Chapter 471: A Meal with the Elder Ru Qi

"Ah, that duel. I’ve heard plenty of people talking about it in the last few days, including elders." Elder Ru Qi stated with a curious expression the very next moment.

When Yi Chen heard those words, his eyes brightened that very moment as he nodded like a chick and said with a pitiable expression, "Yes, Elder Ru Qi... Because of the Pill Apprentice Exam, I’ve been fully focused on pill refining in the last few days and hadn’t been giving enough time to my combat training.

Therefore, for the remaining days, I’m planning to fully focus on practising my martial techniques and swordsmanship... so it would be really helpful if you could postpone these classes after this duel..."

Yi Chen paused to look into Elder Ru Qi’s eyes in an attempt to convince her. He truly appreciated that she was willing to personally guide him, but at the same time he didn’t want to make his schedule hectic when the day of the duel was fast approaching.

However, Elder Ru Qi thought otherwise.

Rolling her eyes the moment she heard Yi Chen’s words, she said, "It’s not like you’ll be training the entire day. It’s not like giving up two hours from your time in the remaining days would have any drastic effects on your results..."

"B-But..." Yi Chen wanted to argue, but before he could state his point, Elder Ru Qi gestured for him to pause with her palm and said with a snort, "It’s not like you’ll lose anyway, you brat. With your spiritual sea already comparable to a First Core Building Stage cultivator, you can easily push a First Qi Absorption Stage cultivator outside the fighting stage using it.

No matter from which angle I see it, what you’re saying only sounds like excuses to me. Aren’t you already more than ready to face your opponent? He’s just a First Qi Absorption Stage cultivator from what I’ve heard.

With how vast your spiritual sea is, seeing how easily you manoeuvred that bookshelf just a few moments ago, can’t you easily throw him out of the fighting stage and win the duel?

At this point, I’ll be more worried about finishing the duel too quickly than about the results. Or is it that you’ll deliberately be trying to slack off in the next few days with this duel as an excuse?"

The air around Elder Ru Qi turned oppressive the moment she said those words.

"I-It’s not like that I..." Yi Chen was about to explain the conditions for winning the duel that had been set by Grand Elder Jian, but on second thought, he decided to keep that information to himself.

’Though she’s helped me so far, what if she tries to make things more difficult for me, realising that Grand Elder Jian won’t be able to accept me as his disciple publicly if I were to not fulfil those conditions?... Yeah, keeping her in the dark is the most beneficial.’

With no choice but to accept the hectic schedule knocking at his door, Yi Chen let out a silent sigh and said, "... I’ll be here at ten in the morning starting tomorrow."

"Good. That’s how it should be." Elder Ru Qi nodded in a satisfied manner and added, "As an individual possessing such peerless talent, it’s your obligation to never slack off, you understand?"

"...Yes." Yi Chen nodded with a forced smile when he heard her words.

GRUMBLE

Just then, his stomach grumbled, making it known just how hungry he was.

"Hahaha, as my student, I can’t let you return hungry now, can I? Take your time finishing up that tea, as I’ll ask my maid to start the dinner preparations." Elder Ru Qi said, letting out a soft chuckle before calling out to her maid.

A while later, Yi Chen was seated at a dining table with Elder Ru Qi sitting on the other side of the table. A delicious aroma wafted through the air, making Yi Chen struggle not to drool.

"Eat. Most of it is for you anyway, as I’m already a Core Building Stage cultivator." Elder Ru Qi gestured with a smile while taking a small piece of the dessert to satisfy her cravings.

"Thank you for the meal!" Yi Chen said with a grateful smile before relishing the variety of dishes and meats that were specially prepared for him tonight.

’They taste so much better than what they serve in the dining hall...’ he thought while savouring each bite, enjoying his meal to the fullest.

During the meal, Elder Ru Qi couldn’t help but ask Yi Chen for more details about his Pill Apprentice Examination today, with interest evident in her eyes.

Seeing this, Yi Chen naturally didn’t hold anything back and answered everything she had asked while also conveying how he felt during each of those moments.

"... at that time when Elder Tao had suddenly informed us about the third test, I was truly frustrated. Just when I thought that I had finished everything and had become a Pill Apprentice, they had slapped me with a third test...that was truly annoying,"

Yi Chen said with grievance evident on his face.

"Yet you ended up identifying all sixty of those herbs, huh?" Elder Ru Qi asked with an amused smile the very next moment.

"Well... I was talking about when I didn’t know what the third test exactly was hahaha," Yi Chen let out an embarrassed chuckle, causing Elder Ru Qi to laugh alongside him.

"I’m still curious, though. How did you end up knowing so much about all these herbs and other ingredients?

Back when you were helping me pass the ingredients, you already knew where to look whenever I asked for a particular ingredient.

Y-You were introduced to pill refining for the first time in our sect, right? Or is that not the case?"

Elder Ru Qi asked with a curious expression the very next moment. That was the only thing about Yi Chen she was yet to make sense of.

"About that..." Yi Chen let out a forced smile while scratching the side of his face and answered, "It’s because of all the books which I’ve read from the sect’s library since I entered the sect... although I didn’t keep a count, I’ve already gone through more than a thousand of them, and thus I was able to identify the herbs without any problem."

"I see..." Elder Ru Qi replied with a nod, still not very convinced by his answer.

’With how vast his spiritual sea is, reading and comprehending that many books in this period is possible, but still... normally that wouldn’t be enough for one to identify the herbs easily, as comprehending and memorising are two different things altogether!

One has to physically make use of all the herbs they have read about in their pill refining in order to truly imprint them in one’s mind.

The more herbs a pill refiner knows about, the more important this step becomes, as otherwise they might end up mixing one herb for another without even realising it.

But for him... that doesn’t seem to be an issue at all. It’s as if he’s been tailor-made to become a pill refiner...’

Elder Ru Qi couldn’t help but think to herself in praise while looking at Yi Chen, who was fully absorbed in eating now that Elder Ru Qi was not asking him any questions.

Seeing this, an unknowing smile formed on her face as she didn’t disturb him with questions any longer.

Burp~

"Excuse me..." Yi Chen burped out loudly just a few moments after emptying all the plates, as an embarrassed smile formed on his face.

"Haha, don’t be. It’s been a while since I watched someone eat their food with such a satisfied expression on their face," Elder Ru Qi said with a warm smile before taking something out from her storage ring.

"Since you’ve yet to receive your identification token, you wouldn’t be able to visit the Pill Formulation Vault as well. Take these three formulations and go over them in your free time.

They belong to three different types of mortal pills, and we’ll be working on refining these starting tomorrow to ensure that your pill efficacy remains at a high level for different mortal pills as well.

Once we’ve confirmed that for Basic, Mid and High-grade mortal pills, you’ll be ready to refine your very first immortal pill."

"This..." Hearing Elder Ru Qi’s words, Yi Chen’s eyes couldn’t help but glisten with excitement as, the very next moment, he reached for the three scrolls.

"Wait!"

Elder Ru Qi exclaimed sternly the very next moment, causing Yi Chen to pause and look at her in a confused manner.

"Go and wash your hands first, you rascal! Do you want to dirty these pill formulations or what?!" she scolded the very next moment while pointing towards the washroom.

"Y-Yes..." Yi Chen immediately got up from his seat and went towards the washroom while muttering his misgivings under his breath.

"Weren’t you the one who told me to take them in the first place..."

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