Chapter 2048 — What Is a Genius, Part One

Granted, the auxiliary cultivation method of an alchemist made it fairly easy for an ordinary person to cross from ordinary to Yellow Rank—a year or two at most, a month or two at least—but that was still a month or two. Han Jingyi had taken only a few days.

Even if Han Jingyi now possessed Yellow Rank, that did not mean she possessed the strength of a Yellow Rank expert—yet even so, Wei Zhao found it nothing short of astonishing.

"Yaoyao, Xiaoshu, you two go back to the villa first. I have something to discuss with Jingjing," Wei Zhao said to Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, drawing a deep breath and forcing down his shock.

"There's no one else in our villa anyway, so let Jingjing come in with us," Gu Mengyao said. She was not a woman without sense; if Han Jingyi really could refine pills, then she could solve a great deal of trouble for Wei Zhao and give him powerful help. So Gu Mengyao felt it was time to build a good relationship with this silly girl next door.

"That works too." Wei Zhao nodded and said to Han Jingyi, "Then let's talk at my place."

"Mm-hmm, Jingjing has never been to Brother Wei Zhao's house before. I'll come visit!" Han Jingyi nodded and was about to enter the villa with Wei Zhao when she smacked her forehead and said, "Wait a moment! Jingjing hasn't brought her tablet yet. Let Jingjing go get it!"

With that, Han Jingyi ran back to her own villa, and before long she reappeared in everyone's sight, clutching a tablet.

"Wow, Brother Wei Zhao, your villa is so cozy!" Han Jingyi exclaimed the moment she stepped inside.

"It's not as luxurious as your family's place," Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"But Jingjing doesn't like that retro style!" Han Jingyi shook her head.

"Jingjing, come to my room!" Wei Zhao's attention was not on the decor now. What he most wanted to see was whether Han Jingyi could truly condense pill fire.

"Okay." Han Jingyi nodded.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu tactfully did not intrude. Neither of them knew the first thing about alchemy, so they did not join in, only waiting quietly in the living room.

"Brother Wei Zhao, is this your room? So cozy—Jingjing wants to move in!" Han Jingyi looked around Wei Zhao's room, delight shining in her eyes.

"Mm, sit wherever you like." Wei Zhao smiled. "As for moving in, forget it. If you like it, I'll have someone redecorate your villa later."

"Then don't bother." Han Jingyi shook her head. Without standing on ceremony, she kicked off her shoes and sat cross-legged on Wei Zhao's bed.

"You can already condense pill fire? Which means you're at Yellow Rank now?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Mm-hmm! According to what it says in that auxiliary cultivation method for alchemists, Jingjing should now have early Yellow Rank strength—just the entry level," Han Jingyi said with a nod.

"Entry level... Yellow Rank in a few days..." Wei Zhao drew a deep breath and sighed. "Truly a surprise. Jingjing, you're amazing!"

Out in the courtyard Wei Zhao had not observed carefully, but now in the room, a single close look told him that Han Jingyi really did possess the internal strength of early Yellow Rank. Such strength might not help much in actual combat or attack, but Han Jingyi was nonetheless a genuine Yellow Rank expert.

"Huh? Is Jingjing really that amazing?" Han Jingyi touched her flushed little face, a little embarrassed, and seemed delighted by Wei Zhao's praise. "Jingjing thought she was pretty dumb!"

"Not dumb at all. You're the most amazing genius I've ever seen... one of them..." Wei Zhao reflected that Zhang Naipao and Xiaoxiao probably counted as geniuses too. Their progress was also extremely fast.

"Jingjing is so happy! Jingjing was so nervous before!" Han Jingyi said cheerfully. "Brother Wei Zhao, shall Jingjing show you how she condenses pill fire now?"

"All right, go ahead," Wei Zhao said, his expression turning solemn as he nodded.

"Mm-hmm!" Han Jingyi put away her earlier cheerful look, and her originally cute little face became incomparably serious. She extended her right hand, and in an instant a cluster of bright red flame appeared out of thin air in her palm.

This was fire-element pill fire.

"So fast?" Wei Zhao's eyes went wide, as if he had seen a ghost—he could scarcely believe it.

That speed was far faster even than Wei Zhao's own condensation. But the pill-fire condensation formula Bai Lingtou had given her was much more complex than the one Wei Zhao had obtained from Zhang Liju; it required true qi to circulate through the body's meridians for a long while before pill fire could finally be condensed in the palm.

Yet Han Jingyi seemed to have waited hardly any time at all before pill fire appeared directly in her palm. Wei Zhao found it utterly inconceivable. What kind of speed was this?

"Huh? Is that already fast? Jingjing thought it was still a little slow..." Han Jingyi withdrew the pill fire from her hand and said.

"Still slow..." Wei Zhao's self-esteem took a severe blow. Han Jingyi was practically a freak of nature! But try as he might, Wei Zhao could not understand why Han Jingyi's pill-fire condensation was so fast.

After all, according to Bai Lingtou's pill-fire condensation formula, condensing pill fire within three minutes was already considered very fast, and around five minutes was normal.

His own pill-fire condensation method, obtained from Zhang Liju's tomb, was faster than that—normally about a minute, or thirty to fifty seconds at best—but still not as fast as Han Jingyi. Her speed was practically pill fire within twenty seconds!

Of course, the speed of condensing pill fire actually had nothing to do with alchemy, for alchemy was quiet, patient work that could not be rushed. One had to make full preparations, and only then could one concentrate on secluded pill refinement until it succeeded or failed.

So at the start of alchemy, the speed of condensing pill fire made no difference at all—tens of seconds or tens of minutes were much the same, so long as the pill fire was condensed.

And this was also why Bai Lingtou, having long grown accustomed to this pill-fire condensation method, had never bothered to learn any others. After all, all roads lead to Rome; only the speed differed, the result was the same, and there was no need for Bai Lingtou to study other pill-fire condensation methods.