Chapter 119: The True Pill Debate (Second Half)
Translator:StarveCleric
Editor:GaiaNova, VirtualFrappe
"Clearly, the theory about the difference being attributed to the constitution does not hold!
"Thus, Apothecary Zhang Jian investigated the matter and wrote the conclusion of his research into 《Discussions of Tempering Pill》. This book clearly details his opinions and he disagrees with the notion that the difference in effects of the Body Tempering Pill is due to one's constitution. Rather, it was because the medicinal effects of the herbs weren't distributed fairly among the different pills during the forging process! As such, even in the same cauldron and among pills of the same quality, there could be different medicinal effects!
"This theory was accepted for a few years until twelve years ago, when someone cast doubts and overthrew it! The one who doubted the theory wasn't an apothecary but a 1-star master teacher. He questioned: if the medicinal effects weren't distributed fairly among the different pill, then why did such a phenomenon only occur to Body Tempering Pills and not other pills?
"Therefore, he proposed a bold suggestion. It was recorded in 《Ning Han's Verbal Records》. This book wasn't widely sold and there is only a single copy of it in the guild's basic tier book collection vault. If you all haven't read it, it is in the 19th bookshelf, at the extreme right corner!"
Zhang Xuan chuckled and continued, "This master teacher named Ning Han came up with a bold proposal. He thinks that the reason there was such an occurrence among Body Tempering Pills was because of the difference between the maturity of the herbs and the forging technique of the apothecaries! Of course, he only brought it up as a theory and didn't experiment!
"Eight years ago, Apothecary Zhao Yue from Hongxuan Kingdom received an epiphany from this book and conducted an experiment. He changed eighteen of the main medicinal herbs used in the pill and tried forging it using forty-two different kinds of forging techniques. He wrote his conclusion in a book titled《Detailed Explanation of Body Tempering》. It just so happens that there is one of them in our basic tier book collection vault. It is on the 27th row, on the upper left corner, beside 《Yang Zhen's Pill Forging Guide》 and 《The Method to Forging Jade Blood Pill》! If all of you doubt my words, you can find someone to fetch it here!
"I believe that the answer in the book is the most accurate one, and it should be able to answer your question!"
At this point, Zhang Xuan stopped and gesture for Ouyang Cheng to dispatch someone to fetch the book.
"There's no need…."
Upon hearing Zhang Xuan's explanation, the complexion of Apothecary Jin Chen, who was still gleeful a moment ago, darkened to the color of the bottom of a wok and he stumbled two steps backward. In an instant, he seemed to have aged many years.
"What? If we don't fetch the book here, I fear that Apothecary Jin will not accept my answer!" Zhang Xuan said.
"Your answer is correct. I have read the book and it is identical to what you said!" Apothecary Jin Chen nodded his head.
"Correct?"
"Identical?"
"That shouldn't be possible…. Apothecary Jin Chen simply raised a casual question and he was able to answer it so simply. Furthermore, out of the countless books in the vault, he was able to remember its exact position…. How is that possible?"
"Is he still human? You must be pulling my leg!"
……
Upon hearing his acknowledgment, the room broke into a commotion once more.
Previously, they thought that due to the limitations of his age, Zhang Xuan wouldn't have the time to read many books. After this round, they realized that compared to him… they were the ones who hadn't read many books!
Not only was the other party able to accurately remember the contents, time the book was written, and title of the book, he was even able to point out its exact location in the vault….
For them… it would already be wonderful if they could remember the contents detailed within!
Looked like there really was a huge difference between humans!
"Since Apothecary Jin Chen has acknowledged my answer to be correct, let's proceed onto the second question!"
Zhang Xuan chuckled.
'You want to compete with me in memorization ability?
'What a joke! I have the Library of Heaven's Path in my mind. With a jolt of my consciousness, the book comes flying to me. I only have to read according to it. Regardless of how good your memory is, you can't possibly be more accurate than me!'
"The second question. When forging a grade-1 【Strength Enhancement Pill】, why do cracks appear on a cauldron, making it difficult to continue with the forging?" Apothecary Jin Chen pondered for an entire ten minute before asking.
"Incredible!"
"He chose an excellent question!"
"Indeed, the cauldron often cracks while forging a grade-1 【Strength Enhancement Pill】. On the surface, it seems like an apothecary's question, but to answer the question, you require knowledge of smithing as well!"
"Indeed, let's see how he will answer the question!"
……
Upon hearing Apothecary Jin Chen's second question, everyone's attention was piqued again.
An apothecary's cauldron was forged by blacksmiths, and the matter of it breaking during pill forging wasn't strictly within the boundaries of pill forging anymore.
However, if one scrutinized the question carefully, it was still related to pill forging. It was precisely because it lay at the boundaries of the two that many apothecaries did not bother to learn about it, let alone answering such a question.
Since everyone could tell what he was trying to do, how could Zhang Xuan remain oblivious? The corners of his lips curled upward and he replied, "As for this problem, Apothecary Wu Xiao's 《Cauldron Maintenance》, Apothecary Zhao Qian's 《Important Matters to Note for Pill Forging》, Apothecary Niu Xuan's 《Miscellaneous Things You Have to Know》, Apothecary Pang Bo's 《Protect Your New Cauldron》…"
Without pausing, Zhang Xuan listed the titles of dozens of books before concluding, "… The answers are detailed in these books. Actually, it wasn't really a difficult question. The cauldrons that you all use are made of ordinary Nine Refinement Metal. This metal may be strong, but it is unable to withstand the clash between extreme cold and heat. The main ingredient required for Strength Enhancement Pill is the blood of a cold-attribute savage beast. When something that cold comes into contact with the hot cauldron, it's natural that the cauldron's unable to withstand it!
"If you wish to resolve the problem, it is best to use Heavy Iron Cauldron instead! Or you can also change your cauldron every time after you forge Strength Enhancement Pills!"
Zhang Xuan smiled.
This question might seem difficult, but it was recorded in the books of the basic tier book collection vault as well. It was just that the number of books in the vault was too vast and the apprentices in the guild would often choose to research pill forging techniques so that they could become an official apothecary faster. As a result, there was no reason for them to look into these kinds of miscellaneous books!
Furthermore, after becoming an official apothecary, one's standing would become completely different. With more guests paying them a visit and with more authority, they would have less time to read books. There were many things that they could learn from the book collection vault, but they never found the time to look for it and as such they were ignorant of them.
This was precisely the reason why the other apothecaries were unable to answer such questions. On the other hand, for Zhang Xuan who had duplicated a basic tier book collection vault in his mind, he had no difficulty answering this question at all.
"I wonder if Apothecary Jin Chen is satisfied with my answer? If not, I can still go on…."
"There's no need, your answer is correct!"
Cold sweat appeared on Apothecary Jin Chen's forehead.
When he started to forge Strength Enhancement Pills, he met with such a problem. So he went around asking others to seek an answer. Eventually, he found his answer in a book and that book was one of the dozen books which Zhang Xuan had just listed, 《Protect Your New Cauldron》 by Apothecary Pang Bo.
He thought that this was the only book which had detailed information on this subject, so he raised this question to trouble the other party. Yet this fellow was able to list more than a dozen books in a breath.
It was fortunate that he didn't name the book earlier. Otherwise, he would be humiliated when the other party listed this huge collection of books.
The heck, what is the head of this fellow made of?
How could he remember everything so clearly?
Upon seeing this situation, Ouyang Cheng and Du Man exchanged glances and smiled wryly. This was nothing! If you all knew that this fellow could even point out the specific page in the book, you probably wouldn't have insisted on conducting your test like that!
In fact, the other party proposing to point out flaws in their forging technique was indeed raising the difficulty for him. If you wish to triumph against him in a competition of knowledge…
We're afraid that you could only do it in your dreams….