Ultimate Scheming System

Is it just the beginning? Everyone became more confused after Xu Que said that. As for those, like the Demonic Pill Old Man and Yun Yang Zi, they were left even more bewildered about the situation. Having studied alchemy for many years, they had never seen such a method of pill refinement. They had also never heard of any alchemy that required soybeans or soy milk. Furthermore, Xu Que had not even touched the Pill Refining Furnace. What kind of pill refining was that?

Bang!

A loud thud suddenly cut through their train of thought. Xu Que had suddenly slapped the Pill Refining Furnace, making it rumble. All eyes were on him as a wisp of green flame burst out from his palm. It pierced into the hearth of the furnace and stirred the fire to a higher temperature.

“It’s finally about to begin!”

“Let’s see what kind of pill he’s making!”

Everyone began to anticipate his next move. However, Xu Que turned away as soon as he lit the furnace fire. He picked up the bowl of heated soy milk and lowered it into cold water. Then, a flame burst out from his palm again, warming the cold water from the bottom. A short time later, the top layer of the soybean milk slowly solidified into a piece of curd skin.

Xu Que speedily picked up the beancurd skin and threw it up in the air! The beancurd skin quickly reached the highest point of the parabola, after which it fell, after absorbing Spiritual Qi. As it fell, it naturally curled into a roll-like strip.

Whiz!

Suddenly, Xu Que unleashed an immense amount of Soul Strength. He divided a small strand of the Soul Strength and used it to control the beancurd skin strips. He held the pieces in midair, allowing the sun to dry them. People couldn’t help but be stunned.

Could soybean milk be used that way?

At the same time, Xu Que repeated the procedure. He continued to make beancurd skins out of soybean milk, pulled them out, then threw them into the air. Soon, the large pot of soybean milk had been used up to make hundreds of curd skins. They were hung up in the sun to be air-dried.

“What on earth is he trying to do?”

“Never in our history have I heard of someone refining a pill using soybeans, let alone soybean milk and beancurd skin!”

“He went through all the hassle to make these beancurd skin strips. Since they are now full of Qi, don’t tell me that he’s going to knead them into granules and make pills from there?”

The onlookers exchanged their speculations under their breaths. The Demonic Pill Old Man, however, remained skeptical and disdainful. The more Xu Que did, the more convinced he was that Xu Que knew nothing about alchemy.

“Lord Zeng, allow me to offer some advice – this boy might have deceived you!” The Demonic Pill Old Man looked at Lord Zeng and cackled.

Yun Yang Zi frowned as well. “The Demonic Pill Old Man is right. I can guarantee that this boy is not doing pill refinement at all!”

“Lord Zeng, in that case, I would also advise you that you should not trust others easily, let alone a youngster. Who did he think he is to dare boast that he could cure the little Princess!” Zhuo Feng sneered coldly.

Lord Zeng frowned and became slightly worried. However, his worry soon faded away when he turned and saw his little daughter on the high platform, happily licking at a lollipop.

“Let’s wait and see. We will know soon enough whether or not Xu Que succeeds!” Lord Zeng smiled kindly, looking like a harmless, pure child.

Yun Yang Zi and the others immediately shut their mouths when they saw Lord Zeng’s response. That was the expression Lord Zeng often made when he had made a decision and wanted no more opinions. If they continued to talk, they would just show their stupidity!

Meanwhile, Xu Que stood in front of the Pill Furnace and had already completed the next step. He fried all of the dried beancurd skins in boiling oil, and the intense fragrance enthralled everyone present. They could not help but salivate. Even the little Princess raised her eyes suddenly and spared a glance Xu Que’s way.

However, she then quickly looked down once again to appreciate the delicious food in her hands.

“That’s something. It’s my first time seeing someone refining a pill to the extent that it even looked appetizing!”

“Gosh, but this fella wasn’t doing pill refining at all!”

“Yeah. Xu Que never used the furnace after he started the fire. If we didn’t know better, it would look as if he’s cooking!”

“Huh? Wait a minute. Do you think that he is indeed cooking, maybe?” Someone suddenly exclaimed.

All of a sudden, many of those present opened their eyes wide as the realization dawned upon them. The more they thought about it, the more plausible that explanation seemed. That was from start to finish, all of Xu Que’s actions resembled more of cooking than proper pill refining!

However, before a conclusion could be reached, Xu Que had started his next step.

Bam!

With a clear, crisp bang, Xu Que suddenly slammed his hand on the burning furnace, which sent the furnace lid flying. He then poured hundreds of fried beancurd skins into the furnace.

All speculations of the audiences were dispelled when they saw that.

“So he’s still doing alchemy!”

“Phew, it scared me for a second. I seriously thought that fella was going to cook!”

“That’s all right. No matter what Xu Que was trying to do with those beancurd skins, he had now started to use the Pill Furnace. It must mean that he’s now ready to do alchemy!”

“I’m suddenly looking forward to this. Can’t wait to see what medicine this guy’s gonna make!”

“Yes, he used soybeans, then soybean milk, and even made them into beancurd skin. It’s all so elusive!”

The crowd began to discuss Xu Que’s actions nonstop.

The Demonic Pill Old Man, Yun Yang Zi, and all the other alchemists present could not contain their sneers as they shook their heads.

Use beancurd skin to make medicine?

You must be overthinking!

Be it soybean skin or soybean milk, they are merely earthly ingredients. Even after the infusion of the living holy water, it was impossible for these ingredients to achieve a unique Qi like an Immortal Elixir.

More important, using beancurd skin as a medicinal ingredient was unheard of!

“It seems that we can sit back and enjoy a furnace explosion! Then, we could move to the entrance of the Myriad Buddhas Sect to see this kid thrown out of the door!” Yun Yang Zi laughed coldly. He knew for sure that the most common consequence of throwing random things into the Pill Furnace was a furnace explosion!

“If we let this fella live, today’s affairs would forever be our disgrace!” Zhuo Feng responded stoically.

The Demonic Pill Old Man smiled without saying anything, but murderous intent filled his eyes.

Whiz!

Just then, a muffled noise came from Xu Que’s direction. He waved his hand; swiftly and deftly, he exchanged a massive pile of items from the System store and sprinkled them toward the sky. The audience was stunned when they finally made out what these items were.

“Wh…what?”

“What is he doing? He’s using these things to refine a pill?”

“Chili, prickly pepper, cinnamon, star anise, cooking wine, salt?”

“Why do I feel like I’m in a dream?”

….

Boom!

A blazing fire abruptly burst out from Xu Que’s palm, like a black fire dragon plunging into the clouds. The scalding temperature almost twisted the void. Everyone was shocked by the flame’s vigor. Even Lord Zheng, Demonic Pill Old Man, and Yun Yang Zi were taken aback.

“What a dominating flame!”

“If I could get my hands on it, I’m sure that there would be a significant increase in my pill formation success rate!”

A trace of greed flashed in the eyes of the alchemists, such as Yun Yang Zi.

At the same time, Xu Que controlled the Eight Waste Destruction Flame to engulf the spices and ingredients hanging in midair. The intense black flame refined the elements directly by supplying continual heat. Soon, all of the spices began to melt in the flame. As the black smoke began to sizzle and evaporate, the ingredients were gradually reduced to form a pure condensed essence.

While Xu Que had heard the murmurs of the crowd, he merely smiled coldly without a word.

What a naive bunch!

Did you think that these were ordinary chili? They are flaming chili that grew in a volcano!

Did you think that these were ordinary cinnamon? They are a top-grade spice plucked atop Mount Saint!

Did you think that these were ordinary star anise? They were deep-sea anise spice picked from the Seajoe Tree found only in the deepest end of the East Sea!

Moreover, that wine was the best-grade wine filtered from all sorts of millennial pulp!

Even the salt used was from the deepest layer of an iceberg, Snow Salt crystallized more than 10,000 years!

Although they only cost 10 Acting Tough Points to obtain, they were still things that you guys could never taste in your lifetime!

“Go!” Finally, after a long and arduous wait, Xu Que bellowed and pointed his finger at the mouth of the furnace. The essence of various ingredients and spices that formed in mid-air was instantly swept into the pill furnace. Xu Que quickly recalled the black flame and controlled it to surround the pill furnace. It maintained a constant temperature and heated the furnace at all angles.

Gollum Gollum!

While baking at a scarily high temperature, the furnace quickly began to emit a sharp rumble.

“Oh no, it’s the sign of a furnace explosion!” Someone quickly paled and screamed, as he frantically tried to retreat. Almost immediately, the crowd stirred in fright at his words. They crept back, while pushing others out of their way.

Only Yun Yang Zi and the other alchemists let out a contemptuous smile as if saying “I told you so!”

“The pill is formed! Now out it goes!” Xu Que said unexpectedly in a deep voice as he struck the furnace with his palm.

Clunk!

Accompanied by a loud screeching noise, the furnace cover flew off and broke apart what remained of the lid, which quickly dissolved into ashes and scattered into the wind. A stream of white smoke rose from the pill furnace. Then, a refreshing, and even deluging, fragrance soon filled the arena!

“Lord Zheng, the Exploding Heaven Faction’s Exclusive Medicated Diet, the Ultimate Spicy Strip, has been refined!” With a gentle lift of his finger, Xu Que pinched a red-hot strip from the furnace with a confident smile.

The whole arena fell momentarily silent.

Medicinal dish? Ultimate Spicy Strip?

Everyone was too surprised even to react; their minds went blank, and, before they knew it, the sound of gulping began to fill the area. The Demonic Pill Old Man, Yun Yang Zi, and Zhuo Feng could not believe what had happened. The blowing up of the furnace did not happen. Instead, Xu Que had created something that made people salivate!

This…what on earth had this kid made?

…

On the high platform, the little Princess suddenly froze. Without realizing, the lollipop that she could not put down before had fallen directly onto the ground with a thud.

Disbelief was also written all over Lord Zeng’s face. He looked at Xu Que’s pot that was still sizzling with fragrance, then quickly shouted out in realization, “My little friend! Truth be told, I too have anorexia. I’ll also need a Spicy Strip to cure my disease!”

…