Chapter 4942 — The Earth-Solidifying Pill
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Zhuang Yifan was secretly delighted at these words. He had come shamelessly pestering Wei Zhao for the sake of alchemy, of course—only he could not simply blurt out his request the moment he arrived, and so he had hemmed and hawed and talked in circles, hoping first to do Wei Zhao a favor, so that when he asked for a pill to be refined, it would all seem perfectly natural.
"Quite right—this matter really is rather presumptuous of me. I have been rude," Zhuang Yifan said, nodding hurriedly.
"Oh? Then may I ask what pill Chairman Zhuang wishes to have refined?" Wei Zhao pressed.
Whatever the man wanted refined was unquestionably a Xuan-rank pill. His own identity as a Xuan-rank first-grade alchemist was nothing but a bluff he had improvised on the spot, yet he genuinely wanted to use this chance to try his hand. After all, refining seventh-grade pills was effortless and joyous for him now; who knew, perhaps he might succeed with a Xuan-rank pill as well? And then he would be a true Xuan-rank alchemist in earnest!
"Well…" Zhuang Yifan glanced at the others, clearly reluctant to let these irrelevant outsiders know of the matter.
"Dean Liu, it is not often you visit our Morning Star Academy's treasure ship. Why not let me show you around?" Li Ren promptly suggested, taking the hint.
"Very well, then I shall trouble you, Master Li." Liu Ziqi gave a slight nod, her expression oddly complicated.
Now that it was plain Wei Zhao was in no danger, her feelings were in truth rather strange. Morning Proud and Morning Star were mortal enemies, after all—what sense did it make for a vice dean of Morning Proud Academy to come aboard her rival's ship?
Earlier her mind had been wholly occupied with how to plead for Wei Zhao, and with Huo Yudie urging her on at every turn, she had simply never considered the matter from that angle. Now that it suddenly dawned on her, she felt thoroughly ill at ease. But since she had come, withdrawing now would only look petty, and so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and see it through.
Li Ren departed with Liu Ziqi, and Huo Yudie, Wang Xinyan, and Huang Xiaotao tactfully followed them out. In the reception hall, only Wei Zhao and Zhuang Yifan remained.
"Chairman Zhuang, there are no outsiders now. If there is a pill you wish me to refine, you may speak plainly," Wei Zhao said at once, while secretly wondering what could possibly be so unspeakable about mere alchemy that the man had to clear the room first.
"Master Lin, the pill I wish to entrust to you is a Xuan-rank first-grade Earth-Solidifying Pill," Zhuang Yifan finally said.
"Earth-Solidifying Pill? What sort of pill is that?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. Though he often leafed through alchemy texts in his spare time between bouts of cultivation, his knowledge was essentially confined to Yellow-rank pills, and of Xuan-rank pills he knew almost nothing at all.
"Master Lin does not know the Earth-Solidifying Pill?" Zhuang Yifan was more astonished than Wei Zhao, and a trace of doubt immediately stirred in his heart. A Xuan-rank first-grade alchemist who did not know a Xuan-rank first-grade pill—could this fellow be a fraud?
But the moment the thought arose, he suppressed it. Judging by the Nourishing Xuan Pill in Ni Caiyue's hands from East Flower Academy, there was no question that this Wei Zhao could casually refine Yellow-rank seventh-grade pills; his status as a Xuan-rank first-grade alchemist ought to be trustworthy.
"Forgive my ignorance—I truly have never heard of it," Wei Zhao said, shaking his head with perfect composure and not the slightest trace of guilt.
This only made Zhuang Yifan more certain: the man was no fraud after all. Who ever said a Xuan-rank alchemist must know every Xuan-rank pill? Each craft has its specialty; even alchemists do not refine just any pill at will—they have their strengths and their weaknesses.