Chapter 2053 — Too Simple!

"Mm-hm, mm-hm! Jingjing's family says Jingjing's a genius too, but it depends who you compare her to. Next to Wei Zhao-gege, Jingjing's no genius at all!" Han Jingyi said. "So I've made up my mind—from now on I'm going to stick close to Wei Zhao-gege. That way Jingjing will be influenced by Wei Zhao-gege and turn into a genius too!"

"Jingjing, why don't you try condensing a Yellow-rank second-grade alchemical flame and see whether you can handle it with ease?" Wei Zhao said.

"Yellow-rank second-grade? Jingjing hasn't studied that yet. Before, Jingjing's level was only enough to condense a Yellow-rank first-grade alchemical flame, and I never worked out or revised the condensing formula for Yellow-rank second-grade, so it might not work..." Han Jingyi said, a little worried.

"Give it a try," Wei Zhao said.

"Mm, then Jingjing will give it a try!" Han Jingyi nodded. She found the condensing formula and control method for the Yellow-rank second-grade alchemical flame on her tablet, silently recited them a few times until she had them memorized, then stretched out her hand and began to try...

One minute, two minutes, three minutes... five minutes... ten minutes. Just as Wei Zhao was about to give up, an alchemical flame appeared in Han Jingyi's hand—a Yellow-rank second-grade alchemical flame!

At a glance, Wei Zhao could tell that the flame in Han Jingyi's hand was a Yellow-rank second-grade alchemical flame!

Because Wei Zhao could condense one as well. Following the method for condensing alchemical flames left behind by Zhang Liju, Wei Zhao could even condense a Mystic-rank first-grade flame—but it was of no use whatsoever. Condensing it was possible; controlling it was not.

Whether Wei Zhao tried to change the temperature or the intensity of the fire, the flame would simply snuff out. So if you wanted to talk about genius, Wei Zhao really was rather gifted—but if the flame wouldn't hold, it was all for nothing.

"Can you change the intensity and the temperature?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Jingjing will try!" Han Jingyi said, and began to alter the intensity of the flame in her hand, from small to large, then from large to small!

The temperature too—from low to high, then from high to low...

Wei Zhao looked at Han Jingyi before him and was overcome with feeling. He truly wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her. What kind of genius was this, that she could even manage this?

"Good, very good. Keep going, let's see how long you can hold out!" Wei Zhao could not help but praise her.

Han Jingyi nodded, but after only about half an hour, her complexion visibly began to deteriorate, and the beads of sweat on her forehead grew more and more numerous!

"Wei Zhao-gege, is this enough? Jingjing can't hold on much longer..." Han Jingyi finally reached her limit. It seemed that condensing an alchemical flame truly was an extremely draining affair!

Especially when changing the flame's temperature and intensity—that drained even more energy. Although Han Jingyi was already an expert at the peak of the late Mystic rank, even this short while had left her utterly exhausted and drenched in sweat!

"All right, stop now!" Seeing how worn out Han Jingyi looked, Wei Zhao sighed inwardly.

Genius though she was, Han Jingyi could not make up for what she lacked in rank. No wonder Bingtang had once said that alchemists were so scarce, and that even an alchemist with Yellow-rank third-grade strength might not be able to refine a Yellow-rank third-grade pill!

Even if you could condense and control a Yellow-rank third-grade alchemical flame, without the stamina to sustain it, you still could not refine pills!

Han Jingyi was already an expert at the peak of the late Mystic rank, yet she still could not sustain a Yellow-rank second-grade alchemical flame for long. With her current stamina, she could at most sustain the refining of a single furnace of Yellow-rank second-grade pills. Half an hour was not short, but it was certainly not long either!

Of course, refining Yellow-rank first-grade pills should pose no great problem now. With Han Jingyi's current strength, she ought to be able to refine several furnaces.

"Phew... Wei Zhao-gege, Jingjing's really useless. I'm already an expert at the peak of the late Mystic rank, and I could only last half an hour with a Yellow-rank second-grade alchemical flame..." Han Jingyi looked at Wei Zhao, her face full of shame.

"That's already remarkable. Your very first time condensing a Yellow-rank second-grade flame, you succeeded, and you could even control it at will—that already puts you far, far above most people!" Wei Zhao gave a wry smile and said with some shame, "It even puts you above me!"

"How could Jingjing compare to Wei Zhao-gege? Don't say that, Wei Zhao-gege—Jingjing will get conceited!" Han Jingyi rubbed her hands, a little embarrassed, her eyes crinkling with delight, two little dimples on her pretty face, like a happy little kitten.

"I've heard that to refine second-grade pills, an alchemist must be at least Earth rank, and to refine third-grade pills, one must be a Heaven-rank expert to sustain it. So for you to control a second-grade flame at will for a full half hour, at the peak of the late Mystic rank!" Wei Zhao said. "That's already a remarkable achievement—that time is enough to refine a furnace of pills!"

"Really? Then it looks like Jingjing isn't so dumb after all..." Han Jingyi said. "But Wei Zhao-gege, the way Jingjing sees it, only lasting half an hour this time has to do with the condensing formula. That formula is simply too complicated—it sends true qi through several acupoints and meridians in the body, and that surely wastes a lot of time and energy. If the condensing formula could be simplified, I'm afraid it could be stretched out by another ten minutes or so..."

"Jingjing, don't practice with that cultivation method I gave you before. Take a look at this one!" Wei Zhao said, and brought out Zhang Liju's notebook of an alchemist's reflections, flipping to the page with the cultivation method formula. "Copy down these formulas, and the condensing methods for the other elemental flames as well. Take them home and study them—this one is much simpler than the formula you have!"

"Ah! This... this is so simple!" Han Jingyi stared in astonishment at the fire-element first-grade alchemical flame condensation method written in the alchemist's notebook Wei Zhao had given her, and exclaimed, "Did Wei Zhao-gege work this out and improve it himself? It's simpler than Jingjing's. Wei Zhao-gege really is more formidable than Jingjing!"

"Uh... I didn't work this out. Someone else did." Wei Zhao had no wish to deceive Han Jingyi. Though he felt a little embarrassed, he also disliked bragging to his friends.

"Then for something this formidable to end up in Wei Zhao-gege's hands, that's proof enough of Wei Zhao-gege's extraordinary-ness!" Han Jingyi said, still full of admiration.

"..." Wei Zhao said nothing, but inwardly he thought: is this little genius girl truly naive or just pretending? Every word out of her mouth somehow managed to satisfy his pride...

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