Chapter 2754 — An Angered Tian Canbian
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Oh?" Tian Canbian sank into thought at Kang Jingming's words. Only after a long while did he say, "In that case, the formula Wei Zhao gave us before must have been Zhang Lifeng's simplified, improved version of the Marrow-Cleansing and Bone-Refining Pill, and the other one was the formula for the true Marrow-Cleansing and Bone-Refining Pill. That has to be it!"
"Why do you say that?" Kang Jingming was taken aback. He had assumed that the formula Wei Zhao first handed over had been the flawed one, never expecting that it was in fact the one Zhang Lifeng had simplified and improved.
"This is only a guess of mine. The Marrow-Cleansing and Bone-Refining Pill of legend is a fourth-grade pill, while the formula you brought back before was a third-grade one. But it could be refined, so I never doubted it. Now that I think about it—if Zhang Lifeng could simplify and improve the formula for the Qi-Gathering Pill back then, why couldn't he do the same for the Marrow-Cleansing and Bone-Refining Pill?" Tian Canbian said.
"That makes sense. But Young Sect Master, why would his improved version carry a flaw?" Kang Jingming was still puzzled.
"Lower the difficulty of refining, and a flaw is inevitable," Tian Canbian said. "Isn't the Qi-Gathering Pill the same? The true Qi-Gathering Pill ought to be a Profound-tier first-grade pill; I hear it has no side effects at all—the user can still absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cultivate. But the improved Qi-Gathering Pill, though it has become a third-grade pill, leaves its user unable to absorb spiritual energy anymore. The only way to advance is to keep taking more Qi-Gathering Pills."
"So that's how it is. Young Sect Master, you truly are perceptive—you saw through the principle at a glance. And here I was thinking Wei Zhao had deliberately set a trap for me!" Kang Jingming said in sudden enlightenment.
"A trap... If he really could alter pill formulas at will just to trap people, then we'd gladly be trapped. To lose to someone like that would be no disgrace. But I don't think it's possible," said Tian Canbian, unconvinced that Wei Zhao possessed such ability. Since Zhang Lifeng, he had never heard of anyone else who could freely improve and simplify pill formulas.
Such reasoning was only natural for Tian Canbian. Alchemists, though thoroughly versed in pharmacology, were nowhere near as skilled as the top physicians—and those top physicians could not refine pills, so naturally they could never alter a pill formula.
To be both a divine physician and an alchemist—in a thousand years, only one Zhang Lifeng had ever appeared. After all, a person's energy is limited; who could devote himself to alchemy and to the medical arts at the same time? This was also why alchemists generally had so little combat strength: they had poured everything into alchemy and had neither the time nor the inclination to practice martial techniques. Above all, a single round of pill refining consumed most of one's physical strength and true qi—where would the energy come from to cultivate anything else?
Wei Zhao, however, was a special case. From childhood, Old Man Wei had crammed the medical arts into him in that mad, merciless, force-feeding way, and later, in the ancient tomb, he had received Zhang Lifeng's true transmission. Even if the present Wei Zhao still fell short of the original Zhang Lifeng, in theory at least he was not far behind—only that his experience and breadth of knowledge were still somewhat lacking.
"That's true enough. Young Sect Master, may I go back now?" Kang Jingming did not want to stay here a moment longer. He had come to put on airs before Wei Zhao, and instead had been frightened half to death by the man, and had even agreed to something rather unflattering to the Kang family. Naturally he wanted to return as quickly as possible.