Lin Chang’sheng followed Xiao Chen straight up to the second floor, stirring up a flurry of discussion among the surrounding cultivators.

"Is that young man actually Lin Chang’sheng? Could he really be the top of the Celestial Pride List?"

"He must be. Otherwise, who else could reach the Integration Stage at such a young age? Only Integration Stage cultivators are qualified to be Honored Guest Elders at the Divine Pill Pavilion!"

"Unbelievable. Didn’t Lin Chang’sheng join the Immortal Palace? How is it that he’s also an Honored Guest Elder at Divine Pill Pavilion now? Doesn’t that mean he’s under the protection of two major factions?"

"Exactly! With two backings, even the other Great Immortal Sects would have trouble making a move against him. No wonder there’s been no news for so long!"

"The Divine Pill Pavilion’s network is nothing to scoff at. If they want to touch Lin Chang’sheng, they’ll have to think twice!"

...

The surrounding cultivators chatted away; the most shocked of all was probably the guard who had just made a move against Lin Chang’sheng.

He’d thought Lin Chang’sheng was just a shameless fraud, but never expected him to be the number one genius on the Celestial Pride List.

Looking back, it was no surprise he’d been knocked out by a single punch.

Most likely Lin Chang’sheng had held back; if he’d used his full strength, the guard probably wouldn’t have survived.

Lin Chang’sheng followed Xiao Chen up to the second floor, which was still a place to sell elixirs—just that the elixir grades here were much higher.

As a result, far fewer people came to buy here.

Further up, the elixirs improved even more, with Second and Third Grade elixirs for sale.

They’d even set up private rooms, so cultivators could take their time learning about the effects of each elixir in comfort.

After all, Second and Third Grade elixirs weren’t cheap; a single pill could go for thousands of Immortal Crystals.

By the time they reached the fourth floor, the number of elixirs for sale had dwindled to a handful, but their value was anything but low.

These were First Grade elixirs and Holy Pill level elixirs.

Few people ever came here, since the prices were staggering—in some cases up to ten thousand Immortal Crystals per pill.

And as for Holy Pills, sometimes they simply couldn’t be bought at any price.

You’d have to wait until a Holy Grade Alchemist refined one for it to even be on the market.

Sometimes, there’d even be Holy Pill auctions, where a single Holy Grade Elixir could easily fetch a hundred thousand Immortal Crystals.

When they reached the fifth floor of the Divine Pill Pavilion, the temperature rose noticeably higher.

The fifth floor was where the alchemists refined their pills, each sealed away in a private room.

"This is the fifth floor, for alchemy. The sixth is for rest and cultivation, and the seventh is where we keep medicinal herbs and pill formulas. So, Alchemist Lin, what kind of elixir do you plan to refine?"

Xiao Chen introduced the place to Lin Chang’sheng.

"Do you happen to have Nine-leaf Immortal Grass and Myriad Year Flood Dragon Blood?"

Lin Chang’sheng asked directly.

But upon hearing this, Xiao Chen’s heart nearly skipped a beat.

Those two ingredients were extremely rare, more than sufficient for refining a Holy Pill.

Was Lin Chang’sheng about to refine yet another kind of Holy Pill?

After all, Xiao Chen had studied the Divine Healing Pill that Lin Chang’sheng refined—neither Nine-leaf Immortal Grass nor Myriad Year Flood Dragon Blood were needed for that.

"Of course we have them, but both ingredients are extremely precious. May I ask what kind of elixir Alchemist Lin plans to refine? What’s the success rate?"

Xiao Chen asked with concern.

If they were misused, those ingredients couldn’t be handed out easily.

"This pill is a Holy Grade Elixir. The Core Formation Rate is about twenty percent."

Lin Chang’sheng replied swiftly.

In truth, his success rate for refining the Primordial Golden Pill was more than twenty percent.

Any extra pills, he could just keep for himself.

And if he claimed his success rate was eighty percent, no one would ever believe him.

"Twenty percent?"

Xiao Chen was clearly surprised—that rate was already pretty high.

He himself couldn’t even refine Holy Grade Elixirs yet, not even a ten percent success rate.

And Lin Chang’sheng actually had a twenty percent chance?

Clearly, his confidence in his own alchemy skills was unshakable.

"Could it be Alchemist Xiao thinks the success rate is too low?"

Lin Chang’sheng asked in surprise.

"Far from it, far from it! Twenty percent is outstanding. Come with me!"

Xiao Chen smiled, then led Lin Chang’sheng up to the seventh floor to fetch the ingredients.

Though both herbs were rare indeed.

What medicinal herb doesn’t the Divine Pill Pavilion have?

As they passed through the sixth floor’s rest area, Lin Chang’sheng noticed quite a few alchemists here.

Some appeared fairly old—white hair and beard, probably several thousand years of age—while others looked only around thirty.

Most of the alchemists were men, though there were certainly a few gifted women among them.

When the female alchemists caught sight of Lin Chang’sheng, each showed a look of surprise.

They hadn’t expected Lin Chang’sheng to be so young and already be a part of Divine Pill Pavilion. That meant his alchemy talent had to be top notch.

"This kid looks like he’s not even thirty. Is he an alchemist too?"

"No doubt about it. Probably Alchemist Xiao’s newest disciple!"

"Didn’t Alchemist Xiao already take on a last disciple? What’s up with another?"

"Who can say? Maybe this kid’s got monstrous talent!"

"He’s pretty good looking too. If he manages to make a name for himself, I’d be willing to marry off my daughter to him!"

...

As they passed the sixth floor rest area, a few alchemists spotted Lin Chang’sheng and began to chat.

Most of them greatly admired Lin Chang’sheng.

After all, a young alchemist was a rare sight.

If they found out right now that Lin Chang’sheng wasn’t Xiao Chen’s disciple, but a Holy Grade Alchemist himself, who knows what they’d think?

"Looks like everyone’s happy to welcome you!"

Xiao Chen overheard the conversations and burst into laughter at Lin Chang’sheng.

"That’s all because of Alchemist Xiao’s prestige. I’m nowhere near that level!"