Chapter 103: I Was Careless

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Xu Zhe was initially not in a great rush to enter the Divine Pill Cavern; at worst, he could wait for Chu Xiaotong and the others to come out, then have Gu Jia’er take him in once. However, he learned from Lu Yangyun that Chu Xiaotong had fought on the battlefield in her early years, breaking through her limits repeatedly under extreme conditions, sustaining injuries while slaying demons, which ultimately caused her dantian to rupture. It was only with the aid of some pills that she barely managed to prevent further deterioration.

Later, with Gu Jia’er’s assistance providing many precious pills, those cracks were gradually suppressed. But during the recent Mo family battle, Chu Xiaotong was ambushed; losing control, her power erupted again, causing the cracks to reopen. She didn’t inform Xu Zhe and silently returned to the Suzaku Army camp, forcing herself to recuperate. Fortunately, Gu Jia’er was brought back, and Chu Xiaotong immediately greeted her and arranged for her to refine pills.

Yet, to concoct the kind of miraculous pill that could suppress the dantian cracks, they lacked a key ingredient. This essential ingredient could only be gathered inside the Divine Pill Cavern. Coupled with Chu Xiaotong’s worsening injuries, they could no longer afford to wait. Reluctantly, they abandoned their ranking in the Divine Pill Tournament and entered the cavern early to gather the herbs.

This forced Xu Zhe to take the matter seriously and urgently seek to enter the Divine Pill Cavern himself. He also learned from Lu Yangyun what kind of pill Gu Jia’er intended to refine. He shook his head repeatedly on the spot, calling it medical incompetence—no, incompetence in pill refinement.

“A damaged dantian, yet they are trying to suppress it with the ‘Profound Clear Stabilizing Pill’? That’s merely a palliative treatment. Don’t they know there is a ‘Nine Orifice Vital Vein Pill’ specifically designed to restore dantian injuries? Oh, I almost forgot—that ‘Nine Orifice Vital Vein Pill’ was developed by me long ago during my spare time, benefiting many powerful practitioners.”

Xu Zhe slapped his forehead, more determined than ever to enter the Divine Pill Cavern. The herbs required for the “Nine Orifice Vital Vein Pill” included several that did not exist on the Qingci Continent; he had to search for them inside the Divine Pill Cavern.

…

Soon, Xu Zhe, with a displeased expression, quietly received a small jade token from the registration desk. It bore the number “9527” and the name “Yu Song of Southern Tian Continent.”

Yu Song was the real name of the young man from the Suzaku Army. For this kind of tournament registration, everyone’s identity and background were thoroughly verified to prevent impersonation and preserve fairness, as the event involved the interests of the four great continents.

Therefore, independent cultivators could hardly participate unless they went through the trouble of obtaining identity documents from their continent, along with approval letters from sect authorities—a process extremely cumbersome.

Xu Zhe disliked hassle and did not want others to discover he was bullying the weak under the guise of strength, so he had no choice but to impersonate a soldier from the Suzaku Army.

However, upon seeing the token and its number, Xu Zhe was stunned. There were actually so many participants—he had been ranked beyond nine thousand.

That didn’t mean he could refine pills immediately after registration. He had to first compete in several preliminary theoretical rounds, with only one hundred participants qualifying for the Divine Pill Tournament’s pill refining competition.

The elimination rate was reasonable.

The first round was herb identification, answering the names of herbs shown in pictures. The questions were somewhat challenging, using many visually similar herb images. Many participants scratched their heads, but Xu Zhe easily scored full marks.

After all, the herbs were common basic ingredients, their names consistent with those in the Cangtian Domain. His four-thousand-year-old book reading was not in vain.

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The entire hall was shocked—such an unremarkable young man was surprisingly so familiar with medicinal herbs.

The second round tested herb property analysis: classify herbs based on their properties. Some required pairing herbs with conflicting properties to produce toxicity; others demanded pairing herbs whose properties would mutually neutralize. Xu Zhe again scored full marks.

Many began to lose composure, some secretly investigating his background.

The third round concerned herb attributes, similar yet distinct from the second. Herbs were classified not only by properties but also by yin-yang and the five elements. Some herbs were yin, some yang; some water, some fire. Participants had to classify and pair herbs according to the five elements’ mutual generation and restriction and yin-yang harmony.

Without doubt, Xu Zhe easily solved this and again achieved full marks.

Several tournament officials were alarmed and started retrieving information on “Yu Song,” discovering he was from the Suzaku Army. They were even more baffled.

The Suzaku Army was a group of big, brawny veterans—could they possibly understand herbs and refine pills?

What a joke.

Yet, despite doubts, as long as Xu Zhe’s current identity was legitimate, no one could stop him from competing.

The final round involved pill refinement theoretical operation. The judges provided a pill formula, and participants had to write out the entire refining process. Three pill masters scored on the spot, discarding the highest and lowest scores, taking the middle one as the final.

Xu Zhe received a basic “Foundation Building Pill Formula” and promptly wrote out a complete refining plan, submitting it immediately.

“Ancient pill refining techniques?” The three pill masters were startled when evaluating Xu Zhe’s plan.

As they reviewed it, their frowns deepened.

“This theory looks reasonable but somewhat impractical.”

“Indeed. It demands refining herbs to absolute purity, controlling the fire precisely, and using spiritual consciousness to assist pill forming—it’s impossible.”

“Even if Lord Gu or Master Dong were here, they couldn’t do it!”

“Not necessarily. Those two are advocates of new pill refining methods and have immersed themselves for years; maybe it’s possible.”

“Enough of that. How should we score this plan? Theoretically sound but impractical, basically unfeasible.”

“I give zero. We must reject this kind of utopian thinking.”

“I’ll give full marks. What’s the point of refining pills without imagination?”

“Damn!”

…

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The three judges argued for a long time.

In the end, Xu Zhe received his score and was bewildered.

“Fifty points?”

He was stunned. His plan was as standard as could be, practically a textbook example—only fifty points?

The full score was a hundred, so he hadn’t even passed.

“Could it be that I underestimated the pill refining level on this continent? The pills I encountered before were just flawed products; the truly high-quality ones are in the hands of the wealthy and powerful?”

Xu Zhe frowned, his expression grave.

This was quite likely. After all, many of his classmates, especially Dong Fang and the others, were modern people. The scientific rigor and creativity of modern thinking could bring great innovation. Perhaps the ancient traditional pill refining methods had already become obsolete.

“This is bad. I was careless this time. If I make it into the tournament, I must give my full effort in pill refining. I must not underestimate the competition.”

At this moment, Xu Zhe’s attitude toward the Divine Pill Tournament completely changed. Looking at the vast sea of people in the arena, he felt a profound respect.

However, many onlookers who had been watching him learned he only scored fifty points in the final round and were immediately delighted.

“So much for a pill refining genius—turns out he only memorizes herb theory.”

“No skill in operational theory means half the battle is lost.”

“Exactly! Recognizing herbs is important, but the most crucial thing for a pill refiner is operational skill. If you can’t pass the operational theory, don’t even talk about practical refining.”

“Heh, I told you, what does the Suzaku Army know about pill refining?”

“Probably the Putuo Sacred Land has declined these past centuries, so the Suzaku Army secretly trains some pill refiners. Too bad no one believes it.”

“Let’s go, report back. No worries, this guy’s no dark horse.”

…

[End of first update.]