Chapter 372: Would It Be Better?

On the second floor of Sihai Tower, Xiao Ruyan bit her lip lightly, sweat beading at her temples, about to drip down, looking very strained.

With a "hiss," a puff of green smoke rose from the medicine cauldron, clearly a batch of waste pills.

"Why? Where exactly is the problem!"

Xiao Ruyan wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, her face full of agitation.

"Second Miss, it's better not to force it. The Haoling Peiyuan Pill has been proven impossible to refine; even the family head can't do it. Second Miss..." Shopkeeper Tong consoled from the side.

Tears welled up in Xiao Ruyan's eyes, but she stubbornly held them back.

"Since the recipe for the Haoling Peiyuan Pill has been passed down, it can't be impossible to refine. There must be something wrong! I'll try again; I'm sure I can refine it!" Xiao Ruyan insisted stubbornly.

Shopkeeper Tong sighed and said, "I know the Second Miss wants to restore the eldest young master's health before the Pill Duel Assembly begins, but if you overdraw your own soul power these two days, won't that affect the overall situation even more?"

"Hmph! That Ji Qing said he could take on three alone, so let him go alone!" Xiao Ruyan was unmoved, instead turning her矛头 toward Ye Yuan.

Clearly, Ye Yuan's joking behavior that day had annoyed her.

"Miss Ruyan, can I take that as a compliment?" Ye Yuan's voice suddenly rang out.

Seeing Ye Yuan, Xiao Ruyan became even more irritated and said crossly, "You really have thick skin! An arrogant brat who doesn't know his place, do you know how strong Tong Yongchang is? Don't think refining a Yulong Jingxin Dan is anything special. In front of Tong Yongchang, you're nothing!"

Ye Yuan shrugged and said, "The Tong Yongchang Miss Ruyan mentioned is the quasi-Dan King known as the number one genius of the Tong family's younger generation, right? How about this: during the Pill Duel Assembly, I'll handle him, and you all take care of the rest. What does Miss Ruyan think?"

"Handle him? You're overreaching! Stop blabbering and don't interfere with my alchemy!"

Xiao Ruyan had completely lost patience with Ye Yuan's arrogance; she had no time to engage in a war of words here.

A mid-level grand alchemist going up against a beginner quasi-alchemy king?

Was this an insult to others' intelligence?

"Oh, so Miss Ruyan is alchemizing. Then I should study carefully from the sidelines!" Ye Yuan suddenly became interested.

He also wanted to know just what level Xiao Ruyan was at.

At twenty years old, she was about the same age as Nanfeng Ruoqing, but her strength was a whole major realm higher.

Although the Xiao family's support played a part, Xiao Ruyan's prodigious talent went without saying.

The Huang and Xue families had their eyes on Xiao Ruyan, probably not just because she was one of the Two Beauties of the Royal City, but also because of her limitless potential in the alchemy path.

Marrying a future quasi-alchemy king, or even an alchemy king, was a deal that looked good no matter how you calculated it.

But Xiao Ruyan didn't buy it: "Get lost!"

Ye Yuan curled his lip and said, "You think I want to get close to you? It's your old man who told me to communicate more with you, saying it could improve everyone's alchemy skills. Actually, I didn't want to. I'm so skilled—what if you steal my techniques?"

Xiao Ruyan nearly spat blood.

You're so skilled? How skilled?

Just because you refined a third-grade top-quality pill, you think you're invincible?

Have you no shame!

Xiao Ruyan sought Manager Tong's opinion, and seeing him nod slightly, she knew the first half of Ye Yuan's words was true.

Since it was his father who sent him, it wouldn't be right to throw him out.

"Just stay aside and watch properly, don't hinder my alchemy! If you ruin this batch of pills, just see how I deal with you!" Xiao Ruyan warned.

As for the latter half of Ye Yuan's words, she simply chose to ignore them.

Her own father was the Pill King; why would she need to steal Ye Yuan's teachings?

Having said that, Xiao Ruyan began refining the Haoling Peiyuan Pill once more.

The refinement of the Haoling Peiyuan Pill was extremely difficult, not only consuming a great deal of soul power but also placing a heavy burden on the alchemist's yuan power.

Xiao Ruyan had already failed two batches earlier, so shortly after starting this attempt, she appeared to be struggling greatly.

However, Xiao Ruyan seemed to be stubbornly pushing herself, gritting her teeth and persevering.

Ye Yuan watched Xiao Ruyan leisurely; with his insight, he could naturally discern her level of skill.

Even in this short time, Ye Yuan could tell that Xiao Ruyan's foundation was quite solid.

Even under such heavy consumption, she made no mistakes in her refinement.

From this alone, Xiao Ruyan was a qualified alchemist.

Although both were at the level of Senior Grand Alchemist, Xiao Ruyan was far superior to the likes of Qiu Zhi.

However, Ye Yuan soon noticed that something was amiss with Xiao Ruyan's refinement.

The refinement of the Haoling Peiyuan Pill required precise control of the heat, constantly adjusting the temperature of the cauldron to match the changes in the pill.

But in Xiao Ruyan's refinement, there was no such variation; the cauldron's temperature remained constant.

Even if her refining technique was correct, without proper heat control, she could never produce a finished pill.

"Miss Ruyan, wouldn't it be better if you refined the pill this way?" Ye Yuan suddenly interjected.

As he spoke, Ye Yuan had already formed a hand seal and sent it into the cauldron.

Xiao Ruyan, fully focused on her refinement, was disrupted by the sudden hand seal and felt an urge to kill Ye Yuan.

But since the Haoling Peiyuan Pill was already being refined, giving up now would mean all her efforts were wasted. She had to forcibly suppress her anger and glare fiercely at Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan stuck out his tongue to show his innocence, then sheepishly stepped aside.

Just then, however, Xiao Ruyan's expression changed, for she discovered that after Ye Yuan's disruption, the pill had not been ruined but had instead become more condensed!

Xiao Ruyan clearly remembered that in the previous attempt, it was at this point that she had lost control of the pill entirely. So why did it now show signs of coalescing?

Xiao Ruyan couldn't help recalling the moment just now: Ye Yuan's hand seal had seemed to do nothing to the pill, except... it seemed to have neutralized part of her yuan power!

It was precisely because of this neutralization that the furnace temperature had changed slightly.

Could it be... that refining the Haoling Peiyuan Pill required constantly adjusting the furnace temperature according to the pill's condensation process?

This discovery filled Xiao Ruyan with unexpected joy!

She began to try increasing or decreasing part of her yuan power to control the cauldron's temperature.

Controlling the furnace temperature was a basic skill for alchemists, but very few could truly master it.

After only a short while, Xiao Ruyan was drenched in sweat.