Chapter 87

Ye Qiao felt deeply disappointed with those alchemists who wouldn’t use a large pot for refining pills. She couldn’t believe it. “Are all alchemists in the cultivation world this rich? Does everyone have their own pill furnace?”

Surely, there must be some poor souls like her who use pots, right?

Ye Qiao firmly believed that where there’s a will, there’s a way. If there’s no pill furnace, a pot can still work.

But everyone in the Bishui Sect was bewildered; they’d never heard of using a pot before.

“Our personal disciples each have several. Even our inner disciples have pill furnaces,” Si Miaoyan looked at her with a complex expression.

Not just Bishui Sect; even the elders had never heard of using a pot.

The difference between a pot and a pill furnace lies in the cost. Pill furnaces are expensive, made from top-quality materials, and have a success rate twice that of a pot.

Strictly speaking, a pot can be used as well, as the success of refining pills depends on the alchemist’s skill.

But alchemists are treasures in the cultivation world. Once discovered, they are recruited by the eight great families and five major sects, all of whom are wealthy enough to prevent an alchemist from resorting to using a pot.

Ming Xuan looked at Ye Qiao, whose envy was almost palpable, and quickly held her back, “Ye Qiao, calm down! It’s just a pill furnace. When the secret realm is over, we’ll take you to buy one!”

Ye Qiao was still envious. “Second Senior Brother, have you ever heard this saying?”

“What saying?”

Ye Qiao, turning sour like a lemon, replied, “My own poverty is nothing, but my teammates’ wealth makes me want to die.”

She couldn’t understand why, despite both being alchemists, there was such a disparity in wealth.

Ming Xuan: “…”

At this moment, Liu Yun noticed the pot in Ye Qiao’s hand and realized, “You can refine pills?”

“And using a pot?”

“Why can’t I use a pot to refine pills?” Ye Qiao glanced at him and sneered, “Don’t blame the path for being uneven if you can’t walk it.”

Liu Yun chuckled softly and handed the pot to her, “Then give it a try.”

As it happened, none of those present had seen pill refining using a pot.

Xue Yu was almost petrified, “Three practices?”

Mu Chongxi nudged him and laughed mercilessly, “Now you understand how I felt when I saw Ye Qiao quickly mastering the Qingfeng Technique?”

“Stop arguing,” Xue Yu said. “Let’s see how our little sister’s alchemy skills are.”

Not only had he never seen Ye Qiao’s alchemy skills, but no one else had either.

Can it succeed using a pot?

Ye Qiao was making Qingxin Pills. She carefully selected over a dozen herbs and, unable to use incense for flavor, chose to make a simple, unadorned pill. The processes of selection, fire control, and so on were carried out methodically.

And so far, she showed no signs of discomfort.

Everyone unconsciously held their breath.

It’s well known that the greatest taboo for an alchemist during pill refining is interference, which can easily cause the furnace, or in Ye Qiao’s case, the pot, to explode.

“Can it succeed?” Qin Fanfan couldn’t help but stand up, extremely nervous.

Not only him, but all the elders from the five sects stood up, staring intently at the projection stone.

Some elders, who were not on good terms with Changming Sect, were secretly praying for failure.

After all, if she succeeds, she would be the first in the cultivation world to master three practices. Wouldn’t Changming Sect then boast to the heavens?

An elder from Bishui Sect shook his head, “Hard to say. She seems skilled, but selecting herbs and controlling fire is only the first stage.”

“Next comes imprinting the pill, purifying, and merging the pill. Any mistake in these stages could result in an explosion.”

Ye Qiao was unaware of the commotion her actions had caused outside.

She was still pondering how many pill imprints to make.

Ye Qiao could make ten at a time, but doing so would leave her needing to rest for a long time, possibly even fainting.

To ensure she wouldn’t sleep through the end of the competition, she decided to hold back, formed a hand seal with her fingers, and made the pill imprints. She then used the spiritual fire from a talisman to purify the pill.

“Ah, Senior Sister, five pill imprints!”

Miao Miao almost screamed but was quickly silenced by Si Miaoyan, “Quiet!”

Interference during alchemy is a major taboo, especially since Ye Qiao wasn’t using a regular pill furnace, but a pot.

The likelihood of an explosion was high.