Shocking the Nine Heavens With My Sword
Chapter 731 - 708

Chapter 731: 708

Zhou Heng had been quite the spectacle for these past three days, with many pharmacists seeking his guidance. However, he knew nothing about alchemy, so he used the excuse of needing to focus and prepare quietly to keep everyone out. With his minimal skills, he would expose himself the moment he began to speak!

Hu Mei, born into opulence and a prodigy herself, was naturally well-versed in such matters. She seamlessly took over and entertained the crowds on behalf of Zhou Heng, like a fish taking to water.

She took deep pride in herself, feeling proud of Zhou Heng and of herself as well.

Amidst endless anticipation, the three days finally passed, and the day for Zhou Heng to certify as an Eight-Star Pharmacist arrived.

Although there were rumors that Zhou Heng was the reincarnation of the Medicine Venerate, not everyone believed them. After all, there had been impostors in history who claimed the same but were proven false!

Seeing is believing!

Certifying as an Eight-Star Pharmacist was not as simple as creating a single Eighth Grade pill. It required the successful creation of five different kinds, and a single failure among them, despite four successes, would be deemed a failure!

Such stringent standards made Eight-Star Pharmacists exceedingly rare!

Otherwise, some Seven-Star Pharmacists could still manage to concoct one or two Eighth Grade pills. This was precisely why Seven-Star Pharmacists could afford to receive the respects of Creation Kings.

The concoction of Eighth Grade pills was incredibly complex, requiring at least ten days to half a month for a batch. Creating five different kinds would take at least two months. However, for entities at the Creation Realm, two months was merely a blink of an eye. Who couldn’t wait that long?

This was a critical moment to witness the birth of an Earth Pharmacist, and it could be an opportunity to curry favor with Zhou Heng—of course, provided that Zhou Heng succeeded.

Effortless connections like these naturally attracted everyone to get involved.

To ensure fairness and impartiality, the venue for Zhou Heng’s alchemy was set in the city square. A temporary high platform was constructed there, surrounded by plenty of space for spectators—laymen watching the excitement, experts discerning the technicalities.

However, for the experts, watching Zhou Heng perform alchemy was almost a distortion of their life’s views, whereas the laymen, ignorant as they were, would merely be shocked and move on.

Zhou Heng sighed. Although he didn’t want to disillusion so many pharmacists around him, he had no choice but to wreak havoc on their nerves.

Begin!

Zhou Heng stuffed the ingredients for the first pill wholesale into the Fire Divine Furnace, then pretended to stoke the fire, occasionally patting the furnace and muttering under his breath.

No one could hear what he was saying. Only he knew he was bickering with the Fire Divine Furnace.

Indeed, seeing Zhou Heng’s seemingly haphazard actions, all the pharmacists were dumbstricken, then utterly disheveled.

My God!

What’s he doing? Wasting materials?

The Martial Artists were merely puzzled for a moment, but the pharmacists, especially the Seven-Star Pharmacists, were going mad. Each of them had devoted tens of thousands of years to the Alchemy Dao and could concoct some Low-Tier Pills blindfolded.

None of them would haphazardly toss ingredients together even when making First Grade Pills!

Is this alchemy?

No, it’s "murdering" the materials!

The materials for an Eighth Grade pill, so rare, so precious, just wasted like that!

This is shameful!

Many of the Old Pharmacists were already fuming mad, their white beards trembling. If not for the regulations of the Pharmacists Association, they would have rushed forward to stop Zhou Heng from continuing his reckless actions, perhaps salvaging some medicinal properties from the ingredients at that juncture.

Moreover, if they intervened now and caused Zhou Heng’s alchemy to fail—though it was already a foregone conclusion—they would have the blame shifted onto them!

"How did this guy even certify as a Seven-Star Pharmacist?"

"Could it be that a Holy Pharmacist or Heavenly Pharmacist manipulated things from behind, creating a scandal?"

"It’s disgraceful to invite so many people to witness, only to end up with such a farce!"

"Hehe, someone’s definitely going to be held responsible for this!"

The audience was abuzz with discussion, no one believing that Zhou Heng could actually produce a pill with such a haphazard technique.

Zhou Heng heard everything clearly but was secretly amused. In another two or three minutes, he would shatter their views on life completely, making them think twice about mocking him!

Five minutes passed in a flash, and so miraculous was the Fire Divine Furnace that it had effortlessly produced an Eighth Grade pill.

Zhou Heng smacked the lid of the furnace, and pop, pop, pop, four pills shot out, each emitting heat and a glistening sheen.

Concocted, concocted!

Well, not really. It’s more accurate to say that he produced something!

Still, everyone watched in amazement. Could such haphazard meddling really produce something instead of just a pile of ash?

Many pharmacists had their views on life starting to twist, though not yet completely shattered. Zhou Heng still needed to put in more effort.

"Let some people come and verify these!" Zhou Heng nonchalantly placed the four pills onto a prepared silver tray and chucked the second batch of ingredients into the Fire Divine Furnace, "I’m in a hurry!"

Pff!

A few pharmacists started to cough up blood. Could this really work? Could this truly be possible?

Immediately, seven or eight pharmacists rushed to the stage; all were Seven Stars Pharmacists, as others lacked such qualifications. Those few clamored to examine the pills, and eventually, some had to share one pill between two people.

Hiss, tsk, ah, eh!

As they examined, they kept making tsk noises, making everyone else’s heart itch. Was it a successful alchemy or not? Speak up, don’t just keep tsking.

However, if Zhou Heng had indeed succeeded... His alchemy skills were utterly defying the natural order!

No wonder everyone said he was a reincarnation of the Medicine Venerate— who else could possess such abilities apart from that venerable elder?

"We need more people to evaluate!" Even before the first batch of pills was assessed, Zhou Heng had already crafted a second type of pill and casually tossed it into the silver tray.

Whoosh, another seven or eight pharmacists charged onto the stage.

They didn’t compare to the previous Seven Stars Pharmacists, but since those guys couldn’t keep up with Zhou Heng’s speed of pill-making, naturally, others had to step in.

Eh, ah, tsk, hiss!

This group of people also responded like the first batch of pharmacists, emitting various sounds of astonishment, their expressions immensely vivid.

The audience was nearly going mad. What was the verdict? Please, just say something!

"We need more people to evaluate!" Five minutes later, Zhou Heng repeated his statement.

Many pharmacists’ faces twitched, as they faintly guessed that the previous two batches of pills Zhou Heng crafted were successful. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have provoked such astonishment among those highly esteemed pharmacists—they would’ve just thrown them away!

—Identifying the authenticity was quite easy for those who constantly dealt with pills.

The life views of many pharmacists suddenly twisted to the point of breakdown. Such alchemy methods completely shattered their fixed views—this technique... Bloody hell, what kind of technique was this!

A reincarnation of the Medicine Venerate, absolutely!

A saint among Medicine Saints. If they could understand such techniques and learn them, could they still be called Medicine Venerate?

After finding such a reason, their shattered views on life finally stabilized again.

Twenty-five minutes later, Zhou Heng had finished crafting all five types of pills.

Zhou Heng was indeed in a hurry.

"This is indeed the Eighth Grade ’Bright Heart Pill, and every single one is top-grade!" At this point, the first batch of Seven Stars Pharmacists finally stopped their gasps and hisses and loudly announced to the crowd.

The entire venue erupted into uproar!

The success of one batch of pills didn’t mean Zhou Heng was a Eight Stars pharmacist, but seeing how "effortlessly" he did it, everyone could guess he was more than competent! Hence, the remaining four batches of pills must have been successful!

Eight Stars Pharmacist, Earth Pharmacist!

This was madness, the only Earth Pharmacist that had emerged in nearly three thousand years!

"This is the Eighth Grade ’Ancient River Pill,’ all top-grade; we dare to guarantee with our honor as Seven Stars Pharmacists!" A moment later, the second batch of pharmacists also announced excitedly.

Third batch, fourth batch, fifth batch—each group of pharmacists confirmed Zhou Heng’s pills as Eighth Grade Pills, and the quality was all top-grade!

The entire venue fell silent.

Zhou Heng advancing to an Eight Stars Pharmacist was already a huge miracle, but not only had he succeeded—he did so in such little time and all were top-grade, something even a Ten Stars Pharmacist couldn’t achieve!

A reincarnation of the Medicine Venerate, without a doubt!

—In fact, they hadn’t even considered the number of pills made. Usually, if the baseline for a batch of Eighth Grade Pills was five pills, being able to craft one or two was already impressive, but Zhou Heng consistently achieved "full capacity" with a one-hundred-percent pill success rate!

But Zhou Heng was already exceptional enough; missing this one halo didn’t lessen his brilliance in the slightest.

Once confirmed definitively, everyone’s view of Zhou Heng changed.

Eight Stars Pharmacist!

Just as only those in the Creation Realm were the true masters of this world, starting from an Earth Pharmacist did pharmacists truly attain a status that called for universal response. Why did the unique title only start from Eight Stars Pharmacists? Exactly because of this reason!

With a throng of followers, Zhou Heng returned to the Pharmacists Association, and those Eighth Grade pills naturally returned to Zhou Heng—since he had already paid for the materials. But could the material costs compare to the value of the finished pills?

Zhou Heng instantly sold these pills to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, and after selling the about fifteen hundred Fifth Grade pills he had earlier, he earned an income exceeding ten million Upper Grade Immortal Stones.

Of course, even at this level, the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion couldn’t produce ten million Upper Grade Immortal Stones in one go. They gave Zhou Heng a Purple Gold Card, which allowed him to spend at any Heavenly Treasure Pavilion branch, slowly deducting the amount.

Zhou Heng didn’t mind; for him, making money was just too easy now.

"Master Zhou, this is a token of appreciation from the Han Family, please accept it!" Zhou Heng was now incredibly busy; people seeking an audience with him were a constant, and he could not turn them away, only meeting each in turn. Fortunately, every visitor brought substantial gifts, effectively settling accounts.

The status of an Earth Pharmacist was significant—the local Pharmacists Association could issue a plaque, but it had to first be reported to the headquarters, and this process would not be swift. Thus, Zhou Heng had to stay here for a while.

Zhou Heng was stunned; the gift presented by this person was shockingly valuable, especially a two-foot-long Snow Jade Ginseng.

This could increase a Martial Artist’s lifespan by twenty thousand years, and for pharmacists, it was even more precious since pharmacists didn’t have very high cultivation levels and their natural lifespan wasn’t long—they could only rely on these Heavenly and Earthly Treasures to extend their lives.

"How should I address you?" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)