Chapter 552
"They don't understand a damn thing..."
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, turning his gaze toward the door, where footsteps were approaching.
The figure stood at the entrance without knocking. A flicker of satisfaction crossed Elder Xiong's eyes as he waved his hand and opened the door.
It was Zheng Fa.
Seeing Zheng Fa, Elder Xiong's expression brightened considerably.
Zhao Jingfan couldn't help but roll his eyes inwardly.
Those four were all disciples trained by Zheng Fa, and the audacity they displayed in guiding the Yuan Ying (Nascent Soul) was all thanks to Zheng Fa's indulgence. If he had the guts, he should just scold him!
But Zhao Jingfan also understood that Elder Xiong's smile toward Zheng Fa stemmed not only from his tendency to bully the weak and fear the strong but also from another reason:
Zheng Fa had always shown respect for Elder Xiong. For instance, when he arrived at the door, he neither knocked nor used his divine sense to peek inside.
He was considerate enough not to disturb Elder Xiong while he was refining pills.
Every action of his made it hard for even someone as difficult as Elder Xiong to say anything bad about him.
"How's it going?"
Zheng Fa scanned the room, already knowing the answer, but still asked.
"Failed. There are still some difficulties." Elder Xiong, facing the main subject, dropped his pretenses, his voice tinged with frustration. "The spirit pills we've created can actually react to the external pills, but it seems the medicinal properties aren't strong enough."
Zheng Fa nodded gently.
He had already learned about this from Madam Xuanhua.
Their current verification of the medicinal properties of the pills was mainly through Madam Xuanhua's "Golden Pill Project." In other words, they would take the pills refined by Elder Xiong and toss them into the alchemical furnace running the "Nine Mountains Golden Pill Method" to see if there were any reactions.
"If there's a reaction, it means we've made some progress compared to before."
Elder Xiong was anxious, but Zheng Fa wore a smile: "At least it's much more hopeful than those previous pills."
This at least confirmed that this pill had an effect on the "Nine Mountains Golden Pill Method"!
Compared to those previous pills that showed no response, this was a significant breakthrough.
Zheng Fa cupped his hands toward Elder Xiong and said, "Such progress is thanks to you, Elder Xiong."
Upon hearing this, Elder Xiong chuckled, his earlier anger dissipating.
Zhao Jingfan watched from the side, feeling it was absurd.
Just a simple compliment from Zheng Fa, and you’re grinning like that?
But he also understood that, firstly, Zheng Fa genuinely respected Elder Xiong and rarely offended him.
Secondly, the brilliance of that compliment lay in... Zheng Fa's status.
As the leader of the Nine Mountains Sect, a single compliment from him brought Elder Xiong immense pride, enough to overflow.
Puffed up with pride, Elder Xiong declared, "Leader, just give me some more time, and I will definitely refine this spirit pill for you!"
"I naturally believe in you, Elder."
Zheng Fa was quite satisfied with Elder Xiong.
At least with Elder Xiong's guidance, they had managed to outline the general steps for the pill formula.
The problem was that spirit pills were incredibly delicate; having just a rough idea wasn't enough.
Right now, they could still kill pigs—those were the spirit pigs raised by Jiao Wuji, currently the "guinea pigs" of the Nine Mountains realm.
As it stood, those spirit pills were killing one pig after another.
Zheng Fa dared not consume them.
Of course, they had to make improvements.
"Elder, do you have any ideas for modifications?"
"Well..."
Elder Xiong opened his mouth, seemingly at a loss for words.
"Just... keep trying."
Zheng Fa nodded, noncommittal, but Elder Xiong still felt the pressure, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead. He explained awkwardly, "Leader..."
"The Five Elements Orchid has already been lost in the Xuanwei realm."
"I’ve searched through all the texts and found no records of the Frostleaf."
"Honestly, we can only treat a dead horse as a live one."
His meaning was simple: he would use the alchemical techniques he knew and try them one by one...
Success or failure would depend on luck.
Seeing that Zheng Fa remained silent, Elder Xiong's smile faded, and his voice grew strained. "Leader, you may not know, but alchemy is not that simple."
"To perfect a pill formula, one must rely on insight and opportunity; it cannot be rushed."
"The Xuanwei alchemy has always been this way, throughout history."
Noticing his tone was unfriendly, Zhao Jingfan quietly glanced at Zheng Fa, feeling a bit worried.
But Zheng Fa showed no signs of anger. He picked up the notebook left by the four disciples and began flipping through it.
Elder Xiong was already somewhat displeased, and now seeing Zheng Fa peruse the experimental records he held in disdain, his face darkened despite his fear of Zheng Fa.
Zheng Fa glanced at Elder Xiong and said, "Why not consider the ideas of these disciples?"
Elder Xiong didn't outright refuse but politely replied, "Leader, I already have some ideas I want to try first."
"If that doesn't work, I’d like to see how your sect's foundation-building disciples understand alchemy."
Though he didn't dare to confront Zheng Fa directly, he emphasized the words "foundation-building," clearly unable to suppress his dissatisfaction.
Zheng Fa listened without showing any anger, simply nodding. He then discussed other matters before taking his leave.
Zhao Jingfan looked at Elder Xiong with concern.
"Go prepare the spirit herbs."
"Huh?"
"What do you mean 'huh'? Aren't you afraid of offending Leader Zheng? If we refine the pills, there’s no question of offending anyone!"
"But..."
"But what? Leader Zheng is just trying to find a solution in a hurry, but he’s not a petty person. As long as I achieve results, he won’t say anything." Elder Xiong was quite confident.
Zhao Jingfan opened his mouth, realizing that Elder Xiong's boldness stemmed from recognizing Zheng Fa's leniency.
"Can we really refine it?"
"I'm not lying to Leader Zheng; I have some confidence." Elder Xiong smiled and added quietly, "If referencing those disciples' ideas proves useful, then the credit will have to be shared with them, right?"
"…"
Zhao Jingfan was genuinely surprised that Elder Xiong had such a petty side.
"Let me tell you, this spirit pill, aside from me, no one else in the Nine Mountains realm can refine it. What’s there to be afraid of?"
...
But there were indeed others.
Not just anyone, but Zhao Jingfan himself.
Zhao Jingfan was called to another alchemical room by Zheng Fa, staring blankly at him.
"You want me to help you?"
"Yes..." Zheng Fa nodded, explaining to Zhao Jingfan, "Didn’t Elder Xiong teach you step by step? You know how to refine this spirit pill, right?"
Zhao Jingfan, his mind a jumble, still nodded.
Zheng Fa spoke seriously, "In addition to Elder Xiong's alchemical experiments, we are starting a second alchemical experiment."
"…"
Zhao Jingfan remained silent.
Zheng Fa's decision was a carefully considered choice.
He received reports from the four foundation-building disciples, so he was well aware of the conflict between Elder Xiong and those disciples.
To be frank, in the Xuanwei realm's perspective, the disciple who dared to suggest something had overstepped.
But Zheng Fa didn’t blame him; after all, he was the one who had nurtured this disciple. Sometimes, he even encouraged them to "overstep" or, in other words, to boldly voice their opinions.
But Elder Xiong couldn't tolerate it.
This time, he had come to the alchemical room to mediate, hoping to persuade Elder Xiong to improve his experiments based on the records—but it seemed the difficulty was quite high.
Most Yuan Ying cultivators had lived for thousands of years and were nearly worshipped in the Xuanwei realm.
Not only were they proud, but their thinking often became rigid.
Zheng Fa knew he might be able to persuade—or rather, pressure—Elder Xiong.
But after much thought, he decided against it.
"But Elder Xiong said he has some ideas..."
Zhao Jingfan directly threw his own elder under the bus.
Zheng Fa chuckled, "Then I’ll be waiting for Elder Xiong's good news, but we still need to conduct the second experiment."
"Why?"
"I believe Elder Xiong is indeed working hard and knows he can succeed, but starting from one idea is naturally not as effective as trying two different approaches."
Zheng Fa explained to Zhao Jingfan:
"If Elder Xiong succeeds, that’s great."
"But if he doesn’t, I also want to try our Nine Mountains Sect's own improvement methods."
Zheng Fa's choice was simple—parallel experiments!
At present, perfecting the "Nine Mountains Golden Pill Method" was the most important task for the Nine Mountains Sect. It could be said that this was crucial for Zheng Fa's own advancement and for the refinement of the sect's fundamental techniques.
Looking further ahead, it was about whether the Nine Mountains Sect could quickly cultivate a large number of Yuan Ying.
All the resources and manpower of the Nine Mountains Sect were focused on this matter, with the research of this pill formula being the most critical.
They had the resources to conduct two different experimental approaches, and they were qualified to pursue both!
The first approach was to follow Elder Xiong's ideas, using the traditional methods of a Nine Mountains Sect alchemist to understand and analyze the pill formula.
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