Chapter 617: The First Flaw

"What?"

"Saying that Master Luo's work isn't alchemy?"

"Isn't that too much? Master Luo is a five-star alchemist from headquarters. We've all seen it—her techniques and movements are flawless, impeccable. To say that isn't alchemy? Who is so rude?"

"A cheap stunt!"

The hall erupted like a blaze, with people angrily looking toward where the voice came from.

Then they saw a young man in plain clothes, about twenty years old, with three stars shining on the alchemist badge on his chest.

"A mere three-star alchemist dares to spout nonsense?"

"Ignorant!"

Seeing him clearly, many sneered and couldn't help shouting.

Although Master Luo appeared young, her understanding of medicine and alchemical skill surpassed nearly ninety-nine percent of those present.

Her alchemy process was like a spring breeze and rain, without a single superfluous step or a second's error—it was a beautiful sight. If that wasn't alchemy, what was?

Moreover, even if someone were to criticize, it should be a five-star master. A mere three-star who couldn't understand anything and spoke arrogantly—if that wasn't a cheap stunt, what was?

Master Luo frowned as well.

She wanted to hear opinions, not doubts.

"Alchemist, may I ask what was improper about my alchemy that prompted such words?"

"You want to know?" The young man didn't rise, just lifted his eyelids.

"Of course!" Master Luo raised an eyebrow.

"Your alchemy just now had a total of one hundred and twenty-seven errors. I'm afraid if I tell you... your confidence will shatter, and you'll never be able to practice alchemy again!" the young man said calmly.

"One hundred and twenty-seven?"

Snorting coldly, Master Luo flicked her sleeve: "If you can really name that many, and I can't bear it and lose confidence, it would be my own humiliation!"

If she had been doubtful earlier whether he had seen something, this statement immediately dispelled it.

Her alchemy technique was a summary of experience honed by countless predecessors at Hongyuan Master Academy, which she had fully learned without error. It was barely acceptable to point out one or two questionable spots, but over a hundred... what a joke!

With so many errors, not only would the pill fail to form, but it would probably explode before the fire even ignited!

There should be a limit to cheap stunts; being so bottomless was utterly shameless!

"Are you sure you want to hear?"

The young man smiled lightly.

"Yes!" Master Luo said.

"Ah! Since you want to know, if I don't tell you, I'll be accused of deliberately causing trouble!"

Shaking his head, the young man stood up, walked a few steps to the round platform, touched the furnace beside the standing girl, turned around, and looked over calmly: "Before I speak, I want to ask: do you know the origin of this furnace?"

"Familiarity with the furnace and knowing its origin are the most basic things for an alchemist. Of course I know!"

Master Luo frowned slightly, then continued: "This is the work of five-star artifact master Wu Feng, forged twelve years ago from seabed cold iron and green-silver copper. It withstands high temperatures and cold, and is a peak-grade spiritual mid-grade treasure..."

"Not a bad explanation! But do you know that this furnace once exploded?"

After she finished without error, the young man continued.

This young man was naturally Zhang Xuan.

To make her willingly obey and help refine the medicinal liquid, he first had to win her genuine admiration.

Just as he was worrying how to do it, he heard her request for opinions, so he didn't hold back.

Although his mastery of alchemy hadn't yet reached five-star, with the Library of Heaven's Path, he could see through the flaws in her alchemy at a glance.

"I know. It did explode once, but that time only the medicine burned. The furnace itself had no issues and no cracks, so it doesn't affect future alchemy!"

Master Luo was startled, then said.

This furnace was a gift from an elder in her family, used for three years now. It had indeed exploded once... but she knew that; how did he know and say it outright?

"The furnace indeed has no damage," Zhang Xuan said, his fingers stroking the furnace surface. "No cracks either, but the mouth of the furnace is grayish, with a smoky color. If you smell carefully, there's a coppery rust odor. If I'm not mistaken, the last explosion was during the refinement of a five-star [Blazing Flame Pill]!"

"Yes!" Master Luo frowned and nodded.

The last explosion was indeed during the refinement of a Blazing Flame Pill. Although she hadn't personally refined it, she had participated and knew the situation.

Just by looking at the color of the furnace mouth and sniffing, he knew it had exploded and even what caused it—that was incredible insight!

If before she thought he was spouting nonsense to attract attention, now she felt he might actually have some skill.

"It really exploded?"

"Just a glance and he could tell that—even a five-star alchemist couldn't do that!"

"Yeah, this guy might actually have something to say..."

The crowd below, hearing Master Luo's admission, also showed surprise.

Inspecting the furnace and knowing its origin and condition was something every alchemist should do, but... without introduction, just a glance to know all that—that was extraordinary eyesight!

Probably even ordinary five-star alchemists might not be able to do it.

Earlier, like Master Luo, they thought he was deliberately picking a fight, but after hearing his analysis of the furnace, they knew he was no simpleton.

"Even if it exploded from a Blazing Flame Pill, what difference does that make from exploding from other pills?"

Master Luo said.

The Blazing Flame Pill was a yang-attribute pill, violent and hot; exploding was normal, so there shouldn't be a problem.

"Of course there's a difference!"

Zhang Xuan shook his head: "If you continued refining Blazing Flame Pills, it wouldn't matter. But you're refining a Spirit Clarity Pill! This pill can calm the mind and benefit soul power after consumption; it's a very precious medicine. This medicine most abhors violence, yet you use a furnace that exploded from a Blazing Flame Pill to refine it—do you think it will be affected?"

"This..." Master Luo hesitated.

Some pills that affect the soul indeed have high requirements, but... even if there was an effect, it would be negligible, not a big deal.

"Do you think even if there's an effect, it's negligible and not significant?"

Seeming to read her thoughts, Zhang Xuan curled his lips: "Under normal refining, it's indeed not significant, but if your steps are wrong, the effect becomes obvious. Just now I heard you say that putting Green Spirit Grass directly into the furnace would conflict with Cypress Wood Flower, so it needs to be soaked in Sweet Fish Juice. Is that correct?"

"Yes!" Master Luo nodded.

She had indeed said that and done so.

"Green Spirit Grass is strong in nature, Cypress Wood Flower is mild. Putting them together directly would indeed cause conflict, so soaking in Sweet Fish Juice is correct. But... have you considered that Sweet Fish Juice reacts violently with the main ingredient of the Blazing Flame Pill, Green Root Wood?"

Zhang Xuan said.

"It does react, but the Blazing Flame Pill was refined years ago, and other medicines have been refined since. Even if there's residue, it shouldn't matter, right?" Master Luo said.

Green Root Wood and Sweet Fish Juice do react, even being as incompatible as fire and water... but that was years ago; what could remain?

"Nothing?" Zhang Xuan shook his head, then looked at the old man who seemed to be the president on the platform: "Alchemist, could I trouble you with something?"

"Please speak!" The old man came over.

"Please scrape off a bit of the bluish-gray substance from the mouth of this furnace!"

Zhang Xuan said.

"Alright!" Although he didn't understand the intent, the old man took out a tool and scraped the bluish-gray trace into a jade bowl.

"Please also get some Sweet Fish Juice and put it in!"

Zhang Xuan said, not touching the jade bowl.

"Mm!"

The old man nodded and instructed. An alchemist hurried out and soon returned with a gourd, pouring some light blue liquid into the bowl.

Sizzle sizzle!

As soon as the liquid touched the gray powder in the bowl, countless bubbles emerged, as if about to boil.

"This..."

Everyone in the hall erupted in uproar.

Even the most foolish could see that a violent reaction was occurring.

If such a reaction happened inside the alchemy furnace, it could easily cause an explosion, ruining all the medicine.

"How can this be?"

Master Luo was also startled, her pretty face turning pale.

Clearly, she couldn't believe this situation either.

"The Blazing Flame Pill exploding isn't a big deal, but you forgot that its main ingredient, Green Root Wood, is highly corrosive. Once it explodes, it can adhere to the furnace walls and is hard to clean. It doesn't affect other pills much, but when it meets Sweet Fish Juice, it's different."

Zhang Xuan said.

"Is there a solution..."

Master Luo swayed.

"Of course there is! Green Root Wood and Muddy Lotus Flower are mutually antagonistic in nature. Before refining the Spirit Clarity Pill, if you put two liang of Muddy Lotus Flower into the furnace, you can easily remove the residual medicinal properties of Green Root Wood and also lower the furnace temperature..."

"Doing so would also eliminate the need to combine Wood Altar Fragrant Flower with Purple Essence Water and expose it to strong sunlight for five days, saving the most troublesome step."

Zhang Xuan said.

"This..."

Master Luo was speechless.

As a five-star alchemist familiar with medicinal properties, she naturally knew whether what he said was true. After careful analysis, doing it that way would indeed be flawless and save many steps, making it much less troublesome.

"Alchemy, though it has steps and methods, is not set in stone. It's like driving a carriage—the technique is the same, but if the road conditions differ, would you still use the same method?"

"Therefore, you not only need steps but also need to make appropriate modifications based on the furnace's own issues. Otherwise, following the routine will only make the medicine more troublesome to refine!"

With his hands behind his back, Zhang Xuan looked over calmly, like a revered high-level alchemist.

"This is... the first flaw I want to tell you about!"