Painting of the Nine Immortals

After a set of blood infused teeth fell to the ground, Cao Yu was immediately slammed out of the Realm of Alchemy and fell onto the tall stand.

His entire face was terrifyingly white and his entire body hurt like he was in hell.

He realized now it was over for him. Everything was utterly over.

Losing the right to participate in the test was not a big deal. But losing the title of being the strongest descendant was the same as throwing him to the 18th floor of hell. It pained him more than if he had died.

All this time, the title of being the strongest descendant gave him the right to be arrogant and gave him the reason to be proud. Now that he was stripped of this title, all his past glory was no more. He had once again fallen to the ordinary world from the cloud. How could he accept this?

No matter how much he didn’t want to accept this, he had to accept this cruel reality.

At once, Cao Yu was acting like he had lost his soul and was now a zombie. Setting aside his confidence and pride, at this moment, his entire world crumbled.

Everyone here was now expressionless. The way they looked at him was with pity, but more than that was pleasure and mockery.

Everyone at the scene somewhat saw how he provoked Ling Xian. Now that he was stripped of the strongest descendant title, everyone naturally felt satisfied.

Sensing everyone’s gaze, Cao Yu’s face turned paler. He felt like he was a clown. At this moment, he was full of hatred and finally realized how stupid he had been.

If he didn’t provoke Ling Xian, he wouldn’t have been slapped in the face so many times and he wouldn’t have been stripped of honor by the Cao Clan Leader. He never would’ve become a clown!

Pity, there are no “ifs” in this world. This was why at this moment, he could only accept everyone’s laughing gazes like a clown does.

Everyone inside the Realm of Alchemy felt the same.

All gazes were on Cao Yu. There was pity, shame, and taunt.

“Wow, the strongest descendant of the Cao Clan ended up like this? What a shame.”

“He deserves it! I can only make that comment and I only want to make that comment.”

“Haha, that’s right! He deserves it! From beginning to end, he was the one who provoked Ling Xian.

He was taught a lesson but he still did not change. Now, look what happened. The once genius and highly praised alchemist is now a clown.”

“How laughable. He could’ve offended anyone and he chose to offend Ling Xian!”

Everyone chimed in. They thought the only reason why Cao Yu ended up in such a disastrous state was mainly that he was so stupid he provoked Ling Xian.

Therefore, everyone stepped back a step and the way they looked at Ling Xian was with fear.

None of them wanted to end up like Cao Yu and have their reputation tarnished.

“Ling Xian, I wonder if you are satisfied with my answer?” Cao Clan Leader said softly. His expression was very calm and there was no way to tell if he was happy or sad.

The reality was that he felt pained. No matter what, Cao Yu was the best descendant of his Cao Clan and yet Cao Yu was slammed back by him personally. How could he not feel pain?

No matter how much his heart ached, he had to do this. After all, Yu Cao was at wrong here and everything happened before everyone’s gaze. Everyone watched it happen.

Therefore, if he doesn’t give a satisfying answer to Ling Xian, then a conflict will occur and he will be blamed for having favorites. Reputation was what was most important to the Cao Clan.

Therefore, he chose to strip Cao Yu of the best descendant title and forced him to be amongst the ordinary.

“Cao Clan Leader is intelligent and knowledgeable. To be willing to punish someone from your own Clan is admirable.” Ling Xian softly grinned, very happy with this end result.

Stripping the strongest descendant title was the same as taking away Cao Yu’s glory. Cao Yu has now fallen from above and was no longer the shining genius. This kind of punishment, to someone who cared so much reputation, was worse for him than if he was killed.

Therefore, Ling Xian was of course satisfied. After all, since the beginning, he had plans to make Cao Yu crumble, reputation included.

“Aye, there is no need to flatter me.”

Cao Clan Leader sighed a long sigh, “Such a failure was born from the Cao Clan. My Cao Clan is ashamed for his actions. As the victim of this entire ordeal, I should be apologizing to you.”

“Cao Clan Leader, you are being too kind. Since you have punished him, then we will let what happened pass.” Ling Xian brandished his hand with a smile. Cao Yu had been beaten down and was heavily punished. This result, without a doubt, satisfied him.

Afterall, he didn’t want to threaten the Cao Clan unless necessary. If this giant powerful force was truly angered, then Ling Xian will be the one that would be harmed.

“Mister Ling sure has a broad heart. Even I can’t help but respect you.” Cao Clan Leader’s eyes shone with admiration. He looked at the extraordinary man before him and then thought of Cao Yu – he couldn’t help but silently sighed.

If Cao Yu had half of Ling Xian’s excellence, he would be grateful.

“You have flattered me, Cao Clan Leader.” Ling Xian grinned and changed the subject, “I wonder if I passed the second test?”

“To have used only half an hour to transform the Fire Testing Stone to a small sword, if you still do not pass, then nobody in this world can pass.”

Cao Clan Leader had huge smile on his face. The admiration in his eyes grew denser as he looked at Ling Xian.

As the Clan Leader of the Cao Clan, he has seen many geniuses from everyone’s clans. However, he has never met someone as insane as Ling Xian. Naturally he felt very respectable and he even considered trying to get Ling Xian to join his Clan.

“Since I have passed, then let me go rest a bit.” Ling Xian had a smile on his lips as he walked to the side.

Seeing this, the Cao Clan Leader didn’t think much of it. He moved his gaze towards the others and said, “I am sorry to have bothered you just now. I will give you another 30 minutes. Please manage your time well.”

At this, everyone’s expression changed. They instantly remembered that the second test hasn’t ended. They concentrated in a hurry and focused on the Fire Testing Stone before them.

They knew very well that not everyone’s as insane as Ling Xian. Therefore, they must hurry up or else none of them will be able to change the shape of the Fire Testing Stone.

At this, the Cao Clan Leader left the scene and went to chat with Ling Xian.

Then, a very strange scenery started to happen where they were.

The genius alchemists from all over the world were sweating from their foreheads and acting like an ant on a hot pan. They used all they had to try and mold the Fire Testing Stone before them.

Even top talents like Hong Zhuang Luo were looking flustered and troubled. She was terrified that she wouldn’t finish in test and would fail the test.

This was something she refused to endure. After all, she still had a stomach full of anger towards Ling Xian and vowed to destroy him in the last round of tests.

Yet Ling Xian, right now, was acting very relaxed. He strolled around the Mountain of a Thousand Spiritual Medicine in a manner that was carefree and happy. His casual behaviors made everyone question if he actually came for the test. Why wasn’t he at all nervous?

What could they do? He was just that powerful and was able to finish so early.

Just like that, he casually walked and casually admired the sceneries around him as he chatted with the Cao Clan Leader who was walking alongside him.

Meanwhile, everyone else was sweating from their foreheads as they gave their all to attempt and burn the Fire Testing Stone.

This strange scenery made even the external viewers speechless.

“How interesting. Since the first time the gathering of alchemists was hosted, nothing as strange as this has happened.” The Hong Clan Leader exclaimed and continued, “Ling Xian, this black horse that jumped out of nowhere, is a pioneer.”

“That’s right. Ling Xian does not walk the ordinary and normal path. It’s hard to judge him with rationality.” Shang Guan Clan Leader exclaimed as well, “He is by far the largest black horse in this year’s gathering.”

The Hong Clan Leader’s eyes flickered and he sighed, “Yes, the Cao Clan’s descendant was eliminated because of him. Everyone else is affected by him. Based on what is happening now, our descendants have acquired an enemy.”

“That may not be the case. The third round is brewing Dans. Though this young man has a talent unlike the others, it will remain impossible to win against our clans’ descendants.” Shang Guan Clan Leader shook his head and was full of confidence.

“I believe so as well. The way our clans’ descendants are raised cannot be compared to other people.” The Hong Clan Leader softly smiled and was extremely confident about Hong Zhuang Luo.

The other two clan leaders did not speak. However, their faces were full of confidence as they firmly believed that their own descendants were extremely capable with alchemy and will definitely be able to win against Ling Xian the black horse.

After all, it’s been thousands of years since the five clans have imposed control over this land. Because of this, all of them have acquired much resources and knowledge. In other words, in the entire Yuezhou, other than the few alchemists who never show their faces, nobody could compare to the five clans.

Therefore, all the descendants raised by the few clans were extremely powerful. They may be weaker than Ling Xian in the first two rounds, but the most important aspect, brewing a Dan, they will not be weaker.

Because the making of a Dan is without a doubt, the most accurate way to measure an alchemist’s abilities.

Therefore, the last round of test was the most important one. If Hong Zhuang Luo and the other descendants can win against Ling Xian in the last round, they can forget all the previous rounds.

So all of the Clans were waiting for the arrival of the last round.

Just then, the second round of test has reached its end.

Even though the journey was difficult, at the very end, six people completed the test and advanced to the next round.

Hong Zhuang Luo and the other three Clans’ descendants were amongst them. The other two were descendants of other two smaller forces.

As for the remainder of them, they all had a bitter expression as they could not melt the Fire Testing Stone into a small sword.

After all, the Fire Testing Stone was extremely durable against heat and melting it is not a simple task. Plus, it had to be melted into a small sword, which added to the difficulty. Not everyone can do this.

Everyone, those who passed and those eliminated, once again helped accent how powerful Ling Xian was to have completed the test within half an hour!

“Those who are entering the final round, and those who are unable to… I don’t believe I need to give further instructions.” The Cao Clan Leader walked over. Then, he flapped his sleeve and straight away pushed everyone who couldn’t complete the test out of the Realm of Alchemy.

Then, his gaze shifted towards everyone and he said, “the third round is brewing a Dan. You are allowed to choose any spiritual Dan. The winner will be the one with the one who brews the Dan with the highest realm and with the highest rank.”

“Okay, let us not waste any time. I now announce, the third round officially begins now!”

The Cao Clan Leader’s expression was stern as he announced the start of the last round right away.

However, the moment his voice trailed off, bright laughter from afar traveled there, forcing everyone to frown.

“Cao Clan Leader, I am late. I wonder if you can do me a favor and let me participate in the last round of the competition?”