Chapter 1072: Trick

The alchemist's question to Duan Ling Tian instantly created an uproar in the crowd.

'Somebody actually dares to question a grade one alchemist?'

Everyone, including Xiong Quan, had their eyes trained on Duan Ling Tian and subsequently the pills that looked exactly alike.

"The pill that he refined really has higher purity than the other alchemist... Why did Elder Duan eliminate him and let the other person advance to the next round?" The participating alchemists were confused.

"What happened?" Apart from them, even the people of Lu Clan led by the Clan Leader, Lu Rui, looked doubtful.

Not everyone in the Lu Clan was an alchemist. However, they could tell the purity of the pills since they were in an alchemy clan.

They could tell the pill from the alchemist who questioned Duan Ling Tian had higher purity.

The alchemist whom Duan Ling Tian accepted to the next round forced a smile on his face as he looked at Duan Ling Tian and said, "Elder Duan, judging by the pill's purity, I'm really not as good as him."

The alchemist who questioned Duan Ling Tian became even more smug after he heard the other alchemist's words. "Elder Duan, I know you're a grade one alchemist. I'm far behind you when it comes to medicine refinement... But your ability to judge seems to be..."

"Seems to be what?!" Duan Ling Tian interrupted as he glanced at him. "Do you think you're better than him at medicine refinement just because the pill you refined has higher purity than his?"

"Perhaps... The Alchemist Competition that the Lu Clan organized is merely a competition of pill's purity instead of medicine refinement's level?" Duan Ling Tian said as he glanced at the people of Lu Clan led by the Clan Leader, Lu Rui. It was obvious he was questioning them.

"Since we're refining the same pill, naturally we'll judge the medicine refinement's level by its purity... Otherwise, how can we judge it?" The alchemist who was interrupted by Duan Ling Tian said with righteous indignation.

"Do all of you think so too?" Duan Ling Tian glanced at the participating alchemists before he shifted his eyes to the people from Lu Clan.

Soon after, he received his answer.

Whether it was the participating alchemists or the people from Lu Clan, all of them nodded one after another. It was clear all of them had the same thought.

"We're interested to know if Elder Duan has other ways to judge the medicine refinement level... Perhaps Elder Duan will surprise us," Lu Rui said with his loud and clear voice.

The reason he said that was due to the confidence and fearless expression in Duan Ling Tian's eyes. Subconsciously, he believed that Duan Ling Tian had other ways to judge the medicine refinement's level.

After Lu Rui spoke, Duan Ling Tian became the center of attention.

"Young Master." Even Xiong Quan was looking at Duan Ling Tian with anticipation.

He believed his Young Master had his own way.

"Seems like I'll need to teach all of you a lesson today," Duan Ling Tian said calmly before he looked away.

If it was someone else who had said that, perhaps he would be torn into pieces as soon as he was done speaking.

Since it was Duan Ling Tian who said it, they could not wait to hear the rest of his explanation even though they felt skeptical.

However, they soon realized Duan Ling Tian did not have the intention to explain.

"Both of you, refine the pill once again... This time I'm going to teach you a little trick! This little trick will definitely boost the purity of the pill you refined," Duan Ling Tian said calmly as he looked at the two alchemists next to him.

"When the both of you refine the pill..." Duan Ling Tian divulged his little trick without hiding it from the public.

What he said was heard by everyone loud and clear. It seemed as though he had no qualms about revealing this trick in public at all.

"Press our palm on the cauldron, and when the pill comes out of the spigot, create a layer of shield by releasing the Pill Fire from our palm and make the pill pierce through it?" That was the trick Duan Ling Tian had revealed.

The trick was nothing to Duan Ling Tian, but it was new to the other alchemists.

"Sure! I'll refine it again following the trick that Elder Duan shared... If the purity of the pill I refined is still higher than his this, what will Elder Duan do?" The dissatisfied alchemist asked as he looked at Duan Ling Tian.

"He'll be eliminated and you'll advance to the next round if you defeat him," Duan Ling Tian said casually. His eyes were calm as though he was certain the dissatisfied alchemist would not be able to defeat the other alchemist.

'Elder Duan has such faith in me?' The other alchemist's heart jolted. His expression suddenly turned serious.

He then took a deep breath and solemnly said to Duan Ling Tian, "Elder Duan, I won't let you down."

"Don't be nervous. Just do what you did earlier... Of course, remember to use the little trick I taught you! Although it won't give a major boost to the purity, the boost is still significant and varies from person to person," Duan Ling Tian said.

"Yes." the Alchemist nodded seriously.

"You may begin," Duan Ling Tian said.

At this moment, the two alchemists were in high spirits as they began to refine the pill.

The pressure increased as everyone watched their refinement process. Each of them wanted to defeat the other in order to advance to the next round.

As long as they advanced to the next round, they would be able to join the Lu Clan and become a Lu Clan's foreign disciple!

Time passed by quietly. Soon after, an hour had passed.

'Pa!'

The alchemist whose pill had lesser purity than the other completed the refinement first. He pressed his palm on the cauldron and forced the pill out of the cauldron.

In the meantime, he remembered the little trick Duan Ling Tian had imparted earlier. He released Pill Fire from his palm to create a layer of shield on top of the spigot.

'Whoosh!'

A pill shot out and passed through the Pill Fire on top of the opening before the alchemist grabbed it with his hand.

The pill was completed!

'Pa!'

At this moment, the alchemist whose pill had higher purity than the other and was dissatisfied with Duan Ling Tian's judgment followed the other alchemist by completing the refinement and forming the pill.

A similar pill appeared in his hands.

However, their eyes widened at the same time as a shocked expression appeared on their faces when they looked at each other's pill.

"How's this possible?! No... It's impossible!!" The alchemist who was dissatisfied earlier turned pale and shook his head continuously. He was unwilling to believe the sight before his eyes.

He was unwilling to believe because he discovered the purity of the pill in his hand only had less than 5% of elevation compared to before.

Meanwhile, the pill in his opponent's hand had close to 10% of elevation in purity compared to before!

An elevation close to 10%!

What was that?

He had defeated the dissatisfied alchemist!

"This is too amazing!" The other alchemist's eyes lit up. He had an expression of disbelief on his face. He could not believe his eyes.

That trick elevated the purity of his pill by 10%!

Meanwhile, the elevation of the pill's purity that his opponent refined was less than 5%.

"Impossible! You must have taught him another trick. That must be it!" The dissatisfied alchemist said as he pointed at Duan Ling Tian. He was unwilling to give up.

"I taught him another trick?" Duan Ling Tian laughed when he heard that. Soon after, his laughter turned into a grin. "Why don't you get another alchemist to try as well?"

Eventually, the alchemists who had advanced to the semifinals and had yet to be eliminated began to refine pills with the little trick Duan Ling Tian taught them.

They noticed something odd after successfully refining the pills.

Some of them had less than 5% of elevation in purity compared to the pill they refined earlier while some of them had more than 10% elevation in purity!

"Now... Do you still think I taught him another trick?" Duan Ling Tian said indifferently to the dissatisfied alchemist as he looked at him.

The alchemist's face turned pale, and he was rendered speechless.

He knew that he had overthought things.

However, the alchemist still could not accept what happened and asked Duan Ling Tian somberly, "Why?"

Duan Ling Tian knew exactly what the alchemist wanted to know.

Even the people from Lu Clan, including the Clan Leader, looked confused.

It was obvious they wanted to know the answer as well.

"Pill Fire is the key!" Duan Ling Tian answered when everyone's attention was on him.

One must admit his answer did not help with the confusion.

"The key is the Pill Fire?"

"That can't be right! I'm a grade five alchemist. The Pill Fire I released is a grade five Pill Fire... However, the pill I refined using the little trick only gave it less than 5% of elevation in purity!"

"Although I'm just a grade six alchemist, and the Pill Fire I released isn't as powerful as yours... The pill I refined using the little trick had 10% elevation in purity."

"What's this?"

...

The alchemists were confused.

The elevation of the pill's purity was higher for some of the grade six alchemists compared to some grade five alchemists. Naturally, the elevation of the pill's purity for some of the grade six alchemists were lower than the grade five alchemists.

"It isn't about the Pill Fire's grade but the Pill Fire's purity... Usually, the Pill Fire that's released by alchemists who rose through the ranks too quickly would be rougher and lower in Purity."

"Meanwhile, the Pill Fire released by those alchemists who learned slowly and steadily would usually be more precise and higher in Purity."

"The little trick I mentioned earlier would boost the latter's pill's purity to the next level... While the boost in purity for the former would be lesser," Duan Ling Tian said patiently as he faced the group of people who were looking at him curiously.

All of a sudden, the entire place descended into silence as everyone became engrossed in their thoughts.

"Elder Duan's worthy of being a grade one alchemist for figuring out such a trick!" Many of them exclaimed one after another after they regained their senses.