Liang Xiao’s face was cold, his mood visibly sour, and he gave no reply.
Yuan Qing’an chuckled lightly, his tone kind.“Enough already. You all know most of us on Cijian Peak are sword cultivators, and poor ones at that. We’ve already emptied our pouches. Someone has to keep a bit in reserve, don’t you think?”
That frank, almost shameless admission of poverty only drew laughter from Yaowang City’s disciples.
As long as Cijian Peak accepted they’d lose, it saved everyone trouble—no need to worry their Senior Brother would demand the spirit stones be returned later.
Liang Xiao’s face, however, darkened even further at Yuan Qing’an’s words.
Onstage, Nan Sinning glanced at the pile of spirit stones heaped like a small mountain. Her lips curved into a faint, secretive smile before she tucked away her alchemy manual and restarted her refining of the Replenishing Spirit Pill.
By then, most had already lost interest in watching her. Only Shen Tangyuan kept his eyes on her every move, his suspicion making him pay closer attention.
She went through the motions calmly—warming the furnace, adding herbs, extracting essence…
Yet the more Shen Tangyuan watched, the more perplexed he became. She mimicked Xiao Jingwen’s actions, but also wove in her own method. And—
His gaze locked on her hand. At this point, shouldn’t she be adding Heart-Nurturing Flower? Why is she using Ringing Grass?
And not just here—several other herbs had been substituted with more common, lower-grade ones. But the furnace stayed steady, without the slightest sign of exploding.
Before long, rich medicinal fragrance wafted from her furnace.
“Wait… she’s actually refined it?” someone muttered.
“No way. I studied herb identification for three years, then watched others refine for another three. It still took me two years before I produced a single successful batch. And she just flips through a manual here and refines it straight away?”
“Don’t rush! She hasn’t condensed the pills yet. That’s the key step!”
“Yes, exactly!”
The chamber quieted, everyone craning forward like a row of geese, eyes fixed on her every move.
Nan Sinning struck hand seals against the furnace, one after another. The medicinal scent gradually transformed into pill fragrance.
Every alchemist there knew what that meant: the pills had formed.
For a moment, the entire hall fell into eerie silence, the disciples of Yaowang City stunned into self-doubt.
Across from her, Xiao Jingwen stared hard at her furnace. He’d thought she was a clueless novice, but she’d really produced pills! Even if the finish wasn’t perfect, it already surpassed the majority of alchemists. Could she actually have some heaven-defying talent for alchemy?!
After a long moment, he forced calm into his heart. No. Even if she formed pills, they won’t surpass mine. I’m a rank-two alchemist. She’s just a half-wit who recently regained her senses.
Shen Tangyuan took in every reaction around him, quietly satisfied.
Nan Sinning, as though oblivious to the shock, opened her furnace once the process was complete. Inside lay eight smooth, rounded Replenishing Spirit Pills.
With a flick of her wrist, they flew neatly into a jade bottle. She sealed it and handed it to Shen Tangyuan for judgment.
He accepted it, trying not to appear too eager, uncorked the bottle, and inhaled. As expected—the fragrance of supreme-grade pills.
The quality reassured him, but curiosity gnawed harder. She really used those lower-grade herbs, didn’t she? How then did she still refine supreme-grade pills? But now wasn’t the time to pry.
All eyes were fixed on him, awaiting his verdict.
Xiao Jingwen, who had once felt certain of victory, now trembled with unease.
Finally, Shen Tangyuan spoke.“By sight, by scent, by color—it is undoubtedly a batch of supreme-grade Replenishing Spirit Pills.”
“Wha—!”
A roar of astonishment swept the hall. The chief senior brother had confirmed it: Nan Sinning had refined supreme-grade pills!
The disciples’ initial disdain turned to awe.
Luo Qingyao, unable to contain herself, muttered, “But the Replenishing Spirit Pill is only first-grade. Isn’t refining a supreme-grade version not that difficult?”
Her words sparked immediate rebuttal.
“Yes, it’s the lowest-ranked pill, easy to start with, cheap in materials. But no one refines supreme-grade on their very first attempt. No one.”“Even Senior Brother Shen, a once-in-a-century genius, only produced high-grade his first time.”“It’s like your sword arts—anyone can start with the basics, but reaching unity of man and sword at first attempt? Impossible.”“You really don’t understand. Junior Sister Nan’s skill outstrips most of us already.”“If only she weren’t from Cijian Peak. Our master would surely take her as a disciple.”
“Yes, what a pity…”
Talk shifted to Nan Sinning’s astonishing alchemy talent. Praise and admiration filled the air.
Luo Qingyao’s lips bled under her teeth, her face darkening. Every compliment toward Nan Sinning felt like a knife in her heart. The suggestion that Yaowang himself might take Nan Sinning as a disciple was thunder crashing overhead.
Fury, jealousy, unwillingness boiled inside her. So what if she’s the so-called protagonist? Even without her sword bone, she’s sprouting new talents?! In the novel she had none—why does she suddenly have them now?
No… something’s gone wrong. The plot’s derailed. If she grows like this, my fate as the “supporting character” will collapse into ruin. I won’t allow it. Nan Sinning must die!
Her spiritual consciousness flared, killing intent leaking until those nearby flinched.
Shen Tangyuan noticed. With a wave, he struck a finger of energy between her brows. A cold shock ran through her, instantly clearing her mind.
“You show signs of an unstable Dao heart,” he said coolly. “It could breed inner demons. Best return to your sect and let your master deal with it.”
She paled, then forced herself to bow. “Thank you, Senior Brother Shen, for your timely aid.”
He merely nodded, turning away. To her fury, his face transformed when he addressed Nan Sinning—warm, smiling.“Junior Sister Nan, if you don’t mind… could I buy one of your Replenishing Spirit Pills?”
The difference in tone made Luo Qingyao seethe.
Nan Sinning hadn’t answered yet when Xiao Jingwen blurted indignantly,“Senior Brother, I’ve refined Replenishing Spirit Pills too. I’ll give you mine! Why do you want hers?”
Shen Tangyuan’s smile vanished instantly, replaced by cold authority.“I know full well the quality of your pills. Though I judged them supreme-grade, they only barely qualified as such.”
Xiao Jingwen flushed with anger, humiliated before his rival.
Shen Tangyuan snorted. “In fact, I’ll buy two from Junior Sister Nan—one for myself, and one for you. Only by experiencing her pills will you learn humility.”
Nan Sinning realized—he was teaching his junior a lesson. But the fool would never appreciate it.
She said generously,“If Senior Brother wants some, I’ll gladly gift them. A bit of your guidance would be far more valuable than a pill. As for him…”
She turned to Xiao Jingwen.“He can have one too—if he pays five times the price.”
“You—you’re bullying me!” he sputtered.
She made a face.“That’s right! I’m bullying you. What are you going to do about it? Hit me?”
He quivered with rage, fists clenching—until he caught his senior brother’s frosty gaze and deflated like a pricked balloon.
Shen Tangyuan ordered,“Give her one high-grade spirit stone.”
“What?! Why!” Xiao Jingwen yelped.
The market price for supreme-grade Replenishing Spirit Pills was about a hundred mid-grade stones per bottle. This was exorbitant.
“Because what you’ll learn from it is worth far more than one stone,” Shen Tangyuan said firmly.
He often cursed his junior’s blockheadedness. Nan Sinning had spelled it out clearly—her pill recipe differed, her method unique. The insight would be priceless. But the boy couldn’t see past his nose.
With visible reluctance, Xiao Jingwen tossed a single high-grade stone at Nan Sinning. She beamed, pocketed it, and handed him a pill—along with one for Shen Tangyuan.“Be sure to tell me what you feel afterward, Senior Brother!”
She wanted his expert opinion—after all, the system’s recipe differed from the common one.
Shen Tangyuan tucked his pill away with a smile.“Very well. And you, Fifth Brother—record your impressions and hand them to me.”
Xiao Jingwen sagged, haunted by memories of endless nights of forced pill-testing and writing reports before he ever ranked as an alchemist.
Thus ended the first round.
Nan Sinning—victor, by a narrow margin.
After their shock subsided, everyone muttered the same conclusion: it must have been sheer luck.
One small gap, easily erased in the second round. Xiao Jingwen only needed to casually refine a third-grade pill to turn the tables.
And as for that mountain of spirit stones… no way they were really going to hand it all over to Cijian Peak.