While the audience was still discussing, the sect leader had already arranged for the resources for refining the pills to be prepared.
Soon after, Zhou Yun walked closer to the alchemy furnace and began the process.
Zhou Yun muttered in his heart, "Activating enlightenment."
A faint blue light flashed in the depths of his eyes.
His mind immediately cleared up.
The extremely mysterious feeling he had experienced before instantly resurfaced. Zhou Yun began to make preparations according to the steps that emerged in his mind.
Alchemy did not only require the preparation of medicinal ingredients.
The state of the mind and body of an alchemist was also very important.
If an alchemist didn't adjust their condition before refining pills, then there was a high probability of them failing.
Just then, an old man with a ruddy face appeared beside Ling Qingyun.
No one noticed this.
"Sect Leader," greeted the old man.
"Sir Pill."
Ling Qingyun nodded his head slightly when he saw the old man.
This old man was the Grand Elder of Spirit Valley. He was called Sir Pill because he was extremely obsessed with alchemy.
"Sect Leader, where did you get this pill?"
When Sir Pill arrived, he didn't waste any time. He opened his palm, revealing a perfect-grade pill.
Yao Chen had given him this pill just now. When he saw the pill, he was speechless from his shock.
A perfect-grade medicinal pill was something that he had not seen in a long time.
He was the only Grand Elder in the sect who could refine pills just below the golden core stage.
He had hundreds of years of experience in alchemy.
His trained eye was naturally not something that Yao Chen could compare to.
The moment he got his hands on the pill, he could immediately tell that it was a newly refined pill.
Therefore, when he heard that Ling Qingyun was going to open Alchemy Room No.1, he immediately rushed over.
He was eager to see who had refined this perfect-grade pill.
Upon hearing Sir Pill's words, Ling Qingyun smiled and raised his head, gesturing in Zhou Yun's direction.
"This pill was made by the young man beside the alchemy furnace."
Sir Pill followed Ling Qingyun's gaze and was instantly stunned.
"This young man? How could he have..."
Before Sir Pill could finish his question, Ling Qingyun interrupted, "I know you don't believe my claim. I have some doubts as well, so I asked him to make another batch again."
"Just some doubts?"
Sir Pill's face was full of confusion. He couldn't believe that a young man could actually concoct a pill like this.
"Our sect has been in decline for nearly 1000 years. Is it strange for a genius to emerge now?" said Ling Qingyun as he revealed a faint smile.
He did not know why, but there was a voice in his heart telling him that this young man could lead the sect to greater heights.
The sect might even surpass its previous state with Zhou Yun's presence.
With Ling Qingyun's persuasion, Sir Pill began to reevaluate Zhou Yun.
Sir Pill lamented, "I never imagined that the perfect-grade pills that I couldn't refine for hundreds of years would be successfully refined so easily by this young lad."
The younger generation had truly surpassed the older generation.
He was really a genius.
Sir Pill looked at Zhou Yun, who was standing next to the alchemy furnace, and sighed.
"He is still so young. His potential is limitless!"
"I really hope that our sect can have more geniuses like him!"
"Our sect's future will depend on these young people."
"With these young people, our sect will be restored to its former glory sooner or later."
Sir Pill's eyes were filled with pride when he talked about the past.
"Oh right. How long has this fellow been learning alchemy?"
When he thought of how Zhou Yun had managed to concoct a perfect-grade pill at such a young age, Sir Pill couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart. He couldn't help but want to ask about Zhou Yun.
When Ling Qingyun heard this, he casually lifted a single finger.
"A year?"
"What a genius! No, he is crazily talented!"
Sir Pill had made up his mind. Once Zhou Yun was done here, he would drag him to his own alchemy room and pass down everything he had learnt to Zhou Yun.
"Not a year," said Ling Qingyun as he smiled and shook his head.
"100 years? It doesn't seem like it. He looks very young!"
Ling Qingyun responded, "A day. No, to be precise, it hasn't even been a day. This Zhou Yun only started learning alchemy today, and he managed to refine a perfect-grade pill on his first try!"
As soon as Sir Pill heard these words, he was dumbfounded and stood rooted to the ground.
At this moment, his mind was completely blank. He could not handle the shock.
The phrase "one day" was like a curse that kept ringing in his ears.
No one could understand how bewildered he was.
In his opinion, there were only two possibilities regarding Zhou Yun being able to refine perfect pills.
Either it was absolutely impossible, or Zhou Yun was a rare genius that only appeared once in 10,000 years, or even a 100,000 years. There were no words to describe such a genius.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yun also completed his preparation work.
The alchemy room was steaming hot and he was the closest to the alchemy furnace. Hence, his body was covered in sweat. His clothes were drenched.
Everyone turned their attention to Zhou Yun.
"Is he finally going to start?"
Sir Pill rubbed his hands together eagerly, as though he was the one refining the pills.
If the sect leader had not stopped him, he would have approached Zhou Yun to exchange pointers with the latter.
Just then, Zhou Yun moved. He stretched out his hand.
He picked up 30% of the medicinal herbs that the sect had prepared for him and threw them directly into the alchemy furnace.
His actions were simple and crude. It was as though he was just stir-frying vegetables.
Everyone present, regardless of whether they understood alchemy or not, was stunned when they saw this scene.
No one had ever seen someone refine pills in such a manner.
Even the disciples who had never practiced alchemy before shook their heads when they saw this.
Zhou Yun did not look like he was refining pills.
Hushed whispers could be heard among the crowd again.
"Haha, I've waited for so long, and this is it?"
"Is this alchemy? Why do I feel like I'm watching someone cook?"
"You're not mistaken. He is cooking. If I'm not wrong, Zhou Yun has prepared salt as well."
"What the hell is this? This is a waste of resources. Stop him!"
"Didn't I say that Zhou Yun was incompetent? It seems like he's destined to be an errand boy for the rest of his life!"
The sect leader Ling Qingyun, who had been calm and collected all this while, was also dumbfounded.
He had been leaning back leisurely. Now, he stood up and leaned forward.
He looked at Zhou Yun in a daze as the latter refined pills as though he was frying vegetables.
The sect leader's face immediately darkened.
"Su Wanyi, you little girl, you set me up!"
On the surface, Ling Qingyun was still calm and collected, but in his heart, he was already cursing Su Wanyi.
He glanced discreetly at Sir Pill, not daring to say a word.
Sir Pill had just recovered from his daze.
Looking at Zhou Yun, who was still busy refining pills, he revealed a long face.
"What nonsense is this?"