Chapter 97: The Merchant Who Looks at the World

This is the Gathering Yuan Pill you refined? Looking at the small black ball in front of him, which carried a strange odor and had an uneven, bumpy surface, Xu Xiaozhan truly felt extremely speechless.

Originally, because of his affiliation with Ji, Xu Xiaozhan had held high hopes for Liu Pan. Yet he had never imagined that Liu Pan would refine such a broken, useless item. He even suspected it was not a pill at all, but a poison that could kill someone in minutes if taken.

“Uh! First time, please understand.” Liu Pan coughed lightly, his expression also somewhat awkward. He had believed that even though he had never used the water method to refine pills before, his first attempt would not be too terrible.

After all, he had previously refined pills using the fire method and had barely reached the level of a mid-grade pill master, giving him some experience. Moreover, he had watched Elder Zhao refine a high-quality pill and learned quite a few techniques for water method pill refining. So, while pill refining might not come as smoothly as flowing water, at least he should be able to handle it calmly.

But in reality, Liu Pan discovered he had overthought things. Aside from the first step of decomposing the medicinal power, the subsequent procedures were truly chaotic and a complete disaster.

Controlling medicinal power in water was inherently difficult because it would diffuse on its own. It was nearly impossible to regulate the flow directions and fusion dosages of various components. The slightest mistake and the entire essence would be wasted.

Worse still, while using the water method, the experience gained from fire method pill refining proved useless and actually hindered his handling of the medicinal power. One careless move and it became nothing but wasted liquid.

As for condensing the pill into a solid form, that final step was relatively straightforward. Yet by the time he reached it, the medicinal power inside the cauldron had already been depleted by over ninety percent. It could not even meet the requirements for a single pill. Combined with his unfamiliarity with the condensing process, he ultimately managed only to produce a misshapen, grotesquely ugly failed pill.

“First time?!” Xu Xiaozhan’s voice suddenly rose several octaves, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Ultimately, seeing Liu Pan refine this strange failed pill, Xu Xiaozhan felt speechless in his heart, yet shock remained. Although he knew little about water method pill refining, he understood it was far more difficult to master than fire method pill refining.

This was evident from the fact that in Yunliu City, pill masters existed who only knew the fire method and none who practiced the water method.

It was because of this that when Liu Pan took out the failed pill from the cauldron, Xu Xiaozhan’s true first reaction was not speechlessness, but astonishment.

At this moment, Xu Xiaozhan was completely certain that Liu Pan was far more than he appeared on the surface.

Without spiritual sense, one could not observe the situation inside the pill cauldron and refine pills. Besides spiritual power, Xu Xiaozhan could think of no other explanation.

At this instant, Xu Xiaozhan could not help but recall Liu Kuang from back when they had walked together. He remembered that person also possessed spiritual power.

“What are you shouting about! It’s just a failure! Give me a moment and I’ll refine another batch, guaranteed success!”

For Xu Xiaozhan’s outburst, Liu Pan took it as contempt toward himself, for he truly felt his first attempt at pill refining had been a disaster, embarrassing him to the extreme.

Therefore, Liu Pan paid little attention to Xu Xiaozhan’s expression and thoughts. He immediately reflected on and summarized the causes of his failure, then began cleaning the pill cauldron in preparation for a second attempt.

Half an hour later, Liu Pan placed the prepared medicinal herbs into the pill cauldron, closed his eyes, crossed his legs beside it, and pressed one hand against the cauldron wall.

Watching Liu Pan sit cross-legged, the strange look in Xu Xiaozhan’s eyes grew even more intense.

Before long, another half hour passed. Just as Xu Xiaozhan was lost in thought, a somewhat delighted voice pulled him back to reality.

“It’s done!” Liu Pan said excitedly, then quickly opened the cauldron. Two round, brown pills were immediately taken out by him.

He picked up one pill, sniffed it, and finding no unusual scent, nodded with satisfaction.

“Here, test the effect.” As he spoke, Liu Pan tossed one pill to Xu Xiaozhan and swallowed the other directly into his stomach.

Xu Xiaozhan was momentarily stunned. Although Liu Pan had claimed the second attempt would succeed, could spoken words be compared to reality?

It had actually worked! Although only two pills had been produced, was this something a normal pill master could accomplish? Xu Xiaozhan simply could not believe it.

Slightly closing his eyes, he felt the operation speed of the essence power vortex in his dantian and confirmed there were no problems with the effect. Only then did he open his eyes.

“Any issues?” Seeing Xu Xiaozhan beside him who had not consumed the Gathering Yuan Pill to test its effects and was staring blankly at him, Liu Pan immediately felt puzzled.

“Do I have the qualification to join Ji?” Xu Xiaozhan spoke in a daze, his gaze shifting downward to the pill in his hand.

At this moment, Xu Xiaozhan’s heart was truly blank. From the instant Liu Pan had mentioned Ji, his worldview had been completely refreshed.

Subsequently, Liu Pan’s series of performances had allowed him to understand step by step just how excellent and formidable the members of Ji truly were.

And it was precisely because he had come to understand these things that Xu Xiaozhan now felt lost. He very much doubted whether he possessed the qualification to join Ji, for his only outstanding trait was business.

A businessman who regarded the entire world as his stage? Every time such a thought crossed his mind, an inexplicable impulse stirred in Xu Xiaozhan’s heart, yet it also struck him as quite amusing.

After all, this world was one where martial dao reigned supreme. A mere businessman trying to reach his hand across the entire world seemed far too arrogant and naive.

Yet now Liu Pan stood before him, inviting him to consider joining Ji.

What kind of person was Liu Pan? A member of Ji! Why would he offer such an invitation? Did he truly possess the qualification to join Ji?

And being personally invited by members of Ji, didn’t this itself prove he truly possessed the ability to stand upon the stage of “the entire world” as a businessman?

Xu Xiaozhan’s thoughts churned. For all of this, he dared not make a determination. He needed affirmation, needed Liu Pan to give him one, or rather, needed affirmation from a member of Ji.

For the question Xu Xiaozhan posed, Liu Pan paused slightly, then the corners of his mouth lifted in the faintest, almost imperceptible curve. He remained silent for a long while before nodding solemnly. “Yes.”

Xu Xiaozhan sought affirmation, and Liu Pan would not withhold it. This was precisely the outcome he had desired.

The moment he had suggested watching Liu Pan refine pills, Liu Pan had already foreseen such a result.

Now Xu Xiaozhan was different from the Xu Xiaozhan in his book. Although he still possessed business talent, his mindset had undergone considerable change.

In his book, Xu Xiaozhan’s approach to matters had been more like going with the flow and seizing opportunities. The current Xu Xiaozhan, however, now carried an additional drive of active striving and upward momentum.

What kind of different endings the two paths would lead to, Liu Pan could not determine. He also could not confirm whether Xu Xiaozhan would still ascend the world stage as he had in his book. But Liu Pan understood that the only help he could offer Xu Xiaozhan was so much, for the Xu Xiaozhan before him was not the Xu Xiaozhan from his book!

After receiving the confirmation, with no surprises, Xu Xiaozhan once again agreed to join the organization.

…………

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

Throughout this period, Liu Pan had not returned to Yunliu Sect, though Xu Xiaozhan had gone back several times to bring him news from within the sect. Apart from Xiao Hanyi having been taken in by Elder Zhao as a direct disciple, Liu Pan received no other useful information.

During these half months, Liu Pan had mostly been immersed in the study of pill dao. His water method pill refining technique had advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching the level of a high-grade pill master. One more step forward and he would become a grand pill master, comparable to Elder Zhao.

And for making such rapid progress in his pill dao cultivation, Liu Pan truly felt pleasantly surprised. Much of this was due to Xu Xiaozhan’s assistance; otherwise, he would not have been able to gather so many medicinal herbs in such a short time for his practice.

Of course, the Xu family had not been left at a loss either. The pills Liu Pan refined, he set aside a portion for Xu Xiaozhan to bring back, which was sufficient to offset the value of the spiritual herbs provided.

However, although his pill dao cultivation speed had entered a divine realm, Liu Pan also understood that the pills he could refine currently held little technical depth. As long as he possessed sufficient ability, success came easily. Thus, there was no great cause for celebration.

Moreover, having advanced to high-grade pill master, Liu Pan had successfully refined the Earth Origin Pill. His cultivation base, which had long since reached the peak of the Martial Apprentice realm through single-minded pill refining, was now ready to attempt a breakthrough into the Martial Master realm.

As for Xu Xiaozhan, after once again agreeing to join the organization, Liu Pan had instilled some cultivation knowledge into him. He subsequently refined many auxiliary cultivation pills and had Xu Xiaozhan take them. His originally floating cultivation base gradually stabilized, and now he too was ready to break through into the Martial Master realm at any time.

Yet upon thinking of breaking through to the Martial Master realm, Liu Pan felt a trace of nervousness.

The Martial Master realm was one of the three major checkpoints along the cultivation path. Ordinary people passing this threshold might encounter no special tribulations, but certain exceptional talents would attract thunder tribulation.

As for his own aptitude, Liu Pan could not truly grasp it. Although the spiritual root test instrument had displayed only a mid-grade ice-system spiritual root, too many inexplicable phenomena had appeared on this body since his transmigration.

Therefore, Liu Pan somewhat doubted the results shown by the spiritual root test instrument.

“Am I going to be struck by lightning?” This thought arose in his mind, sending chills down his spine. What made him even more speechless was that this idea refused to fade.

“Thinking properly, why would a talented breakthrough require being struck by lightning?” He inwardly grumbled. Ultimately, for safety’s sake, Liu Pan decided to find a secluded location for his breakthrough.

After handing Xu Xiaozhan the Earth Origin Pill to use for his breakthrough, Liu Pan quietly left Yunliu City and flew south on his sword. (To be continued.)