A maroon pill lay in the jade box quietly. The nine horizontal lines were clear and bright, and only the last line was slightly faint.

This was indeed an intermediate ninth-grade pill!

Elder Wan Zheng nodded, smiled, and said, “Tang Rui, you’ve broken through for a while already, right? You hid it quite well!”

Seeing the quality of this pill, it definitely wasn’t something one could have after producing it for the first time.

Tang Rui smiled in embarrassment as his white dough-like face became even rounder. “Elder Wan Zheng, you have sharp eyes. I can’t hide anything from you.”

Elder Wan Zheng nodded and suppressed his agitation. He then opened Chu Liuyue’s jade box.

Nine lines could clearly be seen on the bright-red pill!

Elder Wan Zheng glanced at the ninth line and gasped. This is also an intermediate ninth-grade pill! 

Even though he had already predicted this result, Elder Wan Zheng was still stunned when he saw it personally. Not long ago, Chu Yue produced his first ninth-grade pill in front of me. And now, this kid can actually produce an intermediate ninth-grade pill?! 

Elder Wan Zheng seemed to be overwhelmed as if his heart would burst out the next moment! Although he had seen all sorts of incidents, he still couldn’t control his excitement and agitation!

At the side, Tang Rui also saw the pill in the jade box. He couldn’t help but be stunned and smiled bitterly.

“Junior Brother Chu Yue, you indeed have outstanding talent, and your abilities are amazing. I heard that you were just an eighth-grade heavenly doctor when you first came to the academy. It has only been two months, yet you can already produce an intermediate ninth-grade pill…” He sighed deeply and cupped his fists toward Chu Liuyue. “I am not good enough!”

Tang Rui’s words reverberated throughout the square. The noise instantly disappeared as almost everyone went into a daze.

They took a while to react. What did Tang Rui say?! Chu Yue has also produced an intermediate ninth-grade pill?! How could this be possible!? Chu Yue even changed the formula, so how could he successfully produce the Pei Yuan Pill and even improve it by one small grade?! 

Chu Liuyue smiled. “Senior Brother Tang Rui, you’re too kind. I was just luckier.”

However, Tang Rui shook his head and smiled helplessly. Luck? Luck is the most useless thing when a heavenly doctor produces pills. I have never heard of anyone being lucky and managing to produce a ninth-grade pill. Being able to do this proves that Chu Yue indeed has genuine talent and capabilities! 

“Junior Brother, you’re too humble.” Tang Rui sighed.

He had previously heard quite a few rumors regarding Chu Yue. Like the others, he also felt that Chu Yue wasn’t very capable and that he was just luckier with many fateful encounters. But with this match, he finally understood that… those rumors weren’t false!

After thinking about it, he agreed with it. Who are Elder Wan Zheng and Rong Xiu? Someone that they think highly of is definitely not ordinary. 

Elder Wan Zheng took a deep breath in and gazed at his disciple, his gaze still filled with admiration and surprise.

“Intermediate ninth-grade.” He stretched out his hand and patted Chu Liuyue’s shoulder. “Chu Yue, you’re… great!”

I originally just wanted to let those people see how outstanding my disciple is, but I didn’t expect Chu Yue’s performance to be this shocking! He is much better than I had predicted! Seeing the two pills, Elder Wan Zheng knitted his brows slightly and seemed conflicted. “Um… The pills you two produced are of the same grade, and they are of similar quality. This match… is a tie!”

The crowd went crazy. Tie?! Doesn’t this prove that Chu Yue indeed has the ability to get onto the Qing Yun Ranking? However, Tang Rui is the hundredth-ranking person, so only one of them can be on the list. Of course, with the skills the two of them have exhibited, they should be able to rank higher on the list. However, they would then have to continue challenging those above. 

Tang Rui suddenly cupped his fists toward Chu Liuyue and laughed.

“Junior Brother Chu Yue should be on the Qing Yun Ranking. Even though Junior Brother Chu Yue and I have produced pills of the same standard, Junior Brother Chu Yue is just 16 years old. Just based on this point alone, he’s already much better than me.”

The crowd had various gazes, but nobody objected to it. That was because the Qing Yun Ranking indeed had such a rule: If the two competitors were of similar standards, the younger one would be placed in front.

Chu Yue had entered the Qing Yun Ranking with enough reasons!

At this point, Elder Wan Zheng actually didn’t really care if Chu Liuyue could get onto the Qing Yun Ranking. Anyway, everything that the latter showcased was enough to prove how capable he was!

That was enough!

He thought in his heart, Actually… From the start, I shouldn’t have given Chu Yue the target of just getting onto the Qing Yun Ranking. With this kid’s potential, he should go for an even better ranking! 

Elder Wan Zheng glanced at Tang Rui, and his gaze had admiration in it. “Tang Rui, although you’ll drop out of the Qing Yun Ranking after this match… With your current abilities, you can definitely challenge those people above you.”

Tang Rui nodded respectfully. “I understand.”

Elder Wan Zheng looked at his disciple again as he smiled and raised his chin. “Kid, go ahead! Place your hand on the Qing Yun Ranking and inject a bit of force; then, your name will naturally appear!”

Chu Liuyue curled her fingers. Qing Yun Ranking… 

“What’s the matter?” Seeing that his disciple hadn’t moved for a while, Elder Wan Zheng couldn’t help but ask.

Chu Liuyue shook her head and walked toward the heavenly doctor list.

…

Countless gazes landed on her—envy, jealousy, admiration, shock…

Chu Liuyue ignored all of them. She stood a step away from the heavenly doctor list. As long as I stretch out my hand and my name appears on it, I will get onto the Qing Yun Ranking! However… will my name really appear? 

Chu Liuyue took a deep breath in and finally raised her hand—