Chapter 312: Reassessment

The Alchemy Room.

Streaks of sunlight poured in through the skylight, landing on Xu Xiaoshou’s exceptionally handsome face.

The young man stretched out his hands, then curled them back in. He glanced awkwardly towards the doorway and complained, “I say, with so many of you watching, I’m feeling a lot of pressure.”

Before him stood Shi Ti, Yun He, and others, while at the broken entrance, a crowd of old-timers, eager for a show, had gathered.

Mu Zixi waved from his side, encouraging him: “Xu Xiaoshou, come on, get an eighth-grade pill in one go!”

Xu Xiaoshou felt terrible. He turned his head and looked at the little girl squeezed beside him. “Get out of here, now! It’s too crowded in here. If the furnace explodes later, will you be able to escape?”

Fu Xing called out from the other side: “Brother, don’t be afraid. With me here, even if this furnace explodes ten times today, it definitely won’t hurt you.” As he spoke, he took a jade pendant from his waist and handed it over.

Xu Xiaoshou was startled. He took the jade pendant and said, “You too, get out of here quickly. It’s too crowded in here; the air circulation is terrible.”

“No, Brother, I want to witness you become a god with my own eyes!” Fu Xing excitedly grabbed his hand.

He took the jade pendant! My ‘Ten-Stage Sword Finger’ has a chance now!

Shi Ti said with a dark expression: “All of you, get out! Why are you crowding in here? Alchemy assessments aren’t for you to observe.”

“It’s already good enough that you’re allowed to watch. Why are you still crowding?” He waved his hand, shooing everyone out the door.

Unfortunately, this broken place had no door, so people ended up piling up.

He didn’t dare switch to another location. What if Xu Xiaoshou blew up another furnace? His Pill Pagoda barrier couldn’t withstand that kind of damage again.

“Make do with it,” Shi Ti said.

Xu Xiaoshou withdrew his gaze, nodded, and said, “Just don’t talk.”

“Also… President, perhaps you should step back a bit, just in case…”

“I am a Throne!”

“Oh!”

Only then did Xu Xiaoshou suddenly remember that his attendant for this assessment wasn’t Yun He, but Shi Ti!

He sat down where he was and tapped the small bathtub with his finger.

Clang—

The reverberating force immediately shook all the residue out of the bathtub. Everyone’s hearts tightened, but then they saw Xu Xiaoshou flick his finger, and the room instantly grew scorching hot.

“Cinderflame of Heavenly Incineration!”

Shi Ti straightened up, his face filled with astonishment. He had thought about it…

This Xu Xiaoshou might be Old Sang’s disciple, but actually seeing the familiar flame, the shock in his heart was still impossible to conceal.

Cinderflame of Heavenly Incineration… so this kid, who seemed so unreliable, had also endured such pain?

He gazed at the young man, as if seeing again his old companion who used to cultivate in the Great Goose Lake, boiling its waters.

If it weren’t for his ceaseless, sleepless, bitter cultivation, if it weren’t for that complete and utter desperate persistence, perhaps that old fellow… wouldn’t have those massive dark circles under his eyes.

“Spirit Refining Pills.”

Xu Xiaoshou’s call snapped Shi Ti out of his increasingly wayward memories.

Shi Ti pulled out spirit herbs from his ring, handed them over, and said, “Ninth-grade Spirit Refining Pills. You have three attempts.”

Xu Xiaoshou said, “Oh,” then tossed all the spirit herbs directly into the pot, as if adding ingredients to a dish.

This action instantly caused an uproar among the people outside the door.

Just as some old-timers were about to exclaim, Yun He, adopting the air of a pioneer who had “seen it all” and “knew it,” proactively explained: “Don’t rush, don’t get excited. This is normal procedure.”

“I’m familiar with this process; it’s just the beginning. This kid is quite flashy, so all of you, don’t speak.”

“Just shut up and watch closely!”

Everyone looked at Yun He, their faces grim, expressions so suppressed they almost turned green with discomfort.

When did this old man learn to shut people up, not even allowing them to vent?

Compared to the others, Shi Ti’s expression was completely unruffled.

He saw Xu Xiaoshou’s familiar and practiced movements and thought, ‘Just as expected.’

Apart from the domineering Cinderflame Alchemy, few other alchemists would dare to make such movements.

“Hiss—hiss—”

Soft hissing sounds emanated from the small bathtub. Under the powerful Cinderflame of Heavenly Incineration, the spirit herbs were effortlessly refined into liquid.

Xu Xiaoshou entered the tedious phase of heat control, and his gaze began to wander.

Heat control was a major characteristic brought by “Culinary Mastery.”

This characteristic directly led Xu Xiaoshou into the path of alchemy, opening a wide door to a secondary profession.

For other alchemists, “refining medicinal liquids” and “pill condensation techniques”—the former was naturally more arduous and difficult.

To refine medicinal liquids, one must master the properties of the herbs and maintain perfect concentration for extended periods, without any errors.

That required a vast amount of experience and practice.

As for “pill condensation techniques,” no matter how difficult, it was merely a spiritual skill.

As a spirit refiner, as long as one was willing to learn, didn’t aim too high, and accepted a pill condensation technique of the same level, they could generally master it.

Xu Xiaoshou, however, was the complete opposite of an ordinary alchemist!

Because of “Culinary Mastery,” and one of its branches: heat control.

Thanks to this passive skill, the knowledge in his mind felt as if it had been practiced countless times.

Alchemy came naturally to him.

Apart from controlling the flame intensity and dealing with minor accidents that might occur during the alchemy process, there were no other hurdles in his medicinal liquid refinement process.

What truly stumped him was pill condensation!

He just couldn’t learn it…

Xu Xiaoshou subtly glanced at Shi Ti, who was meticulously staring at his hands. Xu Xiaoshou then moved his hands even more casually, which only deepened Shi Ti’s confusion.

He then looked outside the door, where the large crowd was even more pathetic.

Led by old man Yun He, everyone was staring so intently their eyes almost bled, hoping to comprehend his “profoundly natural” alchemy technique.

Unfortunately, no one could see through it.

Xu Xiaoshou scoffed. It would be a miracle if they *could* see through it!

His alchemy technique was one he couldn’t even decipher himself!

Under the Cinderflame of Heavenly Incineration, the medicinal liquid refined incredibly fast. It was almost done, and he slightly focused his mind.

“Pill condensation…” Xu Xiaoshou mumbled, glancing at the passive value section.

“Passive Value: 24,333.”

It wasn’t increasing quickly, but it was enough to upgrade skill points!

Xu Xiaoshou hadn’t initially intended to waste passive points on alchemy, as his enemies were simply too numerous and too powerful.

But now, if he could produce an eighth-grade pill, any one of President Shi Ti’s three favors might be enough to fend off that unknown assassin.

Three incense sticks… An assassin starting from the Throne level…

As Xu Xiaoshou thought, his fingers unconsciously moved even faster.

Under the blessing of the passive skill “Agility,” if he didn’t control himself, his hand speed could directly create afterimages!

“So fast…”

Everyone watched even more intently. Inside the alchemy room, Shi Ti’s feet unconsciously shuffled.

Softly, step by step, he didn’t even realize he had moved very close to Xu Xiaoshou.

“What a miraculous technique! It really is just like stir-frying, as Yun He said!”

“It’s too chaotic and disorganized, like he’s just flailing around. But is that even possible?”

“He’s Old Sang’s disciple, so could this be something the old man recently developed?”

Shi Ti thought to himself, bent his knees, and directly squatted beside Xu Xiaoshou.