Seeing the result, Old Ye broke into a satisfied smile. He carefully sealed the Enlightenment Potion into a vial and handed it to the graceful figure shrouded in mist.
"Girl, are you satisfied with the quality of this potion?" he said calmly.
"I'm charging you five million. That's not unreasonable, is it?"
The slender figure studied the liquid inside the glass vial, then nodded slightly.
"This is already the extreme limit of refining the medicinal power of the materials," she replied softly.
"Five million is fair."
As she spoke, she took out her phone, preparing to transfer the payment.
The crowd immediately erupted into chatter.
Five million—paid so casually.
Just whose young miss was this?!
Meanwhile, Luo Bing—who had already etched the entire process into his Rinnegan through shameless "learning by observation"—quietly retracted his spiritual energy.
Combining what he had just analyzed with god-tier comprehension, he subconsciously commented,
"It's… alright. But Old Ye's spiritual energy reserves aren't sufficient, which led to insufficient heat control in the later stages."
"Also, both Old Ye and the Evilflame Phoenix are fire-attribute. That makes the process a bit too one-dimensional."
"The technique itself is also somewhat rigid—lacking creativity and improvisation. That's the gap between mid-tier alchemists and true top-tier masters."
The moment his words fell—
The surroundings went dead silent, as if everyone had just taken a Garen Q straight to the face.
All eyes turned toward Luo Bing in unison.
The atmosphere instantly became unbearably awkward.
Old Ye glared at him, looking as if he wanted to swallow him whole.
Realizing he'd spoken out of turn, Luo Bing hurriedly waved his hands.
"Brothers, you can tell I'm joking, right? I'm a diehard Old Ye fan!"
But Old Ye was in no mood to listen.
To him, this was nothing less than a direct insult to his authority in alchemy.
With a sudden leap, he landed right in front of Luo Bing.
"Kid. If you think you can do better than me—get up there and refine one yourself."
The crowd immediately joined in.
"Old Ye, this guy's just a keyboard warrior. If you take him seriously, you lose."
"Exactly. It's like someone saying rockets should burn coal—experts responding to that already means defeat."
Old Ye snorted coldly.
"Today, I'll let this brat understand what happens when you criticize my alchemy."
As a three-star alchemist, he was respected wherever he went.
Normally, he wouldn't bother arguing with a youngster—but criticizing his refining technique?
That crossed the line.
It was like a random bystander telling a master chef how to cook.
Questioning his livelihood—of course he'd lose his temper.
"Kid, you're getting up there today, or you're not leaving."
Old Ye grabbed Luo Bing by the collar, afraid he might bolt.
Luo Bing had originally planned to escape via the classic bathroom run—but clearly, that wasn't happening.
He shrugged.
"Why should I go up just because you say so? What's the reward?"
Old Ye let out a cold laugh.
"If you can refine an Enlightenment Potion, I'll transfer you ten million on the spot."
The corners of Luo Bing's mouth lifted uncontrollably.
Perfect.
Now both his rent and the funds to unlock the Animal Path were secured.
"Deal," Luo Bing replied immediately, afraid the old man might regret it.
Seeing how decisively he agreed, Old Ye felt a flicker of unease.
Had he misjudged this kid?
Did he actually have something up his sleeve?
At that thought, Old Ye unconsciously released his Glorious Gold Tier 9 pressure.
An invisible force swept through the area, making everyone feel as if a shadow pressed down on their hearts.
Thanks to the white mask and Akatsuki cloak, Luo Bing wasn't affected in the slightest.
But to play weak, he mimicked the others and deliberately made his breathing appear labored.
Old Ye, under the pressure feedback, only sensed that Luo Bing was an ordinary Beast Tamer.
He had no idea—
Everything was an illusion deliberately created by Luo Bing's equipment.
Still cautious, Old Ye added another condition.
"Since you criticized my work, then produce a five-star potion. Otherwise, I won't pay."
Luo Bing pretended to hesitate, then nodded.
"Fine."
That was all Old Ye needed to confirm it.
This brat was a textbook case of an outsider lecturing an expert.
A four-and-a-half-star Enlightenment Potion was already near perfection.
To push it to five stars—
In this entire world, only Medicine God Feng Chen had ever accomplished that.
He had already checked Luo Bing's age earlier—barely in his twenties
(in truth, it was part of the disguise).
At that age, in the alchemy world?
Basically an infant.
There was no way he was the Medicine God.
"If you fail to meet my standard," Old Ye said coldly,
"I want one of your hands."
Having decided to teach him a harsh lesson, a sharp glint flashed through Old Ye's eyes.
The mist-shrouded figure beside them let out a soft chuckle.
"In that case, I'll be your judge. If Masked Man loses, I'll be the one to swing the blade."
As she spoke, she drew a long-bladed katana from the mist and threw it.
Clang!
The blade pierced deep into the ground at the center of the arena.
"Stop yapping and start already," Luo Bing said impatiently.
Old Ye's face darkened as he gestured.
Luo Bing didn't waste another second—he leapt forward and landed before the alchemy apparatus.
The surrounding Beast Tamers wore expressions full of anticipation.
"Kid, arrogance comes at a price."
"This guy really thinks he's the Medicine God. Watched too much Cooking Master Boy."
"He'll find out soon enough—alchemy isn't as simple as it looks. I've seen plenty of keyboard warriors like this."
Luo Bing calmed his mind, shutting out the noise.
Following the golden ratio, he prepared the various base solutions for the Enlightenment Potion—
Then poured them into the cultivation dish.
At that moment, Old Ye's otherwise calm face twitched slightly.
"One-to-one golden ratio… He's definitely not a novice."
"Good thing I raised the rules to an impossible five-star rating," he thought grimly.
"Otherwise I'd have lost badly."
Within the mist, the woman's bright eyes locked onto Luo Bing.
"Now this… just got interesting."
Standing before the apparatus, Luo Bing infused spiritual energy into the dish.
"The first gap between you and me," he said calmly,
"is diversity of spiritual energy."
As he spoke—
Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning.
Five elemental attributes surged within his body.
In an instant, the Imperial Medicine Pavilion was flooded with dazzling light.
Those who had dismissed him earlier were now staring in disbelief.
"Five attributes?! Even dual-attribute users are already considered trash-tier. What kind of monster is this guy?!"
"Look carefully—the five energies are split into five streams, injected in perfect order."
"Dual attributes are called trash because they repel each other and are incredibly hard to manage."
"He's controlling five, yet it looks as natural as moving his own limbs—this is insane!"
"Could he really recreate the Medicine God's Enlightenment Potion?!"
Watching the crowd's shock, cold sweat broke out on Old Ye's forehead.
But he quickly let out a disdainful snort.
"Flashy nonsense. Five attributes repel each other. Once they converge inside the apparatus, the backlash will be catastrophic."
"When Medicine God Feng Chen created the divine-grade Enlightenment Potion, he relied on five S-rank spirit beasts—each with a different attribute, interacting in precise sequence."
"I don't believe a single person's control over spiritual energy can surpass five S-rank spirit beasts working together."
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