Profound Heaven Soul Sovereign

Ye Xuan scoffed. "Alright, let me give you a simple example. Everyone knows that if you mix equal parts of an acid and a base, you get a neutral liquid with a pH of 7, which is harmless. But if you add a bit more acid, it becomes an acidic liquid. Add a bit less, and it becomes a basic liquid. Either one can be poisonous. That’s the difference a small change in quantity can make."

"You don’t even understand a principle this simple, yet you call yourself a Seventh Grade Alchemist? Heh, you didn’t buy that title, did you?"

"You..." Hongde’s face went from pale to livid. The principle Ye Xuan mentioned was indeed common knowledge, leaving him speechless.

He snorted coldly and said angrily, "I’m not going to argue semantics with you. What you said has some merit, but that’s just your word against mine, isn’t it? For all we know, you could be spouting nonsense."

The crowd fell silent. Indeed, everything Ye Xuan said was just his side of the story. Although many were starting to believe him, there was still no proof.

Ye Xuan gave a cold smile. "I knew you’d say that. In that case, let’s run an experiment. There should be quite a few Alchemists present who will understand. Purple Essence Liquid is a rather special ingredient. Although it can be fully integrated into a Pill through refining, the amount of a trace substance within it—Purple Essence—remains unchanged. When Purple Essence combines with Water Element Essence, it changes the water’s color. The deeper the color, the more of the substance is present."

After speaking, Ye Xuan suddenly produced several glass beakers. He poured a colorless liquid into them and said, "Everyone, this is Water Element Essence. Would any Alchemists in the crowd please come up and inspect it?"

Several Alchemists immediately stepped out from the crowd, Zhen Tong among them. After a brief inspection, they nodded. "It is indeed Water Element Essence."

Ye Xuan then tossed the Miasma Origin Pill from Xiuyi Pavilion and the one from the Celestial Wolf Squad into two separate beakers. As expected, the Water Element Essence in both beakers began to turn purple. However, the one with Xiuyi Pavilion’s Pill turned a light purple, while the one with the Celestial Wolf Squad’s Pill turned a deep, dark purple. The difference was stark and obvious at a glance.

"The colors really are different."

Someone exclaimed.

Ye Xuan said coolly, "If anyone here has purchased a Miasma Origin Pill from Xiuyi Pavilion, feel free to toss your own into this Water Element Essence. Don’t worry, for every Pill lost, Xiuyi Pavilion will compensate you double."

"I will." A Martial Artist who had just bought a Miasma Origin Pill stepped forward and tossed one into another beaker. The color of the Water Element Essence gradually began to change, turning purple as expected. The shade was identical to the beaker with Xiuyi Pavilion’s first Pill—a light purple.

This was clearly different from the deep purple of the Celestial Wolf Squad’s pill.

Next, two more Martial Artists who had purchased Miasma Origin Pills came forward. Both were well-known figures from the western district, so everyone knew they wouldn’t be part of any deception.

The Miasma Origin Pills they produced also resulted in the exact same color as Xiuyi Pavilion’s.

"Has everyone seen clearly?" Ye Xuan asked with a faint smile.

The crowd burst into discussion. It was just as Ye Xuan had said: all the Miasma Origin Pills purchased from Xiuyi Pavilion produced the exact same color. The only one that was different was the one from the Celestial Wolf Squad.

’Could what the young man said be true? The Miasma Origin Pill from the Celestial Wolf Squad really wasn’t bought from Xiuyi Pavilion?’

’How could Master Hongde not have noticed such an obvious difference?’

’Does this mean Xiuyi Pavilion was framed?’

The murmurs from the crowd reached the ears of Master Hongde and Xu Wenlin, and their expressions grew increasingly grim.

"Master Hongde, was my analysis just now correct or not? Did it make sense?" Ye Xuan watched Hongde with a smile playing on his lips, his voice cold.

With so many Alchemists watching, Hongde had no way to refute the evidence. He snorted coldly. "I admit, there is indeed a difference in the refinement heat and ingredient quantities of these two Pills. It was a momentary oversight on my part that I failed to notice. But then, didn’t the Alchemist from your Xiuyi Pavilion fail to notice it as well?"

Ye Xuan sneered. "As long as you admit it."

"However..." A mocking smile suddenly curled Master Hongde’s lips, and his voice rose as he sneered, "You’ve proven that these two Pills are different, but that only proves there’s a difference between them. It doesn’t prove that the Celestial Wolf Squad’s Pill didn’t come from Xiuyi Pavilion!"

"That’s right." Xu Wenlin, whose expression had been grim, became agitated. "Your experiment only proves that one Pill is poisonous and the other is not. It doesn’t prove the poisonous one didn’t come from your Xiuyi Pavilion! It’s possible that Master Changyuan had a moment of confusion during the refining process, added an extra portion of Purple Essence Liquid, and ended up creating a poisonous Miasma Origin Pill."

Xu Wenlin argued with self-righteous confidence.

Changyuan roared in anger, "Bullshit! I’ve refined a thousand Miasma Origin Pills, if not eight hundred. You think I’d get confused?"

Xu Wenlin’s gaze was cold. "But my brother died from poison after taking a Pill from your Xiuyi Pavilion. My men saw it with their own eyes. That is beyond doubt. As for Master Changyuan having a moment of confusion, while the probability is small, it’s not impossible. Who can guarantee they will never make a single mistake during refining?"

Hearing this, the crowd thought it made sense. After all, it was perfectly normal for an Alchemist to have an accident during the Pill refining process. Since Changyuan of Xiuyi Pavilion had refined so many Miasma Origin Pills, it wasn’t impossible for him to have slipped up once.

Su Xiuyi said coldly, "Changyuan has stated from the very beginning that he did not refine this Pill. Elder Yao previously confirmed this as well."

"Haha, just because you say so?" Xu Wenlin sneered. "I don’t trust anyone from Xiuyi Pavilion. I only trust Master Hongde."

Hongde shook his head, a triumphant glint in his eyes. "I admit, what this young brother said earlier was very reasonable. However, whether this Pill was truly refined by Changyuan is something I cannot be certain of. As for all this talk about auras and what not, I don’t believe in such things."

It seemed things were right back where they started.

Although Ye Xuan had proven the two Pills were different, he had only managed to prove one was poisonous and one was not. He couldn’t prove they weren’t made by the same person.

Su Xiuyi demanded angrily, "Then what will it take for you to believe these Pills aren’t from Xiuyi Pavilion?"

Xu Wenlin sneered, "Isn’t that for your Xiuyi Pavilion to prove?"

The expressions on Su Xiuyi’s and the others’ faces turned incredibly ugly. They all felt how troublesome the situation had become.

"Heh heh, I knew you’d say that." Just then, Ye Xuan suddenly chuckled and said slowly, "Actually, it’s also possible to test whether a Pill was refined by the same person."

"What? That can be tested too?"

The crowd was stunned, finding it hard to believe.

"Of course. Why couldn’t it be?" Ye Xuan smiled faintly. "The ’aura’ that Elder Yao and the others mentioned does indeed exist. Any Alchemist would know that."

At this, Ye Xuan glanced at Hongde and said mockingly, "As for why some people can’t perceive it... well, that’s normal too. After all, they’re fakes with limited ability."

"You..." Hongde’s face turned ashen, but he was at a loss for words.

After all, while it was normal for ordinary Martial Artists to be unaware of this ’aura’, it was something few Alchemists didn’t know about. It was basically a commonly accepted fact among them.

People like Zhen Tong were naturally aware of this as well, but because the concept was somewhat subjective and couldn’t be used as concrete evidence, they hadn’t spoken up.

Ye Xuan explained, "The so-called ’aura,’ to put it simply, is a unique feel created by an Alchemist’s habits and characteristics during refining. It’s like how different people have different handwriting."

"Of course, since handwriting is also subjective and can’t be used as definitive proof—after all, someone can intentionally write differently than they usually do—I won’t analyze it any further."

"But besides the handwriting itself, the pens used to write the same words can also be different. Alchemy is the same. Different Alchemists possess Profound Fire with different attributes. What I am going to verify next is the attribute of Master Changyuan’s Profound Fire."

Ye Xuan turned directly to Changyuan. "Master Changyuan, please release your Profound Fire."

Changyuan was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly walked up to Ye Xuan and released his Profound Fire.

A ball of scorching flame danced in the palm of his hand, radiating immense heat. This was the Profound Fire formed from the burning of his Profound.

Ye Xuan nodded. His hands suddenly formed a series of Hand Skills. To the astonishment of the crowd, the ball of Profound Fire in Changyuan’s palm actually drifted over and was guided by Ye Xuan into a glass apparatus.

Inside the glass apparatus, the Profound Fire was somehow still burning, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

Profound Fire was a flame formed by an Alchemist burning their Profound. Without a supply of Profound, it should extinguish instantly. But now...

It wasn’t just the others; Changyuan himself was utterly speechless, his eyes wide and round.

"Look, everyone. This is Master Changyuan’s Profound Fire. Master Changyuan must cultivate a very powerful Cultivation Technique—hmm, probably around the Initial Layer of the Profound Grade, and a Fire Attribute technique with strong explosive power. The resulting Profound Fire has the aura of Golden Sun Fire. Any Alchemist at the Fourth Grade or above should be able to sense this."

As Ye Xuan analyzed the flame in the apparatus and explained to the crowd, Zhen Tong and the other Alchemists nodded repeatedly. They could indeed sense what Ye Xuan was describing.

"Next, I will purify Master Changyuan’s Profound Fire, removing all other impurities and leaving only its core attribute."

As he spoke, Ye Xuan’s gaze suddenly turned serious. An invisible wave of Profound Sense was released from his mind, transforming into a series of Techniques that merged into the ball of Profound Fire before him.

The scorching, crimson-red flame rapidly began to fade in color, transforming into a translucent, ethereal flame with a faint golden hue.