Chapter 2049 — What Is a Genius, Part Two

"Jingjing doesn't know either. Jingjing thought it was still a little slow!" Han Jingyi said.

"Jingjing, how did you do it? As far as I know, the mnemonic for condensing pill fire I gave you should take at least three minutes to work—so how did you manage it in twenty seconds?" Wei Zhao was full of doubts.

"Because Jingjing modified that mnemonic for condensing pill fire!" Han Jingyi said. "It really did take three minutes before, but Jingjing thought that was too slow. Jingjing was afraid that when Jingjing demonstrated it for Brother Wei Zhao, Brother Wei Zhao would get impatient, or think Jingjing was too stupid and stop paying attention to Jingjing afterward—so Jingjing changed that mnemonic for condensing pill fire a little..."

"This thing... can be changed?" Wei Zhao felt as though he was about to explode. His capacity to absorb shocks was nearing its limit.

"Of course it can!" Han Jingyi nodded as though it were the most natural thing in the world, then quickly opened her tablet and called up an image—a diagram of the human body's meridians. She enlarged it and explained to Wei Zhao: "Look, Brother Wei Zhao! The original method for condensing pill fire works like this—it guides the true qi inside the 『body』 through this main meridian, then through this meridian to the qi sea acupoint... But judging by Jingjing's assessment, if the true qi doesn't go this way, but instead travels along these meridians here, splitting into three small streams of true qi that pass through several small meridians near the main meridian, then rejoin this previous meridian, and finally return to the qi sea acupoint—that way it's much faster! These small meridians have a smaller cross-section, but they're shorter than the main meridian, and splitting the true qi into three streams to pass through three small meridians means the time is even shorter. When they finally converge into this meridian and reach the qi sea acupoint, a portion of the time is saved! And by the same principle, the rest works the same way..."

Hearing Han Jingyi's explanation, Wei Zhao was so astonished his eyeballs nearly popped out! That... worked too?

So Han Jingyi really did practice scientific pill refining. She had even thought up a method like this—it could only be described as world-shaking!

"Jingjing... you're really amazing!" Wei Zhao stared at Han Jingyi's tablet and for a long while could not speak. After quite some time, he came back to himself and managed to squeeze out those few words.

"Really? Brother Wei Zhao, you're so nice. After being praised by you, Jingjing feels like she's really amazing too!" Han Jingyi tilted her head, the corners of her mouth curving into a lovely arc, and two little dimples appeared on her fair, delicate face. She was clearly overjoyed.

Wei Zhao drew a deep breath and nodded. "Jingjing, you really are a genius!"

"Hehe, actually my family praises Jingjing all the time too, but Jingjing doesn't know whether they really mean it or they're just indulging Jingjing. But what Brother Wei Zhao says can't be false!" Han Jingyi said happily. "Actually, in Jingjing's opinion, this mnemonic for condensing pill fire is still a bit cumbersome. Some of the steps should be omissible—Jingjing just hasn't had time to analyze and test them one by one yet. For now Jingjing has only shortened some of the routes the true qi travels."

Hearing Han Jingyi's words, Wei Zhao's heart suddenly stirred! The mnemonic for condensing pill fire that he had obtained from Zhang Juju was not as cumbersome as the one Bai Lingtou had provided—it must be, as Han Jingyi put it, that some useless steps had been removed. If he gave that mnemonic to Han Jingyi, what world-shaking thing might this little genius invent?

But Wei Zhao suppressed the thought for the moment. After all, shortening the condensation time of pill fire was not of much use in real pill refining—unless it was one of those pill refining competitions with a set time limit, or some emergency requiring rapid refining, or else showing off in front of other pill refiners!

Beyond that, the condensation time of pill fire truly had no other function. Wei Zhao could think of nothing more.

"Jingjing, apart from condensing pill fire, can you also change the fire's intensity and temperature?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Yes!" Han Jingyi's answer made Wei Zhao's heart clench again. If not for his tenacious willpower, he would surely have been battered beyond recognition by now.

"You can? Then show me." Wei Zhao said.

"Okay." Han Jingyi nodded, set down her tablet, and extended her right hand again. Very quickly, the pill fire reappeared—only this time, after it appeared, Han Jingyi began to drive it, making its flames gradually grow fiercer...

"Hiss..." Wei Zhao sucked in a breath of cold air. Staring at Han Jingyi's right hand, he wished he could cut it off and attach it to his own!

Wei Zhao was a half-baked pill refiner himself, so naturally he could clearly sense how the fire was growing fiercer bit by bit!

What shocked Wei Zhao was not merely that Han Jingyi could change the fire's intensity, but the precision of her control! The flames changed bit by bit, growing fiercer steadily, rather than surging and ebbing erratically—which showed that Han Jingyi could already alter the fire's intensity entirely at will!

Sure enough, the pill fire on Han Jingyi's right hand then began to diminish, growing smaller and smaller and smaller, until it was so faint it was nearly extinguished—yet it did not go out! It was plain that Han Jingyi's control was quite precise!

"And the temperature?" Wei Zhao drew a deep breath and continued.

"That too..." At this moment, a fine sheen of sweat had already formed on Han Jingyi's forehead. Clearly, controlling pill fire drained an enormous amount of physical strength!

The instant Han Jingyi's words fell, Wei Zhao abruptly felt the pill fire in Han Jingyi's hand turn scorching hot, and the temperature of the entire room was raised in that very instant.

"Excellent!" Wei Zhao could not help but cry out in praise. Han Jingyi was truly a surprise—to think she had such a talent for the art of pill refining!

"Ah... Brother Wei Zhao... Jingjing can't hold on... Jingjing is about to give out..." Just after Wei Zhao's praise, Han Jingyi was already breathing rapidly, speaking in a weak, listless voice... until at last her voice turned into a moan...

"..." A dark cloud instantly descended over Wei Zhao's face. He naturally knew what Han Jingyi's words meant. Pill refining was an incomparably draining affair, and manipulating pill fire out of thin air was no different. Han Jingyi was only a pill refiner at the early Yellow Rank, so holding on this long was already quite good!

So it was only natural that she could not hold on at this point!

After saying this, Han Jingyi withdrew the pill fire from her right hand and collapsed onto Wei Zhao's bed, looking utterly frail, unable to speak another word!

The **sweat on her forehead also instantly rolled down onto Wei Zhao's bed, soaking a patch of it through...