Chapter 148: Who Is Lu Nuonuo?

No one blamed them for being rude in such a setting.

Because neither the Emperor nor the leaders and teachers of the Pill Academy could believe it.

This was a fourth-grade pill! And one no one had ever encountered, utterly unfamiliar! Its medicinal properties were especially explosive.

To refine such a pill, even a third-grade pill master must proceed with extreme caution, focus entirely, and refine just one at a time to ensure the best quality. To start by refining six at once—they dared not boast of producing supreme-grade pills; even guaranteeing good quality was already impressive, and blowing them up wasn't out of the question.

Yet a child, before everyone's eyes, casually refined six batches—and all were supreme-grade… and she was the first to submit!

For a moment, people doubted they were dreaming.

Only Lu Xingzhou wasn't dreaming—he knew well that An Nuo's talent for pill refinement, her freakish resonance and control over medicinal properties, had always been his own pill refinement cheat. In the past, An Nuo only assisted because she feared fire; those afraid of fire struggle to control flames, and being able to fan them was already a help, so she rarely refined pills independently.

But after the Flame Demon War, An Nuo discovered fire couldn't burn her… so she wasn't afraid anymore. Though her control over flames was still poor, in this stable ground-fire examination environment, refining pills herself was no longer a problem.

"Chunshan Pavilion, Chen Yu: three pills, superior grade." Another candidate submitted.

It was quite good. Without An Nuo, Chen Yu would likely have drawn gasps of admiration.

"Zhuiyun Temple, Daoist He Hui: five pills… good quality."

Lu Xingzhou didn't care how the scores were calculated between three superior-grade and five good-quality pills; this contest couldn't be rigged anyway, and the written exam score still had to be added for the final result.

He just focused on refining his own.

An Nuo had nothing left to do, so she quietly sat aside and activated her cheat… no, it had never been turned off, so it wasn't cheating.

But the Emperor was super-grade… An Nuo worried she'd be detected, so she kept it low, unsure if it was enough for her master…

Actually, she needn't have worried—Gu Zhanting wouldn't possibly waste his time scrutinizing candidates' details; there were plenty of proctors, but unfortunately, others lacked the power to detect it.

"Yunxia Pavilion, Daoist Xuan Qing: six pills, five good quality, one superior."

Daoist Xuan Qing exhaled, smiling in satisfaction.

No wonder he was a favorite to win—he was incredibly strong. Without the cheat dog, Daoist Xuan Qing might truly have been first.

In fact, he ranked third on the New Pill Masters List; the two above him had already entered the Pill Academy, making him the top external new pill master.

"This year's candidates are strong," Gu Zhanting told Meng Li: "All are fifth-grade pill masters, yet they refine fourth-grade pills as if playing, with such high success rates and refining multiple pills. Last year there were only two—this year there are four or five…"

Meng Li smiled: "This is due to Your Majesty's strong support for pill masters—gradually bearing fruit."

Gu Zhanting nodded; the words were a bit flattery, but true. His vigorous support for pill masters—adding the Pill Master Secondary List, elevating Pill Studies' status—certainly promoted pill arts across the realm; these past years had seen steady improvement.

Though primarily for himself… it still benefited the nation.

But this year's four or five… four have already submitted; one remains.

Gu Zhanting's gaze settled on Lu Xingzhou; everyone's eyes turned to him.

Could this guy have failed?

As for the written exam, Lu Xingzhou and his little disciple girl both scored full marks, tied for first; Lu Xingzhou's answer on the bone-marrow question earned him extra weight in the Emperor's eyes. As long as he didn't fall far behind others, securing a top-three overall was certain.

If he refined three superior-grade pills like Chen Yu, solidly and steadily, his combined score could land him third place.

"Lu Xingzhou has solid theory, but his pill refinement isn't necessarily strong," Qin Zhiyu told Meng Li: "On the New Master List he's only thirty-eighth, far behind Daoist Xuan Qing's third and He Hui's sixth… watching him refine so long, he seems to be struggling."

Meng Li had more faith in Lu Xingzhou, mainly because the Imperial Master's words "you only know first grade" had raised his estimation: "Director, don't fall into the same trap of experience— the New Master List is nearly due for a half-year update; how can last half-year's ranking still matter?"

Qin Zhiyu didn't mind his colleague's rebuttal, only sighed: "Pill refinement isn't cultivation—you know that. How much can one improve in half a year?"

Meng Li smiled: "Shall we make a bet, then?"

Qin Zhiyu smiled: "How much?"

"A small bet for fun…" Meng Li pulled out a copper coin: "How about this?"

As they joked, Lu Xingzhou's furnace lid finally trembled, and the pill aroma began to spread.

Qin Zhiyu froze mid-reach for the coin; everyone instinctively leaned forward.

Six pills rotated and floated up from the furnace.

Qin Zhiyu nearly shoved the coin into his mouth, rushing over to inspect: "Nine in one furnace, three wasted, six successful… all supreme-grade!"

The entire hall erupted!

Daoist Xuan Qing, who had thought he was certain, froze mid-smile, blurting: "Impossible—this master and disciple must have…"

Everyone's eyes turned to him; Daoist Xuan Qing realized this wasn't the place for such remarks, clamped his mouth shut, his face flushing crimson.

Few still blamed him for his lapse—it was simply too unbelievable; countless hearts whispered, "Fake…"

Master and disciple, identical: six supreme-grade pills. Qin Zhiyu dared say that even if you randomly pulled two professors from the Pill Academy, they couldn't match this pair's near-identical result. The key was—Lu Xingzhou had attempted nine! Was this guy's original plan to produce nine supreme-grade pills?

You really dare to think like that!

Where did this pair of freaks come from? Thirty-eighth on the New Master List?

Who was the idiot from the Xiazhou Demon Suppression Office who reported Lu Xingzhou's data? This is a trap!

Even An Nuo was surprised, whispering to her master: "Master, I didn't even turn on much…"

Lu Xingzhou leaned close: "This pill—Imperial Marvelous Scripture—smells too familiar to me… to others it's their first encounter, but to me it's as familiar as Tangtang's feet…"

An Nuo: "…"

"I could've refined all nine," Lu Xingzhou continued: "But others were too weak—I didn't want to outpace them too much, so I destroyed three myself. Just like An Nuo… that's enough."

An Nuo laughed and groaned: "You should've had one more than me. Master and disciple with the same number—what about your face?"

"What's face worth?" Lu Xingzhou pinched her cheek: "The truth is, in pure pill refinement, you're actually stronger than me. Nine pills are easy for you; without your help, I might not have succeeded. Let's respect the facts—my An Nuo is the strongest, and that's that."

An Nuo bit her lip, grumbling: "Always playing the loving father. When others laugh at you later, I won't help you."

Lu Xingzhou just smiled.

An Nuo was deeply moved, yet also stunned. Though her master spoke as if it were all cheat power, those cheats didn't determine decisive success—it was his own pill art that had improved greatly.

Before, he was overwhelmed with affairs; only in the past half-month had he truly focused on training his pill refinement.

Even without An Nuo, her master was a genius.

The master and disciple whispered quietly; the hall fell silent, everyone from top to bottom as if in a dream.

The master and disciple tied for first. If forced to rank them, the younger one would gain bonus points—meaning the single-subject champion of the pill refinement test was this seven-year-old girl!

This Great Qian has gone mad.

…………

The number of examinees at the Alchemy Academy is far fewer than for the Huaxia Imperial Exams; after all, it is merely a "vocational college." One candidate is recommended per commandery, perhaps two or three for a large commandery. With fewer than two hundred commanderies in all of Great Qian, the total number of examinees is just around two hundred, with only twenty or thirty ultimately admitted, meaning an elimination rate of nearly ninety percent.

Even so, that is still two hundred people. Two hundred exam papers cannot be graded in a mere two or three days; the Alchemy Academy cannot release the final rankings that quickly.

However, the ranking for the alchemy single event is announced on the spot. Alchemy takes place in a large square with so many guards and the like watching; too many people know the results. Although there is a strict order forbidding leaks, someone inevitably sneaks the results to the gambling house.

Odds are also being offered on the single-event scores.

In fact, the alchemy single event is itself the most important item. Alchemist, alchemist—how well you can refine pills is the ultimate standard. If you can refine a Nine-Turn Jin Dan, even if you submit a blank paper for the written exam, you are still the number one alchemist under heaven.

As soon as the gambling house received the single-event results, the bookmaker was surrounded by people in three layers inside and three layers outside, completely cut off.

Sheng Yuanyao paced outside, wanting to go in but unwilling to squeeze in with a crowd of men, jumping with impatience.

Pei Chuyun crossed her arms and sneered: "What are you rushing for? Even if you don't squeeze in, won't the results come out anyway? It makes no difference whether you squeeze in or not."

"Is that so?" Sheng Yuanyao gritted her teeth: "What is someone planning to do with a move called 'Splitting the Sea and Breaking the Waves' at the ready?"

Pei Chuyun's refined and noble facade was shattered by a single sentence, and she too began to grit her teeth: "It's more respectable than someone gripping a sword hilt, wanting to strike someone down."

The two glared at each other for a moment, then simultaneously ordered their own servants: "Hurry and squeeze in; we want the first-hand news!"

Noise came from inside: "Stop listing names from the back to the front like a bunch of good-for-nothings! Just start from first place!"

The bookmaker was also laughing: "This is a leaked list; it originally only contained the names of the top few. As for those who merely passed further down, no one cares who they are."

"That's fine then. Who is the top scholar of the single event?"

"It must be Daoist Xuan Qing! Third among the new talents, surely he towers over the crowd!"

"Daoist He Hui is also passable. I personally saw him refine a fourth-grade pill, and it was of extreme quality! Being sixth among the new talents is no worse than being third, right?"

"Is no one mentioning Chen Yu from Spring Mountain Pavilion? He doesn't show off, but I see his pills are always of superior quality every time; he is very stable."

"Lu Xingzhou isn't bad either. Although his alchemy reputation is not prominent, killing Ye Wufeng at least proves his cultivation is formidable and his control is stable. By the way, he also destroyed the Incense Burning Tower, which was a third-grade alchemy sect with many scriptures..."

"Go to hell! Who the hell is Lu Nuonuo?!"

(End of this chapter)