Martial Peak

Translator: Silavin & Tia

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

With Ji Ying's insight, it was easy for him to tell that Xia Ning Chang was only in the Third-Order Origin King Realm, but even so, Xia Ning Chang was taking out Origin King Grade herbs. Her actions indicated that she was going to refine an Origin King Grade Spirit Pill, which was probably the limit for a cultivator from a Lower Star Field.

In other words, Yang Kai's Wife was an Origin King Rank Alchemist.

[Perhaps… I can look forward to this a bit.] Ji Ying secretly nodded to himself and silently began paying attention.

In the meantime, Xia Ning Chang gently picked up one of the herbs, and at that moment, the aura around her changed drastically and became extremely focused. It was as though the only thing left in the world was the herb in front of her right now and nothing else.

Alchemy required incredible concentration, and one could not become easily disturbed or distracted. That was an essential quality for every Alchemist.

Seeing this, Ji Ying nodded to himself again. Regardless of her Alchemy aptitude, her performance alone would deserve some merit.

In the next moment though, Ji Ying's brow furrowed deeply because Xia Ning Chang was controlling her Saint Qi to wrap around the herbs in her hand directly. Furthermore, her Saint Qi did not remain constant and instead fluctuated freely. Both the amount and the strength of her Saint Qi constantly increased and decreased without a fixed pattern.

Under the influence of these fluctuations, an emerald aura soon seeped out of the herb and a clear medicinal liquid began to condense.

[She is not using an Alchemy Furnace!?] A strange look flashed across Ji Ying's eyes. An excellent Alchemist did not need to use an Alchemy Furnace when refining Spirit Pills they were very familiar with. They could simply refine it in the air. Nevertheless, that process required the skill of the Alchemist to be extremely high. Moreover, the Spirit Pill they were refining could not be of too high of a grade.

For example, an Emperor Alchemist like him did not need to use an Alchemy Furnace when refining a Dao Source Grade Spirit Pill. Be that as it may, the quality and number of those pills would be affected even if he could complete the refinement successfully.

An Alchemy Furnace was the life of an Alchemist. Those weren't just empty words. Regardless of how good or bad the Alchemy Furnace was, it was the most essential tool necessary to assist an Alchemist in refining.

Xia Ning Chang was in the Origin King Realm; therefore, refining an Origin King Grade Spirit Pill was her limit in the first place, and yet, she was going to refine the pill in the air without the help of an Alchemy Furnace. That made Ji Ying a little unhappy. Even if she wanted to show off a thing or two in front of him, she should not go overboard. This wasn't a good mindset to have as an Alchemist. She was sacrificing substance for style, a mentality that would limit her future prospects.

If it had been anybody else, Ji Ying would have reprimanded them for their actions already. He only managed to stop himself from doing so at the thought that this young lady was Yang Kai's wife. Unfortunately, the hope he previously had for her vanished.

In the next moment though, he was again stunned. That was because he sensed that her Saint Qi was not of the Fire Attribute. [What is she doing!? It's bad enough she is refining without an Alchemy Furnace, but now, she isn't even going to use a fire!? How is she going to perform Alchemy!? Does she take Alchemy for a children's game that she can fool around with!?]

Unable to take it anymore, he turned to look at Yang Kai.

But contrary to expectations, Yang Kai was smiling and he meaningfully said, "Just watch, Brother Ji. You will come to understand later."

Ji Ying frowned, but he had no choice but to let nature run its course while pondering how he could refuse Yang Kai's previous proposal without wounding the latter's pride or the friendship between them. [This is very difficult. If Yang Kai had brought anybody else, I could have rejected the request outright, but this woman is his wife! If I handle this poorly, it might form a rift between us!]

Meanwhile, Xia Ning Chang's Saint Qi surged and the herb which was tumbling before her gradually began to shrivel up as a pearl-sized emerald green liquid sphere was extracted from it.

Ji Ying's abruptly eyes widened in shock as he exclaimed out loud, "How is this possible!?"

The first step in refining Spirit Pills was to condense medicinal liquid from the required Spirit Herbs. Generally, an Alchemist would use an Alchemy Furnace and intense flames to do so; however, Yang Kai's wife used neither. Even so, she magically managed to condense the medicinal liquid of that herb.

He turned to look at Yang Kai in shock only to see that Yang Kai's expression was indifferent, as though he had expected this outcome.

[What is going on? How did Young Lady Xia manage to condense the medicinal liquid without the help of an Alchemy Furnace or any kind of fire at all!?] Unable to believe his eyes, Ji Ying silently spread out his Divine Sense only to have his eyes widen again.

This was indeed medicinal liquid, and moreover… it was extremely pure! The pearl-sized green medicinal liquid drop did not contain any impurities whatsoever. It was pure and flawless. Plus, the medicinal properties were extremely well preserved without any hint of damage. The shock to his heart was extraordinary as he felt as though what he just saw overturned his lifetime of knowledge and experience.

With his current skills, Ji Ying could achieve the same results as Xia Ning Chang with the same Origin King Grade herb; however, he would need to use an Alchemy Furnace and an appropriate flame to achieve that. Moreover, he was an Emperor Alchemist while Xia Ning Chang was only an Origin King Rank Alchemist. The gap between those two was so wide that they were simply incomparable.

Ji Ying never imagined that an Origin King Rank Alchemist could condense medicinal liquid to the extent where it was above their limit. At the very least, he couldn't have achieved this when he was an Origin King Rank Alchemist himself.

The purity of the medicinal liquid directly affected the quality of the Spirit Pill that was produced. The higher the purity and quality of the medicinal liquid, the smoother the subsequent refining process would become and the better the end result would be. In this step, Xia Ning Chang had undoubtedly reached a state of perfection.

Ji Ying glanced at the withered Origin King Grade herb in her hand next and determined that all the medicinal efficacies contained in it had been fully extracted without any wastage.

It was already amazing how she could condense such a pure medicinal liquid without the help of an Alchemy Furnace or any kind of flame, but she was even able to extract every last bit of medicinal efficacy from the Spirit Herb she was working with. It could be said that Ji Ying had never met an Alchemist like Xia Ning Chang before. Even those disciples under him that he had great expectations for could not compare to her. If he were to score her on this stage of Alchemy, and 10 was a perfect score, then he would give her 9 points, deducting one point solely out of fear that she would become overconfident.

He could not figure out how she managed to achieve this simply because it went against everything that he knew. Calming himself down, he continued to watch her. The rest of the herbs were being condensed into individual balls of medicinal liquid now, and it did not take long before she completely condensed all of the medicinal liquids necessary.

Ji Ying was amazed at her achievements. Furthermore, he realized that the first time she condensed such pure medicinal liquid had not been a lucky accident. That was because all the medicinal efficacies of the other herbs she processed had been condensed completely without the slightest trace of wastage.

The dissatisfaction and contempt in his heart had vanished and he now focused all his attention on Xia Ning Chang's movements without moving. Ji Ying was afraid he might miss out on some of the finer details of her methods. Even if he couldn't quite figure out how she managed to achieve this, the visual and sensory impact was still incredibly pleasurable to watch as a Senior Alchemist.

After condensing the medicinal liquids, it was time to portray Spirit Arrays to temper and merge them together. Thus, Ji Ying thought to himself, [At this point, she should be taking out her Alchemy Furnace, right? That performance just now was enough to prove her ability.]

But contrary to his expectations, Xia Ning Chang continued without taking out her Alchemy Furnace. She simply spread out her hands slightly and wrapped the pearl-sized medicinal liquid drops with Saint Qi, suspending them between her palms. When her Saint Qi churned again, those balls of medicinal liquid began to dance quickly. They spun around a point in space that acted as the centre without stopping while her palms acted as the boundaries. During this process, the droplets merged and blended over and over again until something strange happened.

At this point, Ji Ying was completely speechless. All he could understand was that the way Yang Kai's wife refined Spirit Pills was completely different from any form of Alchemy that he knew. It was far beyond what he could even imagine. Using his Divine Sense to observe the changes in the medicinal liquid, the expressions on his face constantly shifted from astonishment, to shock, to amazement… all sorts of expressions flashed across his face.

A quarter of an hour quickly passed by when the blended medicinal liquid that had been rotating between Xia Ning Chang's palms suddenly slowed down. With Ji Ying's perception, he could clearly tell that all the different medicinal liquids had been completely fused with one another without any kind of incompatibility or waste.

Holding the semi-finished pill in one hand, Xia Ning Chang suddenly knit her brow and pondered something for a moment, after which she suddenly changed the array that she had been using with her free hand and pushed her Saint Qi in a pulsing manner.

"This is…" Ji Ying stood up abruptly as the Alchemy Technique she was currently using was none other than his newly developed Pill Condensing Technique! He had discussed the technique with Yang Kai over the past five days and used it to refine roughly twenty Spirit Pills, but that was all. He couldn't believe she learned his new technique completely just by watching them for five days! Not only did she learn it, but was even able to apply what she learned immediately!

Ji Ying became more and more excited as he instinctively realized he had stumbled upon a hidden gem.

Her excellent and unique Alchemy skills could be explained away as having been acquired through great amounts of practical experience; after all, Xia Ning Cheng had indeed been practising the Alchemic Dao for a long time. However, learning Ji Ying's new Pill Condensing Technique in just five days and applying it now proved that her comprehension and aptitude had reached an astonishing, near Heaven-defying height.

Naturally, Ji Ying could tell that the Pill Condensing Technique she was using was not perfect. There were some flaws in the execution, and some parts were rather stiff compared to when he was using it, but those small flaws did not obscure the brilliance of this feat. She had simply been watching from the side for five days, and he didn't even teach her anything about this technique, but despite that, she was capable of executing it to a practical extent. If she was this good when she was simply observing, how much more would she improve if he actually taught her himself? Compared to her, the disciples he had high hopes for weren't worth anything!

Upon executing the final portion of the Alchemy Technique, the medicinal liquid in Xia Ning Chang's hands split into seven orbs. Those seven balls of medicinal liquid spun continuously, gradually solidifying and drying.

Once the dust had settled, there were seven round, snow-white pills rolling around in her palm.

"Please have a look, Grandmaster." She said softly as she placed the seven Spirit Pills on the table and retreated behind Yang Kai.

Ji Ying immediately widened his eyes at the sight. Grabbing the seven Spirit Pills, he studied them carefully.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai had been observing Ji Ying's expressions the entire time, so how could he not notice the changes in the latter's demeanour? Lifting his gaze, he smiled and winked at Xia Ning Chang, signalling that she had done well.

"Pill Veins!" Ji Ying exclaimed. Two out of the seven pills actually formed Pill Veins! This was such an amazing ratio that even he felt dazed with shock for a moment.