Nangong Yi listened, with a look of watching a good show, and quickly made arrangements.
These alchemists were usually very arrogant, especially Gu Yan, who basically ignored him when he spoke. Now that Gu Yan looked down on Ye Bufan, Nangong Yi was secretly happy. He hoped that this Gu Yan would hit a wall and have his arrogance curbed.
Soon, the materials for the Hu Mai Dan were delivered to Ye Bufan.
"Please, Master Ye," Gu Yan said to Ye Bufan in a sarcastic tone, emphasizing the word "master" with his voice.
Gu Yan's two assistants carried out the alchemy furnace, intending for Ye Bufan to refine pills in full view of everyone. This way, if Ye Bufan failed, Gu Yan could publicly humiliate him.
Ye Bufan glanced at Gu Yan casually, extended his palm, and the Zi You Leng Huo (Purple Nether Cold Fire) leaped out from his palm.
Under Ye Bufan's control, the Zi You Leng Huo entered the alchemy furnace.
Upon seeing Ye Bufan's Zi You Leng Huo, Gu Yan's eyes narrowed, and subconsciously, his whole body trembled, giving him a bad feeling.
Ye Bufan turned to look at Gu Yan, smiled slightly, and used his suction palm to throw all the medicinal ingredients into the alchemy furnace.
"Hmph hmph—"
Gu Yan let out a cold laugh upon seeing Ye Bufan's actions.
"You claim to know alchemy, but you've revealed yourself. Throwing all the ingredients in at once will not only destroy the medicinal properties of the ingredients but also result in a pill with less than half of its original efficacy." Gu Yan immediately became confident and began to educate the Nangong family members present on the difficulties of alchemy, with mockery towards Ye Bufan in his words.
Ye Bufan ignored Gu Yan, while Nangong Yi stared intently at Ye Bufan's operation.
"Ch—"
Inside the alchemy furnace, Ye Bufan's Zi You Leng Huo instantly burned the medicinal ingredients into powder, and he used his mental power to separate and store the concentrated ingredients.
"Condense!"
Ye Bufan's true qi was injected into the alchemy furnace. Under Ye Bufan's control, the various medicinal powders, according to different sequences and dosages, slowly fused together under the embrace of the Zi You Leng Huo.
A medicinal fragrance wafted out of the alchemy furnace, its aroma pleasing and slightly resembling the scent of osmanthus.
Gu Yan, who had been full of disdain, immediately retracted his arrogance as the medicinal fragrance emanated from the furnace, his brows furrowed into a character resembling a "river."
Half a minute later, Ye Bufan slammed open the lid of the alchemy furnace and used his suction palm to retrieve the pills from a distance.
"One, two, three, four, five." Nangong Yi counted from the side. Ye Bufan had refined five Hu Mai Pills in this batch.
The five Hu Mai Pills fell into Ye Bufan's hand. Ye Bufan cooled them with his true qi and placed them into Nangong Yi's hand.
"Master Gu Yan, would you like to come and appraise them?" Nangong Yi said with a playful grin, actually giving Gu Yan a chance to concede and save face.
But Gu Yan snorted coldly upon seeing this and said, "Hmph! All flash and no substance. Based on his action of throwing all the ingredients into the alchemy furnace at once, I consider this pill to be substandard."
"Is that so? Whether a pill is up to standard is not something you can determine by just observing someone's refining process. There are countless methods of alchemy in this world; yours is not the only orthodox way." Ye Bufan snorted coldly. "Whether it's up to standard or not, you'll know with a taste."
Regardless of whether Gu Yan came over, Ye Bufan clapped the pills from Nangong Yi's hand and pushed them towards Gu Yan.
The pills flew through the air, and Gu Yan instinctively caught them. As soon as the Hu Mai Pills were in his hand, they felt cool.
"Hiss—"
Gu Yan looked at the Hu Mai Pills in his hand with disbelief, then at Ye Bufan. The certainty he had felt moments ago instantly shattered, and he even began to doubt himself.
The pills, freshly refined, were not hot at all, and in fact felt somewhat cool.
This phenomenon was recorded in ancient texts on alchemy, indicating that only a perfect pill of superior quality, refined using a long-lost ancient alchemy technique, would not be hot upon removal from the furnace.
"No... this is impossible." Gu Yan looked at the pills in his hand, falling into self-doubt.
Nangong Yi looked at Ye Bufan in confusion, but Ye Bufan merely shrugged and smiled, not offering an explanation.
"Brother Nangong, let's go," Ye Bufan said to Nangong Yi.
"Ah..." Nangong Yi was unsure of what was happening. He glanced at Gu Yan again, who was staring at the pills, frozen in place with no reaction.
Ye Bufan turned and walked out. Nangong Yi immediately followed.
"Master, please wait."
By the time Gu Yan reacted, Ye Bufan had already left the shop with Nangong Yi. Gu Yan quickly chased after them.
"Gu Yan was blind and did not recognize true talent. I beg Master Ye for forgiveness." Gu Yan clasped his fists with both hands and knelt directly before Ye Bufan.
Nangong Yi could hardly believe his eyes. Gu Yan, such an arrogant person who had just been taunting Ye Bufan, was now kneeling before him after such a short time?
"Mister's alchemy skills are extraordinary. Within ten minutes, he can refine a batch of perfect quality Hu Mai Pills. I am ashamed of my inferiority to such a masterful skill."
Seeing that Ye Bufan remained silent, Gu Yan continued to apologize to him, "I hope Mister can overlook my transgressions."
Ye Bufan waved his hand and said, "Alchemy cannot be done rigidly by only following the book; flexibility is also needed."
Gu Yan nodded heavily, bowed sincerely to Ye Bufan, and said, "I, Gu Yan, have the audacity to request Master Ye's guidance."
Ye Bufan looked up at Gu Yan, then at Nangong Yi, and said, "Alright, I'll do you this favor. The dosage in alchemy relies on a certain feel. Besides dosage, you also had issues with heat control."
"Give me a piece of paper and a pen," Ye Bufan said.
Gu Yan did not dare to delay and hurried into the room, fetching a notebook and pen to hand to Ye Bufan.
Ye Bufan took the pen and notebook and modified the formula for the Hu Mai Dan and the refining sequence, and roughly outlined the heat control before handing it to Gu Yan.
Gu Yan took it, looked at the contents of the notebook, and tears welled up in his eyes.
"I've been practicing alchemy for so many years, and it was all in vain. So this is it, so this is it!" With that, Gu Yan thanked Ye Bufan and rushed back to the alchemy room to refine again.
After Ye Bufan and Nangong Yi left, half an hour later, Nangong Yi received a call from Gu Yan. On the phone, Gu Yan had successfully refined the Hu Mai Dan and asked Nangong Yi to thank Ye Bufan on his behalf. He even inquired if Ye Bufan could provide further guidance when he had time.
"Amazing. Brother Ye," Nangong Yi gave Ye Bufan a thumbs-up. "Gu Yan, who has always been proud and never admired anyone, could now hold you in such high regard."
Ye Bufan narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Doesn't this fit your intentions perfectly?"