SWNOVELXO Chapter 70. The Real Secret
“Eight times eight is sixty-four!”
“Nine times nine is eighty-one!”
Gungun shouted, completing the hundred repetitions Yun Jin had instructed.
Gu Jinghong sighed. This practice wouldn’t yield any results. The troublemaker would surely get frustrated and torment him again.
He braced himself mentally.
The next moment, a ring of light enveloped Gungun. It froze for a moment, then suddenly rammed forward with great force!
The hundred-year-old spirit tree cracked with a loud snap!
Tree: What did I do wrong?
The light flickered once more before fully merging into Gungun’s body!
Gu Jinghong’s jaw slowly dropped.
This was…
A skill advancement?
Gungun’s ramming power had clearly increased a level.
Combined with that light, it must have been a skill upgrade.
But why?
Spirit beast skill advancements were extremely difficult. Most Qi Condensation spirit beasts remained at level one skills.
How could a mere mid-grade spirit beast break through to level two so easily?
Just because of that strange chant?
Was this scientifically possible?
“One times one is one… one times two is two…” Gu Jinghong couldn’t help but try reciting the so-called chant, attempting to sense if there was truly some miraculous power within.
But no matter how he recited it, there was no response whatsoever.
Gungun immediately mocked him: “This is a chant my master prepared specially for me. How could someone as stupid as you possibly learn it!”
Gu Jinghong couldn’t understand Gungun’s words, but he certainly felt the mocking tone!
Gu Jinghong’s face darkened instantly.
“You dare make faces at the great Gungun?” Gungun immediately jumped onto Gu Jinghong, grabbing and pulling his hair.
Gu Jinghong winced in pain but dared not resist, not even allowing himself to feel dissatisfied.
Spirit beasts were mentally connected to their masters. If he harbored any dissatisfaction towards Gungun, Yun Jin would sense it.
Through the Master-Servant Contract, she could take his life even from thousands of miles away.
After plucking a small bald spot on Gu Jinghong’s head, Gungun grew bored and returned to ramming trees.
Hehe, master only told it to practice a hundred times.
But what if it practiced two hundred or three hundred times? Wouldn’t that make it even stronger?
The Iron-Eating Beast would secretly work hard and eventually outdo everyone.
While Yun Jin was drinking tea at the Hundred Herbs Pavilion, she received a notification of the Iron-Eating Beast’s skill advancement.
She nodded with satisfaction.
Though young, Gungun was quite diligent.
This way, Yun Jin didn’t mind using simplification chances on it at all.
After all, the investment would yield returns.
However, with the addition of an Iron-Eating Beast, she now had another major consumer of simplification chances. She couldn’t stop showing off in public; she had to seize every opportunity!
“Little sister, do you like this tea?” Lan Qin asked gently, seeing Yun Jin smile as she drank.
Yun Jin immediately flashed a sweet smile: “The tea is absolutely delicious! Thank you, Sister Lan Qin.”
Lan Qin’s face also revealed a gentle smile.
She felt somewhat grateful towards Yun Jin.
Originally, although she had some status in the Hundred Herbs Pavilion, it was unremarkable.
After all, she was just an herbalist, with no certainty of when she might become an alchemist.
But because of Yun Jin’s casual remark about helping her advance, Chen Changrong, wanting to cooperate long-term with Yun Jin, immediately caught on.
Not only was she no longer assigned to the counter, but she was also provided resources to focus on becoming an alchemist.
All these changes were brought about by Yun Jin.
Recalling her initial lukewarm attitude towards Yun Jin, Lan Qin felt extremely regretful and became even more determined that in the future, whenever Yun Jin came, even the pavilion master would take a back seat.
“If little sister likes it, I’ll pack some tea leaves for you to enjoy later,” Lan Qin said.
This wasn’t worth refusing, so Yun Jin casually agreed.
Lan Qin looked at her, still somewhat worried: “Little sister, are you really confident about breaking through to second-grade alchemist this time? The pavilion master has personally helped promote it. I’m afraid the entire market town will come to watch. If you fail…”
She wasn’t concerned about anything else, just worried that it might affect Yun Jin’s mindset.
After all, such young geniuses usually hadn’t experienced much setback. One failure might prevent them from ever recovering.
Yun Jin immediately raised her head, chin lifted: “Failure? Those two words don’t exist in my life!”
The reason she could be so carefree and unrestrained in this life was simple.
It was exchanged for countless failures over endless years in her previous lives.
When she first started transmigrating, her abilities were almost zero. Every task was incredibly difficult to complete.
The number of failures was innumerable.
Many times, she had even been on the brink of death.
Having endured so many failures, she naturally deserved this smooth path in this life.
This life belonged to her; Ye Danxia and her troubles were merely decorations.
What truly mattered was living her own life.
In this life, her path would be smooth, and no one could block her way.
Yun Jin’s voice exuded intense confidence.
For a moment, Lan Qin found herself involuntarily believing.
Believing this woman could achieve anything she set her mind to.
Believing she would step by step reach the pinnacle. At that time, looking out at the world, perhaps no one would be qualified to stand beside her.
Startled by her own thoughts, Lan Qin also smiled.
She seemed to have been infected by Yun Jin… inexplicably developing some chuunibyou ideas.
At the Alchemy Pavilion, preparations were already in full swing.
Yue Zhao had come early in the morning to inform them that Yun Jin would be coming for the second-grade alchemist assessment.
Ming Heng pondered.
How many days had passed since her first-grade alchemist assessment?
Oh, four whole days!
Four entire days!
It was indeed time to break through to second-grade alchemist.
This was perfectly normal!
Ming Heng gritted his teeth.
Normal, my foot!
Yun Jin’s statement: “A mature cauldron should learn to refine pills on its own” still had the Alchemy Pavilion disciples muttering daily, hoping their cauldrons would become reliable!
Even Ming Heng himself had secretly tried countless times!
But the result?
Not a single success!
Now she was coming to test for second-grade alchemist.
If she pulled off another outrageous feat…
Should they follow or not?
If they followed, it would waste resources and time.
If they didn’t…
What if it was some new pill refining technique?
This time, Yue Zhao had specifically suggested holding the assessment at the central high platform in the market town, convenient for everyone to watch!
Ming Heng’s mood instantly soured.
So last time there weren’t enough people to showcase her skills?
This time they wanted to gather the entire market town?
But for some reason, when Yue Zhao suggested it, Ming Heng numbly agreed and even promised to use the Alchemy Pavilion’s channels to promote the event.
After Yue Zhao left happily, a disciple couldn’t help but ask: “Master Ming, we’ve been using the same method to refine pills but haven’t succeeded. Could it be because there weren’t enough observers?”
Ming Heng: “…How could there be such an absurd thing!”
As he said this, he began to ponder.
Indeed.
They had replicated all other steps.
They even ate melon seeds.
Could the real secret be having an audience?
Although he didn’t understand the principle behind it, there must be a reason why that girl loved showing off in public so much, right?
It couldn’t just be that her personality was so flamboyant!
Ming Heng’s spirits lifted!
This time, he might have discovered the true key!
(End of Chapter)