Chapter 341: Chapter 341: Su Xiaotong
Inside the Pill Alliance Hall, Fang Lin and others preparing to attend the Pill Refiner Assembly gathered. Ten in total. The one Fang Lin was most concerned about was not Li Jianlong, and certainly not Li Feng.
It was a woman.
The woman was quite attractive, not a stunning beauty, but pleasant-looking. She held an air of freshness about her and looked to be about 21 or 22 years old.
However, she stood amongst the crowd with a puzzled expression, glancing from left to right, looking like she didn’t recognize anyone.
And yet, such a seemingly oblivious woman was said by Elder Su to be the strongest contender from Qian Country’s Pill Alliance at the Pill Refiner Assembly.
Apart from Fang Lin and a few others, the remaining Pill Refiners showed no signs of surprise.
Even Li Jianlong and Li Feng maintained their usual expressions, as if they knew who this woman was all along.
Fang Lin stepped in closer, pretending to be familiar, and asked Li Jianlong, “Who’s this woman? She seems to be quite formidable.”
Li Jianlong glanced at Fang Lin, his habitual smile didn’t diminish in the least, “Don’t you even know Su Xiaotong?”
Fang Lin was taken aback, his mouth fell open, and a look of shock spread across his face.
You could’ve said it was Su Xiaotong right from the start!
Of course, Fang Lin knew who Su Xiaotong was, she was the fifth-ranked female Pill Refiner in Qian Country’s Three Cauldrons Pill Refiner list, ranking even higher than Li Jianlong.
So this seemingly silly woman is Su Xiaotong!
Fang Lin was surprised. He originally thought, with such a high rank and also being a female Pill Refiner, she should be an aloof genius that thinks highly of herself.
Yet this Su Xiaotong, no matter how you look at her, she seems to be as innocent as a child, revealing a confused expression to everything she sees.
“Hehe, don’t underestimate her. Although you, Fang Lin, are currently the talk of Qian Country, the number one young Pill Refiner in Qian Country is not you.” Li Jianlong said with a smile, anyone who didn’t know better would think he and Fang Lin were close friends.
Hearing this, Fang Lin took a deep look at Su Xiaotong.
“You’re ranked sixth, she’s fifth. It’s just one spot difference. Why don’t you challenge her?” Fang Lin asked Li Jianlong with a sly grin.
Li Jianlong chuckled, “How do you know I haven’t challenged her already?”
Fang Lin looked at him out of the corner of his eyes, “So you lost?”
Li Jianlong nodded casually, “I challenged her three times, and lost each time, so I gave up challenging her, there was no result.”
After a pause, Li Jianlong looked at Fang Lin, “You would be the same.”
Fang Lin snorted disdainfully, “You think I’m like you?”
Li Jianlong shook his head, “I don’t know if you’re like me or not, but she, to us, is different.”
The statement Li Jianlong didn’t say out loud was that Su Xiaotong was a true genius of the Alchemy Tao.
Fang Lin was very curious about Su Xiaotong. Even someone like Li Jianlong was convincingly defeated by her. Could she really be that powerful?
Right then, Fang Lin walked over to Su Xiaotong.
Su Xiaotong stared dumbfoundedly at Fang Lin, who was also staring at her. Their eyes locked onto each other, neither of them spoke.
“Umm…Do I know you?” Su Xiaotong asked timidly, then immediately started flipping through a booklet, searching for something, her face filled with frustration.
“I’m sorry, I don’t recognize you.” Su Xiaotong apologized sincerely.
Fang Lin had a strange look on his face, of course, you don’t know me, I haven’t even told you my name yet, and you’re flipping through a small booklet. Isn’t that quite rude?
Fang Lin coughed, “I am Fang Lin, could you be Miss Su Xiaotong?”
Su Xiaotong nodded her head, then she frantically opened the booklet, carefully writing down Fang Lin’s name and sketching an image resembling him.
“Okay, I’ll remember you now.” Su Xiaotong said with a smile. Relief washed over her face, she looked extremely pleased.
Fang Lin was at a loss, does this person have a problem?
“Fang Lin, come over here.” At this moment, Elder Su waved at Fang Lin from a distance.
Hearing this, Fang Lin walked over and asked, “What can I do for you, Elder Su?”
Elder Su’s face seemed a bit awkward, “Xiaotong is my granddaughter.”
Fang Lin showed a surprised expression, then looked even more puzzled, “Elder Su, your granddaughter seems very…unique.”
Elder Su made a bitter face, looking helpless, “My granddaughter was born with poor memory. She finds it very difficult to remember people, even those she’s very familiar with. That’s why she draws their faces and names into her booklet, so she can refer to it when she forgets.”
Fang Lin was astounded, so Su Xiaotong also has this problem? That’s quite rare. No wonder she had a booklet and even drew my face in it.
“But, Xiaotong is very talented in the Alchemy Tao. Even you, Fang Lin, might not measure up to her.” Elder Su proudly stated. After all, she was his granddaughter.
Fang was speechless, why did everyone keep comparing him with Su Xiaotong?
“Elder Su, your granddaughter is only fifth in the ranking, so how did she become the number one young Pill Refiner in Qian Country?” Fang Lin asked.
Elder Su gave a small smile, “What you don’t know is that the first four people in this ranking are all over forty years old, and so can’t be considered young Pill Refiners.”
Upon hearing this, Fang Lin finally understood. So, it seems the first four could be discounted. Although Su Xiaotong was ranked fifth, she was essentially the first in her age category.
A person with exceptionally weak memory but with an outstanding talent for the Alchemy Tao was quite interesting.
Fang Lin knew that sometimes people were born very weak in one aspect, but their other talents were extremely formidable.
Perhaps Su Xiaotong was one such person. Despite her flaws, she was a true genius in one field.
“Alright, now that everyone is here, I will inform you of the matters you need to know.” At this moment, Elder Su walked to the front of the crowd and spoke aloud.
The ten of them moved closer. Besides Su Xiaotong, Fang Lin, Li Jianlong and Li Feng, there were six others. They were also among the best of the younger generation of Pill Refiners in Qian Country and held high ranks on the list.
If we solely looked at their ranks in the Pill Refiner rankings, Fang Lin would be at the bottom of the lot, ranked only twentieth.
But with the exception of the idiosyncratic Su Xiaotong, no one else dared to belittle Fang Lin.
After all, Fang Lin’s reputation had been quite good recently. Even Li Jianlong and Li Feng, who harbored ill feelings towards Fang Lin, did not look down upon him.
“The ten of you will be the participants of the upcoming Pill Refiner Assembly. I will personally lead the team, and you have to remember one thing.” Elder Su paused.
“We absolutely cannot lose!”