Chapter 67: Riddled with Doubts

One hour passed, then another...

A muffled bang!

Qin Chuan’s casual expression turned grave. Throughout the entire alchemical process, the other steps posed no difficulty; only this final moment before opening the furnace was truly challenging.

The lifespan of all living things is fixed. The so-called extension of life is nothing more than the theft of fate from heaven and earth.

This Spring and Autumn Pill was one of those elixirs forbidden by the heavens, though only in the slightest degree.

The creator of this pill formula was a prodigy, harnessing the faintest hint of heavenly intent, binding the subtle tribulation thunder within the pill itself, achieving a genuine balance of mutual restraint.

The sound from within the pill furnace was the manifestation of the heavens stirring up tribulation thunder, seeking to destroy the pill.

The sound was not loud, audible only within a few paces of Qin Chuan, lasting but a breath before gradually fading to something barely more than a weak dog’s bark.

Qin Chuan relaxed his furrowed brow, thinking to himself: it’s done!

To refine this pill, barring extraordinary circumstances, failure was virtually impossible.

Waiting for the furnace’s temperature to drop, he opened it and quickly placed the Spring and Autumn Pill into a jade vial.

Yet in that brief moment, the pill already began to show signs of dissolving.

The jade vial was etched with a special array, isolating its contents and protecting the pill from the erosion of heavenly intent. With a sigh, he realized his movements had been too slow.

The medicine’s potency, originally lasting half a year, was now diminished by over ten days. He cared little; the end of one’s lifespan was still far off.

Not far away, a young attendant, seeing the Spring and Autumn Pill successfully refined, pressed a jade slip to his brow to record the event.

Now, two hours remained until sunset.

At this moment, Qin Chuan noticed the poisonous pills being refined around him, and his eyes lit up. He had been worrying about how to acquire a large quantity of poisonous pills today, but here they were, ready for the taking.

Scanning the area, he estimated around a hundred disciples had advanced to the second round. Many had suffered furnace explosions, but some still managed to produce pills.

But the herbs themselves were problematic from the start, so all the refined pills were colorful, pitted, poisonous concoctions.

Most people merely glanced at these poisonous pills before discarding them.

Thus, acquiring them was no trouble. Even if a disciple saw Qin Chuan taking them, they were only puzzled and did not try to stop him.

They were already anxious; a failed furnace was one thing, but even the simplest pills—normally easy to make—were now beyond their reach.

Their alchemical skills were insufficient to notice the herbs’ issues at a glance, still thinking their failures were due to technique.

Qin Chuan hoped for as many poisonous pills as possible, so he gave no hint.

After making a circuit of the plaza, his storage pouch now held five hundred poisonous pills.

This unexpected windfall put him in even better spirits. Sadly, the remaining time was not enough for him to refine other pills, so he sat cross-legged, waiting quietly for sunset to mark the end of the second round.

Time passed swiftly, and the plaza was filled with more and more dejected faces.

In the end, only four or five managed to refine pills. Apart from Qin Chuan and Fang Mu, the others had not realized the herbs were problematic and succeeded only by luck.

Thus, their pills were inferior to those of Qin Chuan and Fang Mu.

The outcome was settled, but the disciples looked none too pleased, their gazes toward Qin Chuan and Fang Mu tinged with suspicion—many doubted they’d cheated.

At this moment, Hua Song stepped in to ease the tension, speaking out.

“Do you know why your pills kept failing?”

Everyone remained silent, their expressions gloomy, no one answering. This pill gathering had been unusually enigmatic, with no warning, only a handful joining by chance.

Thus, the level of alchemy varied greatly, and few noticed the subtle trap set for the second round.

“Though I am but a humble senior, I’ve walked the path of alchemy for a decade or more. If I were as careless as you, randomly grabbing herbs, I wouldn’t be able to refine pills either!”

Hua Song spoke with some frustration, causing a thud in many hearts, a faint realization dawning, and many turned in unison toward the wooden racks of herbs on the plaza’s right.

A disciple approached the racks, trembling in disbelief.

He picked up a bit of herb fragment, sniffed it lightly, and after a moment, a hint of guilt crossed his face.

“The sun rises and the moon sets, seasons turn. Many among you, I’ve watched grow from novices in alchemy, step by step.”

“But I haven’t forgotten; you have.”

To notice the herbs’ issues was not difficult. Yet your hearts have all been clouded with grease!

Hearing this, Qin Chuan felt a subtle tremor within. Indeed, noticing the herbs’ faults was not hard.

Had he failed one furnace, he too could have discovered it. But by then, the medicinal logic would become ever more chaotic, contaminated herbs ever more numerous, and it would truly be beyond remedy.

Hua Song’s tone grew calmer. “If it were in the past, and I placed these herbs before you, you’d discover their flaws within three breaths.”

“People have changed, and that cautious heart has changed with them.”

Finishing, he sighed, swept his sleeve, and left.

The crowd bowed in respect, remaining so for a long time.

Qin Chuan also bowed, and as he lowered himself, he caught Fang Mu’s eyes flickering before he turned and departed.

He left quietly, as if afraid of drawing attention. Qin Chuan couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Under the sparse moon and stars, Qin Chuan returned to the Sword Lodge, still feeling something was amiss about today.

The pill gathering had been strange from the beginning, and Fang Mu’s behavior was even more unexpected.

The opening of the domain was scheduled right after the pill gathering registration, and the sect hadn’t announced the event in advance.

Registration lasted only a single day. Was it possible that, on that day, Fang Mu, like himself, happened to be at Yellow Spring Valley?

But the Wind Region’s domain and Yellow Spring Valley were far apart. That day, when he went to the domain, those few had clearly been waiting for a long time, likely arriving the day before.

By this calculation, the timing was extremely tight, almost conflicting.

Something isn’t right—he must have missed something.

That day, the plaza was packed, even alarming the Azure Armor Guards. That alone was strange; the guards were highly esteemed and would not be mobilized unless a senior elder was present to command them.

In the first round, the spiritual herb’s requirements for spiritual energy were so precise, as if tailored for him—too much of a coincidence.

In the second round, Fang Mu’s gaze toward him was evasive, as if concealing something.