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Chapter 286: 287: Refined a Low-Quality Cigarette
Chapter 286: 287: Refined a Low-Quality Cigarette
Chapter 286: 287: Refined a Low-Quality Cigarette
The Elder surnamed Jiang smiled faintly, “Saint Heir, it’s time to return to our residence, what do you think?”
“Woof, no rush, let’s see how things go first.”
Ergouzi whispered, it wanted to see if Li Xiaobai would be captured.
“It’s merely a farce, these Three Sects won’t be able to capture Li Xiaobai. He even broke through the confinement of Great Crossing Realm Cultivators, just sending Disciples to search for him won’t possibly capture him. This time, getting the ancient alchemy is already a piece of luck. We must report back to the sect as soon as possible and start mass production.”
The Elder surnamed Jiang said, as he was somewhat eager to verify the effects of the ancient alchemy method.
“Woof, now that we’ve got the method, it doesn’t matter if we delay informing Fire Qilin Cave. It’s not easy to come out on a trip like this, we should make the most of it. The elixirs and Spiritual Artifacts produced in this grand competition are quite good. In a while, we’ll pick and choose, and take away all the good stuff.”
“Uh… That sounds good.”
Inside the great hall, the high-ranking members of the Three Sects fell into silence. A junior had slipped away right under their noses, and right in front of the masters from Fire Qilin Cave at that, which was a loss of face for them.
“I will return to the sect first to wait for news. Rest assured, as long as Li Xiaobai is still in Central City, he won’t escape from our grasp!”
“Indeed, he won’t be able to get away on our turf; let’s just wait for the message from those below.”
Yan Xiaoqi and Zhen Tiannan spoke slowly, their figures disappearing from the hall. They were eager to have their Disciples start practicing the ancient alchemy method and also to organize them to capture Li Xiaobai with all their might.
“Hehe, today the Three Sects have truly broadened my horizons, indeed extraordinary. The Saint Heir also intends to visit the other two Sects, so I shall take my leave as well. Sect Master Zhong, take care.”
The Elder surnamed Jiang chuckled, patted Ergouzi, and the man and dog turned into a streak of light and disappeared into the distance.
Inside the great hall, Zhong Daoquan’s expression was somber. When trouble arose, those people could simply leave without further ado, but he couldn’t. Not to mention anything else, the little granddaughter of Treasure Pavilion was still within his Elixir Sect.
This was also the reason he had always feared other Sects coming in to cause trouble—all the events had unfolded within the Elixir Sect. If it came to accountability, the Elixir Sect would definitely be the darkest of all the pots, the kind that couldn’t be washed clean.
“Sect Master, don’t be angry. Although we were tricked this time, it wasn’t without gain. We’ve obtained the ancient alchemy method. Given our many years of experience researching elixirs, it’s not impossible for us to develop more formulas by analogy.”
An Elder of the Elixir Sect advised. For them, the ancient alchemy method was the most precious treasure.
Moreover, they were confident that on this path they could delve deeper than any other sect, and unlock more secrets.
“Yes, indeed, in the future, the Elders will need to work hard on researching and practicing the ancient alchemy method. With Huazi, I believe our sect will definitely thrive and rival the peak powers of the Mainland!”
Zhong Daoquan nodded, his expression softening a bit.
“Of course, we cultivators are willing to bend over backward for the sake of the sect, death before dishonor!”
The Elders claimed their loyalty in unison.
“True, the core material in Huazi is the Enlightenment Tea Leaves. Now that several major powers are aware of its secret, they will surely start buying it up in large quantities. We must strike first; cast a wide net in the next few days, and buy up all the Enlightenment Tea Leaves we can find, no matter the quantity!”
Zhong Daoquan crushed something in his hand and pulled a small handful of Enlightenment Tea Leaves from the ground with a gesture, tossing them into a mixer.
Following Li Xiaobai’s earlier demonstration, he began to operate the mixer to start production.
The gathering of Elders nodded at the sight. This apparatus seemed somewhat childish to them, but it did have its merits. Mass-producing Huazi was a big project that required the input of not just Disciple, but possibly more commoners in the future.
With this mixer, even completely untrained ordinary people would be able to produce Huazi, which indeed could greatly increase the production efficiency of Huazi.
Zhong Daoquan carefully poured out the Huazi, recalling Li Xiaobai’s actions, he began to meticulously wrap it with thin paper, without using any trace of cultivation level; after all, Li Xiaobai hadn’t used any spiritual power during his demonstration either—it was completely handmade.
Slowly rolling up the Enlightenment Tea Leaves, forming it, the Huazi was complete!
“Sect Master truly deserves his title, such dexterous hands and focused mind, we old guys are far from a match!”
“Yes, these craft skills, even better looking than Li Xiaobai’s!”
“Whether it’s the quality or the marketability, it’s all top-notch!”
“Indeed, it seems that ancient alchemy can only flourish in the hands of our Elixir Sect!”
A group of elders, upon seeing the Huazi that Zhong Daoquan had fashioned, began to heap praises upon him, seizing this excellent opportunity to flatter him relentlessly.
“Heh, it’s nothing mentionable.”
Zhong Daoquan’s face showed a modest smile as he waved his hand, clearly enjoying the elders’ flattery.
He casually lit the cigarette end and took a small drag, but quickly, his expression stiffened.
“Cough cough… cough cough!”
Choked by the smoke taken into his mouth, Zhong Daoquan began to cough violently, exhaling smoke, and took another fierce drag, which again brought an intense feeling of suffocation. His throat was smoked to the point of discomfort, and he felt somewhat better only after circulating spiritual power in his Dantian to dispel the smoke that had entered his body.
“What… what’s going on?”
Zhong Daoquan’s eyes bulged like copper bells; he was certain that his actions had been exactly the same as Li Xiaobai’s, and with the strength of his Primordial Spirit, replicating the movements with pinpoint accuracy was no difficult task for him.
But despite mirroring those movements, the Huazi had turned into an ordinary cigarette, the inferior quality of which made him feel like crying from the burning sensation.
The surrounding elders were also bewildered, having also smelled the scent of cheap tobacco. This smoke had none of the previous refreshing fragrance, not to mention the original fresh aroma of the Enlightenment Tea Leaves—it couldn’t be detected at all.
Their smiles gradually solidified.
They were all well aware of what this implied—it couldn’t be the Sect Master who had made a mistake, which suggested that there must have been some mistakes in the method of crafting the Huazi, and they most likely missed some extremely important step.
Or rather, Li Xiaobai had deliberately led them to a false method.
Thinking back to how cooperative Li Xiaobai had seemed all along.
In an instant, a chill shot up everyone’s spine. Could they have been duped?
“Dammit, we’ve been tricked, that little bastard has never been up to any good from the start!”
“He cheated our sect out of more than a hundred thousand top-grade Spirit Stones with his ancient alchemy!”
“And this mixer, even the method for refining Huazi is wrong, what use do I have for this mixer?”
“A thousand machines costing ten thousand top-grade Spirit Stones altogether, that’s enough for our annual salary!”
The elders collectively exploded in anger. The other party had been putting on an act from the very beginning, and laughably, they thought they had everything under control until now—only to realize they were the ones being played for fools!