Given that Lin Xiao's cultivation was only at the second level of the Refining Divine Realm, he assumed Li Taixuan's cultivation just peaked in the same realm as the other three chief seniors. Hence, he didn't find Li Taixuan's breakthrough impressive at all.
In contrast, Li Taixuan couldn't come to the terms with the fact that he had made such striking progress.
Seeing Lin Xiao stay unimpressed, Li Taixuan hastened to brief him about the situation.
Then Lin Xiao felt surprised right away.
Lin Xiao had long taken the Most Refined Royal Pellets while his cultivation was still in the Regimen Realm. Chiyan the Great Master especially produced the pellets to build up Lin Xiao's body, but they just didn't work for him.
The Most Refined Royal Pellets, much-sought-after pellets in the eyes of the Regimen Realm warriors, ended up Lin Xiao's snacks.
Having been taking the Most Refined Royal Pellets for granted for long, Lin Xiao went shocked when Li Taixian pointed out that the pellets even worked for the Yinyang Realm warriors.
"Does it have anything to do with my unusual martial capacity?" Lin Xiao wondered.
On thinking of Diling the spiritual monster that spitting blood because of him, Lin Xiao felt puzzled.
Nevertheless, Lin Xiao shelved the puzzle forthwith, as the prospects of the Taixuan Sect sat high on his agenda, with nothing else overrunning it in terms of significance.
"Mas…Lin Xiao, I'm gonna make arrangements and distribute the pellets to our disciples," Li Taixuan hastened to propose. Unaware of Lin Xiao's feelings, he was eager to share the effective pellets with his disciples.
"Hang on, Martial Master. You'd better off staying absent. Leave the distribution work to the three chief seniors. And it should be confined to a clandestine meeting attended by the owners of the other eight mountains only. Well, we have to gather them in a bid to make sure that each disciple gets their fair share," Lin Xiao instructed.
"Okay, I'll act on that. By virtue of the Most Refined Royal Pellets, I'm sure those who went and sought refuge with the Suomo Sect would come back as well," Li Taixuan said in a trembling tone out of sheer excitement.
On the contrary, Lin Xiao stayed rather poised and said, "On a side note, it's viable to promote the pellets in our sect, but please make public that they were produced by Wu Gui, Wang Di and me."
A tinge of pity appeared in Li Taixuan's countenance, as Lin Xiao took pains to have produced the pellets along with his two assistants. He wished if only he had been allowed to let everyone know it. In that case, all disciples will be grateful for Lin Xiao's contribution and hold him in high esteem.
As a matter of fact, Li Taixuan was fully aware that this would definitely jeopardize Lin Xiao's situation once he laid bare the truth. Hence he nodded in a serious manner on hearing Lin Xiao's instruction.
At that moment, Li Taixuan made up his mind — he wouldn't leave loopholes to anyone who desired to stake advantage of Lin Xiao by fair means or foul.
"They who should be referred to as the producer? An output of such a terrifying number of pellets couldn't have been fulfilled by Shan Chengfeng alone. And I bet that the joint efforts of all the alchemists in the Danling Sect wouldn't been able to usher in the miracle you made," Li Taixuan asked. Actually, the very first name that popped up in his mind was Shan Chengfeng, though Li Taixuan despised him a lot.
Anyhow, the failure to find someone to assume the credit delighted Li Taixuan to an utmost amount.
And Li Taixuan bowled Lin Xiao out by asking that question as well.
Lin Xiao had planned to attribute the achievement to Shan Chengfeng, as he took it for granted that the production of the Most Refined Royal Pellets and the Last Breath Pellets were no big deal for Shan.
However, Li Taixuan's question came as a revelation that Lin Xiao overestimated Shan Chengfeng's capacity.
He was now situated on the Fire Meteorite Continent, which was not even qualified to be granted a corresponding record in the Forsaken Cemetery, let alone a small prefecture on it.
It was fair to say Chijing Prefecture was nothing but a tiny area.
Alchemic techniques which Lin Xiao failed to find impressive could have possibly been lost here and widely regarded as a fairy tale.
That question frustrated Lin Xiao a lot.
Nevertheless, an idea came up straight away.
The Taixuan Sect boasted a long history. It had existed for thousands of years since being established by Dizun. It would be a good idea to interpret the pellets as the legacy of Dizun.
Then Lin Xiao briefed Li Taixuan about the interpretation.
Li Taixuan felt relieved on hearing that, beaming radiantly, as that was, undoubtedly, the best way to put it.
As an old saying goes, it would be better to kill two birds with one stone. The interpretation could not only dispel suspicions but also hold the Suomo Sect in awe.
Li Taixuan cast a look of worship at Lin Xiao.
Having sorted out the issue of the pellets' producer, Lin Xiao felt pleased as well. As it permitted no delays, Lin Xiao was about to take his leave and go for the three chief seniors forthwith.
However, he was about to leave when someone knocked on the door again.
The knocks came with elaborate intervals, with two shorter knocks following three longer ones — that were exactly the cipher decided by Lin Xiao and the three chief seniors.
Lin Xiao hastened to signal Li Taixuan his permission to let the visitors in.
The three chief seniors soon popped in.
Then Li Taixuan relayed Lin Xiao's plan to them.