Painting of the Nine Immortals

“The winning title has yet to be confirmed. Isn’t it too early to be congratulating her?”

A burst of loud laughter erupted from afar. Under the support of a mysterious force, it broke through the barrier and made everyone here frown.

All of those elders’ irises restricted. They didn’t think the in-comer would be able to send voice into the barrier. That wasn’t something anyone could do.

Too early?

The situation was pretty obvious by now. Other than Hong Zhuang Luo, who else had the right to have the winning title?

Everyone frowned and sought out the voice.

They saw a man in black walk forward slowly. He looked around 17 to 18 with a very ordinary face. Though the composition of his face was so simple that he would never stand out in a crowd, his temperament was out of the world, similar to the descendant of a god.

It was Ling Xian.

He saw that the competition had yet to end and sighed in relief. A smile also crawled onto his lips.

As long as he could make it before the end of the competition, then all is well.

Different than his excited self, everyone else was frowning. The way they looked at him was extremely unfriendly, especially the descendants who were here to flatter Hong Zhuang Luo. Their expressions were rather cold.

They were having so much fun discussing and thinking that Hong Zhuang Luo had won the title. Yet Ling Xian’s sudden appearance and his provocative words made these people very unhappy.

The reality was that Ling Xian wasn’t challenging anyone. He was merely describing a fact.

However, under the circumstance that everyone thought Hong Zhuang Luo was already the winner, what he had said sounded like a challenge.

All the admirers of Hong Zhuang Luo all chimed in at this.

“Who do you think you are? Fairy Hong had already brewed a fifth realm Dan of the eighth rank. The winning seat is hers for sure, why can’t I congratulate her?”

“Exactly. The moment the Dan of the fifth realm was created, all of us admit our defeat. She is the winner we all accept!”

“That’s right. Not only do we accept her as the winner, everyone else does as well. Fairy Hong is the winner of this year’s Competition of the Path of Alchemy!”

Everyone chimed in. As they questioned and pushed back Ling Xian, they flattered Hong Zhuang Luo.

“You may accept her, but that doesn’t mean I accept that.”

Ling Xian revealed a faint smile as he watched everyone inside the barrier, “Just because you admit your defeat, it doesn’t mean I will lose.”

At those words, the people became a little startled. It took them a while to realize what was happening and they began to look at him with a not so friendly gaze.

“Interesting. So you want to participate in the competition.”

“Haha, you sure overestimate yourself. Fairy Hong’s knowledge is very profound and her skills are anything but ordinary. What do you have to compete against her?”

“Exactly. We have a Dan of the fifth realm with the eighth rank, which is the same as winning the title. Yet here you are, wanting to enter the competition. Aren’t you scared you’ll get humiliated?”

“You sure are either stupid or you are too over your head. Fairy Hong’s level of skills isn’t something someone like you can just overtake.”

Everyone agreed on this point and decided that water had entered Ling Xian’s head. There was no way he would be able to compete with the goddess in their hearts.

“The one seeking humiliation isn’t me, it’s you.” Ling Xian shook his head, wondering how was it possible that there is someone against him no matter where he goes?

Hearing this, the way everyone was looking at him turned cold. As they opened their mouths to disagree, Hong Zhuang Luo stopped them.

“Interesting.”

Hong Zhuang Luo had a very sarcastic smile on her lips. Right now, Ling Xian’s clone, both on the inside and on the outside, was drastically different than his original, therefore, she couldn’t identify him.

“So what you are saying is that you want to challenge me.”

Ling Xian grinned, “I am not challenging you. I just want to take part in the competition and win it.”

“The winning seat has been locked down by me. Nobody here can change that.”

Hong Zhuang Luo spoke softly, “Therefore, you are challenging me.”

“You can call it whatever you want. There is no difference between challenging you and wanting to be the winner.” Ling Xian shook his head and smiled, thinking that after everything, this Miss Hong was just as arrogant as before.

Though during their last encounter, he didn’t end up interacting much with her, and they only exchanged about 10 sentences, he could feel it in his heart that this Heaven’s Favorite was very very proud.

What was happening now had confirmed that guess.

“Do you know that every single person who’s ever challenged me had lost in the end? They all lost real bad.” Hong Zhuang Luo smiled faintly.

“I actually didn’t know about that.”

Ling Xian shook his head and then sarcastically said something that drove Hong Zhuang Luo insane.

“But I do know that during the last gathering of alchemists, you placed third.”

At this, everyone’s face changed color.

Everyone who specializes in alchemy knows about the last gathering of alchemists and knows about how big of a humiliation it was for Hong Zhuang Luo to have placed third.

Therefore, after Ling Xian said what he had said, they all carefully peeked at Hong Zhuang Luo and as expected, saw that she was very close to exploding.

Her expression was dark and her hands were in tight fists. If it weren’t for the guarding elders, she would be going insane right now. Though she didn’t attack, her expression remained frigid and she stared at Ling Xian with killer’s intent.

It was obvious that she was furious.

At this, Ling Xian frowned slightly. He didn’t think she would react so violently. However, he didn’t say anything. So what she was angry? He wasn’t scared of her.

“Good, very good.”

Hong Zhuang Luo’s face was pale as she flapped around her sleeve and said some extremely cold words.

“Get over here and face your humiliation!”

At these words, the entire field erupted into cheers.

“Haha, nicely put! You are my goddess, after all, you have such courage!”

“Face your humiliation! Just how confident, and how dominant do you have to be to say those words? Haha, those are some beautiful words!”

“Hehe, the lady has spoken. You are to go and face your humiliation. Young man, you better enter.”

Listening to the discussions around him, Ling Xian remained very calm as per usual. He glared at Hong Zhuang Luo and the others. Get in there and face humiliation?

It wasn’t for certain just who would be humiliated.

“Interesting.”

Lifting the corner of his lips, Ling Xian refocused on the suspending elders and said loudly, “My name is Xian Ling and I am here to compete in the competition. I wonder if I have the right to enter?”

Hearing this, the elders didn’t speak. For one, because the leader of the Path of Alchemy was here, it wasn’t their call to make. For two, it was because of Ling Xian’s initial action.

For those ignorant and obvious, they didn’t know just how difficult it was to make voice travel across the barrier.

This alone proved that Ling Xian possessed extraordinary array skills. Especially after hearing the name, Xian Ling, everyone’s expression turned even more serious.

Only one person appeared at ease and was even smiling.

It was the leader of the Path of Alchemy.

Despite the importance of this Competition of the Four Paths, normally speaking, it was enough for elders to show their faces. However, today, the leader felt bored and decided to come out and watch.

He knew very well just what kind of identity Ling Xian had and knew how profound he was with alchemy. What surprised him was why a multi-talented master in arrays and crafts would compete under the Path of Alchemy. Could it be that he also knows how to brew a Dan?

“This is interesting.” The leader smiled and said something that confused everyone else.

“Young man, you know alchemy as well?”

At this, everyone became confused.

What did he mean he knew alchemy as well? Based on his tone, it seems like the leader knew this guy.

“About that, you will find out soon.” Ling Xian softly smiled.

“Alright, then I will wait and see.”

The leader of alchemy stroke his beard and smiled, “Enter then. I believe you don’t need me to deactivate the barrier.”

“Naturally.”

The corner of Ling Xian’s lips curled up as he marched forward before the barrier. He slowly flapped around his sleeve and immediately, a giant hole appeared and he entered in casually.

This once again made all the elders’ expression change.

Hong Zhuang Luo’s face changed color as well. She didn’t think the person in front of her would possess such insane array skills. However, she was not afraid. Because amazing array skills didn’t translate to great alchemy skills.

Some people have eyes and can identify talents. Some people have eyes but cannot.

After watching Ling Xian enter the barrier, another round of laughter arose.

“This man sure has the courage. Sadly, I think he is far too stupid.”

“This is actually laughable. Fairy Hong had made it clear that she was going to humiliate him and yet he dared to enter. How stupid.”

“But this man shares the same name as that master.”

“So what? Based on how stupid he is being, there is no way he is that master. Even if he is, that master is multi-talented in both arrays and crafts. He is not skilled with alchemy.”

Everyone was full of disdain as they continued to mock Ling Xian.

However, once Ling Xian started brewing, everyone’s expression froze.

Even the elders and Hong Zhuang Luo had traces of awe in their eyes.

This was all because Ling Xian was not using a cauldron. He was using his palm to brew his Dan.

It wasn’t difficult for an alchemist to brew a Dan using their palms. It was something any alchemist could do. The problem was that 99 percent of people who did so failed in the end. This was why everyone was so shocked seeing him using his palm as a cauldron.

What happened next made everyone else even more surprised.

Because Hong Zhuang Luo was here, Ling Xian didn’t reveal his Godly Fire. Instead, he used a technique that transformed his own Qi into flames.

However, even though he didn’t use any Godly Fire, his alchemy skills remained beastly. He was not someone who relied on external objects.

His left hand continued to burn the flame as his right hand formed a hand seal. He was extracting all 13 different spiritual medicines together.

The reason why he chose to use his palm to brew this Dan wasn’t that he wanted to surprise everyone. It was because there was a strange technique recorded inside the Encyclopedia of Dans that allows a Dan to be brewed on top of a palm and ensures the quality of the Dan to be amazing.

This was why he decided on using his palm to brew his Dan even after extracting all 13 ingredients.

This scene once again shocked everyone. As time went on, an object in the shape of a Dan began to appear on top of Ling Xian’s palm. This shocked everyone even more.

Even the important figure, the leader of the Path of Alchemy, was showing signs of shock.

As a grandmaster, he naturally knew how difficult it was to brew a Dan using one’s palm. Even he himself would not attempt it lightly. But now that the Dan on Ling Xian’s palm was shaping up, he knew that if no accidents happen, he won’t fail.

In other words, the success of this brewing was for certain. Though it wasn’t certain what the final quality of the Dan will turn out to be, to have successfully brewed a Dan on top of a palm was enough of an achievement to surprise the leader.

“What a great Heaven’s Favorite. In the future, I will have to remember that he is talented in arrays, crafts, and alchemy.”