The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron

Fang Lin glanced at the ten Jade Slips and asked, “May I ask the steward if there is one mistake in each of the five Pill Formulas, or if there are possibly multiple errors in each one?”

The middle-aged steward looked at Fang Lin with slight surprise, not expecting him to zero in on such a point so quickly.

Indeed, this was something many exam participants wouldn’t pay too much attention to.

Therefore, the middle-aged steward explained: ‘You just need to find the flawed five Pill Formulas. As for how many errors you can identify, that’s up to you.”

Hearing this, Fang Lin nodded, indicating his understanding. The meaning of the middle-aged steward was very clear, there were certainly more than one error per Pill Formula.

Immediately, Fang Lin stopped asking and started examining the Jade Slips.

The middle-aged steward slightly retreated, simultaneously waving one hand, and a stick of incense was ignited on the side.

The first Jade Slip didn’t stay in Fang Lin’s hand for more than a few breaths before he put it down and proceeded to examine the second one.

Seeing Fang Lin skim through them so casually, the middle-aged steward couldn’t help but frown, and shake his head in silent disapproval.

In his view, discerning the authenticity of Pill Formulas was a meticulous and cautious task. For one Pill Formula, it was common to flip through it dozens of times.

Could Fang Lin really see anything by just taking a glance like this? At least, the middle-aged steward didn’t think so.

Fang Lin finished examining all ten Jade Slips in less than a cup of tea’s time, and then didn’t take another look.

Seeing this, the middle-aged steward had a clear look of displeasure on his face.

“What’s this? Are you planning to give up?” the middle-aged steward asked condescendingly.

Fang Lin grinned, “I’ve finished checking. These are the faulty Pill Formulas.” While saying this, Fang Lin picked out five Jade Slips.

The middle-aged steward’s eyes narrowed when he saw the five Jade Slips. When he looked at Fang Lin again, his gaze had completely changed.

That’s right; the five Jade Slips that Fang Lin picked out did indeed contain the problematic Pill Formulas.

The key question was, how did he figure it out? Could he really be so incredible as to detect the problems in the Pill Formulas with just one glance?

The middle-aged steward was skeptical and asked: “So tell me, what imperfections are in these five Pill Formulas, and what are they exactly?” Fang Lin was calm and collected as he began to explain in detail.

After half an incense’s burning time had passed, the middle-aged steward had a bitter expression on his face, waved at Fang Lin, and reluctantly said, “Alright, alright. You’ve passed.”

Seeing this, Fang Lin closed his mouth. Now that he had passed, there was no need to say anything more.

Now, the middle-aged steward looked at Fang Lin with a completely different gaze. He was slightly displeased before, but now all that was left was shock.

Not only did Fang Lin identify all the flaws in those five Pill Formulas, but he also provided multiple suggestions for improvements on a grand scale.

Although the middle-aged steward had seen many geniuses before, encountering someone as exceptional as Fang Lin was a first.

You should know that these five Pill Formulas collectively contained twenty-three flaws. Among these, three or four were extremely subtle and hard to detect.

exam-how much better off was he?

It was said that within The Pill Alliance, there was a record of how many flaws each exam participant could find. This data was recorded for future reference.

Because the steward had not seen that record, he had heard from others that in the entire Daqian Kingdom, the highest number of detected flaws was no more than nineteen.

In contrast, Fang Lin found all the flaws, a feat that shattered the previous record and accomplished the impossible.

Because of this one achievement, Fang Lin’s name would cast a heavy stroke within the annals of the Pill Alliance.

Looking at the remaining incense stick that was still burning, the middle-aged steward wore an extremely complicated expression on his face. Not even a full stick of incense had burned and Fang Lin had already completed the first part of the Pill Formulas test. If he were to tell anyone about this, who would believe him?

Fang Lin left the side hall and those who were waiting outside saw that he came out so early, rendering their faces a mix of disbelief and confusion.

Elder Su frowned slightly, looking quite perplexed, and gave Fang Lin’s middle-aged steward an inquiring look.

The elder from the Li Family smirked coldly, imagining that Fang Lin had failed midway, hence his early exit.

Ouyang Jing also looked very worried. As a member of the Pill Alliance, he had also undergone the Second Cauldron Pill Refiner’s exam and knew its difficulty.

How could anyone finish the task of distinguishing Pill Formulas so quickly? It was a test that required extreme patience and judgement skills; those who participated almost universally took nearly the entire allotted time before making their final decisions.

Why did Fang Lin get out so fast?

Though Ouyang Jing couldn’t bring himself to believe Fang Lin could have failed, his rationality told him that it was the most likely outcome.

Fang Lin smiled and went to greet Ouyang Jing. But Ouyang Jing could not smile back, he quickly asked Fang Lin about the examination.

Fang Lin patted Ouyang Jing’s shoulder, showed a cryptic smile and said, “Ouyang, don’t tell me you don’t believe in me. It’s just a trivial Pill Formula test, of course, it’s just a piece of cake.”

Ouyang Jing stared at Fang Lin with a complex expression, finding it hard to believe what he claimed.

“Humph! Such bluster, a failure is still a failure. What are you afraid to admit?” The elder from the Li Family scorned mercilessly.

Fang Lin glanced at him and snapped back, “Old fool, have you prepared your coffin yet? Don’t die suddenly before you even have a chance to prepare it.”

At this, the elder from the Li Family was filled with rage and couldn’t contain himself any longer. Regardless of the fact that they were still in the Pill Alliance, he lashed out at Fang Lin with a powerful slap.

The force from the attack was so formidable that Fang Lin doubted he could withstand it.

But Fang Lin was not worried because Elder Su had stepped in.

Elder Su immediately stepped in front of Fang Lin, causing The Li Family elder to gnash his teeth and forcibly halt his attack mid-strike.

“Elder Su, that boy insults me. I must kill him!” the elder from the Li Family screamed.

Elder Su frowned, looking at Fang Lin as if chiding him for his disrespectful remarks. He then said to Li Family elder, “This is the Pill Alliance. Mr. Fang is a One Cauldron Pill Refiner of our Pill Alliance. As long as he is here, you cannot harm him.”

The elder from the Li Family was so angry that he felt like his stomach was on fire.

Li Family’s old thief, don’t get so worked up; you might just die from the anger,” Fang Lin mocked gleefully.

The elder from the Li Family spat out blood abruptly, which was clearly induced by Fang Lin’s sharp words.

“Fang Lin, I swear I will kill you!” He screamed, making no effort to hide his killing intent towards Fang Lin.

Fang Lin, standing behind Elder Su, scoffed and hit back, “Is everyone in the Li Family all talk and no action? Try moving a finger on me!”