Nie Li picked up a ram horn pen from the table.
"Hold on!" Hu Yan Ming hurriedly stopped him. What was Nie Li planning to do?
"What's wrong?" Nie Li asked, looking at Hu Yan Ming with a puzzled expression.
"Are you trying to answer these questions?" Hu Yan Ming asked tentatively.
"Yes, is that not allowed?" Nie Li asked, blinking.
"It's allowed, but..." Hu Yan Ming wanted to say that many of the questions on this wall were practical problems alchemists had encountered during pill refinement. Simply reading scriptures thoroughly was not enough to answer them — you needed hands-on experience actually refining pills. He did not believe Nie Li could answer these questions.
"Since it's allowed, then there's no problem!" Nie Li flashed a brilliant smile, raised the ram horn pen, and began writing.
Nie Li wrote as fast as the wind. For each problem he saw, he barely even blinked before quickly jotting down an answer.
Watching Nie Li answer these questions so rapidly, Hu Yan Ming could only smile bitterly. Nie Li hadn't even done any practical experimentation and was already answering these questions — it would likely become a laughingstock. His gaze fell on one particular question — it was about reagent balance.
"How should Snow Accumulating Herb, Nine Immortals Herb, and Dragon Gallbladder Herb be proportioned? According to alchemy theory, these three herbs combined should definitely produce a potent detoxification pill, but the proportions have never been figured out!" Hu Yan Ming murmured.
Nie Li's answer was: No matter how you proportion them, it will never succeed. Dragon Gallbladder Herb should be replaced with Dragon Sunberry Herb, and the ratio should be three to one to two!
Dragon Sunberry Herb had similar efficacy to Dragon Gallbladder Herb — both were detoxification herbs rich in spiritual energy — but Dragon Gallbladder Herb was fierce in nature, while Dragon Sunberry Herb was much gentler. And this ratio was absolutely perfect.
"Brilliant!" Hu Yan Ming slammed the table in admiration. He could hardly wait to try refining a batch to verify this proportion.
Hu Yan Ming continued reading. Nie Li's answers were all remarkably insightful. Though he couldn't yet tell whether they were correct, they were worth testing. While the vast majority could not yet be confirmed as correct answers, there were a few that Hu Yan Ming could verify — for instance, the question about pill crafting technique, where Nie Li's answer was undoubtedly right.
Hu Yan Ming's gaze toward Nie Li gradually shifted, filling with admiration and reverence, because some of those questions were ones that even Association Master
Could Nie Li's knowledge possibly exceed that of an Advanced Alchemist Master? Had he reached the legendary Grandmaster level?
What kind of monster was this? Nie Li was only thirteen years old — did he have to make everyone else feel worthless?
As a Junior Alchemist Master, Hu Yan Ming had always been quite proud, after all there were only about a hundred Junior Alchemist Masters in the entire Alchemist Association. But now, seeing Nie Li — so young yet possessing such astonishing knowledge — Hu Yan Ming genuinely felt an impulse to slam his head against the wall.
In just a short while, Nie Li had already answered a hundred questions. Only then did he put down the pen and murmur, "These questions aren't really that hard!"
Hearing Nie Li's words, Hu Yan Ming nearly coughed up blood. These were questions that the entire Alchemist Association had accumulated over years of being unable to solve, and Nie Li was saying they weren't that hard!
But then it dawned on Hu Yan Ming — Nie Li's arrival might usher in an entirely new era for the Alchemist Association. Just the answers to these questions, if verified one by one, would be enough to elevate the Association's influence to a whole new level!
While Nie Li was working through the questions, an old man with completely white hair and beard, along with a tall, stunningly attractive woman, had already taken positions behind him.
Gu Yan and
Gu Yan and Yang Xin looked at each other, then at Nie Li. What kind of monster was this, really?
Was Nie Li truly just a thirteen-year-old child? Though Nie Li's face was still so youthful, Gu Yan and Yang Xin both almost believed he was some ancient monster who had lived for hundreds of years and returned to a youthful form.