When I stopped licking, the lady panicked.

Faced with the other party's mockery, Lin Xuan simply said calmly, "I'll give you half an incense stick's time first, otherwise it would seem like I'm bullying you."

"Arrogant!" The man glared angrily at Lin Xuan. "I, Fan Jiang, have been a genius alchemist since childhood. I was able to read the complete book of medicinal herbs by the age of three, recognize rare and precious treasures of the world by the age of five, and even refined a first-grade pill by the age of twelve, becoming a first-grade alchemist."

"At the age of fifteen, I surpassed my peers and became a second-grade alchemist. The Alchemist Guild made an exception and accepted me, and the chief alchemist was eager to find talent and took me as his apprentice."

"I am now twenty-two years old and have become the youngest third-grade alchemist in Daqing. How dare you spout such arrogant words that you expect me to wait for half an incense stick to burn? You are simply ignorant, foolish, and arrogant!"

Faced with Fan Jiang's hysterical roar, Lin Xuan calmly shook his head and said, "You are indeed a genius, you could even say you are an unprecedented genius, it's just a pity..."

"What's the pity?" Fan Jiang asked.

Lin Xuan said, "It's just a pity that you have such a bad temper. I only said one casual remark, and you became hysterical."

"Hahaha, me hysterical? That's interesting." Fan Jiang laughed angrily.

He was a genius from a young age and was always praised and supported to get to where he is today. He had never seen anyone as arrogant and conceited as Lin Xuan.

"Enough with the nonsense. Since you're not going to start, I'll wait for you. Give me half an incense stick's time? I don't need that!" Fan Jiang said arrogantly.

Lin Xuan calmly replied, "Whatever you say."

After saying that, he went to check the alchemy process of others, trying to find the medicinal materials he needed from the materials they used.

Unfortunately, Lin Xuan did not find the Spirit Berry and Blood Spirit Mushroom he needed.

"Sigh, it seems we'll have no choice but to get it from Fan Jiang."

Lin Xuan sighed helplessly and turned to look at Fan Jiang.

Fan Jiang was looking at him with his arms crossed, his face full of anger.

"Let's begin," Lin Xuan said calmly.

"I'll let you go first, so you won't say I'm bullying you," Fan Jiang said.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xuan smiled and said, "Whatever you say."

He didn't care who started first; after all, he had lived two lives, and his temperament was naturally much stronger than that of Fan Jiang, a mere child.

Lin Xuan opened the alchemy furnace, lit the flames, and quickly put the medicinal herbs into it.

The first step to becoming an alchemist is to have strong soul power, because only with strong enough soul power can you ensure that the medicinal herbs are not burned to ashes by the fire and play a role in controlling the heat.

After all, alchemy is different from cooking. The wok for cooking is open to the elements, but the alchemy furnace is completely enclosed. To control the heat, one can only rely on soul power.

"I thought you were so great, but you're just a novice who can only brag," Fan Jiang mocked.

Even the old man who brought Lin Xuan here shook his head in disappointment.

"The herbs must be added in in order. How could you throw them all in at once?" The old man shook his head and sighed. "Let's stop here. There's no need to continue. Lin Xuan, you've already lost."

While controlling the flames with his soul power, Lin Xuan said, "How can there be a winner or loser before the elixir is completed?"

"Your alchemy skills have already exposed the fact that you don't understand alchemy at all. It's pointless to continue competing," the old man said. "Lin Xuan, as a junior, you should be more humble. You should understand the principle that there are always people more capable than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xuan smiled.

He was just stating a few truths, yet he was labeled as boastful and bragging.

"What's the rush? It's not too late to decide the winner after the pill is finished," Lin Xuan said.

"Master, since he won't shed a tear until he sees the coffin, then let's grant his wish and let him know what it means to be outmatched!" Fan Jiang said, then shouted and poured his soul power into the alchemy furnace.

Lin Xuan glanced in Fan Jiang's direction and slowly shook his head.

Fan Jiang's alchemy method is very formulaic. This method can indeed ensure the efficiency of alchemy, but the consequence is that his pills can only be mediocre and cannot produce the extra miraculous effects.

Alchemy is like sculpting a work of art. If you follow the instructions exactly, you can indeed create a standard work of art, but it will lack soul.

Although Lin Xuan's alchemy techniques look crude, and even seem stupid to experts, they can produce miracles.

This is something that their formulaic alchemy cannot match.

Lin Xuan frowned slightly and used his soul power to wrap the medicinal herbs in the flames.

The medicinal herbs floated in the furnace, rotating as the flames burned.

Lin Xuan gradually withdrew his soul power, and as the soul power decreased, the temperature of the medicinal herbs increased.

In a normal alchemy process, alchemists use their soul power to control the flames and would never use their soul power to envelop the medicinal herbs.

Because wrapping medicinal herbs with soul power means using soul power to shield them from high temperatures, which consumes a tremendous amount of soul power.

Using soul power to control flames is like fanning the flames with your hand. This way, there is no risk of damaging your soul power, and you can still control the heat.

Therefore, this is how most alchemists, and even many alchemist schools, teach their students.

Soon, the time it takes for an incense stick to burn was up.

Lin Xuan was the first to complete the pill and then extinguished the flames.

Fan Jiang completed the refining process the very next second after Lin Xuan removed the flames.

"It's done." Fan Jiang took out the pill. Three lines flowed on the round pill, which were purple, red and green, respectively, corresponding to different effects.

The old man took the Three-Pattern Body Tempering Pill, examined it carefully, and nodded, saying, "Hmm, not bad, you've improved. However, you still need to work harder on controlling the heat."

As he spoke, the old man pointed to the patterns on the pill.

"Look at this," the old man said. "There's a clear break in the lines, which means you messed up your control over the flames when you were condensing the core."

Fan Jiang nodded and said, "Yes, Master, it was my carelessness."

The old man patted Fan Jiang on the shoulder and said, "It's already very good. I can guarantee that among all the third-grade alchemists present, there isn't a single one who can refine a better Three-Pattern Body Tempering Pill."

Fan Jiang smiled proudly, then looked at Lin Xuan.

"And you? How's your training going?" Fan Jiang's face wore a victorious and proud smile, as if he were showing off his abilities.

His words appeared to be a question, but were actually a mockery.

Lin Xuan expressionlessly took out the pill and tossed it to the old man.

The old man raised his hand to catch it, and looking down, he discovered that what Lin Xuan had thrown over was actually a dark, unremarkable pill.

Aside from being more rounded than Fan Jiang's, it can hardly compare to Fan Jiang in any way.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Fan Jiang burst into laughter, snatched the pill from the old man's hand, and held it high as he walked around the alchemy workshop so that everyone could see Lin Xuan's "masterpiece".

"Everyone, come and see, this is the Three-Pattern Body Tempering Pill he refined!"

"And you still say you'll give me half an incense stick's time, and you still say you don't want to bully me."

"This is hilarious, hahaha!"

The other alchemists laughed, gesturing and pointing at Lin Xuan with mockery in their eyes.

However, just as they were laughing and joking, the dark pill in Fan Jiang's hand suddenly made a barely audible crisp sound. Then, the black surface bloomed like a lotus flower, revealing a bright-colored three-pattern body-tempering pill with a faint glow.

Its color, its texture, its fragrance—it was simply perfect.