The School Beauty’s Super Rogue

Chapter 1171 - 1176: Jade Stone Daoist’s Alchemy Skills

Seeing that Qin Hao was getting impatient, Jade Stone Daoist became even more pleased with himself. "You little bastard, you look like you’re in pain, huh? Want me to lend you a Pill Furnace? All you have to do is kneel down and apologize."

"Idiot!"

Qin Hao couldn’t help letting out a mocking laugh. "Old ghost, if you keep wasting time like this, be careful you don’t even make it through the first round."

Jade Stone Daoist clapped his hands, and Li Yu moved at the signal, taking the herbs out of the bag, washing and trimming them with extremely practiced motions.

"I’m starting my Alchemy, and I’ve even got help. What about you, you little bastard?" Jade Stone Daoist’s face was full of ridicule.

Qin Hao gave a dismissive smile. "We’ll see who finishes faster when the time comes."

"Hehe, you little bastard, you don’t even have a Pill Furnace, what big talk are you spouting!" Jade Stone Daoist grew even more smug, his nose practically pointing to the sky.

You couldn’t really blame him.

After all, he’d been humiliated by Qin Hao the entire morning.

Now that he’d finally found a chance, how could he possibly let it go easily?

"Who said I don’t have a Pill Furnace?" Qin Hao’s retort made Jade Stone Daoist laugh again. "You little bastard, where’s your Pill Furnace..."

Before he could finish, Qin Hao shouted toward a certain spot in the crowd, "Chu Head, bring that Pill Furnace over here for me!"

The crowd in that direction grew restless, and a thin, scrawny middle‑aged man walked over carrying a Pill Furnace.

The guards didn’t stop him, because the rules clearly stated that contestants were allowed to bring helpers.

Chu Head had originally just come to watch. He hadn’t expected to be spotted by the sharp‑eyed Qin Hao.

After being called out like that, even if he didn’t want to, he had no choice but to come forward.

Now, going from random onlooker to center of attention, Chu Head was a bit nervous; his legs even felt like they were about to shake.

"Hurry up!"

Qin Hao couldn’t help urging him.

Chu Head jumped in fright and could only brace himself and walk over with the Pill Furnace.

Qin Hao grabbed the Pill Furnace like they were old acquaintances, and after checking it over, said, "Barely acceptable."

Chu Head gave a wry smile. "Younger Brother Qin, you just scared me half to death!"

"Cut the crap. You brought this Pill Furnace obviously for me, right?" Qin Hao joked with a smile.

"No way, Old Li’s son wants to learn Alchemy, I brought this for him. I was just passing by." Chu Head explained.

While the two were talking, the other Alchemy Masters had finished washing and prep work and all entered the formal Alchemy phase.

Flames rose all around, and as the fire roasted the Pill Furnaces, waves of medicinal fragrance floated outward.

Chinese medicine has many kinds of smells.

Some are fragrant, some stink, some are pungent to the nose.

But under the organizer’s requirements, the contestants would basically all choose Elixirs with a refreshing fragrance.

Because refining pungent, nose‑stinging Elixirs is something anyone can do.

But refining Elixirs that carry a pleasant fragrance is another story.

That tests the Alchemy Master’s depth of knowledge and their control over Elixirs.

You could say this was also a difficult problem set by the organizers.

Fortunately, all the contestants present had some real skill; there wasn’t any particularly foul odor in the venue.

Thousands of different scents drifted about.

Suddenly, a refreshing, penetrating fragrance spread in all directions.

When everyone smelled it, their eyes lit up.

"What a wonderful smell!"

"What fragrance is this? It’s actually better than perfume! It must be an extraordinary Elixir!"

"If I’m not mistaken, this should be Fragrant Pill."

"Fragrant Pill? The king among Gradeless Elixirs?"

"Exactly!"

The Alchemy Masters were all experts and could quickly identify what Elixir it was just by smell.

Qin Hao also recognized it.

The distinctive trait of Fragrant Pill was its overwhelming aroma. After taking it, the user’s body would also carry a faint fragrance.

It worked similarly to perfume, but could last much longer.

This kind of Elixir held huge appeal for women, so its market sales were excellent; among Gradeless Elixirs, it was one of the best‑selling.

"Heh heh! At least you juniors know what’s what!"

At the edge of the Alchemy area, Jade Stone Daoist let out a proud laugh.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he watched the wisping smoke rising from the Pill Furnace before him and said arrogantly, "My Elixir is almost finished. How about you people?"

Everyone was shocked.

So the Fragrant Pill was actually Jade Stone Daoist’s handiwork.

But the competition had only been going for less than twenty minutes!

How could he already be about to finish refining?

Was it defective?

No!

Everyone was certain that from the smell of the medicine, this batch of Elixirs was as well‑done as it could possibly be.

Then how exactly had Jade Stone Daoist done it?

The crowd was baffled, but only Qin Hao saw it all clearly.

Just now, Jade Stone Daoist had injected Inner Strength into the flames.

That made the flames hotter and the firepower stronger.

Thus, by manipulating the fire, the Alchemy process had been greatly shortened.

"It’s the fire! Jade Stone Daoist is controlling the firepower!"

Someone quickly discovered the reason, drawing even greater exclamations of astonishment.

"My god, using Inner Strength to control the fire—that’s something only those above Grandmaster level can do!"

"No wonder his Alchemy is so fast!"

The bystanders all let out helpless sighs.

Since ancient times, you can’t have both fish and bear’s paw.

The path of Alchemy is bitter and arduous.

If you devote yourself to it, you have to spend a great deal of time, which means you lack the chance to learn other things.

As a result, your achievements in other fields won’t be too high.

The Alchemy Masters present had all immersed themselves in the Alchemy Dao, so their Cultivation in Martial Arts was mediocre.

But Jade Stone Daoist was different.

This guy was a genius.

Not only was he a master in Alchemy, in Martial Arts he was also a Grandmaster.

By comparison, quite a few Alchemy Masters felt their hearts shatter.

"What the hell! With a freak like Jade Stone Daoist up front, this competition is completely meaningless."

"I think so too. I’m already thinking of giving up!"

Hearing the praise from the Alchemy Masters around him, Jade Stone Daoist’s mood was undoubtedly good.

The resentment he’d built up in the early morning seemed to disperse in all the flattery.

He glanced at Qin Hao; the latter was still washing herbs and the Pill Furnace.

Half an hour had now passed.

Which meant Qin Hao had only thirty minutes left for Alchemy.

For a strong Alchemy Master, refining a batch of Gradeless Elixirs in thirty minutes wasn’t too difficult.

However, because of the tight time, the appearance and medicinal potency of the Elixirs would more or less be affected.

You could say Qin Hao was already starting from a disadvantage.

Jade Stone Daoist watched with relish and couldn’t help sneering, "You little bastard, still daydreaming!"

Next to him, Li Yu cursed even more disdainfully, "Trash, all you know is how to flap your gums. When it comes to actual Alchemy you drag your feet. Disgusting piece of crap!"

Over there, Qin Hao seemed not to hear a thing, focused solely on cleaning the Pill Furnace.

Because he was caught up in the scolding, Chu Head’s face turned ashen; he felt a bit miserable inside.

"Trash, now you’re just going to play dead, huh!" Li Yu cursed even more arrogantly.

Jade Stone Daoist chuckled in a mocking tone. "Disciple, no need to waste your breath on this kind of trash. You go open the Furnace and take the Elixirs out first. Remember the method your master taught you—be careful with everything."

"Yes, Master!"

Li Yu gave Qin Hao a snort full of show‑off, then lifted the Furnace lid and gently poured out the Elixirs inside.

In an instant, the bowl was filled with many pale gray Elixirs; their color was very bright, and the fragrance rose like faint smoke.

Counting them carefully, there were exactly twenty‑five pills.