Chapter 309: Fake Dan

"Dan yao!"

"This is... Chi Jin Dan?!"

Everyone stared at the golden dan yao in Xu Xiaoshou's hand, completely stunned.

That enormous explosion from the furnace had even blasted Yun He unconscious on the spot, and you're telling me this was all part of the normal refining process?

Fine, say what you will.

But then, you actually pulled a dan yao out of the furnace slag?

Shi Ti stood there like a wooden chicken.

He gazed obsessively at the dan yao in Xu Xiaoshou's hand, then looked up at the young man's face.

"Are you messing with me?"

"I'm not. This really was just refined." Xu Xiaoshou said with a serious expression, "I told you, everything just now was the normal refining process."

Shi Ti took the dan yao and sniffed it instinctively.

Even without that, just feeling its warmth and smelling the fresh aroma of a newly made pill, he could tell.

This was genuinely a dan yao that had just come out of the furnace.

Xu Xiaoshou wasn't lying!

But...

He raised his head in a daze and scanned the crowd around him.

Had his only outburst of swearing in decades been misplaced?

If he admitted it now, what was the point of his earlier anger? Where would he, as the guild master, save face?

This one dan yao felt more like a resounding slap across the face of his furious former self!

Shi Ti winced.

Once again, he thought of that letter from Old Sang...

"Tolerance is a virtue."

"Generosity is a form of character."

"Cough, cough!" Shi Ti suddenly clutched his chest and coughed violently.

Everyone watched as the guild master doubled over.

They glanced at the dan yao in his hand.

At first, no one believed it—even those like Shi Ti, who had the ability to appraise pills, didn't believe it.

But wasn't the guild master's reaction proof enough?

"This is really a freshly made dan yao?" Fu Yin Hong hesitated completely as she stepped forward and took the Chi Jin Dan from the guild master's hand.

It was warm and truly aromatic.

She felt as if her soul had been struck hard.

"How is this possible?"

Could someone really achieve this in the midst of an explosion...

Fu Yin Hong suddenly realized that from the beginning, no one had believed Xu Xiaoshou.

Yet his words,

which had sounded so outrageous at the time, now seemed entirely truthful upon reflection!

"This dan yao—was it really refined through the normal process?"

Xu Xiaoshou gave a bitter laugh: "If there's a non-normal way, why don't you teach me?"

Everyone fell silent.

After a long while, the grand hall finally erupted in an uproar.

"How is this possible? I, Old Deng, absolutely don't believe it. This Chi Jin Dan must have been pulled from a ring!"

"How do you explain the aroma and the warmth... How would you simulate that?!"

"Heating it up— just use fire-type ling yuan to warm it in an instant."

"What about the aroma? Didn't you notice that faint burnt scent hidden in the dan yao's fragrance?"

"Where is it?"

"No need to smell it now—it's gone. That's only detectable right after it's made. If your cultivation isn't high enough, you won't catch it, but true top-tier alchemists can."

"Are you implying I'm not up to par?"

"Don't believe me? Ask the guild master then!"

Everyone turned their eyes back to Shi Ti once more.

Shi Ti was still hunched over, lost in endless contemplation.

The Chi Jin Dan was real...

So what about his roaring, his alchemy room, his Dan Tower...

What was the meaning of all that?

"What have I done, and what should I do?"

Shi Ti felt his mind go blank. He had been so angry.

But when anger reached its peak and he was about to vent it, someone dumped a bucket of cold water on him, leaving him chilled to the bone, body and soul.

"Sigh."

The group of elders watched Shi Ti's dejected face and couldn't help but sigh.

This blow was a bit too much.

"What about Old Yun!"

"Wait for him to wake up and ask?"

Someone suggested.

This Chi Jin Dan, even if it was authentic, needed a witness to confirm.

And the witness was currently covered in blood.

Shi Ti's body trembled at the words, his eyes regained their light, and with a gentle touch, Yun He trembled his eyelids and woke up.

"What... did you see?"

The guild master asked with a trembling voice.

He wanted a negative answer from Yun He, something to justify venting his anger and kicking this young man out of the Dan Tower.

Yun He looked at Shi Ti, then suddenly turned back to Xu Xiaoshou, his outstretched finger shaking.

"He..."

"Cheating, right?" Someone nearby leaned in and added eagerly.

"No!"

Yun He struggled up from the supporting hands, his face full of excitement: "The technique! I've never seen such a divine alchemy technique!"

Shi Ti's face turned pale.

Yun He was shouting and jumping around, completely losing his composure.

"This guy's extraction of the medicinal liquid was too fast."

"That technique was terrifying—I'd never seen anything like it. It was like stir-frying vegetables; just a few flips and the dan yao was done."

"And that spirit-gathering reflux technique... 'Collecting the juice'—you described it perfectly, little brother. It was exactly like collecting juice for real!"

"This was such a bold experiment—under precise control of the heat, using the reflux technique to gather the medicinal properties. It's a stroke of genius!"

"And that method of forming the pill—if I'm not mistaken..."

"Yun He!" Shi Ti shouted loudly.

His face was already ashen beyond words.

I woke you up to testify, and here you are, spouting all this nonsense—what's the point?

Stir-frying? Collecting juice?

Do you have any dignity left?

This is alchemy, not cooking!

"Get a hold of yourself!" Shi Ti roared.

Yun He snapped out of his excitement and saw everyone's expressions, as if they were looking at a fool. He wanted to cry but had no tears.

Once upon a time, he had worn that same expression while watching the young man refine pills.

But facts proved it all wrong—they had been trapped by their own preconceptions.

This Xu Xiaoshou really had something special!

"I'm only asking you..." Shi Ti took a deep breath, his lips trembling as he said, "Was this dan yao just refined by Xu Xiaoshou?"

Yun He glanced at the young man standing quietly to the side.

The latter shrugged indifferently, as if he didn't care what was said.

"Guild Master, you've really misunderstood him."

"This guy might be reckless and even blew me up pretty badly, but to be honest, regarding his path in alchemy..."

Yun He said, his eyes burning with fervor, "I fully endorse it!"

Everyone was shocked by Yun He's firm tone. What kind of skill could make someone who had nearly died moments ago wake up and defend the perpetrator so vehemently?

Shi Ti was stunned too.

He lowered his head, looking at the dan yao, and closed his eyes deeply.

"If anyone still needs confirmation..."

Yun He scanned the crowd and stated firmly, "This dan yao was indeed refined by Xu Xiaoshou just now!"