Chapter 3113 — A Trial of Third-Grade Pills

"It's all right." Han Jingyi shook her head. "Brother Wei Zhao, what's the rush? What did you need to find Jingjing for?"

"I want you to help me refine some pills, and then I'll see if I can trade them for a bit of money at the Cultivators' Guild! The bank is pressing the Liu family and Fatty Lai for their debts again—I have to get them some money!" Wei Zhao explained. The Cultivators' Guild had its rules; ordinarily, trade there was barter only. But with the impression he had left last time, and with his connection to Vice President Ouyang, Wei Zhao was confident that a little accommodation could be arranged.

"Sure! Then let's start right now!" Han Jingyi agreed without hesitation.

"Wait—I'm an early-stage Heaven-rank expert now. I'll raise your strength to the peak of the late Earth rank, and we'll see whether you can successfully refine third-grade pills!" Wei Zhao said.

"All right." Han Jingyi nodded, and together they went into the villa.

Once inside Wei Zhao's villa, Han Jingyi sat down on the edge of the bed and, with the ease of long practice, held out her hand, ready to begin circulating her mental cultivation method.

Wei Zhao wasted no time either. He took hold of the pulse point at her wrist and set the third layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art in motion. The third layer, too, could raise another's strength—but the speed was on an entirely different order from the second layer's.

Back when he had boosted Wu Chengtian and the others, Wei Zhao had not yet cultivated the third layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art and had still relied on the second, so it had taken no small amount of time. This time, however, Wei Zhao was astonished to find that Han Jingyi shot from an early-stage Earth-rank expert all the way to the peak of the late Earth rank in less than two hours!

The speed of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art's third layer was simply monstrous.

Han Jingyi's strength soared to the peak of the late Earth rank and then halted. It seemed that even the third layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art could not break through the ceiling of one's own rank—there was no pushing Han Jingyi up to the early Heaven rank.

Wei Zhao was not surprised, though. This result was already excellent.

"Brother Wei Zhao is amazing! Jingjing is so satisfied..." Han Jingyi's whole body brimmed with power; in an instant she was full of vigor, the weariness she had shown coming through the door swept away entirely.

"Pfft..." Looking at Han Jingyi, her little face flushed pink, Wei Zhao could not help himself. The way she put it really did invite misunderstanding and set the imagination wandering. Amazing? So satisfied?

He could not tell whether Han Jingyi had said it innocently or was deliberately teasing him.

"So—shall we begin refining pills now?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Mm-hm. Should we try the third-grade pill first, or refine the pills we mean to sell?" Han Jingyi asked.

"Let's try refining a third-grade pill first!" Wei Zhao's pursuit of strength far outstripped his pursuit of money. Without money, one could find a way; without strength, sometimes people died.

"All right." Han Jingyi nodded. "To avoid wasting ingredients, I'll simulate the refining of a third-grade pill first—but the simulation may not be precise, since there's no actual substance and it'll fall somewhat short."

"Mm. As long as the simulation succeeds, we can attempt it for real," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

Han Jingyi nodded as well and began condensing pill fire. In an instant, a ball of pill fire leaped into being in her palm, while her other hand was not idle either—she tapped a few times on her tablet and began to simulate the refining process according to the time-temperature curve she had worked out on it.

For his part, Wei Zhao began to channel his Heaven-Sent Spring Rain martial technique in support. In theory, Han Jingyi at the peak of the late Earth rank was not sufficient to refine a third-grade pill; only at the early Heaven rank was there any chance of success.

And to improve the odds, one's rank had to rise accordingly. The early Heaven rank was the absolute minimum.

Yet even with Wei Zhao's help, a fine sheen of sweat soon broke out on Han Jingyi's forehead. The physical strength and true qi consumed by a third-grade pill were in no way comparable to those of a second-grade one.

The seconds and minutes slipped by. Both Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi were tense, waiting for the moment of success to arrive—but what made Wei Zhao anxious was that Han Jingyi's physical strength was quickly spent, while he himself was beginning to flag as well...

"Phew..." Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi sighed in unison.

Failure!

They had failed at the critical final moment of pill formation. Though Wei Zhao was an early-stage Heaven-rank expert, the Heaven-Sent Spring Rain technique was not the same as the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art. His physical strength and true qi might suffice for refining pills, but the conversion rate of Heaven-Sent Spring Rain was clearly not especially high; some physical strength and true qi were lost along the way—not so with the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art. And so, in the end, Han Jingyi had still failed.

And failed at the final, critical moment—which meant that if Wei Zhao's strength had been just a little higher, they would have succeeded!

"It still won't work. The simulation of the easiest one, the Great Rejuvenation Pill, already failed, let alone the Qi-Gathering Pill, which is more complicated than that." Han Jingyi shook her head. "It's no good, Brother Wei Zhao. It's all Jingjing's fault—my rank is too low. If it were just a little higher, it would be fine! Every time, it's Brother Wei Zhao who carries Jingjing up the levels, while Jingjing herself is a big dummy!"

"Jingjing, don't say that. You've done very well already!" Wei Zhao was instantly embarrassed. If Han Jingyi was a dummy, there were scarcely any clever people left in the world. In the whole history of the cultivation world, who else had ever invented a scientific method of pill refining?

"Oh, Brother Wei Zhao, help Jingjing recover her physical strength and true qi, and Jingjing will refine first- and second-grade pills for you!" Han Jingyi said.

Wei Zhao nodded and began rapidly restoring Han Jingyi's physical strength and true qi. Refining first- and second-grade pills was much more familiar ground for Han Jingyi; very soon, all the ingredients in Wei Zhao's hands had been refined. These were all materials Vice President Ouyang had given him on that last trip to the Cultivators' Guild market. In theory they should have yielded only about ten pills, but in Han Jingyi's hands the total had more than doubled—a full twenty-five pills!

Wei Zhao could only marvel: Han Jingyi really was a genius girl.

"Jingjing, Yaoyao has left. I suppose you don't know about that yet? You were in seclusion at the time, so I didn't disturb you," Wei Zhao said.

"Oh? Where did she go?" Han Jingyi asked, slightly taken aback.

"Well, it's like this..." Wei Zhao told Han Jingyi the whole story of Gu Mengyao going to the Dark Night Palace. (To be continued)