Chapter 132: Who is Lu Nuonuo

No one blamed them for being impolite on such an occasion.

Because from the Emperor to the leaders and teachers of the Pill Academy, no one could believe it.

This was a grade-four pill! And it was a pill that everyone had never come into contact with and was completely unfamiliar with! The medicinal properties of this pill were also particularly violent.

Refining such a pill, even a grade-three alchemist would have to be careful, focusing intently on refining one to ensure the best quality. Refining six directly for the first time, they wouldn't dare boast that they could stably produce top-grade ones; ensuring good quality would be decent, and if things went wrong, it wouldn't be impossible for the furnace to explode.

As a result, a child, under the eyes of everyone, casually refined six, all top-grade... And she was the first to "submit the paper"!

For a moment, people simply suspected they were dreaming.

Only Lu Xingzhou was not dreaming. He knew very well Anuo's talent in alchemy, her perverted-level resonance and control over medicinal properties, which had always been his alchemy cheat. Previously, Anuo only did auxiliary work, the bigger reason being that she was afraid of fire; people afraid of fire found it difficult to control flames, and being able to help fan the fire was already good, so she rarely refined pills independently.

But after the battle with the Flame Demon, Anuo discovered that fire couldn't burn her... So she wasn't very afraid of fire anymore. Although her control over flames was still quite poor, in such an examination environment where the earth fire was stable, refining pills by herself was no longer a problem.

"Chen Yu from Chunshan Pavilion, three, excellent quality." Someone else submitted their answer.

It was considered quite good. If it weren't for Anuo, this Chen Yu would probably have received a burst of exclamation from the people.

"Daoist Hewei from Zhuiyun Temple, five... good quality."

Lu Xingzhou was too lazy to care how the scores between three excellent quality and five good quality were calculated; anyway, this matter couldn't be rigged, and the exam paper scores had to be added for the final result.

He just buried his head in refining his own.

Anuo had nothing to do, secretly sitting on the side and using a cheat... No, wait, it had never been turned off, so it didn't count as using a cheat.

However, the Emperor here was a super-grade... Anuo was worried about being discovered, so she opened it a little bit, not knowing if it was enough for Master to use...

Actually, she was overthinking it. How could Gu Zhanting be so bored as to personally probe the details of the candidates? There were a bunch of people proctoring the exam, but unfortunately, others didn't have the strength to see it.

"Daoist Xuanqing from Yanxia Temple... six, among which five are good quality, one is excellent quality."

Daoist Xuanqing let out a breath and showed a satisfied smile.

No wonder he was a favorite to win the championship; he was very strong. If it weren't for the cheater, this Daoist Xuanqing might really be the first.

In fact, he was also the third on the Alchemist Newcomer List; the two higher than him had already entered the Pill Academy, and among the alchemist newcomers outside, he was the first.

"The candidates this year are quite strong." Gu Zhanting was expressing to Meng Li: "They are all just grade-five alchemists, yet they refine grade-four pills like playing, with such high success rates, and they all refine multiple pills. Last year there were only two such people, but this year there are actually four or five..."

Meng Li laughed: "This is because Your Majesty strongly supports alchemists, and it is gradually bearing fruit."

Gu Zhanting nodded. This was a bit of flattery, but it was also the truth. He strongly supported alchemists, added the secondary list of alchemists, and raised the status of alchemy, which would certainly promote alchemy in the world. These past few years could be said to be getting stronger year by year.

Although it was mainly for himself... it could be considered a contribution to the country.

However, the four or five this year... four had already submitted their answers, and there was one left.

Gu Zhanting's gaze fell on Lu Xingzhou, and everyone's gaze also focused there.

This guy wouldn't have failed the refining, would he...

If it were the exam paper scores from the day before yesterday, Lu Xingzhou and his apprentice, the little girl, were both full marks, tied for first place. And because Lu Xingzhou answered the marrow-replacement question, his weighted score in the Emperor's heart was much higher. As long as he wasn't too far behind others here, a top-three finish in the comprehensive score was secure.

Being able to refine three excellent quality pills steadily like Chen Yu would be quite good, and combined, he could be the third place.

"Lu Xingzhou's theory is solid, but his alchemy might not be strong." Qin Zhiyu was discussing with Meng Li: "He is only 38th on the Newcomer List, and there is a huge gap between him and Xuanqing in 3rd and Hewei in 6th... Looking at how long he has been refining, it is estimated to be a bit difficult."

Meng Li had more confidence in Lu Xingzhou, mainly because of the National Teacher's words "You only know grade one," which made him look at Lu Xingzhou with high regard: "Dean, don't make the same experience error as others. The Newcomer List is almost at the time for the half-year update again; how can the ranking from half a year ago count?"

Qin Zhiyu didn't mind his colleague's rebuttal, but just sighed: "Alchemy is not like cultivation, how can you not know? How much can one improve in a mere half year..."

Meng Li laughed: "Then shall I make a bet with the Dean?"

Qin Zhiyu laughed: "Bet how much?"

"A small bet for fun..." Meng Li took out a copper coin: "How about betting on this?"

Just as they were joking, Lu Xingzhou's furnace lid finally moved, and the pill fragrance began to diffuse.

Qin Zhiyu stopped the action of touching the copper coin, and everyone subconsciously stretched their necks.

Six pills spun and floated above the pill furnace.

Qin Zhiyu almost stuffed the copper coin into his mouth, flew over to investigate: "Nine in one furnace, three scrapped, six successful... all top-grade!"

The whole square was in an uproar!

Daoist Xuanqing, who thought he was secure, had his smile freeze on his face, and blurted out: "Impossible, this master and apprentice must have..."

People's gazes fell on him, and Daoist Xuanqing realized this was not an occasion for him to speak nonsense, so he quickly held it back, his old face flushed red.

Still, not many people wanted to blame him for being impolite; this was simply too incredible, and I don't know how many people had "Fake..." in their hearts.

The master and apprentice were exactly the same, six top-grade, Qin Zhiyu dared to say that even if you randomly picked two professors from the Pill Academy, they might not be able to have the same result as this master and apprentice. The key was that Lu Xingzhou did nine portions; was this guy's original intention to produce nine top-grade ones?

You really dare to think!

Where did this perverted master and apprentice pop out from? This is Newcomer 38?

Which idiot from the Xiazhou Demon Suppression Division reported Lu Xingzhou's information? Isn't this pitting people?

Even Anuo was a little surprised, secretly saying to Master: "Master, I didn't open much..."

Lu Xingzhou whispered in her ear: "The taste of the Imperial Supreme World-Shocking Scripture in this pill is too heavy, I'm too familiar with it... For others, it's a pill they are coming into contact with for the first time, but for me, it's simply like Tangtang's feet..."

Anuo: "..."

"I could have refined all nine." Lu Xingzhou was still saying: "But others were too weak, I didn't want to exceed them too much, so I scrapped three portions myself. It's enough to be the same as my Anuo..."

Anuo was caught between laughter and tears: "You should have one more than me. If Master and apprentice have the same amount, does Master still want his face?"

"How much is face worth?" Lu Xingzhou rubbed Anuo's cheeks: "The fact is, purely in terms of alchemy itself, you are actually better than me. Refining nine is easy for you, but I might not succeed without your assistance. Let's respect the facts; my Anuo is the strongest, so she is the strongest."

Anuo bit her lower lip and hummed: "I knew you were just pretending to be a kind father. If I get laughed at by others later, I won't help you."

Lu Xingzhou just smiled.

Anuo was very moved, and actually felt a bit of shock. Don't look at Master saying it was all due to the cheat; in reality, these cheats couldn't affect the decisive success or failure. This was Master's own alchemy having made great progress.

He had been busy with many things before, and had only been able to calm down and train his alchemy for the past half month or so.

Even without Anuo, Master was a genius himself.

The master and apprentice whispered, but the scene was quiet, as if everyone had fallen into a dream.

The master and apprentice had the same results, tied for first place. If they had to distinguish between high and low, the younger one would definitely get extra points, which meant the individual champion of the alchemy project was this seven-year-old child!

This Great Gan was crazy.

…………

The number of people taking the Pill Academy examination was much smaller than the imperial examinations in Huaxia; after all, it was just a "vocational college." One county recommended one candidate, and large counties might have two or three. The entire Great Gan had less than two hundred counties, so the total number of candidates was only two hundred, and the final admission was only twenty or thirty, with an elimination rate of nearly ninety percent.

Even if it was small, it was two hundred people. Two hundred exam papers couldn't be graded in a mere two or three days, and the Pill Academy wouldn't release the general list so quickly.

But the ranking of the individual alchemy project was decided on the spot. Refining pills on the large square, with so many guards and others watching, too many people knew, and although it was strictly forbidden to leak, it was inevitable that someone would secretly reveal this result to the casino.

There were also bets on individual results.

In fact, the alchemy project itself was the most important one. Alchemist, alchemist, how well you can refine pills is the final standard. If you can refine the Nine-Turn Golden Pill, then even if you hand in a blank paper for the literary exam, you are still the world's number one alchemist.

The casino had just received the individual results, and the bookmaker was surrounded by people three layers inside and three layers outside.

Sheng Yuanyao was spinning around outside, wanting to go in but not wanting to squeeze with a group of men, anxious and jumping.

Pei Chuyun hugged her arms and sneered: "What are you anxious about? Even if you don't squeeze in, can the result not be transmitted? Squeezing in or not makes absolutely no difference."

"Is that so?" Sheng Yuanyao gritted her teeth: "Someone is holding a move to split the sea and break the waves, what are they planning to do?"

Pei Chuyun's elegant facade was shattered by a single sentence, and she also began to grit her teeth: "It's better than someone holding a knife handle and wanting to kill someone."

The two glared at each other and simultaneously ordered their servants: "Squeeze in quickly, we want the first-hand news!"

Noise came from inside: "Don't start from the back to the front with the names! Just say it from the first!"

The bookmaker also laughed: "This is a privately leaked list; originally there were only the names of the top few, and no one cares who the others who just passed are."

"That's fine, who is the individual champion?"

"It must be Daoist Xuanqing! Third on the Newcomer List, he must be looking down on the heroes!"

"Daoist Hewei is also reasonable; I personally saw him refine grade-four pills, and they were top-grade! Sixth on the Newcomer List is not worse than the third."

"Is no one talking about Chen Yu from Chunshan Pavilion? He doesn't show his mountains or water, but I see him produce excellent quality pills every time; he is very stable."

"Lu Xingzhou is not impossible either; although his reputation for alchemy is not obvious, killing Ye Wufeng at least proves his cultivation is strong and his control is stable. By the way, he also destroyed the Fenxiang Tower, which is a grade-three alchemy sect, with many classics..."

"Who the hell is Lu Nuonuo?!"