Chapter 474: Chapter 395: Gifted Pill, Flames of Jealousy

The time taken to refine a sixth-grade elixir was far longer than Qin Tian had anticipated.

From eleven in the morning until nine at night, a full ten hours, Dongfang Mingyue maintained an unwavering focus, her fingertips radiating a faint green spiritual energy that enveloped the alchemy cauldron like a living entity. She precisely controlled the refining and integration of each medicinal ingredient, meticulously honing the elixir until it took shape, never allowing even a moment’s distraction.

Exhale—

As the final step was completed, the cauldron lid slowly opened, and a wave of scorching heat mixed with a rich medicinal fragrance burst forth, instantly raising the temperature in the alchemy room. Even the air was filled with floating spiritual energy particles.

A perfectly round elixir shot out from the cauldron, its entire body shimmering with a faint starlight, with a glossy sheen flowing across its surface.

Dongfang Mingyue’s eyes were quick, and she swiftly took out a white jade bottle to catch it, then immediately sealed it with a stopper, perfectly locking in the medicinal potency, allowing not the slightest bit to escape.

“Miss!” Xiao Yu hurried over, her eyes gleaming as she stared at the white jade bottle in Dongfang Mingyue’s hand, her tone filled with joy, “I knew you could succeed!”

Even for the most seasoned sixth-grade alchemist, there was never a one hundred percent success rate when refining a sixth-grade elixir. An outstanding individual refining a familiar recipe typically had a success rate between 40% and 60%. Even with hundreds of practices, breaking through 80% was extremely rare.

There were too many variables: even the same type of herb could have slight differences in medicinal properties depending on the plant, and these tiny differences could trigger a chain reaction when multiple ingredients were integrated, requiring the alchemist to adjust on the spot using years of experience and refined technique.

Besides this, the strength of the flame, the rhythm of spiritual energy infusion, and even the temperature and humidity of the alchemy room all significantly impacted the analysis and integration of the medicinal properties.

For this reason, in the alchemy profession, there were two spiritual ability attributes most suited to the art of alchemy: one was wood, which could precisely decompose the essence of ingredients, promoting a gentle integration of medicinal properties; the other was fire, which allowed for meticulous temperature control, tightly governing the entire process of elixir formation.

The top representatives of these two schools were the Empire’s two great Holy Blood Clans: the Dongfang family and the Xiao clan.

Dongfang Mingyue smiled at these words, her fair cheeks flushed with a faint rosy hue from the prolonged exposure to high temperatures, like a begonia covered in morning dew. She possessed the pure and vibrant charm of a young girl, yet exuded an invigorating vitality.

“Yes, this time was indeed very smooth.” She gently caressed the white jade bottle’s surface and mused, “Moreover, I always felt like the Spirit Cauldron seemed to have changed somehow, with improved efficiency in spiritual energy conduction.”

Having worked with this cauldron for three years and refined elixirs over a hundred times with it, she had long become intimately familiar with the Spirit Cauldron’s characteristics, so even the slightest changes would not escape her perception.

The Spirit Cauldron couldn’t change for no reason; the only possibility was the influence left by Qin Tian’s repair work.

Thinking of this, Dongfang Mingyue raised her head and softly called out toward the open room, “Mr. Qin Tian, are you here?”

“I’m here.”

As soon as the words fell, a faint spatial ripple appeared, and Qin Tian’s figure suddenly materialized before the two, still clad in black, with a posture as upright as a pine tree.

Xiao Yu instinctively shivered slightly– although she knew Qin Tian was spatially capable, his sudden, ghostly appearances still startled her every time.

“Miss Dongfang, do you need anything?” Qin Tian asked.

Dongfang Mingyue gazed at him, her tone softening, “Mr. Qin Tian, you can just call me Mingyue in the future; no need to be so formal.”

Qin Tian pondered for a moment, then nodded, “Alright, Miss Ming Yue.”

Seeing that he still maintained his courtesy, Dongfang Mingyue didn’t dwell on the address, instead handing over the white jade bottle in her hand, her gaze sincere: “Mr. Qin Tian, this Star Marrow Barrier-Breaking Pill is for you. If it weren’t for you timely discovering the issue with the cauldron and helping me repair it, this elixir wouldn’t have been refined at all, and I wouldn’t be able to participate in tomorrow’s competition. It’s a token of my gratitude, please accept it.”

Looking at her earnest eyes, Qin Tian thought for a moment, then accepted the white jade bottle without further refusal, “Then I thank you, Miss Ming Yue.”

“The one who should be thanking is me.” Dongfang Mingyue smiled warmly.

Holding the white jade bottle in his hand, Qin Tian also felt a deep appreciation. A sixth-grade elixir was inherently extremely precious, scarcely available on the market, let alone a Star Marrow Barrier-Breaking Pill, which could help a Tier Six Spiritualist break through bottlenecks.

If placed in the military department’s treasury, it would be valued at least in the hundreds of thousands of military merit points, something that ordinary people would find hard to purchase even if they had the money.

With his talent, there was no bottleneck below Tier Six, but his subordinates would undoubtedly encounter one, and by then, this elixir would come in handy.

This gift carried considerable weight.

His gaze swept over the ring on Dongfang Mingyue’s right index finger, as he suddenly reminded, “Miss Ming Yue, I suggest not leaving the cauldron in the alchemy room tonight.”

Dongfang Mingyue immediately nodded — if someone could sneak into her private alchemy room and sabotage the cauldron without her knowing, it indicated the place was no longer safe.

“I’ll put the cauldron in my space ring,” she said, moving her fingers slightly to take out some less valuable items — her space ring had limited capacity, and to fit the cauldron in, some space had to be freed, this being why she had previously left the cauldron in the alchemy room.

The Dan Tower had strict controls over personnel entry and exit, with full surveillance on the floors housing private alchemy rooms and dedicated guards on duty around the clock.

Nevertheless, the cauldron had been tampered with, suggesting that the saboteur likely came from within the Dan Tower.

The people here could no longer be completely trusted.

She had originally intended to report the situation to the authorities of Dan Tower to investigate the saboteur’s identity, but now, this idea was entirely suppressed. Moreover, she already had a sneaking suspicion about the culprit.

“Alright, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.” Qin Tian said, “If Miss Ming Yue needs help, just call my name like you did just now.”

Before the words fell, his figure disappeared once again amidst the spatial fluctuations.

Dongfang Mingyue organized the items in the Space Ring, then activated her Spiritual Energy, slowly storing the Spirit-Concealing Cauldron into the ring.

“Xiao Yu, let’s go too.”

“Okay!”

The two of them walked side by side out of the Dan Tower, boarding a personal Flying Device waiting outside.

The Flying Device slowly ascended, flying towards the hotel, while not far behind, two inconspicuous Flying Devices quietly followed, always maintaining a safe distance, silently guarding them.

In the shadows at the entrance of the Dan Tower, a pair of eyes watched the departing Flying Device, pupils slightly contracting, a hint of uncertainty flashing in the eyes, not knowing what was being calculated.

…

“Worthless! All worthless!”

In a luxurious room, a woman in purple clothes smashed an expensive blue porcelain bottle onto the ground, shattering it into pieces.

She pointed at the man in front of her, head lowered, her voice sharp to the point of breaking: “I’ve put in so much effort to get you into the Dan Tower, and yet you failed at such a small task!”

The man kept his head down, fingertips clenched white, full of grievance and confusion in his heart.

He clearly followed the instructions, sneaking into Dongfang Mingyue’s private Alchemy Room late at night, creating a crack at the base of the green cauldron—with such damage, it was impossible to refine a sixth-grade Elixir.

But the surveillance footage didn’t lie: from morning till night, Dongfang Mingyue stayed in the Alchemy Room for a full ten hours, not stepping out once; when she came out, she had a faint smile on her face, clearly having succeeded in alchemy.

He couldn’t figure out where the problem lay, so he could only let the furious woman vent, not daring to utter a word of defense.

“Worthless!” Dongfang Xi, raging, picked up a jade cup on the table and hurled it at the man’s head.

The jade cup shattered, sharp pieces embedding into the man’s hair, yet he merely reached up and removed the fragments, not daring to wince.

“Get out! Get out of here!” Dongfang Xi clutched her chest, breathing heavily, eyes almost blazing with fury.

“Yes,” the man replied softly, stepping lightly like a cat, cautiously exiting the room, afraid to provoke the young lady further.

Bang—

Just as the door closed, Dongfang Xi picked up a glass ornament from the table and smashed it to the ground, her originally delicate features now twisted with madness, her exquisite makeup tainted with a touch of ferocity from her anger.

She was jealous of Dongfang Mingyue, so much so it drove her nearly insane.

That wild child, not even knowing who her father was, was merely a member of the Dongfang Clan’s side branch, yet consistently outshone her in alchemy, which she prided herself on most.

Whenever outsiders mentioned the “Dongfang Clan’s alchemy genius,” everyone first thought of Dongfang Mingyue, rather than her, the young lady of the direct lineage.

She couldn’t understand why.

In terms of effort, she spent no less time than Dongfang Mingyue in the Alchemy Room every day; in resources, the clan provided her with the finest Spirit Plants, alchemy cauldrons, and elixir recipes.

Yet despite all this, she still couldn’t keep up with Dongfang Mingyue’s pace—the latter seemed born for alchemy, able to produce higher-quality elixirs even with the simplest ingredients.

Even in terms of appearance, Dongfang Mingyue’s pure, radiant look with Spiritual Qi was more charming than her carefully adorned beauty.

The clan’s alchemy elders constantly preached “Mingyue is Dongfang’s hope”; the upper echelons of the Alchemy Association openly and subtly suggested that Dongfang Mingyue, likely to win the “Starry Cup,” could become the youngest Seventh Grade Alchemist after training at the Imperial Star headquarters for a few years.

And what about her?

Everyone thought her “talent was good, but slightly inferior to Dongfang Mingyue,” rarely even mentioning her.

This comparison felt like a poisonous thorn, day and night pricking at Dongfang Xi’s heart.

Since everyone believed Dongfang Mingyue would win, she was determined to destroy this “inevitability”!

To sabotage Dongfang Mingyue’s cauldron, she paid a hefty price to bribe a director of the Dan Tower, allowing her subordinate to infiltrate the Alchemy Room.

Last night, her subordinate reported, “Mission accomplished, Dongfang Mingyue definitely won’t be able to compete tomorrow,” but the result?

Dongfang Mingyue not only stayed in the Alchemy Room for ten hours but also reported no abnormalities to the Dan Tower—this was not how a damaged alchemy cauldron should behave!

“A bunch of useless trash!” Dongfang Xi gritted her silver teeth, nails deeply embedded in her palm, glaring at the pitch-black night sky outside the window, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in her eyes:

“Dongfang Mingyue, let’s see who has the last laugh. This competition isn’t over yet, and it’s still uncertain who will stand in the end!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep