“I can’t believe something like this actually happened…. Just how many times will Bai Xiaochun actually succeed!?”
“Two successes are the requirement to pass, and four makes you Chosen! If I remember correctly, Elder Sister Zhou Xinqi got seven successes back when she was promoted!” As the crowd clamored, Du Lingfei’s face turned very unsightly. Although she was aware that Bai Xiaochun’s skill with plants and vegetation far surpassed her own, to see that such a vast gap existed between them in terms of medicine concocting filled her with mixed emotions.
As for Han Jianye, he was grinding his teeth, and his hands were clenched tightly into balls. He was trembling, and couldn’t bear to believe what he was seeing. And yet, everything was happening right in front of him, making it impossible for him to deny it.
“Four successes! Four successes has to be his limit. The rest will definitely be failures!”
Everyone in the audience was now buzzing with speculation regarding how many total successes Bai Xiaochun would achieve. But then, they realized that Bai Xiaochun was simply staring at the Inkspirit Incense.
“What is this guy doing? He’s doing more studying?!” Although they were a bit chagrined, the audience members weren’t about to leave now. Instead, they sat there, waiting and watching, looking forward to seeing the results of Bai Xiaochun’s next study session.
Sixteen hours passed before Bai Xiaochun finally took a deep breath. His eyes were completely bloodshot. Although no one else realized it, the fourth batch he had just produced had come very close to failing.
“This Inkspirit Incense is much, much harder than any of the other spirit medicines I’ve concocted in the past.” Bai Xiaochun was prudent and meticulous. After thinking back to all the other batches he had produced so far, he identified what the problem was, and after confirming that he could prevent it from happening, began a fifth batch.
He was completely oblivious to any of the conversations around him; when he was concocting medicine, his level of focus exceeded imagination. It didn’t matter what anybody said, he wouldn’t begin to concoct unless he was absolutely confident in succeeding.
Everyone in the audience had been sitting here for so long that they were completely exhausted, and were having trouble staying focused, and yet they were now all craning their necks to see what was happening.
It didn’t take long before more rumbling sounds could be heard, and a medicinal aroma spread out in all directions, a fragrant odor that sent shock into the hearts of everyone present.
The fifth batch was a success!
Han Jianye sat there dumbfounded, heart overwhelmed with bitterness. After a long moment, he simply sighed quietly.
This was the moment the crowd had been waiting for. Bai Xiaochun waved his sleeve and began the sixth batch.
Before long, more rumbling could be heard, and smell of incense spread out. The sixth batch was a success!
Bai Xiaochun’s eyes glittered. Not pausing for even a moment, he pulled out more medicinal plants and started his seventh batch. However, in almost the exact same instant that he started the seventh batch, an acrid odor suddenly wafted out. It was very faint, and could only be detected by Bai Xiaochun, and yet it caused his heart to begin pounding.
He performed an incantation gesture with his right hand and pointed out, reducing the Earthflame temperature. After manipulating the ingredients with the greatest care, he succeeded with the seventh batch!
However, this stick was only three inches long, and contained many impurities, leaving it on the verge of being low-grade, almost toxic. However, as far as the audience was concerned, that still counted as a success!
At this point, the audience was completely and utterly wrapped up in what was happening. Everyone was panting in excitement, especially Xu Baocai, whose eyes glowed with disbelief.
“Seven successes…. Heavens! Bai Xiaochun actually succeeded seven times!”
“He’s just as good as Elder Sister Zhou Xinqi! I remember hearing that the only person to ever exceed eight successes was a disciple from years ago named Wang Qingshan, an Elder Brother who is now in the supreme position of being a Successor disciple!”
“Succeeding nine times… is completely unheard-of. Nobody has ever done it!”
The audience was in an uproar, but Bai Xiaochun was sitting there quietly, looking at the pill furnace. His eyes were bloodshot, and by this point, he wasn’t even thinking about the test. He was immersed in thoughts of concocting medicine, and was analyzing the near failure from all angles. Next, he pulled out the ingredients and began to examine them again to try to determine the cause.
“This spirit plant is called Inkfruit, and the ink elements within each one are slightly different….” He held the Inkfruit in his hand and continued to observe and analyze it.
Time passed, and more wry smiles could be seen on the faces of the audience as they realized what was happening. Although they were excited, Bai Xiaochun was so thoughtfully slow in medicine concocting that it could make one bristle with anger.
And yet, nobody was willing to leave. The Outer Sect disciples all sat there cross-legged, some of them meditating as they waited for Bai Xiaochun. Others were so exhausted that they leaned up against nearby boulders to sleep.
A strange expression could be seen on the face of Elder Xu. Coughing dryly, he sat there cross-legged, waiting.
Of course, Du Lingfei and Han Jianye weren’t going to leave. Although Bai Xiaochun left them physically and mentally exhausted, they had no choice but to sit there quietly.
Everything was very quiet, except for the occasional snores which echoed out. And yet, people were still waiting, and watching Bai Xiaochun. Xu Baocai was among their number.
Hours passed, during which some people awoke from their sleep to find Bai Xiaochun sitting there in contemplation. They couldn’t help but sigh.
“I can’t believe he’s still studying.”
“The sun is rising….”
Eventually, after more than twenty hours had passed, Bai Xiaochun suddenly looked up, and his eyes were completely bloodshot.
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Chapter
45: I Could Kill You, Easy!
Bai Xiaochun was panting. By this point, he was focused to the point of tuning everything else out. He wasn’t even worried about whether or not he would succeed. His eyes were bloodshot, and his mind was occupied with only one thing: how to be completely and utterly confident!
Unless he was totally confident, he wouldn’t start the next batch!
When it came to concocting medicine, his cautious and prudent personality was fully on display.
However, even after all the thought he had put into it, he still couldn’t figure out how to solve the problem without first standardizing the ink elements within the Inkfruit. Although that wouldn’t count as changing the medicine formula, it would be a slight adjustment to it. After a moment of thought, Bai Xiaochun’s eyes flickered with determination.
“The only way is to adjust the formula on a case-by-case basis!” He quickly crushed the Inkfruit.
A squishing sound could be heard as juice flowed out, although Bai Xiaochun didn’t send it into the pill furnace. Instead, he congealed it in the air in front of him, then began to make adjustments here and there.
Most people in the audience were surprised, but didn’t really understand what he was doing. Even Bai Xiaochun himself didn’t really think that his actions were anything special; he just felt that this was the best course of action considering the circumstances.
However, Elder Tu had opened his eyes, and a gleam of shock flickered deep therein. Although he had been a bit surprised that Bai Xiaochun had succeeded seven times in a row, what he was doing now was far more shocking.