Chapter 6 - Shocking Debut
Chapter 6 - Shocking Debut
Currently outside the refining area, the number two and three experts of the school Li Xin Xin and Zhuo Hong Le were discussing their successes and failures in their pill refining ; In the school compet.i.tion, the two of them who occupy the second position interchangably were both rivals and friends.
“What a pity, if my spiritual hadn’t been momentarily deceived by the flame intensity the quality of my SilverWhite pill would be top grade.”
“You? Grade three top grade pill? Haha don’t joke around, i , on the other hand would have really refined a grade three top grade pill if i didn’t make a tiny mistake just now. Seriously though, that method for controlling the flame you mentioned back then is pretty good, it’s only that i have had some epiphanies of my own…”
The both of them were having their discussion with Zhuo Hong Le’s head slightly slanted to a side when he suddenly paused, a look of disbelief on his face.
“Eh? That guy….something’s not right!”
“What’s wrong?”
Li Xin Xin turned around and froze, dumbfounded.
“What’s he doing?”
In the pill refining area, there was a person forming bizarre seals with his hands, drawing them with dou qi and overlaying them on top of each other in front of him.In the beginning,the overlaid layers of dou qi were unremarkable but soon they began to emit a frightful aura.
“The Great Overlaying Art?”
Amongst the elders there were a few who uttered a surprised ‘Eh?’.
“No, it resembles the Great Overlaying art but the core of it is a different technique.”
Elder Yao Lan’s eyes twitched, the one who was currently using the Great Overlaying Art was none other than Yao Chen!
Two years ago when Yao Chen burnt his potential away Yao Lan sighed in pity, Yao Chen was a good seedling in his eyes and the burning of his potential was equivalent to crippling him.However at this moment, seeing Yao Chen creating seal after seal has reignited his interest in Yao Chen.“This isn’t the Great Overlaying Art ,it’s the Yuan Qi Explosion technique , an unique technique that was created by their branch of the clan.It’s a shame that it’s an extremely complicated technique to learn and there are almost no one who can truly master it.”
Yao Lan recognized the technique as having originated from Yao Chen’s grandfather, a legendary figure who had carved his name onto the ancestral stele. However in the hundreds of years since,Yao Chen’s branch had steadily deteriorated due to various reasons and each successive generation could not match up to their predecessors and the talented youths in each generation had all wasted away.
Yao Huo fell victim to the same fate, and Yao Chen….probably will too.
However, Yao Chen was pretty proficient in the Yuan Qi Explosion Technique, it seems that though his potential was incinerated, the natural intelligence that he was born with still intact. Yet the more outstanding he was the more people will sigh with pity, if only that incident had never happened, how perfect he would be!
Luo Shu was jumping in joy outside, finally he could retaliate.
“You sc.u.m, did you see that? It’s called the Yuan Qi Explosion technique and it’s a xuan grade technique you sc.u.m will never be able to learn even in a hundred years!”
“Bah! What are you so proud for !”
The rascals face contorted as they retorted, however when they saw Yao Chen’s performance they quieted down.
“What a pity, even if his dou qi is miraculous, unless he can produce a martial grandmaster’s dou qi to speed up the refining process, he will never make it in time.”
“Indeed, there’s only a quarter hour left. Elder Yao Lan, should we begin preparing for the appraisal?”
Several elders of the school asked Yao Lan. Yao Lan had a high standing and position among the elders and naturally the announcements would be made by him.Of course, if anything went wrong, he would be the one responsible.
Yao Lan stroked his white beard lightly while muttering to himself and nodded his head.
“Very well, however do not disturb those who have yet to finish refining just in case there really are some who are able to finish in time.”
The elders nodded their heads in a.s.sent and proceeded to enter the refining area.
Instantly, the entire area quietened down as everyone knew that the time to determine the final results had arrived.
As the elders entered, some of the students who hadn’t finished were unable to take it and as their dou qi forked, their cauldrons failed, exploded, emitted black smoke and they failed as numerous different situations happened.However, the elders didn’t even look at them as the elders walked to the front of the stage where all the students placed their refined pills into a bottle with their name written on it. The bottles were placed on the stage and were guarded by five fierce looking guards to prevent anyone from switching the pills out and cheating.
However, the actions and precautions taken were unnecessary as in the medicine clan even cripples would not have to worry about having food to eat and having a roof over their heads, even when it came to getting married, though a beauty may not be possible, a virtuous spouse could be guaranteed.The medicine clan was one of the eight ancient clans and no matter how useless a clansman may be, in his veins flows the blood of emperors and even if the current generation was trash, that did not mean that the next generation would also be trash, and may even be a genius.Cheating was a capital offense in the medicine clan and was unpardonable, even members of the main branch were not spared and recidivists would be expelled from the clan.
A sentence that sums it up nicely would be that the medicine clansmen would dare to do anything except cheat.
Outside the refining area,Luo Shu’s anxious face was covered in sweat; c.r.a.p c.r.a.p c.r.a.p, the elders have already entered and though they haven’t announced the end of the compet.i.tion, even a fool is able to tell that in the eyes of the elders, those who have yet to finished have already failed.However there is still a chance, if the refining is completed because the elders have finished appraising the pills on stage, it would still be counted as a success.
Yao Chen was still manipulating the flame unhurriedly and with all his attention focused on his cauldron he was unaware of what was going on around him.
In front of the stage, the elders have already decided to begin the appraisal, starting with Yao Tong"s pills.
“Reporting to the elder, the name of this pill is Still Wind Lunar Invitation pill”
Yao Tong was exceedingly calm and steady as he stepped forward,paid his respects to the elders and stood to the side quietly.
The elders, Yao Lan included, nodded their heads in satisfaction. It was exceedingly rare for a student to have talent in addition to knowledge of etiquette and a branch family member like Yao Tong would have a great future ahead of him in the clan. A man like Yao Huo whose personality was overly carefree and does things his own way was disliked by the main branch, otherwise with his talent and capabilities….
Yao Lan shook his head and focused his attention on the Still Wind Lunar Invitation pill that Yao Tong had refined,refusing to dwell on the matter.Afterall, Yao Huo had pa.s.sed on and dwelling on it was of no benefit to anyone.
Yao Lan opened the bottle and a fragrance spilled out, a.s.saulting his nose and shaking his spirit.
“Oh? Not bad.”
He poured one pill out of the bottle onto his hand, enveloping it in a layer of dou qi and sent his spiritual sense into the pill, ascertaining its composition, effects and grade.
Yao Lan withdrew his spiritual sense after half an incense had burnt out and put the pill back into the bottle, turning towards Yao Tong.
“The formula for this pill does not exist in the clan, is it a new creation?”
“That’s right, i acquired the incomplete formula while on a training mission outside half a year ago and only restored the formula recently.”
“To actually dare use a new formula in the compet.i.tion..Excellent. By using this Still Wind Lunar Invitation pill, a person can temporarily reduce the damage taken from wind attributed dou qi techniques and furthermore this pill can be taken by a martial pract.i.tioner, the side effects and toxicity are negligible and the pill is high grade… very good.”
Yao Lan smiled, for his normally strict and taciturn self, using the words excellent and very good was very high praise.
Yao Tong stood by the side, calm and steady like a mountain with his face expressionless without a hint of joy to be seen.
“Thank you for your praise elder.”
Yao Lan nodded his head once more and proceeded to the second pill.
This pill was refined by Li Xin Xin and he stepped forward, paying his respects to the elder and introduced the pill.
“Reporting to the elder, the name of this pill is the StoneSkin pill.”
“Oh, the grade three StoneSkin pill. Interesting….”
Yao Lan nodded his head slightly and proceeded with his appraisal before rendering his judgement.
“Grade three StoneSkin pill. The formula for this pill comes from the clan’s storehouse and once this pill is taken, for fifteen minutes the user’s body will gain the defensive prowess of stone and with display additional effects if paired with a earth attributed dou qi.The quality of the pill is high grade.”
The lean and skinny Zhuo Hong Le jumped up instantaneously and smiled.
“Elder, it’s my turn right? My pill is the ArmourBreaking pill, this time i’m definitely better than Li Xin Xin.”
“Stand to the side, if you keep your behaviour up i’ll start deducting points.”
Zhuo Hong Le stuck his tongue out and shut up.
While the pill appraisal was ongoing, Yao Chen had reached a critical point and was continuously using the Yuan Qi Explosion technique, overlaying his dou qi on top of each other. His dou qi had connected with his body, forming a sum greater than it’s parts and had brought him into the pseudo martial master level.
“Boom boom boom”
He kept blasting the flames into his cauldron.
Yet no matter what Yao Chen did, the elders did not pay any attention to him as they felt that even if Yao Chen were to display the strength of a martial master, it was too late and there was no way for him to finish his refining in the allotted time.
However,no one realised that Yao Chen’s cauldron was emitting an unbelievable heat and the power of the flames had long since surpa.s.sed the martial master and had reached a level only attainable by a martial grandmaster!
Putting dou techniques aside, Yao Chen’s spiritual sensitivity had played a huge part in his refining as even though his dou qi was weak, his spiritual sensitivity and perception had already reached the martial grandmaster level….and maybe had already surpa.s.sed it!
“Boom boom boom”
At this moment, the ingredients were melding and combining together with increasing speed in the cauldron and with the guidance of his spiritual sense, the impurities and dregs were being filtered away and removed from the pill with the use of his dou qi and discarded outside of the cauldron.The dregs and impurities that were removed were also overflowing with medicinal properties and Yao Chen, without wasting anything, used the dou qi agglomerated by his Yuan Qi explosion technique to compress them and then calcined them using the flames in his cauldron.
With a soft pi pa pi pa, the medicinal properties were extracted and sent into the pill that was being formed.
As time ticked by, in the refining area, only Yao Chen was still continuing and everyone else had given up.After all the compet.i.tion had ended and even though they would be able to complete their pills if they carried on, they would only be laughed at if they continued to stay in the refining area. As such, under such circ.u.mstances, who would choose to carry on?
Yao Chen who was still carrying on instantly become the focus of everybody’s attention.
“En? Still continuing?”
Yao Lan, who was appraising the pills, looked at Yao Chen with his heart moved.He took a closer look and smiled bitterly, he recognised the pill Yao Chen was refining as the grade 2 AzureFlame pill. He shook his head and turned away, a pill like that would not be worthy of being presented for appraisal and there was no need for him to pay any more attention to it.
There were still five people who had yet to be appraised and though they could not be compared to Yao Tong,Li Xin Xin and Zhuo Hong Le, the pills they had refined were excellent grade two pills and could not be compared to the AzureFlame pill as their medicinal effects were more than ten times stronger.
One by one, the pills were appraised and a few of the elders nodded their heads in satisfaction. The current batch of students had numerous talents that though they could not be regarded as geniuses, were worthy of presenting themselves on stage.Though they might only be unremarkable in the medicine clan, they would be notable figures were they to venture outside. This was the strength of the medicine clan.
As the time neared it’s end, Yao Lan picked up the last of the pills and covered it with his dou qi, carefully examining it before giving his judgement a short while later.
“Lower tier growth pill,a person’s dou qi would grow slightly after taking it. Grade two pill, normal quality.”
The grades of a pill started from normal,followed by mid grade,upper grade, high grade and finally top grade.Top grade pills were somethign that people could only wish for and when a top grade pill was created,even the receptarier who created it would treat it as a precious treasure.
The last bottle of pills to be appraised was also the last to be created and as it was anxiously created while trying to meet the time limit, it could be considered good as it was finished on time though the same cannot be said of its quality.
Yao Lan put the bottle down and announced.
“The compet.i.tion…”
Just as the end of the compet.i.tion was to be announced, a large BANG rang out and a thick cloud of white smoke was seen bellowing out from the pill refining area.
Yao Lan’s voice came to a sudden halt and he looked towards Yao Chen, seeing only a floating white cloud with waves of dou qi emanating from within it.From the fluctuations, the pills appear to be in the midst of being collected.
“Pill qi forming a cloud, this …..”
“This can’t be?”
“The pill… is about to be formed?”
“The time! Is the time up?”
An elder hurriedly looked at the hourgla.s.s and saw the last few bits of sand falling, there were only a few breaths of time left.Right at this very moment, there was a loud bang and the pill qi could be seen rus.h.i.+ng towards the heavens before returning back into the cauldron, and a l.u.s.trous gold coloured pill rushed out of the cauldron in a flash, entering the bottle held in Yao Chen’s palm.
“The pill qi returning to the cauldron, an indication of a top grade pill.”
Yao Lan’s gaze sank and his voice took on a peculiar tone.He had never expected Yao Chen to finish his refining in time, and that he would actually produce a pill with signs of it being top grade. Even if the pill was not a top grade one, but with the Yao Chen’s current performance and that incident two years ago, Yao Lan’s heart had an inexplicable feeling.
A few elders were quiet as they observed Yao Chen collect his pill and walked towards them.
Yao Chen was exhausted but he forcefully raised his spirits up and prevented himself from collapsing.
“Reporting to the elders, this pill is called the VioletFlame pill.”
Yao Lan took the bottle of pills.
“Attendants, help him to the side for a rest.”
Luo Shu flew out from the sidelines, not forgetting to glare at the group of bullies. As he was helping Yao Chen to the side, his eyes kept blinking non stop, but he kept quiet as he was in the presence of the elders though his excitement could be seen in his s.h.i.+ning eyes.
Yao Chen laughed as he looked at Yao Lan nervously.
Yao Lan opened the bottle and faint white qi visible to the naked eye flowed out, transforming into wisps of wind and spread the medicinal scent of the pills everywhere.
“Excellent pill!”
Several elders could not help but utter words of praise.
After a moment,when Yao Lan had finished his appraisal and put the pill back into the bottle, his gaze drifted unsteadily and waited for a long while before he opened his mouth.
“Excellent,Outstanding! This VioletFlame pill originates from the AzureFlame pill and as for the effects, tell us about it Yao Chen.”
This sentence of Yao Lan’s caused an uproar, with Yao Lan’s character it was inconceivable to think that he actually a judgement of outstanding.Even Yao Tong only got a praises of good and very good, for Yao Lan to utter the words outstanding it was highly likely that the pill refined by Yao Chen would surpa.s.s that of Yao Tong.
Could this be possible?
Everyone’s gazes fell on Yao Chen.
Yao Chen replied.
“Yes elder. This pill is the same as the AzureFlame pill and can increase the potency of flame attributed techniques with the difference being that the AzureFlame pill only raises it by ten percent while the VioletFlame pill raises it by fifty percent or more.”
Fifty percent ! And more!
The audience had looks of incredulity on their faces.
“Increasing the potency of flame attributed techniques by fifty percent or more, isn’t that an effect that only grade four pills possess?”
Pills like this could explosively increase a person’s battle prowess and was different from body strengthening pills or recovery pills, as an increase of ten or twenty percent would be able to determine the victor in a life or death struggle, let alone fifty percent.
“Are there any side effects?”
Someone asked. It was inconceivable that someone’s whose name he did not even know had refined a pill that was unimaginable to him, a pill that raises the potency of dou qi techniques by fifty percent!
Yao Lan waves his hand.
“This pill is the first of its kind, and can be considered a grade three pill and as for anything else, further examination is required before a conclusion can be made.”
Yao Lan’s announced in a deep voice.
The crowd went into an uproar, elder Yao Lan was actually unable to reach a conclusion about the pill immediately.
What was this?!
Yao Chen shocked everyone present!
“Alright, the compet.i.tion has ended. The results will be posted on the school bulletin board in the evening.”
Yao Lan finished his words and looked at Yao Chen deeply before turning around and leaving with the elders.
As the elders left, the students surged towards Yao Chen, their gazes filled with admiration and envy.He had actually created a pill which even elder Yao Lan was unable to ascertain and grade conclusively,regardless of what the final result would be, Yao Chen’s name would resound throughout the clan.