Chapter 1148: Central Figure

The cla.s.ses at the Pill Refinery Hall had gradually started to increase. The first year of cla.s.ses had been simply a ma.s.s selection, but they were now only emphasizing the nurturing of students.

Of course, under normal circ.u.mstances, Elder Yimo’s public lessons only occurred once a month. Most of the time, several great supervisors would take turns to teach and explain some basics or details. The peak students of the Pill Refinery Hall, such as Celeste, Kakadinme, and Tsarisiya, did not attend most of these ordinary lessons as they had already set their foundations. These lessons were only suitable for people like w.a.n.g Zhong, whose foundations were not firm enough.

Today was Elder Yimo’s cla.s.s, and everyone in the cla.s.s was present. The prescribed deadline for the level-6 pill mission that Elder Yimo had a.s.signed previously was today’s lesson.

At that moment, Elder Yimo had not arrived, but everyone from the Pill Refinery Hall was present. Supervisor Lulu was at the long tables collecting and registering the pills. Not many people had submitted pills. Even among the 50 to 60 people who had previously submitted the level-7 pill and joined the core members of the Pill Refinery Hall, only five or six in 10 of them had successfully refined the level-6 pill. Most of the pills were of poor quality, but only during such times could the difference between peak geniuses and ordinary geniuses be seen. After all, it was a level-6 pill that was a level higher than before. Those who were able to produce pills, even if they were the most basic and standard 30% pills that were barely formed, were considered rather good.

“As expected of Broken Horn Kakadinme. It’s a level-6 pill. Not only did he succeed, but it’s also an 80% pill. This quality should be the best among this batch…” Many people were chatting and discussing in a low tone.

“No, the best is Celeste with a 90% pill! She is submitting hers in front. This is a level-6 pill she refined… The natural pill refinery endowments of the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l race are too terrifying.”

“Are these people all monsters? Back when they submitted the level-7 pill, they also seemed to have submitted pills of this standard. To them, is there no difference between level-6 and level-7 pills?”

“After all, they are geniuses from high-leveled civilizations. They pa.s.sed the previous level-7 pill mission and have been singled out in the Pill Refinery Hall. They can listen to Elder Yimo’s teachings two or more times a month, and they have various different resources. I heard that when the new school year started, everyone was given an initial reward of one hundred points. Naturally, they will advance by leaps and bounds…”

The points in the Three Great Halls were no longer used as a standard to eliminate pupils. Official pupils who had pa.s.sed the first year of screening and selection were usually not eliminated unless they died. The main function of the cla.s.s points was to exchange for Heavenly Gates contribution points. Ten points could be exchanged for one contribution point, which could then be converted for treasures in the treasure vault or the opportunity to enter the library, among others. Of course, one could also pay Gold Star Stones in exchange for Heavenly Gates contribution points, but the price was very high. One contribution point cost 100 Gold Star Stones. If one wanted to convert these points for treasures in the treasure vault, unless these treasures were special objects like the Heavenly River Origin Water that could not be bought outside, the price was not worth it.

However, even if this was the case, there was a limit to using money to exchange for contribution points. Ordinary pupils could only exchange money for 100 contribution points every year… Frankly speaking, the Heavenly Gates was not lacking in money. They had set the prices for the goods. Furthermore, a large portion of the money in circulation in the Land was produced by the Heavenly Gates. Thus, money was not of much significance to the Heavenly Gates. It was simply a standard to measure the value of the objects…

At that moment, the crowd was whispering. When they saw the elites of the Pill Refinery Hall hand in their level-6 pills, many people were envious. As long as they completed the mission, they would receive 50 points. Furthermore, those like Kakadinme who had submitted 80% pills could receive doubled rewards. These could all be converted to contribution points, allowing them to have more cultivation resources… The strong became stronger, and the weak became weaker. The difference between them continually s...o...b..lled through such a process.

“What about that w.a.n.g Zhong? Didn’t he produce a level-7 Perfect Pill last time?”

“Someone who has only learned pill refinery for a few months was actually able to join the core members of the Pill Refinery Hall. He only produced that Perfect Pill with a stroke of good luck. It’s really unfair.”

“Heh. There is nothing fair or unfair about this. There is no need to be jealous of him either. Without any strength, he will naturally be pushed down the ranks, just like in this level-6 pill mission. Let’s see what he submits.”

“Keep quiet, that little fellow is here…”

Speak of the devil. Many Pill Refinery Hall pupils who had mentioned w.a.n.g Zhong were all silent. The two bloodthirsty kills that this Earthling had committed in the Life and Death Arena had caused some trauma in these pupils. Although the bullying in the Heavenly Gates could be severe, there were few cases of people being killed in the Life and Death Arena as a result. At the very least, this rarely happened at the beginning of each batch. For example, among this batch of students, only w.a.n.g Zhong had actually fought in the Life and Death Arena. The other two were Balor and Gorst, but it was a pity that they were both dead… As a result, w.a.n.g Zhong had a reputation for killing. Some pupils even privately called him “Crazy w.a.n.g”. No one was willing to provoke someone who killed others easily and was a maniac who did not look at the other person’s family background.

“Hmph…” Kakadinme, who had just submitted an 80% pill and was just in the spotlight, had also seen w.a.n.g Zhong. There was vicious fury in his eyes.

Unlike those ordinary pupils, the most central circle of a dozen experts, not just Kakadinme, all carefully observed the new member of the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s. They also had the qualifications and background to do so. After all, joining the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s was their greatest objective in the Heavenly Gates. Thus, they definitely knew that w.a.n.g Zhong had joined the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s. He was able to break through conventions and enter the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s as a Void Core. Furthermore, he was able to join the Cla.s.s even earlier than Celeste…

As the peak top-ranking expert among this batch of pupils, Kakadinme had also applied for the examination to enter the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s at the end of the first school year. Right now, he was still at the complex evaluation process. Even if he pa.s.sed the evaluation, there was still a long practical a.s.sessment process. However, a mere Earthling, his personal enemy who he completely despised, was now in the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s. This made Kakadinme extremely unhappy and extremely fearful.

Since w.a.n.g Zhong was able to join the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s, he definitely had secrets and trump cards that Kakadinme did not know about. In the past, he had not seen w.a.n.g Zhong as his opponent. At the very most, he was simply a stone on the path of his life that seemed offensive but was smelly and hard. Kakadinme was just too busy and did not have the time to kick him away, and he had never considered this stone as anything other than a dispensable one. On the contrary, it had now suddenly become a mountain that was standing in front of him… This feeling was truly terrible.

The surroundings instantly fell silent. The ordinary pupils were naturally slightly scared of w.a.n.g Zhong but also wanted to see him humiliate himself. Meanwhile, people like Kakadinme had deep dread in their gazes.

Meanwhile, w.a.n.g Zhong did not feel anything. He was already used to these various gazes. He did not even need to look at these gazes to know what exactly they were thinking about. What did that have to do with anything? Their minds were their own, and they were free to think whatever they wanted to.

He simply walked in front of Supervisor Lulu, who was collecting the pills, and took out a pill box. “Supervisor Lulu, this is the Soul Moulding Pill that I have refined.”

“Heh heh. Good. Let me take a look.” Supervisor Lulu smiled and received the pill box. His att.i.tude towards w.a.n.g Zhong had obviously changed. Back then, even when Elder Yimo personally said that w.a.n.g Zhong would join the Pill Refinery Hall, Supervisor Lulu looked at him with a cold expression. After all, he did not find members of low-leveled civilizations like the Earthlings pleasing to the eye. But now… w.a.n.g Zhong’s ident.i.ty was different. He was now a member of the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s. If they met each other in the Internal Gates, Supervisor Lulu even had to call him Master w.a.n.g Zhong. As long as w.a.n.g Zhong did not die, he would definitely surpa.s.s Supervisor Lulu in the future. When faced with a future super expert, how could he put on the same expression as before?

He had seen w.a.n.g Zhong’s pill refinery methods. His basics were still too immature. He could rely on some luck and memorized processes for the level-7 pill, but what about the level-6 pill? This would be very difficult for w.a.n.g Zhong. Supervisor Lulu had already planned to give up. If the pill in the pill box was only barely a 50% pill, he would definitely appraise it as a 50% pill.

Many people in their surroundings looked over. This Earthling actually had a pill to submit. Regardless of what quality of pill he submitted, there would inevitably be people who maliciously guessed whether he had outside help. However, with the lesson learned from the level-7 pill, many people could only quietly harbor this thought in their minds. Didn’t they see how the unlucky ghost had been chased out of the Heavenly Gates? Even if they detested w.a.n.g Zhong, no one was willing to be the fool that stood out.

“Hmph. Let me see what he can submit.”

“I’m guessing a 50% pill.”

However, they never expected that when the pill box was opened, golden colors instantly shot out of the box, which was supposed to be filled with silver light. A gentle and dense aura from the pill box filled the air while a rich pill fragrance instantly spread, shrouding the entire field!

“This…”

There was the sound of people gasping in shock. Even Supervisor Lulu was dumbfounded. “A Perfect Pill?!”

Many of those who were waiting for w.a.n.g Zhong to make a joke of himself were stunned.

This fellow had refined a Perfect Pill again?! This was too much. It was said that Perfect Pills could only be found by chance and not by trying. Most alchemists could not even succeed once in their lifetime, yet w.a.n.g Zhong had refined a level-7 Perfect Pill not too long ago. Now, he had done it again when refining the level-6 pill. Did such exaggerated luck exist? This was simply impossible! If it were not for the lesson learned from the ghost who had been chased out of the Heavenly Gates, many people would have immediately verbally doubted him. However, at that moment, it was silent.

In contrast, the minority like Kakadinme who already looked at w.a.n.g Zhong with dread did not have many changes in their expressions.

To be honest, it was only a Perfect Pill. It was indeed mystical, but as compared to the shock from the news that w.a.n.g Zhong had broken convention and joined the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s, Kakadinme and the rest were completely able to accept this.

“Ha ha. Not bad! As expected, this little fellow from Earth is interesting.” Just as Supervisor Lulu was still astonished, a bright and clear peal of laughter had sounded. Although it was not very loud, it reverberated throughout the Furnace Mountain extremely clearly.

Elder Yimo was here!

“Elder!”

Elder Yimo floated down. He was somewhat different from his typical elder state, and the figure that sat cross-legged on the Furnace Mountain seemed even loftier. If one continued to gaze at him, one could sense that his sitting figure continued to stretch and grow larger without end…

At that moment, the originally quiet surroundings became even more silent. They simply heard Elder Yimo’s voice. “The Perfect Pill is not necessarily uncontrollable. The pill studies records or verbal teachings only teach you the basics. The essence of pill refinery is heart cultivation and self-cultivation, not the forming of external objects. In order to truly succeed, you have to comprehend the path through pill studies, and it has to be from the heart. Then, pill studies will be natural and unrestrained. You do not refine pills for the sake of it, let alone blindly memorize and practice heresy. This is genuine pill studies!”

…This lesson had started with w.a.n.g Zhong’s level-6 perfect Soul Moulding Pill. Out in the Heavenly Gates, a perspective prevalent in pill studies was that Perfect Pills were uncontrollable and relied completely on fate. However, Elder Yimo had not said anything similar in his lessons. Pupils who were born to peak pill-studies powers like Celeste already had some understanding of this. After all, they had a long tradition of family learning and rarely came into contact with the misinformation in the outside world. However, to the majority of the pupils, this theory was a ma.s.sive shock.

Perfect Pills could be controlled? This meant that w.a.n.g Zhong’s three consecutive Perfect Pills obviously had nothing to do with luck. He had definitely mastered various abstruse meanings behind forming pills. In an instant, everyone’s gaze was fired up. At this moment, no one doubted the reason why w.a.n.g Zhong was able to join the Pill Refinery Hall. No matter how weak his civilization was, he would definitely be favored, with such natural endowments.

When the cla.s.s ended, Celeste walked over to w.a.n.g Zhong very naturally and chatted about today’s learning points without any apprehension. w.a.n.g Zhong and Elder Yimo had opened up a brand new field of vision for her. Since she knew the feeling of forming pills and was experienced with her techniques, she could learn from this lesson.

Their intimacy was different from the past. Ever since the hint from before, Celeste had accepted the situation. However, with the gap between their statuses, such heated discussion was slightly unbridled. In the Heavenly Gates, social cla.s.ses were very clear. Those who had had a favorable impression of w.a.n.g Zhong because of his natural endowments instantly changed their opinion.

Celeste was everyone’s G.o.ddess, and only the most powerful had the qualifications to pursue her. The compet.i.tion had just begun, but w.a.n.g Zhong was already so far ahead!

“This reckless Earthling!” The cold sound of someone gnas.h.i.+ng his teeth could be heard.

It was Mutubauer, the Young Master of the Wolf G.o.d race, a level-7 civilization. Even though it was only a level-7 civilization, this was the overall appraisal of the goblin race. In terms of combat power, the Wolf G.o.d race was definitely outstanding. Many members of their civilization mixed in with the higher-ups of the Star Alliance. They had a relatively significant influence in the Land and were even more powerful than the Blood Demon race. They had even inherited the tradition of the goblin race and viewed mating with great importance.

It was once said that the members of the goblin race were either mating or on the path of doing so. Although this was slightly exaggerated, one could see the special characteristics of this race. Mutubauer was among the typical members who paid special attention to his lineage and was also one of Celeste’s most fervent pursuers.

It was not an exaggeration to say that matchmaking was another old tradition in the Heavenly Gates.

The intimacy between Celeste and w.a.n.g Zhong filled him with great anger. He had never seen the daughter of the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Crown Prince laughing so happily. It was fine if he was ignored, but if Celeste was seized by a lower-cla.s.sed being from a low-leveled civilization, he would be so disgusted that he would not be able to eat.

He looked at Kakadinme beside him. He knew that Kakadinme was another pursuer of Celeste. “Hey, can you bear to watch this?”

“There’s nothing I can’t bear to watch. Are you going to beat him up?” Kakadinme smiled. It was obvious that this fellow wanted to sow discord and stand out. However, it was a pity that he was too inexperienced. “That w.a.n.g Zhong is a favorite of Elder Yimo. I don’t dare to offend the Elder. Do you?”

“Pui!” Mutubauer coldly spat. “Elder Yimo would not care about such trivial nonsense.”

“Really, you speak as if you’re actually not afraid.” Kakadinme laughed. “Furthermore, even if Elder Yimo doesn’t care about such things, do you really dare to provoke him? Can you defeat w.a.n.g Zhong? Don’t forget that he previously killed two Void Cores. Even I don’t have full confidence that I can beat him. Heh heh. You’re even worse off. Brother, let me advise you. Don’t provoke someone you cannot provoke. You should have some self-awareness.”

Self-awareness? Someone he could not provoke? Was he referring to that human, that member of a level-4 civilization?!

Mutubauer’s eyebrows jumped slightly.

“In a few days, the Pill One a.s.sociation will have a gathering. There will not be many people, just a few Senior Brothers from the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s. They are all Gold Core figures in the Pill One a.s.sociation.” Celeste stood very close to w.a.n.g Zhong, and it seemed as if they were going to hold hands. “w.a.n.g Zhong, you should come this time. I have talked about you refining a Perfect Pill with the Senior Brothers and mentioned your theory to them. They are all very interested.”

It was said that one’s path could not be taught to others, but others could perceive it through interactions as they could then understand one’s comprehension process. As someone who could refine Perfect Pills three consecutive times, w.a.n.g Zhong had shocked the Gold Core Pill Refinery Hall Seniors in the Pill One a.s.sociation. Furthermore, they had asked Celeste to invite w.a.n.g Zhong using the name of the Pill One a.s.sociation, not the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s. It was obvious that they definitely had the intention of pulling w.a.n.g Zhong into the Pill One a.s.sociation. This would not conflict with w.a.n.g Zhong’s members.h.i.+p in the Law Enforcement a.s.sociation. The Celestial Honors Cla.s.s was a special social cla.s.s. Meanwhile, societies and organizations involved one’s interests and hobbies. Thus, one could join several organizations at the same time as long as they had the time to do so.

“Sure. When the time comes, just let me know the time in advance.” This time, w.a.n.g Zhong did not reject her and did not hold back. For his survival, he was more willing to interact even more with others. Furthermore, Celeste’s friends would not be too shabby.

“w.a.n.g Zhong! Stand still!”

Just as they were chatting, a cold shout suddenly sounded from behind them.