The disciples of Sword Peak still looked doubtful. Shen Tangyuan said, “Don’t worry. I will protect her. Even if the furnace really explodes, I can guarantee her safety.”
Qin Sangyue was the first to calm down. She said, “Very well. Then Junior Sister’s safety will be entrusted to Senior Brother Shen.”
Shen Tangyuan nodded slightly.
The Sword Peak disciples returned to the side, but every pair of eyes remained fixed with concern on Nan Sinning’s restless pill furnace.
As the alchemist, Nan Sinning herself understood best what was happening.
The situation now felt the same as when she had refined the top-grade Great Rejuvenation Pill before—something she hadn’t expected.
That pill had been high grade, so it wasn’t strange that it crazily absorbed spiritual power. But this pill was much lower in grade. Why was it still happening?
While struggling to stabilize the furnace, Nan Sinning summoned the system to ask what was going on.
The system observed for a while, then said, “Ning Ning, things are a bit complicated. The quality of this pill is about to advance to a higher rank.”
Nan Sinning: What?!
No sooner had the system finished than Shen Tangyuan, outside the array, also spoke. “Junior Sister Nan really is… both surprising and alarming.”
Hua Shengqing hurriedly asked, “Senior Brother Shen, what do you mean?”
Shen Tangyuan’s eyes gleamed. “I will explain to everyone.”
He infused his voice with spiritual power so it would clearly reach every corner of the hall. “Brothers and sisters, you should all have read in the pharmacopeia and pill-refining jade slips about pills advancing in grade during refinement. But hearing is nothing compared to seeing! Junior Sister Nan’s pill is advancing in grade. Please watch carefully and try to grasp this opportunity. Perhaps you may gain some insights!”
At his words, Sword Peak disciples were still confused, but the disciples of Medicine King City exploded:
“What?! Advancement?!”
“Heavens! Someone slap me, I must be dreaming!”
“Advancement? The pill is advancing in grade? The legendary pill advancement?!”
“How could it be Nan Sinning?! It should have been Fifth Brother!”
…
The disciples were in a frenzy. Luo Qingyao tried to ask someone what pill advancement meant, but no one was calm enough to hear, much less answer.
Sword Peak’s disciples didn’t understand either and pressed Shen Tangyuan, “What is pill advancement? What’s happening?”
Shen Tangyuan was excited, but calmer than the others, and explained: “The grade of a pill is determined by its difficulty and effects. Lower-grade pills are easier to refine, higher grades much harder. But pill grades are not fixed. Above ‘supreme grade’ and ‘divine grade,’ there exists another level: ‘transcendent grade.’ As the name suggests, it surpasses the pill’s original rank.”
Hua Shengqing’s voice rose in pitch, “You mean Junior Sister is about to refine a pill that exceeds its original grade?!”
Shen Tangyuan smiled and nodded. “Exactly. Pill advancement is extremely rare. Since I entered the path of alchemy, I’ve only seen it twice. Each time it greatly helped my cultivation and gave me deeper understanding of alchemy. It is a chance that can only be encountered by fate.”
The Sword Peak disciples looked at each other, unsure whether this was good or bad.
An opportunity like this was precious indeed—but to grasp it required a solid foundation. Their junior sister might have declared she wanted to become an alchemist, but she had only bought a few basic recipes and methods, barely skimmed them! Could she truly survive this pill advancement safely?
After a while, Liang Xiao asked gravely, “If pill advancement is so rare, what price must be paid?”
Sword cultivators believed firmly that reward equaled effort. If advancement brought great benefits, surely the risks increased proportionally.
All eyes turned to Shen Tangyuan, expectant, giving him great pressure.
“Pill advancement requires fate and luck to trigger. Whether it can be completed depends on the alchemist’s temperament and strength of divine sense. Of course, without a steady heart, advancement cannot even occur. The most important test is whether divine sense can endure.”
Everyone’s expressions grew serious. Their junior sister had regained her mind only half a month ago. Was her soul stable? Was her divine sense uninjured? No one knew. And now she faced this challenge—the risk was surely much higher than for others.
Qin Sangyue anxiously asked, “Can the advancement be stopped?”
Shen Tangyuan thought a moment. “As far as I know, yes. In fact, pill advancement is so difficult that most of the time it fails midway, and the alchemist suffers backlash. That is when the alchemist cannot finish the process. But if it is forcibly interrupted, the injury will be even more severe. I do not recommend it.”
Zhou Lixing, usually so honest and calm, was sweating anxiously now, muttering, “Is there no other way? If it means Junior Sister won’t be hurt, it doesn’t matter if she loses. Who cares about some guest rooms compared to her?”
Hua Shengqing nodded quickly. “As long as Junior Sister is safe, it doesn’t matter if we lose spirit stones.”
Yuan Qing’an was calmer. “Senior Brother Shen, how much chance does Junior Sister have of succeeding? If she cannot, how can we ensure her safety?”
Shen Tangyuan turned to look at Nan Sinning, who seemed deeply immersed, and after long deliberation carefully replied, “In my view, the chances are fifty-fifty. If advancement fails, the pill turning to waste is the least of it. The danger is that she may become trapped in her own illusions, unable to awaken. The key to saving her will be making sure she wakes.”
After thinking, Qin Sangyue said solemnly, “Senior Brother Shen, you are the only one here who has experienced pill advancement. I trust your judgment. Please guard my junior sister with all your strength. Sword Peak will owe you greatly!”
Zhou Lixing added at once, “If you can save Junior Sister, I will serve you without complaint!”
Hua Shengqing also nodded hard. “I too will follow your command!”
Shen Tangyuan looked at their faces and was deeply moved. Their master had searched far and wide for treasures to heal this little disciple, disappearing without a trace. Yet even after their master vanished, the disciples of Sword Peak still honored his instructions and cared for this once-mindless junior sister with all their hearts, ignoring the mockery and persuasion of outsiders.
Such bonds of sect and family were rare treasures in this world.
A sense of responsibility welled up in Shen Tangyuan. “All of that can be spoken of later. Please rest assured, I will do my utmost to protect Junior Sister Nan!”
He then took out a small but exquisitely crafted array plate from his storage ring. It was covered with intricate, majestic patterns, clearly no ordinary tool.
This array plate wasn’t powered by spiritual energy. Shen Tangyuan pricked his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto it. The patterns came alive, flowing and rotating, until the entire plate emitted black smoke that swirled like living mist, enveloping both him and Nan Sinning.
While Nan Sinning tried to steady her furnace, she suddenly felt a strong suction from within, making her dizzy and nearly unconscious.
In a daze, she felt as if she were burning in a raging fire. Every nerve was seared, roasted, as though turning her into charcoal, extracting every last drop of essence from her.
She had no idea what was happening. She didn’t even have the strength to call the system, only to endure.
After who knew how long, she felt herself twisted, stretched, compressed—like a lump of clay being pulled and kneaded, expanding and contracting.
Then, after another wave of dizziness, clarity struck. These sensations mirrored what herbs experienced in a furnace—boiled down into juice, then condensed into pills!
Carefully feeling it, she realized she was beginning to comprehend mysterious truths.
Perhaps it wasn’t as she had imagined—pills also had a kind of spirit. Not born from spiritual energy itself, but from something indefinable. She couldn’t explain it, only knew it was real.
Whether a pill gained that spirit depended on whether the alchemist could truly understand and feel every fiber of it.
That was why condensation was the most crucial step: fusing the differing essences of the herbs in harmony, letting them influence, infect, and react with each other, until after myriad transformations, they formed a pill with unique properties.
Alchemy was the creation of a complete and harmonious small world.
Nan Sinning instinctively “closed her eyes”—though she didn’t know where her eyes even were—and devoted herself to feeling and experiencing this process.
Watching through divine sense, Shen Tangyuan saw a stable sphere of light forming and gasped. He hadn’t expected Junior Sister’s comprehension to be so high, grasping the key to pill advancement so quickly.
Just with this insight, his fifth junior brother couldn’t compare.
He guarded by her side, oblivious to time, while outside, people could only see black mist churning, silent and impenetrable, with no idea what was happening within.
Hua Shengqing nervously clutched Qin Sangyue’s arm. Qin comforted softly, “Trust Senior Brother Shen.”
But her own brows were tightly furrowed—clearly she wasn’t at ease either.
The disciples of Medicine King City, once their shock faded, muttered restlessly:
“We can’t see anything!”
“Senior Brother told us to gain some insight, but how, staring at smoke?”
“Who knows. Just keep watching. Pill advancement itself is a rare sight.”
…
Luo Qingyao watched. She vaguely guessed that Nan Sinning was at a critical juncture and that, if she succeeded, her gains would be enormous.
Her heart seethed with hatred. How could a casual duel give her such fortune? She wished it would just explode!
But seeing Shen Tangyuan’s array plate, she knew it wasn’t ordinary. If she attacked, the backlash might strike her instead.
After long hesitation, she chose to give up.
Nan Sinning was protected by fate now—killing her wouldn’t be easy. If Luo exposed herself and offended Medicine King City, the loss would be too great.
With effort, she suppressed her murderous intent.
While everyone’s attention was on Nan Sinning, Xiao Jingwen quietly finished refining his Clear Heart Pills.
He bottled them and turned to present them to his senior brother for judgment—only to see the great cloud of black mist before him. Startled, he exclaimed, “What happened?!”
Someone quickly explained the situation.
When he heard, Xiao Jingwen’s eyes nearly popped out. “Nan Sinning?! Pill advancement?!”
After confirmation, he felt like he’d been struck on the head. He had studied alchemy for over twenty years, finally becoming a second-grade alchemist, a leader among his peers.
But this Nan Sinning—half a month ago she had only just regained her mind, and now, half a month later, she could trigger pill advancement!
Could it be that hard work really meant nothing compared to talent?