The next day, when Ruoruo opened her shop, the owner of Cunyitang asked her directly, "Little girl, why did your family send you to watch the shop? Where are your parents? Where is your alchemist?"
He thought Ruoruo was just a slightly smart girl who could do math, and he could just ask her if he wanted information.
However, as soon as he said this, the people around him looked at him with a hint of disdain: "Are you here to buy medicine or to gather information?"
Some people couldn't help but prick up their ears, clearly having the same idea, but no one dared to speak first.
Many people have been eyeing this shop these past few days. The alchemists sent out openly have been unable to find any problems, while those sent out secretly have all perished.
So everyone held back, waiting to see which fool would get restless and jump out first, then test the waters for them.
Unexpectedly, a fool has made a move today.
"I came out to travel with my guards, and after being away for a while, I ran out of spirit stones, so I refined a few pills to sell," Ruoruo said with a smile. "Once I have enough spirit stones, I won't sell them anymore."
These were words that Mo Jinyan taught her: to catch fish, you have to put in enough bait.
A young, genius alchemist is enough to make any cultivator's heart flutter, especially since she has no background whatsoever, which makes her even more noticeable.
Every cultivator needs pills, and no one can refuse an alchemist who can consistently produce top-quality pills.
"What do you know about alchemy, you're just a child of a few years old? Don't talk big here. Get your alchemist out here right now," the owner of Cunyitang said impatiently.
"I am an alchemist. Why can't a child be an alchemist? Haven't you ever seen a genius?" Ruoruo raised her head, looking unconvinced.
The owner of Cunyitang said disdainfully, "How old are you, little kid? Let alone refining medicine, do you even recognize Qingling medicine? Let alone refining such a top-grade pill."
The most talented alchemist in the royal city was already over fifty years old when he refined his first top-grade pill.
Ruoruo snorted and immediately took out a pill furnace: "If you don't believe me, I'll refine it for you! Once I've refined a top-grade pill, you'll have to apologize to me for what you just said."
The owner of Cunyitang immediately agreed: "If you can't master it, I'll have your alchemist come out and meet me."
It's a deal.
The bet between the two quickly spread, and people who had been paying attention to Ruoruo's shop gathered around.
Few people believed that Ruoruo could actually refine pills; what they were interested in was that if Ruoruo lost the bet, a real alchemist would appear.
Ruoruo also saw several carts pulled by spirit beasts parked outside the street. Although those people did not show themselves, she knew that the fish she had caught had taken the bait.
"This little girl seems to have some skills. She's chosen the right spiritual herbs so far. There can't really be such a prodigy in this world, able to refine top-grade pills at such a young age."
On the opposite side of the shop, in the restaurant, several young men and women dressed in blue robes with silver belts around their waists and patterns of medicinal herbs on their cuffs leaned on the railing, watching Ruoruo who was surrounded by the crowd.
“Even God Aoki, at his age, couldn’t do that.” A young man shook his head.
"I've heard that the little prince of the celestial realm is only four or five years old, yet he can already refine pills. But I reckon he doesn't have any top-grade pills, just ordinary ones, and his reputation isn't widely known. This little girl seems to be from our human race. Could she possibly be even more talented than that little prince of the celestial realm who entered the Dao of Alchemy at the age of three?"
"Your Highness, look at how she refines pills, does she have any skill?" one of the young men asked jokingly.
A young man dressed much like them, but with subtle embroidery that made him look more noble, watched Ruoruo make hand seals and sneered disdainfully: "Her alchemy techniques are all wrong. They look like the Eighty-One Alchemy Techniques, but a slight error can lead to a huge difference. They are bloated and complicated, just pretty but useless pieces of trash."
"What use is a five or six-year-old girl? I don't know what that alchemist was thinking."
The conversations that took place in the other upstairs locations were roughly the same.
"We still need to go and support this young lady later, so that that person doesn't make things difficult for her, and also give a good word to the alchemist behind her."
Seeing how lovely, lively, bright, and confident the little girl was, she must be very much loved by the alchemist. Starting with this little girl was a good idea.
The people around her had different thoughts. Although Ruoruo didn't understand, she knew that whether she could enter the royal city and get close to the priest's tower depended on whether she could catch their attention today.
However, Ruoruo also kept in mind Mo Jinyan's requirements: to stand out but not to go too far against common sense.
She can refine thirteen pills, but she absolutely cannot refine thirty-six, let alone all of them to the highest grade.
A genius who can research new alchemy techniques at the age of five, refine thirteen pills, and even guarantee that every batch contains top-grade pills, will be sought after by major powers, who will nurture him and take him as a trusted confidant.
But if all thirteen pills are of the highest quality, or even if a single batch contains thirty-six highest quality pills.
Such a person would only be locked up and used as an alchemy machine until death, and would be hunted down by various major forces.
Ruoruo has a vague understanding of the word "greed".
But he never doubted Mo Jinyan's words.
She tried her best to conceal her shortcomings, revising the alchemy formula again and again, even forcing herself to control the heat, turning a blind eye to some things, and it took her a full half hour to refine one batch of pills.
Sweat beaded on his forehead from nervousness.
Waaah, she had never felt that alchemy was so difficult.
A faint fragrance of elixir wafted from the alchemy furnace, blending with the spiritual energy in the air and instantly invigorating everyone's spirits.
"Such a young girl actually managed to refine the pill, and in just half an hour. Her talent is truly remarkable."
"Even if there are only one or two, they can still be considered geniuses in alchemy."
"As expected of the little girl taken away by the alchemy master, she is indeed more than just pretty."
The crowd murmured amongst themselves, acknowledging Ruoruo's talent, but none of them believed she was a master alchemist.
However, many skilled alchemists looked at the alchemy furnace with skepticism. They had all learned the eighty-one hand gestures in the alchemy manual, but they had never heard of or seen the alchemy manual of that little girl.
It's purely like someone who hasn't mastered the art and has confused the alchemy formulas. How could such an incorrect formula possibly produce an elixir?
But the pill boxes floating out of the alchemy furnace were so conspicuous that no one dared to say anything for a moment, and they just waited to observe what would happen next.
As Ruoruo finished her alchemy practice, the fire in the furnace gradually died down. Yuebai took out a jade box containing the pills, and the pills in the furnace flew into the box.
"Thirteen pills, four medium-grade, seven high-grade, and two top-grade." After confirming the quantity and quality of the pills in front of everyone, Yuebai handed the box to Ruoruo.
The previously noisy surroundings instantly fell silent, like a chicken with its neck being choked.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com