Chapter 51: Flawless Alchemy

As soon as the words fell.

A sword resonance echoed through the void!

'Not good!'

Su Zhengdao's heart tightened, and a formation disk appeared in his hand. He injected a burst of spiritual energy into the disk.

Boom!

A transparent circular barrier enveloped him completely. However, Su Zhengdao didn't seem entirely confident in the barrier's defensive power, so he slapped on several third-tier defensive talismans. A layer of earthy yellow light shimmered over the barrier.

"Is this supposed to work?"

Li Changsheng shook his head slightly, raised the sword in his right hand high above his head, and then slashed down with a fierce strike.

Mountains and rivers seemed to change color, and the void itself trembled!

A dazzling white sword light, hundreds of feet long, soared into the sky before crashing down toward Su Zhengdao!

Bang!

The white sword light struck the circular barrier, producing a deafening explosion.

An invisible shockwave radiated from the point of impact, carving a three-foot-deep trench in the ground as it spread. The luxurious palace was torn apart, leaving nothing but a barren wasteland.

"Who dares cause trouble in the Medicine Pavilion?"

"Quick, gather the guards!"

Shouts echoed from all directions as groups of Medicine Pavilion disciples rushed to the scene. What they witnessed would leave a lasting impression on them for the rest of their lives.

Su Zhengdao, the third elder of the Su family and a distinguished guest of Pill King Song Xuan, was now lying beneath the foot of a green-robed youth, trampled like a dead dog. The two Golden Core retainers of the Medicine Pavilion stood to the side, their expressions grave, though their trembling legs betrayed their fear.

"Li Changsheng, who are you?"

"How can a young Golden Core cultivator possess such strength?"

Su Zhengdao's face was ashen. The sword strike from Li Changsheng had already severely injured him. Now, not only was he unable to resist, but he couldn't even summon the spiritual energy within his body.

"Is who I am important?"

Li Changsheng shook his head slightly, reached down, and took Su Zhengdao's storage pouch, tucking it into his own.

Then, he turned his gaze to Song Xuan.

"Now, it's time to settle our account!"

A forced smile, uglier than a grimace, appeared on Song Xuan's face as he stammered, "Fellow Daoist, as the saying goes, it's better to resolve grievances than to create them. I'm willing to refine the Emerald Water Pills for you. In the future, if you need any pills, I'll prioritize refining them for you."

"Please, consider my status as a fourth-tier alchemist and let this matter rest. What do you say?"

"Oh?"

A cold smile spread across Li Changsheng's face. "Just now, you wanted to cripple me, and now you think a few hollow words will make me let you go?"

Song Xuan's smile froze, and he struggled to suppress his anger. "Miss Su, are you really determined to wipe us out today? Or has your Su family managed to rope in another fourth-tier alchemist?"

"Consider the consequences of offending me carefully!"

"If you offend me, I guarantee no one will refine the Emerald Water Pills for you!"

Song Xuan's face showed confidence. As a fourth-tier alchemist from the Medicine King Sect—though he had parted ways with them—he still had ties of goodwill with the sect. Moreover, his master was a peak fourth-tier alchemist with a high status in the sect.

If the Su family dared to take action against him today, eighty percent of the alchemists in the Tiannan Domain would refuse to work with them!

"Li Changsheng, just do as you see fit!"

Su Qingyu said coldly, "His master is merely a peak fourth-tier alchemist from the Medicine King Sect. Even if we kill him, the Medicine King Sect wouldn't dare make an enemy of the Su family!"

"You… don't you want the Emerald Water Pills anymore?" Song Xuan shouted in desperation.

It was true, as Su Qingyu had said. Even if Su Qingyu killed him today, the Medicine King Sect wouldn't go to war with the Su family over him. He simply didn't carry that kind of weight.

"Is the Emerald Water Pill… really that hard to refine?"

Li Changsheng looked at Song Xuan and asked.

"Hmph!"

Song Xuan shot a cold glance at Li Changsheng. "Kid, I admit you have some strength, but the path of alchemy is vast and profound. Although the Emerald Water Pill is only a fourth-tier pill, it's notoriously difficult to refine. Even mid fourth-tier alchemists can't guarantee a one hundred percent success rate, and there are only a dozen or so mid fourth-tier alchemists in the entire Tiannan Domain!"

By the end, Song Xuan stared at Li Changsheng and spoke word by word:

"Think carefully about the consequences of offending a fourth-tier alchemist!"

Heh!

A cold smile appeared on Li Changsheng's face. He turned to Su Qingyu and said:

"Miss Su, may I be entrusted with refining the Emerald Water Pills?"

"You may!"

Without hesitation, Su Qingyu tossed a storage pouch to Li Changsheng.

"Kid, the materials for refining the Emerald Water Pills are worth at least four hundred thousand spirit stones. Are you sure about this?" Song Xuan's eyes gleamed with cold mockery. He was now eager for Li Changsheng to fail, as it would highlight the superiority of his own alchemy!

Li Changsheng shook his head slightly, tapped his storage pouch, and a high-grade artifact-level alchemy cauldron appeared in mid-air.

'A mere high-grade artifact cauldron? It seems he's not a skilled alchemist!' The moment Song Xuan saw the cauldron, he breathed a sigh of relief. A skilled alchemist would have strict requirements for a cauldron; a good cauldron could increase the success rate by thirty percent. The cauldron Li Changsheng had produced was not only crudely made but also merely a high-grade artifact.

What fourth-tier alchemist didn't possess a spirit artifact-level cauldron?

However, what happened next almost made Song Xuan burst into laughter. After taking out the cauldron, Li Changsheng tossed dozens of materials for refining the Mystic Water Pills into it at once.

Any alchemist knew that the first step in pill refining was to purify the medicinal properties of all the spiritual herbs to increase the chances of success.

What Li Changsheng was doing now was a mistake even a novice who had only been studying alchemy for ten days wouldn't make. With so many different herbs, each with unique properties, how could they be purified simultaneously?

Moreover, the order in which materials were added during pill refining was crucial. A single misstep could cause a cauldron explosion, destroying all the materials.

"Miss Su, where did you find such a fool?"

"If you stop now, you might still salvage some of the materials."

"It'll take quite some time to gather these materials again."

Unable to resist, Song Xuan mocked.

"I believe in him!" Su Qingyu only coldly tossed out this sentence before turning her gaze to Li Changsheng, who was refining the pills.

"It's normal for someone of your level to not understand," Li Changsheng shook his head slightly and said indifferently:

"Today, I'll show you what true alchemy looks like!"

With that, Li Changsheng coldly uttered two words:

"Flames, come!"

A white flame appeared out of thin air and quickly attached itself to the cauldron, which began to spin rapidly.

Li Changsheng began forming a series of alchemy hand seals, his movements as fluid and graceful as flowing clouds and water.

At first, Song Xuan's face was filled with disdain. However, as time passed, the disdain slowly faded, replaced by a dark expression.

Despite being a fourth-tier alchemist, Song Xuan had never seen Li Changsheng's alchemy techniques. However, he could clearly see that with Li Changsheng's actions, the pills inside the cauldron were gradually taking shape.

By the end, Song Xuan's expression turned to one of sheer terror.

'How is this possible?'

'Even my master couldn't purify so many spiritual herbs at once, could he?'

'Could this kid be a fifth-tier alchemist?'