Chapter 47: Another Talent Emerges from the Danfeng Lineage

After a short while, Zhou Shuo returned. Behind him were the sect leader Lin Qiaosheng and Li Huan, head of the Internal Affairs Hall.

Wan Yi was no stranger to Li Huan. In the memories of his original self, Li Huan had always disliked him intensely.

At the moment Li Huan laid eyes on Wan Yi, his expression turned strange. He hadn’t expected that the alchemical prodigy Zhou Shuo spoke of was this “fat official.”

It was well known that Wan Yi had entered the sect at ten and, after ten years, had only reached the eighth level of Qi Refinement—truly a useless disciple.

When other lowly disciples bullied Wan Yi, Li Huan turned a blind eye. In his heart, Wan Yi was a waste, and a sect as vast as Haohan didn’t need someone like him.

It was precisely because of his neglect that Wan Yi had fallen to the point of cleaning dung.

Now, even though Wan Yi had changed internally, influenced by his original memories, he still bore no goodwill towards Li Huan.

So when they arrived, Wan Yi bowed respectfully to Lin Qiaosheng but deliberately ignored Li Huan.

Lin Qiaosheng, wise and experienced, immediately sensed a grudge between the two. Coupled with the knowledge of Wan Yi’s previous menial tasks, he could guess the situation without needing an explanation.

Li Huan’s face darkened; Wan Yi’s actions were a slap in the face in front of the sect leader.

Just as Li Huan was about to lose his temper, Lin Qiaosheng stepped in to smooth things over.

He smiled at Zhou Shuo and said, “The alchemical genius you mentioned earlier—could it be Wan Yi?”

Zhou Shuo nodded excitedly and then looked at Wan Yi. “Good disciple, why don’t you demonstrate your unique alchemical technique for the sect leader?”

Wan Yi’s face turned grim. Inwardly, he thought, “Just as feared, the more I try to stay low, the more famous I become today!”

Though unwilling, he knew there was no avoiding it now. He obediently approached the alchemy furnace and began refining the Primordial Qi Pill.

Though Lin Qiaosheng was not an expert in alchemy, as the sect leader, he had some understanding of many matters.

When he saw the spiritual herbs Wan Yi placed into the furnace, he was surprised. “He can already refine third-grade pills?”

Zhou Shuo nodded and then gave a sly smile. “Sect leader, just watch—there’s more impressive stuff to come.”

Before he finished speaking, Lin Qiaosheng saw Wan Yi take out a metallic spiritual stone and channel spiritual energy into the furnace.

This move truly astonished Lin Qiaosheng.

Before he could react, Li Huan behind him scoffed disdainfully: “What’s so novel about this? Is that all?”

He then looked at Zhou Shuo with derision. “Sect Leader Zhou, I thought you were a great alchemist. How could you make such a basic mistake? Even a three-year-old knows that metallic spiritual energy is the bane of alchemy. Metal overcomes wood—don’t let this dung-cleaning kid fool you!”

Li Huan’s earlier resentment toward Wan Yi made him eager to drive a wedge between Zhou Shuo and Wan Yi.

He had hoped his words would anger Zhou Shuo against Wan Yi.

But unexpectedly, Zhou Shuo not only didn’t reprimand Wan Yi but glared fiercely at Li Huan instead.

He scolded, “Li Huan, everyone knows your character. Stop sowing discord in front of me. You’d better watch your schemes or I’ll cut off all the Internal Affairs Hall’s access to pills!”

“You!” Li Huan’s face flushed with anger. He pointed at Zhou Shuo and uttered a single “You,” but no other words could escape his mouth, choked by fury.

While they argued, Wan Yi’s alchemy was nearing completion. A rich aroma of pills wafted out of the furnace. The lid suddenly popped open, revealing ten freshly made Primordial Qi Pills.

At the sight of the purple pill aura, Li Huan fell silent. Lin Qiaosheng, in disbelief, carefully picked up a pill and examined it.

After tasting it, Lin Qiaosheng’s eyes lit up as he excitedly asked Zhou Shuo, “Have you tried this alchemical method yourself?”

Zhou Shuo nodded. “Yes.”

“How effective?”

“A batch of ten pills, no defective ones. Five have pill aura, and the other five are all top-grade!”

“Wow!” Lin Qiaosheng gasped.

He then asked, “Can this method be promoted among other disciples?”

Before Zhou Shuo could answer, Elders Bai Qitai and Hong Yu quickly responded together, “Sect Leader, it can be promoted among all disciples. We have already tested it. This new alchemical method guarantees a 100% success rate and enhances the pill’s efficacy. Given time to master it, it will surely produce pills with pill aura.”

At this, Lin Qiaosheng could no longer contain his joy and laughed heartily. “Excellent! Wonderful! Wan Yi’s self-created alchemical method greatly advances our Alchemy Peak’s standards. He deserves a reward!”

Lin Qiaosheng’s excitement was justified. Previously, when alchemists refined pills, defective pills were common.

Low-grade alchemists had only a 30-40% success rate, meaning out of ten pills, only three or four were usable; the rest were useless waste.

Even top-tier alchemists rarely exceeded an 80% success rate.

Wan Yi’s method eliminated defective pills entirely. What did that mean?

It meant money.

Those were spiritual stones wasted previously, and over time this amounted to a significant income.

Moreover, pills with pill aura were worth several times more than ordinary pills of the same grade.

The Alchemy Peak had truly produced another talent.

However, upon hearing Lin Qiaosheng say “reward,” Li Huan immediately stepped forward to block it.

“Sect Leader, Wan Yi may have created this method and raised our alchemy standards, but as a disciple of Haohan Sect who has been nurtured carefully for years, any techniques he creates belong to the sect. He does not deserve such a reward!”

The moment Li Huan spoke, everyone’s faces darkened.

Even a fool could see he was seeking personal revenge, abusing his status to make things difficult for Wan Yi.

But Wan Yi was no longer the one easily manipulated. Hearing Li Huan’s words, he exploded.

His gaze turned hostile as he mocked, “Li Huan, what ‘careful nurturing’ do you speak of? I’ve been suppressed by you for ten years since entering the sect!

You allowed other disciples to bully me and even deducted half of the ten low-grade spiritual stones the sect granted me each month!

You said my talent was poor and sent me to clean dung at the Alchemy Peak!

Do you not know whether my talent is poor? If you hadn’t withheld my cultivation resources, would I have progressed so slowly?

If I hadn’t met my master at the Alchemy Peak, who recognized and accepted me as a disciple, my life would have been ruined by you!”

His words were half-truths, stirring righteous indignation in the crowd. Though they had suspected bad blood between the two, they hadn’t imagined it ran so deep.

Withholding cultivation resources was a grave crime in any sect.

Li Huan grew furious. In a blind rage, he instinctively threw a punch at Wan Yi.

“You impudent brat, how dare you slander me! I’ll kill you!”

To be continued...