Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 1004: Chapter 548: Acknowledging a Master_2

”How long has it been, just how many questions did the Artifact Spirit give Master Li?” Master Guang Nian asked in disbelief.

He certainly understood how much time had passed; being a Venerable meant an acute sensitivity to time.

He was merely astonished that the exchange between Li Shiming and the Artifact Spirit had been so brief. Under normal circumstances, the Artifact Spirit would pose no more than a dozen questions in such a duration.

”I wonder how many questions there were in total? Could it be that Master Li has truly gained recognition from the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod?” exclaimed another Alchemy Master.

No cultivator knows how many questions the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod’s Artifact Spirit in total posed. It is only known that the most any Alchemy Master has answered is thirty-six before they could no longer proceed.

But in this brief amount of time, how could Li Shiming answer thirty-six questions, let alone gain recognition from the Artifact Spirit?

”Master Yu, could it be that the Artifact Spirit went easy on him?” Master Jiang Hong asked Master Yu.

Master Yu was also in a daze; initially, he merely acknowledged Li Shiming’s level in alchemy and brought him here for exchange.

Who would have thought that Li Shiming would immediately gain recognition from the awe-inspiring Tai Chu Treasure Tripod of the Taichu Sect, which draws in Alchemy Masters, and he still hasn’t come back to his senses.

As for the Artifact Spirit going easy, that’s simply impossible. The Artifact Spirit is incredibly stringent, with a temperament extremely peculiar; no Alchemy Master has ever experienced different treatment.

The questions of the Artifact Spirit seem to be ever-increasing and must be answered within a set time; failure to do so equates to failure.

Every Alchemy Master can only face the Artifact Spirit’s test once every ten years.

Li Shiming was currently engaged in mental communication with the Artifact Spirit, subduing it with his knowledge.

No matter how profound the questions posed by the Artifact Spirit, before the innate treasure IBMz15, these can be answered in just a few breaths.

Once subdued, the Artifact Spirit willingly opened itself, allowing Li Shiming’s Divine Sense to imprint his spiritual mark inside the Artifact Spirit’s body.

After Li Shiming gained recognition from the Artifact Spirit, a vast influx of information surged from the Artifact Spirit, all reserved alchemical knowledge from the Artifact Spirit.

The Tai Chu Treasure Tripod’s Artifact Spirit is exceedingly unique. Initially, when the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod was crafted, its high quality was beneficial to enhancing the quality of alchemy, so it was jointly used by the top three Alchemy Masters of the Taicu Sect at the time.

The three Alchemy Masters utilized the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod for nearly a millennium, followed by many more Alchemy Masters.

During this time, the Artifact Spirit continually absorbed the alchemical knowledge of these Alchemy Masters, growing steadily until one day, it surpassed its owner’s theoretical level.

After this owner’s demise, other Alchemy Masters attempted to refine the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod but failed to gain recognition from the Artifact Spirit.

The Artifact Spirit doesn’t wish for its owner to have a weaker theoretical level than itself and is exceptionally stubborn.

Although the Artifact Spirit lacked an owner, its learning didn’t cease, continually reinforcing its acquired knowledge, expanding its alchemical database further.

The more this occurred, the lower the likelihood of passing the Artifact Spirit’s test.

If Li Shiming hadn’t appeared, even after a few thousand more years, the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod might not have found recognition until the Artifact Spirit’s energy was completely consumed and ceased to exist.

With a wave of his hand, Li Shiming had the brilliant Tai Chu Treasure Tripod transform into a small, delicate Pill Furnace that settled into his palm.

”Congratulations to Master Li for obtaining this treasure tripod!” Master Guang Nian laughed heartily, clasping his hands together in salute.

The expressions among the other Alchemy Masters varied but they all conveyed their congratulations. Regardless, Li Shiming’s recognition of the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod indicated his absolute superiority in alchemical theory.

Master Jiang Hong appeared somewhat embarrassed, having previously stated that Li Shiming could only pass at most ten levels, only to be proven wrong so swiftly.

”Master Yu, since I’ve refined the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod, is there any issue?” Li Shiming inquired of Master Yu after returning his salutations to the Alchemy Masters.

”Master Li, rest assured, the matter of the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod has been passed down for millennia. The Taichu Sect will only extend congratulations for your successful recognition; the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod is now yours, Master Li!” Master Yu raised no objection.

To voice any grievance would be to tarnish the Taichu Sect’s reputation.

”Master Li, how many questions did the Artifact Spirit pose?” Master Guang Nian inquired at this moment.

As he asked, all the Alchemy Masters turned their attention to Li Shiming, equally curious.

Everyone wanted to know the gap between themselves and the passing standard.

”There were a hundred questions in total!” Li Shiming thought for a moment before responding.

The nine Alchemy Masters collectively drew a sharp breath; a hundred questions, all answered in such a brief span!

The most any of them had managed was twenty questions, with the historical maximum being thirty-six. The path to passing seemed infinitely distant.

They looked at Li Shiming differently now, wondering if their gap in alchemical theory was truly so vast?

In the moments that followed, Li Shiming became the focus of the gathering, engaging with every Alchemy Master present.

In particular, Master Jiang Hong and Master Xie Lang, fellow Alchemy Masters from the Ten Thousand Beast Sect, continually posed various questions to stump Li Shiming, hoping to see him unable to answer and thus humiliated.

Li Shiming responded to each Alchemy Master’s inquiry with a smile, his replies measured and avoiding overly profound depths.

Unlike his interaction with the Artifact Spirit, fully answering the Alchemy Masters’ questions would effectively be divulging part of his own alchemy legacy.

The vast alchemical knowledge of the Artifact Spirit originates not only from the initial owners but through accumulated answers from Alchemy Masters over repeated questions.

To tackle the Artifact Spirit’s queries, the Alchemy Masters pulled out all the stops, revealing even some alchemical Secret Techniques during their responses.

Even so, Li Shiming’s answers enlightened the Alchemy Masters to the extent of his alchemical theoretical prowess.

After the gathering concluded, Li Shiming returned to his temporary abode with the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod.

Sitting in the room with the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod before him, he introduced the Red Sun Spirit Fire into the tripod.

Preparing to experience alchemy with this ultimate Fourth-grade Pill Furnace, he discovered the Artifact Spirit’s desire to control the Red Sun Spirit Fire.

After a brief hesitation, he granted the control to the Artifact Spirit.

Initially intending to craft a batch of Fourth-grade Spirit Pill with the Tai Chu Treasure Tripod, he had a considerable amount of Fourth-grade Refining Materials; normally, crafting a batch of Fourth-grade Spirit Pills would suffice to cover three portions of required Fourth-grade Spirit Pills from his refining materials.

The extra Fourth-grade Refining Materials would partly be refined in his spare time, with the majority stored within the Mustard Seed Ring.

The Artifact Spirit expressed interest in attempting alchemy, even though he was wealthy, he didn’t want the Fourth-grade Refining Materials used for practice.

He took out a set of Third-grade Spirit Pill materials. Without needing him to pass the corresponding Elixir Recipe, the Artifact Spirit delightedly commenced the alchemical process.

This was likely the Artifact Spirit’s first independent alchemical attempt, but its precision in flame control was impeccable, akin to a seasoned Alchemy Master.

Understandably so, as the Artifact Spirit has served numerous Alchemy Masters and is itself an alchemy-assisting Artifact Spirit. Though perhaps never directly handling alchemy, its familiarity with the process is profound.

Li Shiming observed with his Divine Sense as the Artifact Spirit performed alchemy, finding the Artifact Spirit of Tai Chu Treasure Tripod highly intelligent, with near-flawless execution.

Soon, a batch of Third-grade Spirit Pill emerged. Lacking techniques like the ’Hundred One-point Pill Technique,’ this batch was complete but didn’t yield double completion.

However, the quality of this batch of Third-grade Spirit Pill attained the level of Third Grade Advanced Spirit Pill, significantly exceeding Li Shiming’s expectations.