The crowd watched as Mo Qi clumsily went about his task, removing impurities. In truth, the impurities of each ingredient were distinct from its spiritual energy, and he could sense them through his own spiritual power. He had discovered this the last time he helped Xiao Cong'er refine pills.
Therefore, for him, it made no difference whether his eyes were covered or not.
However, to the onlookers, his movements appeared particularly clumsy, as if he were simply fumbling around blindly.
"Alas, why would he make such a bet?"
"It's simple. If he wins, he'll gain fame. If he loses, it's not embarrassing, as he's refining with his eyes closed anyway."
"But does he even have a chance to win?"
"Absolutely no chance. He just wants to attract attention this way."
"But he also said he'd never refine pills again if he lost?"
"Do you believe such a bet? Yesterday I said I'd never use the toilet again, but today I can't hold it in!"
The surrounding people shook their heads as they watched, while Wei San and the other two felt confident, a smile appearing on their faces.
After Mo Qi finally finished processing the ingredients, he painstakingly placed them into the pill furnace one by one, nearly falling into it himself, which drew a burst of laughter.
Mo Qi paid them no mind. Once all the ingredients were in, he began to stoke the fire for refining.
The crowd watched as he occasionally leaned close to the furnace, as if listening to the sound of the flames or the reaction of the ingredients within. He would then gently fan the flames, or suddenly increase the intensity of his fanning.
Several times, as he leaned close to the furnace, he accidentally touched it, burning himself and causing him to hop around.
This again drew a wave of laughter.
After stopping the fire, he continued refining with his spiritual power for a period. He listened again and felt that the pills had crystallized within the furnace. He then waited quietly for them to cool before opening the lid.
Mo Qi then removed the black cloth strip and restriction talisman from his face and took out three pills from the furnace.
The pills were crystal clear, as lustrous as new, and as soft and warm as jade, emitting a faint fragrance.
Wei San and the other two's faces turned ashen, their hands tightly clenching the pills they held.
The surrounding crowd, however, was eager to see the outcome and didn't want the event to end prematurely. They urged the other two to quickly take out their pills for comparison.
The two had no choice but to open their hands, displaying the pills they had refined for everyone to see. They then turned their heads away, their faces etched with embarrassment.
A meddlesome person in the crowd offered them a way out: "The quality of a pill cannot be judged solely by its appearance. What use is a good appearance if it lacks efficacy?"
This immediately alerted the two, and they regained their spirits, looking at Mo Qi and saying, "That's right, we haven't lost yet."
Mo Qi shrugged his shoulders, "True gold fears no fire."
The three each took their pills to Steward Huang for appraisal.
Steward Huang's head bobbed like garlic being pounded, as he continuously nodded at the edge of the table. When he heard someone enter, he nearly bumped his head on the table.
Upon opening his eyes, he saw a few disciples and mistook them for the sect leader.
Steward Huang was slightly annoyed, "Who are you? Why didn't you knock before entering?"
Mo Qi immediately bowed and apologized, saying, "We have just refined some pills and would like Steward Huang to appraise them for us." As he spoke, he handed over the pills he had refined, deliberately omitting any mention of the bet.
The other two, with tacit understanding, also remained silent.
Steward Huang took the pills from Mo Qi and, with just one glance, his eyes shone brightly. "Not bad, not bad. For rookies like you, refining pills of this appearance is already quite good. This one is considered mid-grade. Alright, I'll give you a mid-grade refining token. You may go and refine."
Mid-grade? Mo Qi felt as if lightning had struck him. Only mid-grade?
Steward Huang produced a yellow refining token and handed it to Mo Qi.
Mo Qi was still in a daze and didn't take it. Steward Huang forcefully shoved it into his hand.
Not only Mo Qi, but Wei San and the other two also found it unbelievable. Judging it as mid-grade after just looking at its appearance seemed too hasty.
The people who had been egging them on had given them immense confidence. They were now convinced that Mo Qi, with his eyes closed, couldn't focus on quality and had instead paid special attention to the pills' appearance, merely meticulously dressing them up. In reality, their true quality was only low-grade, perhaps even poison, not even qualifying as low-grade.
Wei San was about to speak when Chu Daozhi stopped him, forcefully suppressing the words of doubt.
Chu Daozhi then presented his own refined pills, saying, "May Steward Huang also appraise these for us." At the same time, he nudged Wei San beside him, and Wei San, understanding, also took out his pills.
Steward Huang's eyes swept over their hands, and he frowned. He didn't reach out to take them, as if even touching them would soil his hands.
"Low-grade!" Steward Huang declared, his voice dry and devoid of emotion.
With that, he tossed them a low-grade refining token, which landed on the table.
For Wei San and the other two, this was like a bolt from the blue.
"Too hasty!" Wei San exclaimed, his face flushed red. "So irresponsible! You made a conclusion without even looking."
Seemingly due to his extreme agitation, coupled with the psychological burden of offending an elder, his voice trembled slightly.
Steward Huang, with an air of seasoned composure and unfazed demeanor, simply glared at him. "You child, how can you speak like that? How am I being irresponsible? With my decades of pill appraisal experience, such a small matter is decided at a glance for me. What more appraisal do I need? Your two pills, do they require me to look at them from morning until sunset? Furthermore, how I appraise is not for you to dictate."
After all, he was an elder, and in this refining room, he represented authority. These two forceful sentences finally subdued Wei San and the other two, but they remained unwilling, standing there silently.
Mo Qi was also unwilling, standing there as well. At this moment, the outcome of his bet with Wei San and the other two was no longer important. More importantly, he wanted a correct understanding of his own refining skill.
The situation then became awkwardly stagnant.
From the crowd, a sudden, abrupt voice emerged: "Steward Huang, don't you have some spirit beasts specifically for testing pill quality? Summon a few to appraise them. These people have made a bet; they won't believe it until they see the proof."
Mo Qi's heart leaped. He didn't know such things existed, but he wondered if they were authoritative enough.
Wei San and the other two exchanged glances, as if this was exactly what they were waiting for.
Mo Qi glanced into the crowd but couldn't discern who had spoken, as everyone was chattering at once, with various voices intermingling.
"Yes, they made a bet. If they aren't convinced, they won't give up."
"Generally, people don't dare to make such requests, because test spirit beasts are both pill testers and demon-revealing mirrors. It's possible they might reveal their true forms."
"Yes, I suffered a loss back then. Steward Huang certified my pills as mid-grade, but I didn't believe it and insisted on a test spirit beast's appraisal. As a result, after it consumed the pill, there was no reaction, and my pill was directly classified as low-grade."
Steward Huang rolled his eyes, "Using test spirit beasts for everything, what do I do then?"
"What if you are truly mistaken?" Mo Qi's calm voice rang out.
His voice was not loud, but it possessed an extreme penetrating power, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, silencing all other sounds.
After a moment of silence, the crowd erupted: "What's going on? Isn't he satisfied with this result? Didn't he win?"
"He's getting what he wants and still complaining."
"This child is too ignorant of his own limits."
Steward Huang was also provoked. He stood up abruptly, "If you want to test, then test. If I am mistaken, I will immediately kowtow and apologize to you."
Mo Qi said, "It's not that serious. I just want a convincing result, or someone could try eating my pills."
As he spoke, he raised the pill in his hand.
The surrounding people looked at it and involuntarily took a step back. "Let the test spirit beast try it. After all, you refined it with your eyes closed."
"What? Refined with eyes closed?" Steward Huang's face was filled with astonishment. He gave Mo Qi a deep look, then snatched a pill from his hand, examined it carefully, and then brought it to his nose to smell. His expression grew increasingly solemn, and he glanced at Mo Qi several more times.
After a moment, Steward Huang sighed, "Perhaps... alright, I'll use a test spirit beast to appraise it."
As he spoke, Steward Huang took out a small object from his sleeve. The object was slightly smaller than his palm, with four legs that were so short they were almost entirely covered by its body. It had a round head, resembling a cat, but its ears were rounder than a cat's. Instead of fur, its body was covered in something more akin to feathers.
As soon as it appeared, it lazily scanned the surrounding crowd and then slowly began to crawl forward. Its effort was evident, but its legs were simply not strong enough, and it couldn't crawl fast. It had barely reached the middle of the table when Steward Huang grabbed it and placed it on the edge of the table.
"How can this little thing appraise pills?" a voice from the crowd asked cautiously.
"You don't know this?" another voice replied beside him. "This is a spirit beast for testing spiritual power pills. After it consumes a spiritual power pill, its size will increase with the growth of spiritual power. The higher the quality of the pill, the larger it will become."
"Then how big is low-grade, and how big is mid-grade?"
"After consuming a low-grade pill, its change is almost imperceptible to the naked eye. A mid-grade pill will make it grow to the size of a small dog. A high-quality pill will make it grow to the size of a large dog."
"Then how big will an exceptional quality pill make it?"
"That... I don't know."
"Place your two pills in the middle of the table. Let's appraise yours first," Steward Huang said.
Wei San glanced at Chu Daozhi, then looked at Steward Huang, "Together?"
"Together," Steward Huang replied concisely.
Wei San and Chu Daozhi each placed their pills in the middle of the table, separated by a few fingers' width.
Although the pills were refined by two different people, their appearance and shape were indistinguishable.
The test spirit beast slowly crawled over, and everyone's eyes followed its movement.
The test spirit beast finally reached the middle, making everyone feel almost exhausted.
However, at this moment, everyone's hearts were pounding, as if pulled by an invisible thread.
The test spirit beast first stopped in front of Wei San's pill, sniffed it, and then walked away.
Wei San's heart sank halfway.
The test spirit beast then went to Chu Daozhi's pill, sniffed it, and then ate the pill.
Chu Daozhi's tense face relaxed, and a hint of a smile appeared. However, the next moment, the test spirit beast spat the pill out, making a "pooh pooh" sound with disdain, as if a human were spitting.
Then it crawled to the side.
Chu Daozhi's face turned the color of a pig's liver. He forced out a few words with difficulty, "Could it be... it wasn't hungry?"
Everyone stared at him blankly. He lowered his head, his face red.
Steward Huang glanced at the two of them, "Put your pills away. The test spirit beast wouldn't even taste them, so they are undoubtedly low-grade."
The two immediately put away their pills, overcome with shame, wishing they could disappear into a crack in the ground.
However, there was still one bet yet to be decided, so they couldn't bear to leave.
Perhaps, if Mo Qi's pill disgusted the little creature even more, or even poisoned it, they could find some solace for themselves.
Thus, they both cast their expectant gazes at Mo Qi, drawing everyone else's attention to him as well.
Steward Huang sighed again and said to Mo Qi, "Place your pill on the table as well."
Mo Qi's heart also hung in suspense. After hearing the discussions from the surrounding crowd, he felt it was quite dubious.
The pill could make this little creature grow instantly; it was too unbelievable.
Could this be a deceptive trick in itself?
After all, the test spirit beast hadn't even wanted to smell the other two's pills. Did it dislike eating pills? To put it plainly, pills were medicine, not meat.
Having come this far, could he back out now?
With a resolute spirit, he placed a pill in the middle of the table. The fragrance instantly filled the surrounding space.
The next moment, something unexpected happened!
The test spirit beast lunged forward like an arrow and swallowed the pill in one gulp!
What was going on? Couldn't it crawl?
Everyone's eyes widened, staring intently at the test spirit beast.
The little creature licked its lips, wagged its tail, and looked up at Mo Qi with a pitiful expression.
Everyone could see clearly: it wanted more.