The Imperial Martial Pill Venerable

"Teacher Qin, do you know the value of these herbs?"

In response to Nangong Wen’s question, Qin Ya smiled indifferently. "Even the best herbs are wasted if they don’t find a good Alchemist. Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will not let even a sliver of these herbs’ value go to waste."

"Then We shall wait and see!"

Of course, the others all sneered in contempt. They were even imagining the tragic sight of Qin Ya being executed when he inevitably failed to refine the Seventh-Grade Elixir.

Qin Ya gave a faint smile, then with a flick of his sleeve, he opened the lid of the Pill Furnace.

A bewitchingly beautiful purple Fire Lotus then appeared in his palm, radiating waves of intense heat that made everyone turn to look. Upon seeing this, the Alchemists showed looks of doubt, but then, as if they had realized something, their expressions changed drastically.

"That’s... an Exotic Fire!"

"I’m definitely not seeing things! Those fluctuations, so different from a normal Pill Fire, and that intense heat, which doesn’t match his Cultivation level—it has to be a legendary Exotic Fire."

"My goodness, I can’t believe it’s an Exotic Fire. Every Alchemist in the entire Azure Sky Realm who possesses an Exotic Fire is a renowned figure, an existence standing at the pinnacle of the Pill Master world."

"No wonder he’s so arrogant. So that’s why."

"So what if he has an Exotic Fire? Without sufficient Cultivation, he won’t be able to control it."

Waves of intense heat radiated from the purple Fire Lotus in his palm. From a distance, the very Space around the lotus seemed to distort. Qin Ya smiled faintly, picked up the herbs with his other hand, tossed them into the Pill Furnace, and began the melting process.

Forming a hand seal, he guided the purple Fire Lotus to slowly envelop the Pill Furnace.

In recent days, not only had his Cultivation broken through to Spiritual Element Realm Perfection, but he had also integrated the Purple Lotus Celestial Flame into his True Essence Qi Sea. This gave him far more fluid control over the flame. Furthermore, the Cold Crystal Ice Marrow had also increased the Purple Flame’s power considerably.

’The Seventh-Grade Elixir that I originally thought I could only refine with complete confidence after reaching the Earth Element Realm... I can now refine it while still in the Spiritual Element Realm.’ His thoughts raced, but Qin Ya’s hands did not slow. He formed a series of hand seals, and the bewitching purple Exotic Fire danced wildly as Fire Serpents writhed across the Pill Furnace...

His movements were like flowing water and moving clouds—perfectly natural.

What astonished everyone, however, was that amid the extreme heat, Qin Ya’s expression remained calm and his complexion was normal. There wasn’t even a single drop of sweat on his forehead. This left the spectating Alchemists clicking their tongues in amazement as they began to whisper among themselves.

"This kid... his control over the heat is truly impressive."

"It seems he’s not all talk. He really does have some skill."

"Hmph, he just has good control over the Flame. Remember, Alchemy isn’t just about heat control. There’s also timing, the combination of medicinal properties, and so on..."

"That’s right. It’s too early to draw any conclusions."

Nevertheless, this display of heat control undoubtedly made the crowd of Alchemists see Qin Ya in a slightly different light. After all, Alchemists who could control heat to such a degree were rare in the Yunxiao Empire.

In fact, they were few and far between.

With a calm smile, Qin Ya channeled his True Essence and abruptly increased the heat.

Wisps of black smoke began to rise from the Pill Furnace, emitting a foul odor. It is said that all herbs contain a touch of poison, and this was it—the harmful impurities from within the herbs...

As Qin Ya continued the melting process, he furrowed his brow, gave a casual flick of his sleeve, and the cloud of black smoke instantly dissipated. This couldn’t help but startle the crowd of Alchemists.

"He’s multitasking! While melting the herbs, he can also spare the focus to expel the impurities. It seems this kid isn’t even using his full strength."

"Is this kid confident or just arrogant? How dare he multitask while refining such a high-grade Elixir? Is he trying to get himself killed?"

"Hmph. Utterly senseless."

"Huh..." At that moment, an elderly Alchemist suddenly let out a soft sound of surprise. "Everyone, did you not notice? The herbs this kid just put into the Pill Furnace were only a few Third-Grade Herbs, but these impurities..."

"There’s quite a lot," someone said with a grave expression.

"Now that you mention it, that’s true."

"As everyone knows, the more impurities are removed from the herbs, the better the quality of the Elixir. But to extract this many impurities from a few Third-Grade Herbs... that’s something even a Fifth-Grade Alchemist couldn’t do."

At this, the Alchemists couldn’t help but gasp.

This kid... he actually accomplished something that a Fifth-Grade Alchemist could not!

Just as the Alchemists were reeling in shock, Qin Ya abruptly lifted the lid of the Pill Furnace. In an instant, an incredibly rich medicinal aroma wafted out, refreshing the spirits of all who smelled it.

These Alchemists all possessed extraordinary vision. Looking over, they saw a single, translucent crystal spinning rapidly inside the Pill Furnace.

"Such pure Medicinal Power! Such a rich aroma!"

"This... how is this possible? He actually managed to purify Third-Grade Herbs to this extent? This has to be a joke, right...?"

"My heavens, what kind of Alchemy Dao genius is this?"

"Haha, I knew this kid could do it!" Just then, a laugh rang out. The crowd of Alchemists turned to look, and their faces immediately filled with respect.

"Greetings, Master Liu."

"It’s been a while, Master Liu."

This man was none other than the Fifth-Grade Alchemist and High-Level Teacher from Mingxin Academy, Liu Qing.

He had been standing here for some time, his ears filled with the others’ mockery, disdain, and distrust for Qin Ya. Since both he and Qin Ya were teachers at the Academy, he was naturally displeased and had been keeping a stern expression the whole time.

Now that Qin Ya had stunned everyone with his masterful herb purification technique, he couldn’t have been more delighted.

"Hmph. In the path of the Alchemy Dao, the skilled one is the master. How could you look down on Teacher Qin just because he is young? Now you see, don’t you? This purification technique—which of you, myself included, could possibly achieve it?" After laughing, Liu Qing snorted coldly and began to lecture them like a teacher scolding his students.

And every one of those Alchemists lowered their heads as if listening to a teacher’s lecture, their faces filled with shame. Liu Qing’s prestige in the Imperial Pill Realm was nothing like Qin Ya’s. When they were still First-Grade Alchemists, Liu Qing was already famous throughout the Empire.

"Master Liu is absolutely right. We were wrong."

"Thank you for your teachings, Master Liu. We were indeed out of line."

"Yes, we were too focused on appearances. It’s no wonder our Alchemy Dao skills have stagnated. We must reflect on this when we return."

Only then did Liu Qing’s expression soften. He said, "Watch Teacher Qin’s Alchemy carefully. Perhaps you might still learn something."

Everyone was secretly astonished. They never imagined that Liu Qing, a renowned Fifth-Grade Alchemist of the Empire, would hold Qin Ya’s Alchemy Dao skills in such high esteem.

The rest of the crowd, who had naturally witnessed what happened with the Alchemists, muttered to themselves, ’Is this Qin Ya’s skill in the Alchemy Dao really that incredible?’

’He actually managed to win over more than half of the Alchemists in the Imperial Capital?’

Within the crowd, Lu Chen’s face was dark and gloomy. His eyes, fixed on Qin Ya, were filled with resentful, venomous hatred. He gnashed his teeth and said, "Qin Ya, I don’t believe you can really refine a Seventh-Grade Elixir! I absolutely refuse to believe it!"