Chapter 439: The Missing Ingredient
Chapter 439: The Missing Ingredient
Yi Chen didn’t realise it yet, but as they talked, Fan Duan was already pulling him along, and by the time he realised it, he was sitting next to him on the first bench in the middle row.
"How many Tier 3 Pill Refiners are there, you ask?" Fan Duan stroked his chin while resting his hand on his chair’s desk and answered, "As of now, our Heavenly Azure Dragon Sect has exactly 77 Tier 3 Pill Refiners, which is also the maximum any sect in our entire Kingdom has. We aren’t the top sect in the White Jade Kingdom for nothing."
Fan Duan let out a snort filled with pride as he finished those words.
"Then... does Senior Brother know how many Tier 3 Pill Refiners our White Jade Kingdom has as a whole?"
Recovering from his surprise at finding himself seated right next to Fan Duan, Yi Chen soon asked another question that popped into his mind.
"Ah, that. Usually, in the entire Light Continent, the number of Tier 3 Pill Refiners in regular kingdoms ranges from zero to fifty at best."
The smirk on Fan Duan’s face widened as he continued, "However, that isn’t the case for our White Jade Kingdom, which is one of the Seven Great Kingdoms. For us, that number has become a minimum of a hundred Tier 3 Pill Refiners.
Our White Jade Kingdom possesses exactly 221 Tier 3 Pill Refiners, which, even among the Great Kingdoms, gives us a significant standing.
Moreover, as you might have realised by now, our Heavenly Azure Dragon Sect contributes more than one-third of this number."
As Fan Duan said this, he couldn’t help raising his head in proudly.
Seeing his antics and judging from the tone of his voice, Yi Chen had long realised that this man was someone who took great pride in the fact that he was a disciple of the Heavenly Azure Dragon Sect.
"So that’s how it is. Thank you for answering my doubts, Senior Brother." Yi Chen thanked him in a grateful manner. Even though he had several more questions in mind, he didn’t want to irritate Fan Duan by continuously asking him questions.
"Haha, Junior Brother, you shouldn’t be acting so modestly, as we still have almost an hour to wait here until the Elder arrives for the lecture.
Since I was in your shoes a couple of years ago, I know just how many questions you must have about pill refining and related matters.
While I’ve only officially become a Pill Apprentice three months ago and might be quite lacking when it comes to Pill Refining as a whole, I can surely help you with several miscellaneous queries like the ones you’ve asked me just now."
Fan Duan said in a friendly manner, encouraging Yi Chen not to hold back.
"So, Senior Brother is already a Pill Apprentice?" Yi Chen asked with a trace of realisation as he checked his status panel the very next moment.
==== STATUS PANEL ====
Name: Fan Duan
Age: 27 years
Strength: 170
Cultivation: Eight Meridian Refinement Stage
Qi Nature: Air
Remark: Is always buried under the books [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]
====================
"Hahaha, yes. While my talent in pill refining may not be as great as that of my peers, who all became Pill Apprentices within a year, I’ve still managed to become one in one and a half years..."
Fan Duan said while scratching the back of his head in an embarrassed manner. As he said this, Yi Chen noticed the trace of insecurity that was clearly evident on his face as he said that.
However, he didn’t point it out and instead began asking several questions about the Pill Apprentice test he was supposed to take at the Supreme Pill Forging Guild’s branch later on.
Fan Duan was very pleased with Yi Chen’s reaction and answered all of them one after the other with great joy.
The more Yi Chen listened to him, the more he realised that the man in front of him was nothing less than a walking encyclopedia.
’So, he really hadn’t heard anything about me in the last few weeks... Even if he did, he would have just forgotten about it since it wasn’t related to Pill Refining anyway...’
Yi Chen realised soon after the reason for Fan Duan’s friendly attitude, which was different when compared to most of the other Senior Outer Sect Disciples.
"So, when I’m able to successfully refine a Pill, I’m ready to take the test to become a Pill Apprentice?" Yi Chen asked after hearing him out.
"Yes, provided that you’ve kept your knowledge of the various spiritual and regular herbs, their refining processes, and related subjects up to date for the written examination." Fan Duan nodded as he answered Yi Chen’s question.
"I see. Then... the pill we need to refine could be any pill we’re familiar with, right? That’s what I understood from the orientation," Yi Chen asked the next moment, wanting to confirm what he had heard.
"Yes, that’s correct. It could be any pill you’re familiar with. Otherwise, becoming a Pill Apprentice would be so difficult that everyone would be deterred from pursuing it.’ Fan Duan said with a soft chuckle and continued answering Yi Chen’s other questions.
"Oh? So, the pills also need to have a minimum efficacy of 30% to clear the test..."
"This... I had no idea that our White Jade kingdom had only five Tier 2 Pill Refiners..."
"We don’t have any Tier 1 Pill Refiners?"
"So only the Silver Cloud Kingdom possess Tier 1 Pill Refiners..."
.
.
.
Yi Chen kept asking several questions related to Pill Refining for which he didn’t know the answer to yet before he finally thought of asking him the problem he was facing with his Pill Refining.
"So, despite attempting to refine three hundred Sleeping Crane Pills, you’ve yet to succeed even once..." Fan Duan nodded in thought when he heard Yi Chen’s problem.
"Yes, Senior Brother. The pills are supposed to be green, but the end product always ends up turning black..." Yi Chen added in regret.
"Black, you say..." A strange expression instantly formed on his face the moment he heard those words, and he asked Yi Chen the next second, "Then... have you tried reducing the flame’s intensity?"
"...Why would I do that? The book guide clearly tells me to keep the flame at medium intensity, and that’s what I’ve been doing all this time." Yi Chen answered in an obvious manner.
"Junior Brother, you..."
The strange expression on Fan Duan’s face soon turned into amusement as he realised just how clueless Yi Chen really was despite having a pretty decent amount of pill refining knowledge, as he continued.
"...you’ve just burnt all those pills because the flame was too intense,’ Fan Duan said with a tight smile and added, "That’s why I’m suggesting you reduce it. As to what has been written in the guide, it’s general knowledge that the author has written it in accordance with the flame equipment that he possesses...
The ones we have in the pill refining room are naturally quite different compared to that, so after a few initial failures, one usually gets the hang of the correct temperature range that is required."
"This..."
’It was just that?!’ Yi Chen couldn’t help but exclaim inwardly as a wave of frustration and annoyance overwhelmed him the very next moment.
’Why didn’t they mention any of this in any of the books I’ve gone through?!’ he thought in irritation while asking Fan Duan the very next moment.
"Then Senior Brother... Couldn’t they have just written the exact temperature in the book instead of being so vague about it? I ended up wasting so much of my time and resources all because of it..."
"Well, you shouldn’t have started refining before attending one of these bi-weekly lectures in the first place, Junior Brother. The Elder explains these basics for the new Pill Refiners at the start of each lecture." Fan Duan answered while trying hard to control his urge to chuckle.
He was about to add more, but just then, the Outer Sect Disciples saw an influx of disciples wearing blue robes.
The moment Fan Duan saw them, he grew quiet as an expression of adoration appeared on his face.
"The Inner Sect Disciples are here..." he muttered, the next moment causing Yi Chen to shift his attention toward them as well.
"Why are they all going towards the back seats? Isn’t it better to sit at the front?" he asked curiously.
"Haha, they don’t need to, for they are all already at the Qi Absorption Stage. Once one enters that stage, their vision, hearing, and listening abilities rise exponentially."
Fan Duan explained while gesturing towards a few Inner Sect Disciples, saying, "Those three seniors who just walked past us...they are already High-Grade Pill Apprentices, and if luck is with them, then within a decade, they’ll add to the number of Tier 3 Pill Refiners our sect possesses..."
A trace of longing appeared on Fan Duan’s face as he muttered under his breath soon after, "I hope to reach the same rank as them one day..."
Those words piqued Yi Chen’s curiosity, and e was about to check the status panel of one of the three disciples, but just then he saw the surrounding disciples, including Fan Duan, standing up and greeting the figure that had just entered.
"Greetings, Elder Ru Qi!"