills, master teacher, pill forging...

Brother, is there anything in the world that you aren't good at?

I'll go and learn that now...

Forget it, I think I better not ask about it. Every single time I ask you about something, you would say that you don't know about it. I would be naive if I take your words for it. Judging from the usual pattern, I'm afraid that I would be slapped so hard that I wouldn't be able to recover from the blow... After all, look at Mo Yu xiaojie.

Even Yun Tao couldn't help but pity Mo Yu.

In any case, this fellow is a monster. It is best to not compare ourselves with him.

"Since you are able to forge pills, you should have a pill cauldron with you or something like that, right?"

Ignoring everyone's shock, Zhang Xuan turned to Mo Yu.

"Un!"

Gritting her teeth, Mo Yu suppressed her anger and harrumphed.

"Alright!" Zhang Xuan nodded. Then, turning to the other beast tamers, he said, "Hall Master Feng, I'll need the medicinal herbs that I'm about to recite. A stalk of thirty-year-old Searing Sun Grass, a tael of fifteen-year-old Solar Flame Grass..."

In one single breath, he mentioned the names of a bunch of medicinal herbs.

Upon hearing the names of these herbs, Mo Yu was stunned. Then, a thought appeared in her mind and her eyes narrowed, "You... It can't be that you want me to forge... the Searing Sun Pill?"

"That's right!" Zhang Xuan nodded his head as though it was the most natural thing to do.

"Are you joking? The Searing Sun Pill is a grade-2 pinnacle pill while I am merely a 1-star apothecary. How can I possibly succeed?"

Mo Yu's body trembled and she nearly fainted.

Is there something wrong with this fellow's head?

Forged using nine yang attribute medicinal herbs, the Searing Sun Pill was rich in yang energy. As a grade-2 pinnacle pill, even 3-star apothecaries would find it hard to successfully forge. Yet, Zhang Xuan was trying to have a 1-star apothecary like her to do it...

Are you sure you aren't mistaken?

"Rest assured, I will guide you. It is sufficient as long as you know how to use a cauldron and control the temperature of the fire. It is actually very easy!"

Zhang Xuan said calmly.

"Use a cauldron? Control the temperature of the fire? Very easy?"

Mo Yu wished she hadn’t listened to his explanation. After hearing his words, she could feel the final thread of her rationality snapping.

Brother, are you really an apothecary?

Even apprentices know such fundamental knowledge. If pill forging were that easy, everyone would have become a grandmaster apothecary!

Pill forging isn't just a mere routine one-plus-one-equals-to-two. More importantly, one has to have an absolute control over the temperature and timing during forging. She had just reached 1-star this year, and she wasn't capable of forging even the slightly more incredible grade-1 pills. Yet, Zhang Xuan was trying to get her to forge a grade-2 pinnacle pill...

More importantly, one has to be forging the pill by oneself to grasp the progress of the forging in real time so that he can decide on the next course of action. If he wasn't going to be involved in the pill forging process... how was he going to guide her?

Where does this fellow's confidence come from?

"Indeed. If you feel that you're unable to rise up to the task, I can find another apprentice. It might be difficult to find 1-star apothecary in the Beast Hall, but it should still be possible to find a few apprentice apothecary!" Seeing her frenzied expression, Zhang Xuan frowned.

There must be something wrong with this woman. Do you have to react so greatly to everything I say?

I have already told you that I will guide you, so why are you spouting so much nonsense?

If you feel like you aren't able to do it, I can just look for another person.

"There's no need for it, I'll do it!"

Seeing the other party's contemptuous gaze, Mo Yu felt as though her heart had been scratched by ten thousand cats. Unable to bear the humiliation, she gritted her teeth and accepted the task.

Other than that person in Tianwu Kingdom, she was a top-notch genius in all fields. She hadn’t expected to be scorned by a countryside bumpkin in such a remote location.

Damn it!

Fine. Trying to act incredible? I'll see what you do when I fail to forge a grade-2 pinnacle pill later on!

"Un. Later on, follow my instructions strictly. There mustn't even be the slightest error." Afraid that the other party would cause trouble, Zhang Xuan reminded.

"Don't worry!"

Mo Yu's obstinate nature surfaced.

"That's good then!"

Zhang Xuan nodded and did not speak further.

Knowing that this matter was urgent, Hall Master Feng didn't dare to dawdle. Soon, a bunch of medicinal herbs appeared before them.

Even though this wasn't the Apothecary Guild, as savage beasts have an innate interest in medicinal herbs, the Beast Hall had an abundant inventory of herbs.

"Let's begin!"

Upon the arrival of the medicinal herbs, Zhang Xuan examined them thoroughly and made sure they were sufficiently mature to be used for the pill. Thus, he nodded in satisfaction.

Of all of the occupations, the one Zhang Xuan was the most familiar with was pill-forging.

Putting aside the fact that the first examination he took was the apothecary examination, more importantly, under the effects of the golden book, he had assimilated the knowledge contained within the books he flipped through in the Apothecary Guild into his mind.

In terms of fundamentals, even 2-star and 3-star apothecaries would find it difficult to match up to him.

"Un!"

Albeit stifled, Mo Yu didn't waste any time. With a flick of her wrist, a massive cauldron appeared before her. She then lit up the flames immediately to warm the cauldron. Her smooth motions bore testimony to her strong foundation in the occupation.

Even though she was hundred percent sure it was impossible for her to forge a grade-2 pill, given how confident the other party was, she decided to give it a try. After all, it wasn't too late to mock him after they fail.

"Not bad!"

Seeing her fluid motions, Zhang Xuan nodded his head.

As expected of a genius from Tianwu Kingdom. Even though Mo Yu was young and slightly condescending, her skills in pill forging were significantly better than Bai Ming, Chen Xiao, and the others.

As Zhang Xuan thought so, he walked toward the cauldron and casually touched it.

Without saying another word, he stood there unmoving.

"Do you think that... he will be able to succeed?"

Staring at the duo, Beast Tamer Lu couldn't help but to start feeling worried.

"I've no idea. However, if I were to tell you that someone is able to tame a savage beast by beating it up with the resulting Loyalty Level hitting 45, will you believe it?" Hall Master Feng asked bitterly.

"This... I would probably have never believed it." Beast Tamer Lu hesitated for a moment before replying.

If someone were to have told him such words before the astonishing sight he witnessed today, he would definitely have beaten the person to death.

To tame a savage beast by beating it up, furthermore, with its Loyalty Level reaching 45... Isn't that clearly a joke?

However, after witnessing it personally today... There was no way he could retort even if he wanted to.

This young man before him seemed to be a creator of miracles, rewriting everyone's understanding of the world with every single action.

"I have once seen a 3-star master teacher guide an apprentice apothecary in a Conferred Kingdom. The feat astonished everyone at the scene. To think that I would have another opportunity to witness such a sight!"

Beast Tamer Wang's eyes glowed as he muttered to himself.

"I know about that as well, but the pill forged back then was a grade-1 pill. On the other hand, the pill which Beast Tamer Zhang is going to guide Princess Mo Yu on is a grade-2 pinnacle pill. The difficulties for both tasks are on entirely different levels."

"Indeed, there is a huge difference in difficulty with each increase in the grade of the pill. If a 1-star primary stage apothecary were to be able to forge a grade-2 pinnacle pill, it would definitely pop some eyes!"

Hall Master Feng and Beast Tamer Lu nodded in agreement.

"Look, the pill forging is about to begin!"

They were discussing the matter when the pill forging begun.

Xiong xiong!

The flames in the cauldron burnt furiously. As though a skillful butterfly treading through the flowers, Mo Yu's slim and slender hands flew about the cauldron at a speed so swift that afterimages could be seen.

"Place the Green Kudzu Leaves in. Seven breaths later, place the White Beard Grass in. Then, fourteen breaths later, use the Thousand Illusory Cloud Rippling Hands to place the Searing Sun Grass in..."

With his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan's calm and clear voice sounded. There wasn't the slightest pause or hesitation in it.

Even though the Searing Sun Pill was known to be forged using nine types of yang attribute herbs, many other medicinal herbs had to be placed in to act as mediators. Otherwise, with so many yang attribute herbs placed into the cauldron, it would be a miracle if the cauldron didn't explode.

"Un?"

Initially, Mo Yu didn't think that following the instructions of the other party would allow her to craft a grade-2 pinnacle pill. However, as the medicinal herbs disappeared one after another into the cauldron, the disdain in her mind slowly faded away. Instead, her face grew increasingly grim, and she couldn't help but feel astonished by Zhang Xuan's capability.

She had seen the pill formula for Searing Sun Pill. The nine yang attribute herbs were like nine bombs. Even with other medicinal herbs act as mediators, if one fails to grasp the timing accurately, an explosion would ensue immediately. Many 2-star apothecaries have failed due to a slight lapses in their timings.

She was already more than halfway through the forging process, having thrown in five of the yang attribute medicinal herbs but the cauldron continued to function normally. There were no signs of instability in the pill at all...

That was to say, the sequence and timing of the medicinal herbs thrown in were perfect!

This... How can this be possible!

One must know that with the difference in one's cultivation, zhenqi, the cauldron, and fuel used makes huge differences in the forging process. As such, during forging, one has to make constant adjustments with no room for any breather.

In fact, if the same person, with a different cultivation and state, were to craft the exact same pill twice, can’t use the same sequencing of placing the medicinal herbs!

For such a complex pill formula, there wasn't the slightest instability when following Zhang Xuan's instructions. That was to say, there wasn't the slightest error in his instructions. How could Mo Yu not feel astounded?

More importantly... How did the other party know her forging techniques and her pill forging standards? There wasn't a single instruction of his that surpassed her current pill forging capability!

She was certain that she had never forged pills before the other party. But if so... how could he possibly know about her in such great detail?

"Don't let your thoughts wander!"

Mo Yu’s mind was wandering when a bellow suddenly echoed by her ear. At this point, she suddenly realized that the temporary lapse in her attention had caused her to throw in a medicinal herb half a breath earlier than the instruction given by the other party.

Gugugugu!

In an instant, the yang energy in the cauldron surged. The energy, that had remained stable all along, seemed as though it had suddenly been set alight. The entire cauldron shook violently.

"Oh no, the cauldron is going to explode!"

There was a random cry from the crowd, and everyone's face warped immediately.

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