“This Bai Xiaochun is actually trying to adjust the medicine formula! Incredible! No wonder the Peak Lord told me to keep an eye on him while he was away from the mountain!” Elder Tu continued to observe Bai Xiaochun silently.
A moment later, Bai Xiaochun waved his hand, flushing away the extra ink elements, leaving behind a drop about the size of a fingernail. After sending it into the pill furnace, he produced the rest of the medicinal plant ingredients and then began his eighth batch!
The pill furnace instantly turned bright red. This time, it didn’t take two hours. After enough time passed for two incense sticks to burn, the pill furnace trembled, and a medicinal aroma spread out. The eighth batch had succeeded!
Elder Tu looked at the pill furnace, and what he saw was a seven-inch-long stick of Inkspirit Incense that was black with violet specks!
“That’s almost mid-grade!” Elder Tu thought, his eyes shining brightly.
Bai Xiaochun could also tell that this stick of Inkspirit Incense was different than the others. Although he was initially confused, he suddenly realized why all of the other spirit medicines he had produced before were low-grade.
“The medicine formula isn’t standardized…. If you adjust things based on your current needs, you can concoct… mid-grade spirit medicines or higher!” Bai Xiaochun suddenly felt as if the world had been opened up to him. Feeling very excited, and before even waiting for the crowd to break out into an uproar, he started his ninth batch!
Everyone was panting, and nobody was talking. They were all completely and utterly shaken. They might have been excited before, but now that they had personally witnessed Bai Xiaochun succeed eight times in a row, they were in a state of complete and utter incredulity.
Not only had he surpassed Zhou Xinqi, he was now on almost the exact same level as the Successor disciple Wang Qingshan!
Before everyone could recover from their shock, Bai Xiaochun rapidly went about concocting the next batch. He only used the time it takes an incense stick to burn before rumbling sounds could be heard from the pill furnace, and a powerful blast of medicinal aroma spread out. The ninth batch… was a success!
“This is unheard-of!!”
“Nobody has ever succeeded nine times, and especially not with Inkspirit Incense! Bai Xiaochun spent an infuriatingly long time thinking, but… but his success rate is completely astonishing!!”
Xu Baocai’s mind was spinning, and his jaw hung wide open. Du Lingfei felt her heart being battered by waves of astonishment, and couldn’t help but think back to the competition, and how Bai Xiaochun had analyzed that grafted plant.
Han Jianye simply sighed bitterly. Although he was disappointed, he was no longer enraged. If Bai Xiaochun had surpassed him by a small amount, he might have continued to pursue a grudge, but now, he had to admit that he had lost….
“With only one more success, Elder Brother Bai will do something nobody has ever done, not even in ancient times! He… is going to pull off a miracle!”
“Boy was it worth it to come watch the test this time. We got stuck here for a few days, but it was definitely worth it!”
As of this moment, Bai Xiaochun was the center of all attention. Everyone was panting, and their eyes gleamed with intense anticipation. Even Elder Tu felt completely shocked, and was staring with wide eyes.
Finally, Bai Xiaochun moved. His eyes shone with focus as he produced the final set of ingredients. After organizing them into the order that he would use them, he began to feed them into the pill furnace, then performed a double-handed incantation gesture to stoke the Earthflame.
Time passed in complete silence. The only thing the audience could hear was the beat of their own hearts as they waited for the time it takes an incense stick to burn….
An intense rumbling sound could be heard from within the pill furnace. No smoke of failure poured out, and yet, neither did a medicinal aroma. Everyone was shocked.
“Did he fail?” Xu Baocai thought, so nervous that his tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth.
Bai Xiaochun stared in shock, but then he suddenly realized what was most likely happening, and his eyes began to shine.
It was at this point that everyone watching could see a scintillating light shining out from the joints and cracks in the pill furnace. Elder Tu suddenly leapt forward to peer into the pill furnace, within which was a one-inch-long stick of Inkspirit Incense that was completely violet. His eyes danced with elation.
“Mid-grade!” he said, laughing loudly. Flicking his sleeve, he collected up all of the pill furnaces and sticks of Inkspirit Incense which had been concocted.
“The final round of the test is over. Bai Xiaochun, Han Jianye, Du Lingfei, Chen Zi’ang, Zhao Yiduo, you five have all been promoted to journeyman apothecary! Bai Xiaochun, you take the top spot and… are awarded 5,000 merit points!”
The crowd dissolved into wild commotion, the sound of which echoed out in all directions.
“Ten successes! He got ten successes!!”
“Plus, the final batch produced… a mid-grade product! He’s only a journeyman apothecary, but can already concoct mid-grade spirit medicine!!”
Xu Baocai, Du Lingfei, Han Jianye, and everyone else present were completely stunned.
It was somewhat grudgingly that Bai Xiaochun watched the only mid-grade spirit medicine he had ever concocted be whisked away by Elder Tu. He was of a mind to give voice to his discontent, but Elder Tu seemed too imposing, and was clearly not going to return the incense.
Bai Xiaochun sighed and exhaustedly left the square. As he walked through the crowd, people looked at him with excitement and admiration. Obviously, the fact that he had succeeded ten times in a row was no fluke, and was something that an ordinary disciple could never do.
“Congratulations on pulling off a miracle, Elder Brother Bai! This is completely unprecedented!”
“Congratulations, Elder Brother Bai, I truly admire you!”
“Elder Brother Bai, I have some questions about plants and vegetation, do you think you could help a Junior Sister out….?”
Bai Xiaochun blinked. He had been so engrossed in medicine concocting that he had completely tuned everything else out. After seeing what a commotion he had caused, he quickly clasped hands and bowed to the audience.
At the moment, he felt nothing short of elated. Back when no one knew who the little turtle was, he had never been able to find the right opportunity to make a big debut. Now that he had, he was experiencing exactly the feeling he had hoped for.
As for the female disciples who were asking for his help, Bai Xiaochun instantly nodded in agreement. Furthermore, as for all of the disciples who were calling him Elder Brother Bai, he asked them to call him Bai Xiaochun, lest people be unaware of his full name.
Just as he was feeling exceptionally proud of himself, he suddenly caught sight of a young man in the crowd, glaring at him. Bai Xiaochun instantly recognized him as one of Zhou Xinqi’s devoted fans. Bai Xiaochun’s face flickered, and he quickly extricated himself from the crowd and sped off.
After hurrying all the way back to his log cabin, he realized that he was feeling a bit dizzy. Having spent days concocting medicine, he was completely drained, and instantly fell asleep on his bed.
He slept for two days straight.
In the afternoon of the third day, he opened his eyes, feeling completely refreshed. Then, he thought back to how he had personally concocted a mid-grade spirit medicine, and how Elder Tu had then taken it away. Sighing, he took a look at his identity medallion to confirm that 5,000 merit points had been added, and then felt a little bit better.