Without checking the pills in the furnace, Hall Master Yang smiled, “Ling Xiao, though your refining process had issues, no matter, you’ve done remarkably well. At your age, only Little Blue could match this, but she started learning alchemy at nine, while you’ve just begun.”
“Senior, my refining process had issues?”
Ling Xiao frowned, puzzled, he didn’t understand, his refining seemed perfectly smooth.
“You opened the furnace too early, but that’s normal, it’s your first time,” Lan Yuer answered.
Her face, surprisingly, showed a rare smile.
Was this ice queen thawing?
“But Senior, I think my Golden Snow Lotus Essence-Dispersing Pill is better quality than those made by your hall.”
Ling Xiao handed his pill to Hall Master Yang.
“No way… what! Impossible!”
Hall Master Yang’s words stumbled into incoherence.
Initially, he thought Ling Xiao was arrogant, but seeing the pill, his face turned to shock.
Even the lazy dog on his shoulder, always dozing, opened its eyes and barked twice.
Lan Yuer’s pretty face flushed with astonishment, like a ripe apple.
Dai Yuling collapsed to the ground, drenched in sweat.
“Using only a third of the time to craft such a perfect Golden Snow Lotus Essence-Dispersing Pill! Am I hallucinating?”
Hall Master Yang tugged his beard hard, as if to snap himself out of a dream.
“Ouch, it’s real! Kid, how’d you do it?”
He asked, stunned, “No, no, don’t answer yet, let me think.”
He circled the furnace, examined the fire, then the pill, before clapping, “Got it, got it! You’re a genius, kid. Normally, refining wastes much of the fire’s energy, and controlling it always has errors, so we refine slowly to fix mistakes in time.
But you, you used true essence to form an insulating layer around the furnace, preventing energy loss. It’s a small trick, I and Little Blue tried it, but not as well as you.
Most astonishing, your fire control had no errors, the whole process was flawless, so you cut the time drastically.”
Lan Yuer asked urgently, “Ling Xiao, are you hiding something? Just two days ago, you knew nothing of pharmacology, how could you make such a perfect pill today?”
She suspected he’d refined pills before.
Ling Xiao smiled calmly, “Senior Sister, I’ve no real strengths, just a good memory and decent comprehension. Those books you gave me two days ago, I memorized, and I’ve mostly grasped them. I ran through the refining process in my head over a hundred times, so it went smoothly.”
“You’re not saying you memorized all those books, are you?”
Lan Yuer’s eyes widened like twin moons.
Ling Xiao nodded solemnly, “Senior Sister, you’re right, I memorized them all. So, not just the Golden Snow Lotus Essence-Dispersing Pill, I could refine other common pills too.”
He kept his tone humble, not wanting to seem brash.
But humility was useless here.
To others, achieving this made humility look like arrogance.
Hall Master Yang glanced at the dog on his shoulder, and for an instant, a golden light flashed on its forehead.
Though fleeting, Ling Xiao caught it.
He realized that dog was no ordinary creature.
“Old pal, you mean he’s not lying?”
Hall Master Yang’s face lit with ecstasy.
His dog was special, its forehead’s golden light was an ancient divine ability, True Sight.
No one could lie before it.
Learning Ling Xiao wasn’t lying meant his claims of incredible memory and comprehension were true.
Hall Master Yang, nearing two hundred years old, had seen countless geniuses, many with photographic memories.
But Ling Xiao’s wasn’t just memory, his comprehension was heaven-defying.
Memory alone couldn’t refine pills, it required full understanding.
Clearly, Ling Xiao had that.
Hall Master Yang didn’t yet grasp Ling Xiao’s true terror.
It wasn’t good memory or high comprehension.
He could fuse what he saw and touched into his soul.
The soul is a person’s core, holding all knowledge, memories, and skills.
Forget a few books, even complex martial techniques, he could claim if he fancied them.
“Monster!”
After a long pause, Hall Master Yang and Lan Yuer said in unison.
Indeed, what’s scarier than a genius? A monster.
“You two flatter me, I just have a decent memory, maybe photographic, and slightly better comprehension,” Ling Xiao scratched his head, embarrassed.
“Pretend! Keep pretending, kid! Photographic memory and terrifying comprehension, don’t you know how vital those are for a martial artist?”
Hall Master Yang glared, though his face betrayed a smug grin, thankful he’d snagged this kid early, or losing him to others would’ve been a massive loss.
Forget comprehension, photographic memory alone could elevate a martial artist above peers.
Paired with comprehension, it was like cheating.
But Hall Master Yang didn’t know these were mere branches of Ling Xiao’s Mountains and Rivers Martial Soul.
Ling Xiao’s true potential was beyond their imagination.
“Can I test you again?”
Lan Yuer hesitated.
“Senior Sister, we agreed on four questions, you can’t go back on that,” Ling Xiao said with a wry smile.
“No, I just want to confirm if you truly have photographic memory,” she explained.
Ling Xiao checked the time, there was still some, so he sighed, “Fine, but not too long, ask quickly.”
“Heh, I’m joining in!” Dai Yuling said eagerly.
“I’ll have a go too,” Hall Master Yang said, playful.
“You lot, ugh, fine, let’s start.”
