Reborn as Xu Xuan, Plundering Perks & Flooding the Mountain Ling - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: You Learned It on the Spot? You Must Be Cheating!

“What’s wrong? What happened? Did the Bone Restoration Pills I refined turn out defective?”

Hearing Elder Xuan Ying mumbling to himself, Jing Du felt a surge of excitement.  If something was wrong with Xu Xuan’s pills, that would mean he had won against Xu Xuan! Suppressing his eagerness, Jing Du leaned in for a closer look—only to see Elder Xuan Ying wave his hand, causing several greyish-white pills to float out of the furnace. At the sight of those pills, Jing Du’s expression changed drastically.

After years of refining Bone Restoration Pills, he knew them like the back of his hand.  With just a glance, he could tell—these were top-grade Bone Restoration Pills.  Their quality surpassed even the ones he had just refined.

“But… these are just Bone Restoration Pills… What’s wrong with them?”

Jing Du turned to Elder Xuan Ying, searching for an answer on his face. But Elder Xuan Ying wasn’t paying him any attention—he was too busy counting.

“One, two, three, four…Seven, eight, nine—ten? Unbelievable! There are actually ten?! I’m only sixty-eight years old! Am I already going blind?! No! This is absolutely impossible!”

Elder Xuan Ying turned to glance at Xuan Mu Zhenren—and then finally locked eyes with Elder Xuan Yin.

“Elder Xuan Yin, come here and check for me. Are there nine pills, or ten?”

Elder Xuan Yin silently observed the floating Bone Restoration Pills. He remained expressionless, but in reality, he had already counted them three times. His shock was no less than Elder Xuan Ying’s—just that he was better at hiding it.

“Elder Xuan Ying, you don’t need to count again. There are indeed ten. Not a single one less!”

Elder Xuan Ying froze. Jing Du froze as well.

“How is this possible? I thought nine was the absolute limit?”

“Why is my luck so bad?! My lightning-struck wood! My Scarlet Spirit Fruits!”

The shocking news spread through the crowd like wildfire. Their reactions immediately drew the attention of the disciples.

“What’s going on?”

“What went so wrong that made Elder Xuan Ying lose his composure?”

“Wasn’t this supposed to be an unbeatable match for Jing Du? Why does it seem like he lost?”

“It’s not just ‘seems like’—he completely lost!”

“No way! Senior Brother Jing Du reached the theoretical limit of nine pills. At best, Xu Xuan should’ve been able to match him, not surpass him!”

“But Xu Xuan refined ten, a full ten! Even Elder Xuan Ying can’t believe it, I can’t either!”

“You’re telling me… he actually broke the Bone Restoration Pills’ maximum limit?”

“I don’t want to believe it either, but the proof is right in front of us!”

The disciples turned to stare at the grey-robed youth standing calmly at the side.  At that moment, Xu Xuan seemed shrouded in an aura of mystery. If it was just luck, then his luck was beyond absurd. If it was skill, then it defied all logic. His Bone Restoration Pills, White Bone Pearls and this unprecedented breakthrough completely shattered everything they thought they knew about alchemy. Even Elder Xuan Ying was bewildered.

“Senior Brother Xuan Mu, you’re lying to me, right? You must have secretly trained him and held back information! Then, you two set up this whole match just to steal my precious treasures!”

Master Xuan Mu dismissed him with a flick of his sleeve.

“With all these disciples watching, aren’t you embarrassed? If I wanted something from you, I’d just take it outright. Why bother scheming? Now, hand over my Scarlet Spirit Fruits—and don’t even think about backing out!”

Seeing the two elders bicker, the disciples lowered their heads obediently. Jing Du stumbled back into the crowd.  No matter how hard he tried to wrap his head around it, he couldn’t figure out what went wrong.

Xu Xuan glanced at the new trait he had just acquired, Grandmaster of Alchemy. He considered comforting Jing Du for a moment but realized this was not the time. Besides… he had probably gone a bit overboard. Elder Xuan Ying pulled him aside and interrogated Xu Xuan.

“You! Explain yourself right now! How did you do it? Did you sneak in extra pills while I wasn’t looking? Or is there some hidden compartment inside your furnace? Or maybe… maybe…”

Xu Xuan watched as Elder Xuan Ying circled him like a hawk,  And realized he had indeed overstepped. He had no idea that alchemy had a ‘maximum limit’ rule.

This is bad! I was planning to pretend to be weak to farm more traits by luring in challengers…But now, no one will dare challenge me anymore! “So many potential free traits, all gone… How depressing!

Xu Xuan quickly adjusted his expression and downplayed his success.

“Elder Xuan Ying, I really didn’t cheat! It was just a lucky coincidence! Bone Restoration Pills have always been my speciality, everyone knows that. As for Cold-Heat Pills, they aren’t even that hard to refine. With a bit of luck, getting it right on the first try isn’t strange at all…”

Xu Xuan pushed all credit to sheer luck. Though Elder Xuan Ying remained sceptical, he slowly began to find it reasonable. Still, losing both his lightning-struck wood and his Scarlet Spirit Fruits was unbearable. He needed to get something back.

“Let’s test you, then! You’ve been in the sect for a month—what has your master taught you?”

“Mainly Bao Bu Zi, Zhouyi Cantong Qi, and Shennong’s Materia Medica. But of course, the one I’ve studied the most is our Alchemy Sect’s Dragon-Tiger Alchemy Manual. If you don’t believe me, feel free to test me!”

Elder Xuan Ying thought for a moment, then suddenly grinned.

“Of course, I believe you! But since we have the opportunity, why not demonstrate your skills to everyone? Jing Shui, you and Senior Brother Xu shall refine a Fasting Pill together!”

A young Daoist named Jing Shui hesitated briefly before stepping forward.

“Senior Brother Xu, please guide me!”

The two quickly set up their furnace. But this time, the crowd barely spoke a word. Why? Because no one dared make predictions anymore. Every time someone spoke, their words would come back to slap them in the face. And since Elder Xuan Ying had picked Jing Shui, who was far less skilled than Jing Du, it was genuinely hard to say who would win. Many disciples were now secretly betting on Xu Xuan, simply because his luck seemed invincible. The results were disappointing.

“Jing Shui: Two pills—one mid-grade, one low-grade. Xu Xuan: One pill—top-grade. A tie.”

As soon as Xuan Mu Zhenren finished speaking, the entire hall erupted into laughter and mockery. Not because either alchemist had done well—but because they were both terrible!

“Embarrassing! This was like watching two amateurs fumble around!”

“Fasting Pills are the most basic alchemical product! Even I got three mid-grade pills the first time I refined them! But these two? They barely managed three pills between them!”

“Jing Shui is understandable—he’s only been refining for a year. But Xu Xuan? What the hell is going on with him?”

“First, he instantly masters Cold-Heat Pills. Then, he breaks the Bone Restoration Pill’s supposed limit. But now? He can barely make a single Fasting Pill?”

“Maybe… he really was just lucky all along? Maybe his luck finally ran out—and this is his real level?”