Chapter 118: True Pill Debate (Part 1)

"I concede!"

Having said that, without continuing to refine pills, Alchemist Bai Ming bowed deeply.

From the start of the pill debate, including the time for pill refining, it had been just over an hour, and already four alchemists had voluntarily conceded.

This result caught everyone off guard. Even Ouyang Cheng, standing to one side, trembled all over, unable to believe it.

He had never thought highly of Zhang Xuan before, never dreamed this outcome would occur!

It was a complete crushing!

No wonder he had scored full marks in the apprentice assessment and even recognized herbs that he himself had misidentified. Such ability was too formidable!

Wen Xue, also to one side, was filled with terror, her delicate frame trembling incessantly.

She had actually mocked this man who left alchemists speechless... Was she brain-damaged or just too bold?

Fortunately, he hadn't taken it seriously; otherwise, she probably couldn't stay in the Alchemist Guild!

"Let me do it!"

Seeing Bai Ming concede, Du Man, who had earlier declared he would step forward, walked out when no one else spoke.

"Please go easy on me!"

With a bitter smile, Du Man approached the pill furnace.

He refined a first-grade [Qi-Enhancing Pill], slightly inferior to both the Moisture Acupoint Pill and the Mind-Calming Pill.

His technique was skilled and fast; he succeeded in a short time, all pills at the Full grade.

Since the other party was friendly and they had met yesterday, Zhang Xuan didn't say much, only pointing out a few most obvious flaws, after which the latter conceded directly.

So far, five out of ten alchemists had conceded.

The pill debate was also halfway through.

"Continue. Who's next?"

Zhang Xuan clasped his hands behind his back, calmly looking around. The crowd fell into dead silence.

In others' pill debates, it was the participants who were terrified, afraid the opponent would ask difficult questions. But this fellow was the opposite—the remaining alchemists shrank their necks, afraid of being called on. If not witnessed firsthand, no one would believe it.

"I'll go!"

After a moment of silence, an old man stood up.

Alchemist Lin Mu!

Alchemist Cheng Jiang had once used the pretext of discussing techniques to steal his unique pill-refining method, Ice-Silk Condensing Hand.

"Alchemist Lin, wait! This time I want to join you!"

Just as Lin Mu stood up, a middle-aged man also rose.

Alchemist Jin Chen!

"Join?" Lin Mu frowned.

In pill debate, the opponent points out flaws in your refining. How could two people join?

"His ability to point out flaws shows his eyesight is indeed very good and he has received excellent training, likely from a renowned master. However, I don't believe that at such a young age, his knowledge reserve is also formidable! So... let's not refine pills; let's directly ask questions and not let him muddle through!"

Alchemist Jin Chen snorted.

"This..."

Lin Mu was startled.

"Right, why didn't I think of that?"

"He's not even twenty. Even if he started reading at birth, how many books could he have read? How much could he remember?"

"True pill debate is actually about raising questions on pill refining for him to answer. He must know his knowledge is insufficient and deliberately increased the difficulty by pointing out flaws. Indeed, pointing out flaws increases difficulty, but if he truly has a renowned master and has received better education since childhood, seeing our defects is not surprising!"

"Yes, a renowned master has broad experience. We are only first-grade alchemists. As a disciple of such a person, his insight must be good; it's understandable that he sees our mistakes!"

...

Alchemist Jin Chen's words reignited the excitement in the remaining four, restoring their confidence.

The fact that he could point out everyone's flaws just by watching them refine only showed his keen eyesight, not necessarily a strong knowledge base.

If so, the simpler method of asking questions might actually be his weak point. All along, everyone had been fooled by this fellow.

"Not bad!"

Alchemist Lin Mu also caught on and nodded approvingly.

No wonder they thought this way. Learning knowledge takes time and energy. Zhang Xuan, at most, was under twenty. Even if he read every day, how many books could he get through?

And crucially, he had to remember the content!

"Want to ask me questions?"

Unexpectedly, after agonizing for so long, they reached this conclusion. Zhang Xuan smiled faintly: "Alright, let's begin!"

Having read through the elementary library and the academy's teacher library, the knowledge in his mind far exceeded that of these alchemists. Even if they questioned him, he had nothing to fear.

"Let's see if you're still so confident when you can't answer later!"

Seeing that he showed no fear at all, Alchemist Jin Chen's eyes flashed: "According to standard pill debate procedure, I can ask you three questions. If you answer all correctly, I must concede. But if you fail to answer even one, you lose, and all your previous efforts are in vain!"

Pill debate had a complete set of rules. The ten alchemists asking questions was not unlimited; otherwise, the participant would be exhausted to death.

Each questioning alchemist could only ask three questions. If the opponent answered all correctly, they had to concede obediently. But if even one question went unanswered, no matter how many were answered correctly before, it was useless!

"Mm!" Zhang Xuan knew the rules and nodded.

"Alright, my first question is: When refining first-grade Body-Tempering Pills, in the same batch of pills, all reaching the Full grade, some have excellent effects while others have very poor effects. What is the reason?"

Alchemist Jin Chen spoke.

Hearing this, the other alchemists also perked up.

Body-Tempering Pills were the most common medication for martial artists at the fourth level, tempering the body and allowing the Skin and Bone realm to progress faster.

Because of this, they often refined this pill, but as Alchemist Jin Chen said, in the same batch, there were often cases of uneven efficacy.

In the same batch, some pills had excellent effects, allowing people to break through realms directly and go far in the Skin and Bone realm, while others had no effect at all.

"Alchemist Jin Chen's question is quite insidious!" Zhang Xuan couldn't help shaking his head. "This question has no definitive answer in the entire Tianxuan Kingdom, yet you ask me. How am I supposed to answer?"

"But... for someone else, they might not know what to say, but I have a way!"

With a light smile, Zhang Xuan said: "The matter you mentioned was raised thirty-seven years ago by an alchemist named Cheng Ye. At that time, he gathered twenty-three alchemists and studied it for three days and three nights before reaching a conclusion. He recorded it in a book called 'Cheng Ye's Treatise on Body Tempering.' If you have read it, you should know what his conclusion was!"

"He believed that this difference is related to the practitioner's constitution. Some people are naturally suited to using Body-Tempering Pills, while others have a natural resistance, just like some can drink alcohol and others cannot."

"This theory was accepted by most at the time. However, eighteen years ago, three-star alchemist Zhang Jian raised an objection: If it's due to constitution, why is it that some people get no effect from one Body-Tempering Pill but a great effect from another?"