Chapter 1920: You Are Wrong!

“Just watch!”

Smiling again, Zhang Xuan didn’t explain but instead looked straight ahead and shouted, “Senior Brother from Lingyun Sword Pavilion, please wait!”

The gray-robed youth who was walking forward frowned and turned around.

Zhang Xuan’s lips curled up. “Senior Brother, the answer you gave is incorrect. Taking the Divine Communication Talisman and leaving like this hardly seems fair, does it?”

His voice was loud, instantly drowning out the surrounding noise. Everyone turned to look at him as if he were a monster.

This man was an expert from Lingyun Sword Pavilion, and he was directly saying he was wrong…

Did he have a death wish?

The gray-robed youth frowned again and stopped.

“Shan Xiaotian, if you don’t want to die, keep your servant’s mouth shut…”

Xue Qin’s face darkened with anger.

This mummy was the same one who had spouted nonsense at the Shan residence earlier. She hadn’t bothered with him then, and now he dared to speak up again.

“He’s not a servant, he’s… my teacher…” Shan Xiaotian stammered, seeming to stutter again in his anxiety.

“Teacher? The Shan family was once quite impressive, but when did they stoop so low as to let any random cat or dog be your teacher?” Xue Qin sneered with disdain.

“Who Shan Xiaotian takes as his teacher is none of your business, is it? Unless… you want to be his fiancée?” Zhang Xuan looked at her with a smile.

“You…”

Xue Qin stiffened.

Seeing her expression, the gray-robed youth’s eyes flickered, and he coldly looked at the mummy before him. “You say my answer is incorrect?”

“That’s right!” Zhang Xuan met his gaze. “Do you dare to make a bet? The loser can be dealt with as the winner pleases!”

“Speaking to me like this, you have quite the nerve…” The gray-robed youth stared expressionlessly. “I want to know the reason you think it’s incorrect!”

“No reason needed! Just find an alchemist, prepare these herbs, and refine them according to the answer you just gave. Once the pill is formed, have someone take it, and you’ll know the result!”

Zhang Xuan said. “If you don’t believe me, why not find someone to try?”

“Refine a pill?” Frowning, the gray-robed youth looked around. Seeing that the crowd, though silent, wore puzzled expressions, he paused and waved a hand. “Find an alchemist!”

A young man behind him turned and left. Before long, the middle-aged man who had brought the Divine Communication Talisman returned with two alchemists.

“Refine it according to the method just now!”

The middle-aged man instructed.

The alchemists quickly prepared the herbs and followed the refining sequence written above, adding the ingredients one by one. When they reached the Scorching Grass Root, they substituted it with Spirit Mother Grass.

As soon as the ingredient entered the furnace, a sizzling sound erupted. One of the alchemists lost control, and the furnace shook violently before exploding.

Fortunately, protective measures had been taken in advance, so no one was injured.

Even so, it was a close call, and everyone retreated to the walls, their faces filled with worry.

The second alchemist, who was stronger, managed to control the reaction. After half an hour, the pill was formed, its surface shimmering with light. By sheer luck, not only was it successfully refined, but it also reached the perfect grade.

“Not bad!”

Seeing the pill, the gray-robed youth nodded in satisfaction. He turned to another young man nearby. “You seem to cultivate a pure yang technique. Try the pill’s effects!”

“Yes!”

The young man swallowed the pill, and the medicinal power quickly spread. His face flushed red, and he hurriedly sat cross-legged, circulating his true qi to dissolve the power. But the more he suppressed it, the more violently it rebounded. In no time, white steam rose from his head.

Soon, his eyes turned red, and he could barely resist.

“Ah… I can’t take it anymore…”

Unable to hold back, the young man leaped toward an elderly woman watching the commotion and reached out to tear at her clothes.

Rip!

A large piece of fabric was torn off. Just as the young man was about to charge forward and do something unspeakable, the back of his head was struck, and he collapsed unconscious.

The gray-robed youth from Lingyun Sword Pavilion had made his move.

Seeing the young man turn out like this after taking the pill was enough to prove that the pill formula he had provided not only failed to eliminate the hidden danger in the Peiyang Pill but had actually exacerbated it, making it even harder to control.

“My modified formula does have some issues, but… how did you know? What is the correct answer?”

The gray-robed youth’s face darkened as he looked over.

To be honest, he had heard of this problem before coming to Xuanjiang City and had studied it for a long time. It wasn’t just a casual glance that solved it.

He had done this to establish a strong reputation among the people of Xuanjiang City.

But unexpectedly… instead of establishing his reputation, he had been slapped in the face publicly.

Though displeased, he couldn’t lose his temper.

Otherwise, he would only lose more face.

“The correct answer is very simple…” Zhang Xuan smiled and whispered something in Shan Xiaotian’s ear. The latter looked at him strangely, confirming he wasn’t joking, then stepped forward, picked up the brush, wrote quickly, and handed it in.

Once again, red light shone.

The gray-robed youth frowned. “The examiner is right here. Read it out directly!”

The head of the Wild Goose Trading Company was right here—what was the point of going elsewhere for an answer?

Better to just read it out loud; whether it was right or wrong would be clear at a glance.

"Yes!"

After glancing at the teacher and seeing his confirmation, Shan Xiaotian awkwardly recited the answer he had just written: "Replace the Blazing Grass Root with the Spirit Mother Grass!"

"This..."

"Did I hear that wrong?"

"It seems... exactly the same as that expert's answer!"

The surrounding crowd fell silent for a moment, then erupted into an uproar.

The gray-robed youth narrowed his eyes, a fierce murderous intent seeping through his gaze: "Are you messing with me?"

He had sworn his own answer was wrong, and now he came up with the same one—what was this all about?

Not only was the crowd furious, but Shan Xiaotian's mind was also reeling, unable to fathom what his teacher was up to...

Joking with such a formidable figure... could cost him his life!

"You're overthinking it..." Zhang Xuan shook his head and looked at Shan Xiaotian: "There's more annotation after that—go on, read it!"

"Oh..." Shan Xiaotian nodded and said, "After 'Spirit Mother Grass,' there's a parenthesis: 'Not local.'"

"Not local? What does that mean?"

This time, everyone was baffled, and even the gray-robed youth looked puzzled.

Could it be that local and non-local Spirit Mother Grass made a difference?

"Of course there's a difference!"

"This Yang-Nourishing Pill is meant to consolidate the pure yang attribute within cultivators of pure yang techniques, aiming for greater stability. Under normal circumstances, replacing Blazing Grass Root with Spirit Mother Grass is indeed the most suitable approach—even elsewhere, pills refined this way can resolve the hidden dangers mentioned on the wall!"

Zhang Xuan walked slowly forward to the furnace, pinched some of the dregs from the earlier explosion, and smiled faintly: "But... not here!"

"Xuanjiang City is named for its proximity to the Xuan River! This river flows straight to the coast, and its water is not fresh but salty—a truly saline river."

The surrounding crowd nodded in unison.

Although Xuanjiang City was not near the coast, the Xuan River connected to the sea, carrying saltwater that could neither irrigate nor be drunk. Because of this, despite its convenient transportation, the city had never flourished; within the territory ruled by the Lingyun Sword Pavilion, it was merely a third-rate small town.

It was far from prosperous.

"Since the entire river is saltwater, all the farmland around the city is saline-alkaline, and the plants that grow here are also salty. Take the medicinal herbs used in the pill just now, for example—everyone, look at these dregs. How are they different from ordinary dregs?"

With that, Zhang Xuan extended the finger he had used to pinch the dregs.

The crowd looked closely and indeed saw a layer of white powder on his blackened fingerprint. Though faint, these were all experts above the Saint Domain, so they could easily discern it.

The gray-robed youth also approached the dregs, touched them, and found white powder on his fingertip. He touched it with his tongue—it had a faint salty taste.

"Exactly, that's salt!"

Zhang Xuan continued: "Spirit Mother Grass grows in marshlands and prefers shade over sunlight. Its leaves and stems naturally contain a slight acidity. When they come into contact with the saline-alkaline elements in other herbs, they neutralize each other, destroying the grass's inherent yin-cold nature. As a result, not only does it fail to counteract the狂暴 energy from the other herbs, but it even becomes more ferocious due to the absence of Blazing Grass Root. That's why that friend earlier was suitable for both the old and the young, and didn't even bother to choose—because... he simply couldn't wait any longer!"

"This..."

"Is that really so?"

The crowd buzzed with astonishment.

Was pill refining supposed to be this meticulous?

Even the gray-robed youth was momentarily taken aback.

Could it really be because of this?

He strode over to the remaining herbs from the earlier refining, touched them with his fingertip, and a flame ignited, burning them to ash. He looked down—just like before, there was indeed salt residue.

"In the art of pill refining, not a single error is permissible. One wrong ingredient or step can lead to total failure, wasting countless herbs. Since we know this... factors like region, climate, furnace, state of mind, and even technique should all be considered! If it's wrong, it's wrong. I think... since this senior brother is from the Lingyun Sword Pavilion, he wouldn't deny it, would he?"

Zhang Xuan said with a smile.

"If it's wrong, I'll admit it!"

Knowing there was no room for argument, the gray-robed youth flicked his sleeve and snorted: "This jade talisman is yours!"

Without waiting for Xue Qin's reaction, he flicked his wrist, and the jade talisman in her palm flew toward Zhang Xuan.

"I..."

Her face twitching, Xue Qin felt a burning pain on her cheeks.

She had just obtained the treasure less than an hour ago, and now... it was over.

"Then I'll gratefully accept it..."

Pocketing the jade talisman, Zhang Xuan looked over again and said with a light smile: "By the way, earlier I mentioned a bet—the loser could be dealt with as the winner pleased... You didn't explicitly agree, but you didn't explicitly refuse either... So, does that mean the bet is valid?"

The gray-robed youth's face darkened, and he didn't reply, but his eyes held murderous intent.

He hadn't expected to be outmaneuvered by some nobody from a small place!

As if oblivious to the other's anger, Zhang Xuan pointed at Yan Xue in the distance: "My bet is simple—just slap this Xue Qin three times!"

"What?"

Xue Qin's face instantly changed.