The stone door of the secret chamber slowly swung open. Ziche Min was somewhat surprised. Hearing the sound of the stone door opening, he felt a certain degree of astonishment.
How much time had passed?
At the very most, it had been less than five hours.
The stone door was opening — did that mean this Shao Yuan had already finished refining? Or had he failed?
By all reason, for such a precious pill, it should have taken at least a full day and night, or even several days and nights. How could anyone finish so quickly?
The fact that he had come out so fast gave Ziche Min a vague sense of unease.
He could not help but stand up and walk toward
He saw the anxious expression on Ziche Min's face.
Ziche Min dispensed with pleasantries and asked bluntly, his voice tinged with worry: "Shao Yuan, why have you come out already? Did the refinement not go smoothly?"
Jiang Chen smiled. "Not at all, it went very smoothly — precisely because it went so smoothly that I came out ahead of schedule."
Upon hearing this, Ziche Min's mind seemed to ring like thunder. In that moment, he felt as though the world were spinning around him. It was done? It was successful?
That was far too sudden, far too unexpected!
Jiang Chen saw the look of astonishment on Ziche Min's face and knew that seeing was believing. He placed an elegant pill bottle on the nearby table.
"Elder Ziche, please take a look. This was my first attempt, so the efficiency wasn't particularly high — I only produced around nine pills."
Ziche Min was overjoyed. "That's excellent, truly excellent! Nine pills far exceeds my expectations. I thought that since you came out so early, the refinement had failed."
Jiang Chen smiled faintly, secretly delighted. In truth, his refinement had gone exceptionally well — abnormally so. He had actually produced a full fifteen pills. However, he felt that after all his hard work, keeping a few for himself as a reward was only natural.
So he had quietly set aside six pills and handed over only the remaining nine. He had not expected that this would already be far beyond what Ziche Min had anticipated.
Watching Ziche Min beam with delight, Jiang Chen almost wondered whether he had been too honest. Judging by the elder's reaction, even if he had handed over only five or six pills, Ziche Min probably would have grinned from ear to ear.
Still, Jiang Chen was not greedy.
Keeping six pills for himself felt like more than enough. If there were ever another chance to refine the Heavenly Unity Heaven-Mending Pill in the future, there would be more opportunities to set some aside.
After all, Ziche Min had once mentioned that the Sacred Land's stockpile contained three Primordial Dragon Scale Fruits. This time, the elder had only brought out one.
There were still two Primordial Dragon Scale Fruits remaining. Sooner or later they would be handed to him for refinement, and then he could quietly keep his share as before.
The Heavenly Unity Heaven-Mending Pill was something Jiang Chen truly treasured. Back in the human domain, he had never had the capital to refine it. Forget the Primordial Dragon Scale Fruit — even some of the supplementary materials required effort to track down, and there was no guarantee of finding them at all.
That was precisely the advantage of the Myriad Abyss Island: resources were abundant, and one could stumble upon good fortune at any time. This made Jiang Chen feel that occasionally revealing some of his alchemical talent was beneficial after all.
If he had not revealed his alchemical talent, he would never have been given so many opportunities to refine pills — nor would he have had the chance to keep a few aside.
Ziche Min examined the Heavenly Unity Heaven-Mending Pill over and over, his expression growing more solemn the longer he looked, increasingly convinced that this pill was nothing short of a perfect masterpiece.
After a long while, Ziche Min finally sighed: "Shao Yuan, when you first mentioned these two types of pills, I didn't really believe you. But now I see that I was the one with a narrow perspective — a frog at the bottom of a well. This Heavenly Unity Heaven-Mending Pill is the finest masterpiece I have ever seen. In this field, this pill may truly be something different from all those fraudulent tricks. Its very aura is enough to inspire admiration."
Though Ziche Min could not refine the Heavenly Unity Heaven-Mending Pill himself, he still possessed the basic ability to appraise it. The moment the pill was placed in his hands, simply observing its color, its texture, and the essence it radiated told him that this was no pill that had earned its reputation unjustly.
Jiang Chen smiled calmly. "Elder Ziche, I have not exaggerated the efficacy of this Heavenly Unity Heaven-Mending Pill in the slightest. For certain geniuses, its effects might even surpass what I described."
Ziche Min's face was flushed with delight. "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Shao Yuan, if you have no objections, I will immediately take these pills to the three Great Sacred Masters. If the Great Sacred Masters lend their support, gathering the materials for the Heaven Forging Pill will become much easier. After all, their connections and channels are far more extensive than mine."
Jiang Chen smiled. "I naturally have no objections. The Great Sacred Master has been so supportive of me — it's only right that I offer something to earn his trust."
Ziche Min was pleased to see Jiang Chen understood how to handle relationships so well. Without further hesitation, he took the Heavenly Unity Heaven-Mending Pill and went to find the three Great Sacred Masters.
The three Great Sacred Masters were somewhat surprised to learn that the Heavenly Unity Heaven-Mending Pill was already finished. They had never imagined that Shao Yuan's efficiency could be so remarkable.
The Great Sacred Master laughed. "Young people truly have boundless energy — the pills are already done? Elder Ziche, you've already inspected them. What do you think of them?"