“Alright, you may question me.” Lou Qianxue withdrew her gaze. She then calmly and seriously looked at Master Huo.
Master Huo also became solemn in an instant. “Alright, then I’ll ask you. When the refining of a pill fails, and the pill is about to get burned, how many countermeasures can an ordinary alchemist use?”
Lou Qianxue frowned and started to ponder the answer.
Master Huo sneered. “What can you, an alchemist who hasn’t even registered your identity, know about it? I picked the simplest question to ask you, yet you don’t know the answer. And you have the cheek to compete in an alchemy knowledge battle with me? Little girl, looks like you’re destined to become my drug slave.”
Lou Qianxue raised her eyebrows and looked at him. “How do you know that I’m unable to answer you?”
“Then you tell me, how many types are there?”
“It’s not easy to give an answer. The simplest question is usually also the most difficult. I’m actually more curious about your answer than my own answer, Master Huo. I wonder how many countermeasures you have?”
“Are you admitting defeat now? Humph, which alchemist doesn’t know that they have five countermeasures in case a pill is about to get burned. Little girl, do you understand now? This is the difference between an alchemist who takes the wild path, and an alchemist who has a master. By groping around on your own, you can never compare to an alchemist who has the guidance of a master. How about it? Do you now regret rejecting to become my disciple?”
“I don’t.” Lou Qianxue smiled as she shook her head. “Master Huo, tell me, if I can mention six countermeasures, will I be considered to have won this round?”
“Six?” Master Huo froze. He only came back to his senses after a while. With a cold smile, he then said, “Are you raving nonsense? Before a pill gets burned, only five countermeasures have always been in use. How is it possible for a sixth one to exist?”
“Then let me tell you.” Lou Qianxue smiled and started to talk about the countermeasures without delay.
After she talked about the six countermeasures, she still didn’t stop. “As for the seventh countermeasure, it should be… Oh, right! I nearly forgot. I can stop at six types. How is it, Master Huo? Do you think that the six countermeasures that I’ve mentioned are reasonable?”
Master Huo stared at Lou Qianxue until both his eyes became round. He became dumbfounded, and he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
“Master Huo?” Lou Qianxue called again.
After Master Huo came back to his senses, he sucked in a cold breath of air. “Little girl, tell me truthfully, is there an impressive master behind you? How skilled is your master in alchemy? Is he a sixth-grade alchemist? Or seventh-grade?”
Lou Qianxue shook her head. “That’s beside the point. I’m only asking you if I’ve correctly answered the question just now?”
A bitter smile appeared on Master Huo’s aged face. “Yes. Of course, your answer is correct. Out of the six methods you’ve mentioned, I’ve never heard of three of them. However, I just can’t think of any reason to refute them. Little girl, tell me honestly, how many methods do you know in all?”
Lou Qianxue slightly narrowed her beautiful eyes. “It seems to be my turn to question.”
Half an hour passed by very quickly.
Lou Qianxue’s exquisite face remained as calm as always. No matter what the question was, she confidently answered them with ease.
However, Master Huo’s face became pale and pale as his sweat profusely flowed.
He pulled a long face, and he couldn’t stop wiping the sweat on his forehead as he kept muttering something.
“For this question, it should be… No, it shouldn’t be like this. It should be like that. No no no, it’s also not correct…”
Finally…
Like a defeated chicken, he slouched his shoulders and became dejected. Feeling extremely perplexed, he looked at Lou Qianxue, sighed, and said, “Forget it. I admit defeat. Tell me the answer.”
After Lou Qianxue told him the answer, he suppressed the bitterness in his heart and mocked himself while being convinced. “I, a dignified fourth-grade alchemist, have become speechless in front of the questions asked by you, a little girl who has yet to register her identity as an alchemist… If this matter were to be known, I’m afraid no one will believe it. But this is the truth. Do you think there is still justice in this world!”
It was a funny situation. Master Huo kept shamelessly bragging earlier to make this little girl become his disciple. However, with this little girl’s standard, she was more than qualified to be his master instead.