The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron

Chapter 1548: Chapter 1646: The Dispute Over the Pill Formula

Fang Lin smiled, unconcerned with the mockery from the young girl Tang Qingling. He could tell that her sharp tongue didn’t come with ill intent; perhaps it was because she had rarely left Heavenly Fragrance Valley and didn’t know the dangers of the world, thus she spoke her mind without restraint.

“Qingling, show some manners!” At this moment, the dark-skinned woman and the thin woman walked up to the Apricot Forest Medicine Platform side by side.

Upon the arrival of these two women, the Heavenly Fragrance female disciples showed respect and saluted them in unison.

“Greetings to both masters,” said the female disciples in chorus.

Fang Lin looked at the two middle-aged women, speculating they must be figures with some status in Heavenly Fragrance Valley. He, too, clasped his hands in salute but remained silent.

“I am Shen Xingzhu, and this is my junior sister Lu Wenjin,” said the thin woman, introducing herself and returning the salute to Fang Lin with a very humble attitude.

“Grandmaster, why bow to this guy?” Tang Qingling glanced at Fang Lin with some displeasure as she spoke.

Shen Xingzhu smiled and patted Tang Qingling on the head: “You must not be disrespectful to Master Fang.”

Tang Qingling was stunned, and the other female disciples of Heavenly Fragrance were equally taken aback.

“Master Fang? What Master Fang?” Tang Qingling asked, somewhat confused.

Shen Xingzhu explained, “Haven’t you always been talking about Master Fang, saying that you want to become an outstanding Pill Refiner like him one day? How come now that he’s standing right in front of you, you can’t recognize him?”

Standing by, Fang Lin felt a bit helpless. He hadn’t intended to reveal his identity to these female disciples of Heavenly Fragrance, but it seemed he could no longer hide it.

“What? Master Fang Lin?”

“How could it be him? Master Fang has actually come to our Heavenly Fragrance Valley?”

“Oh my, I knew he looked familiar.”

“This is the youngest Master of Pill from the Pill Alliance!”

···

The Heavenly Fragrance female disciples became excited and looked at Fang Lin differently, gathering around him like a flock of birds, yet they didn’t dare to get too close, fearing they might upset him.

Only Tang Qingling stood aside with red cheeks, her expression a mix of embarrassment and annoyance, and a bit of shame.

At this moment, Tang Qingling wished she could find a hole to crawl into. It was so mortifying that she, a minor Pill Refiner who hadn’t even reached the Three Cauldrons realm, had so brazenly claimed that Master Fang Lin could not refine pills and had ridiculed him with such unflattering words.

Although the girl had a sharp tongue, she was still young and a girl at heart; now that she knew Fang Lin’s true identity, she naturally felt mortified, especially in front of so many fellow disciples. She feared that this would be a source of teasing for quite some time.

The more she thought about it, the redder Tang Qingling’s cheeks became. If one were to touch them now, they would find them scorchingly hot.

“Qingling, hurry up and apologize to Master Fang. Your words and actions just now were extremely rude,” said Shen Xingzhu to Tang Qingling.

Tang Qingling clasped her small hands around the hem of her garment, bowing her head as she stood before Fang Lin, not wanting him to see her frustrated and sullen face.

“Master Fang, Qingling misspoke just now, I hope Master Fang won’t take offense,” Tang Qingling said in a voice so soft that Fang Lin, had his senses not been exceptional, would hardly have heard what the girl was saying.

The surrounding disciples of Heavenly Fragrance Valley couldn’t help but laugh, not out of mockery for Tang Qingling, but because they found it amusing that the young girl, who had been so arrogantly challenging Fang Lin and outright said he could not refine pills, was now humbly apologizing to him.

The laughter from her fellow sisters made Tang Qingling feel even more embarrassed, but she knew that her behavior had indeed been somewhat excessive. Moreover, the man before her was a Master of Pill, and here she was, having taunted and jeered at him without even provoking his anger.

Fang Lin grinned and gently patted the young girl’s shoulder: “No worries. Just now I did not reveal myself to be Fang Lin, and it was I who approached you all as you were pill refining without warning, so I owe an apology to the ladies of Heavenly Fragrance Valley as well.”

Tang Qingling looked up in surprise, somewhat taken aback that Master Fang was so good-tempered. She had thought that after her apology, she would be severely scolded and humiliated by Master Fang.

Shen Xingzhu and Lu Wenjin exchanged glances, equally surprised at how amiable the young Master Fang was, seemingly different from the rumors.

“You’re not mad at what I said earlier?” Tang Qingling asked in her absolute innocence.

Fang Lin thought for a moment: “Not exactly unaffected, which is why I demonstrated a bit of my skill in front of you all,” he replied.

As he spoke, he gestured towards the Pill Furnace that was still nurturing the pills.

At this point, Lu Wenjin suddenly interjected: “Master Fang, I would like to ask, what is the significance of altering the order of the Three-Colored Chrysanthemum and the Qianmo Flower? And why reduce the fire intensity by thirty percent?”

“What the Second Master asked is also my question,” Tang Qingling nodded repeatedly. Although she was shocked by Fang Lin’s identity, she still stubbornly believed that their Heavenly Fragrance Valley’s Fanghua Pill formula was perfect, and yet Fang Lin changed the order of the ingredients and reduced the fire, which seemed to challenge the authority of their Heavenly Fragrance Valley ancestors.

Even if you are Fang Lin, the youngest pill refining genius of the Pill Alliance from the past, now a renowned figure throughout the Nine Countries, you can’t just modify the Pill Formula left by our ancestors in Heavenly Fragrance Valley on a whim.

Without further explanation, Fang Lin said, “Wait until the pills are out of the furnace, then you’ll understand.”

Lu Wenjin frowned and seemed about to say more, but Shen Xingzhu shook her head at her, clearly signaling her to be patient and calm. Even if there were doubts about Fang Lin, they should wait until the Fanghua Pills he refined were out of the furnace to make a judgment.

Tang Qingling pouted, clearly still holding back frustration, not believing that Fang Lin could successfully refine the pills without following the formula.

Even if you are a Master of Pill, a pill formula is the culmination of the experiences and wisdom of predecessors. Their Heavenly Fragrance Valley had also followed the formula to refine countless times; though not every attempt was successful, a success rate of around forty percent still indicated there was nothing wrong with the formula. The less-than-high success rate only showed that their skills as pill refiners were insufficient.

“Did you really become a Five Cauldrons Pill Refiner at the age of twenty?” Tang Qingling asked abruptly.

Fang Lin glanced at her, “To be precise, I hadn’t even reached twenty when I became a Five Cauldrons Pill Refiner.”

Tang Qingling was stunned once more, her expression dimmed as if she had been struck by the revelation.

“Alas, I’m afraid I won’t be able to become a Five Cauldrons Pill Refiner before I turn thirty,” Tang Qingling thought despondently.

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