Painting of the Nine Immortals

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

The leader of alchemy exclaimed.

The elders around him reacted the same. They didn’t think this ordinary looking young man would be able to use his palm as a cauldron and brew his Dan that way.

Hong Zhuang Luo and the other participants were now frozen. There were no more sarcastic looks on their faces.

Though they hadn’t seen much, they were, after all, alchemists. Why wouldn’t they understand how difficult it was to brew Dans on top of a palm? One could say that most alchemists could not achieve that!

Yet Ling Xian was using his palm as a cauldron and was starting to succeed in his Dan brewing. Why wouldn’t everyone be surprised?

As time went on, and that Dan began to rise up into the air, everyone’s expression turned even more astonished. Their eyes could no longer hide how shocked they were.

The Dan itself was purple in color and was emitting a heavy fragrance and purple light. It made everything in the air appear mysterious and beautiful.

This meant Ling Xian had succeeded! He had successfully brewed a Dan using his palm!

Ignoring just how good of quality is this Dan, his succeeding on brewing the Dan was enough to make everyone surprised.

Immediately, all gazes were upon the purple Dan. There were shocks in people’s eyes. When everyone saw the number of carvings on the Dan, they behaved as if they were struck by lightning and they froze right where they stood.

Nine lines!

On the medicinal Dan, there were nine carvings! Plus, not a single one of them was faint. All of them were deep and obvious.

This once again astounded everyone and their expressions showed.

After some time, a series of gasping sounds erupted.

“What the hell! Nine lines, there are nine lines!”

“Not only that! Though I don’t know the name of this Dan, I could feel its realm. It’s also of the fifth realm!”

“Oh my god, fifth realm and ninth rank. Doesn’t this mean this Dan outranks the one Miss Hong made?”

“In other words, the result is clear? This person has snatched the winning title?”

Everyone gasped and disbelief was written all over their faces.

Even the elders high in the sky couldn’t hide their surprise. They didn’t think something that was set in stone would suddenly change.

Though nobody could accept this result, the reality was before them and no matter how little they wanted to accept it, they had to!

Hong Zhuang Luo’s Dan was of the fifth realm and there were eight and a half carvings. The Dan Ling Xian made was also of the fifth realm, but it had nine carvings on it. Not a single line was faint or incomplete.

This means Hong Zhuang Luo was behind just by a little. But she had lost.

This indicated that her alchemy skills were not as good as Ling Xian’s. It also meant her winning seat had become his glory!

“He successfully brewed a ninth-ranked Dan!”

Hong Zhuang Luo’s face was full of shock as she stared deadly at Ling Xian. She was unable to accept this cruel reality.

After failing at the gathering of alchemy, she had been practicing her cultivation very diligently. Not only did she increase her alchemy realm to the fifth realm, but her enlightenment also improved. This was proven by the fact that she made a nearly ninth-ranked Dan.

Yet before her eyes, she was lacking next to Ling Xian. How could this proud woman accept that? Pity though, reality will always be the reality. She had to accept this!

“Now, the winning title should be mine.”

Ling Xian revealed a faint smile. He glanced around all the participants and nobody dared to exchange glances with him.

The reality was before everyone. The Dan he brewed was enough to outcompete Hong Zhuang Luo’s. The winning seat was his for sure.

Everyone became ashamed at this. Thinking about how much they questioned Ling Xian just now, their faces felt pain as if they’ve been slapped by someone.

Just as they were feeling ashamed, Ling Xian spoke with a slight smile, which made them feel even worse.

“Remember when you said I was asking for humiliation?”

Ling Xian grinned and glanced over each and every one before locking eyes with Hong Zhuang Luo, “I wonder who is actually asking for humiliation?

At his words, everyone’s fists tightened and they felt humiliated.

Yet they had nothing to argue with.

The reality was they were the ones asking for humiliation.

Hong Zhuang Luo, in particular, had fists so tight her nails dug into her palms. Her expression was dark as she stared at Ling Xian but couldn’t find any words to speak.

At this, Ling Xian softly smiled. He realized that these people had been hit hard and he felt too lazy to argue against them now.

Then, he shifted his gaze towards the leader of alchemy, “Leader, though they originally thought Miss Hong had won, I have brewed Dan of the fifth realm and the ninth rank. So the winning title should belong to me?”

“Of course it is yours.”

The leader grinned kindly and the way he looked at Ling Xian was full of admiration. Then, he looked over the entire crowd and asked, “Does anyone have any objections?”

At this, the entire place silenced. There were no more whispers and nobody dared to argue.

What a joke. If the leader of the pat had spoken, who dares to argue against him?

Even if the leader of the path didn’t speak, these people had nothing to argue against him with. They originally did think that Hong Zhuang Luo had won the competition. But now, it was clear that Ling Xian had outshone her. Therefore he naturally was the winner.

“So there are no objections.”

The leader of the path smiled, “I will give you one last opportunity. If anyone doesn’t want this result, then brew a Dan. Anyone who can surpass the fifth realm and the ninth-ranked Dan will be the winner.

Surpass the fifth realm and the ninth-ranked Dan?

Everyone smiled wryly. To surpass this ranking meant they had to brew a Dan of the fourth realm or a perfect tenth ranked Dan.

The difficulty of both scenarios was hard to imagine. Other than the elders, nobody here could succeed.

Therefore, other than awkwardly smile, what else could they do?

At this, the leader beamed, “Very good. Since nobody is willing to attempt it, then I hereby announce the winner of the competition for the Path of Alchemy will be Xian Ling!”

Similar to what happened at the Path of Arrays, not only were there no cheers, everything turned dead silent.

Ling Xian didn’t need anyone’s cheers and applause anyways.

His real capabilities have proven himself!

“Since that’s the case, then please keep my reward safe.”

Ling Xian once again smiled and paid his respect, “After the competition ends, I will get the rewards from you.”

“Keep your reward safe?”

The leader frowned but quickly realized. He laughed, “You are not planning on competing under the other paths, are you?”

Ling Xian didn’t speak.

His goal wasn’t to just be the winner of one Path. Now that he had acquired the title for the Path of Alchemy, he naturally had to rush to the next place. He quickly made his move before everyone’s shocked gaze.

“Is he really planning on going?”

Mumbling, the leader’s eyes flashed with anticipation, “As the pupil of crafts, I believe he had already won that title. Now he also has my path’s title under his belt. If he wins the competition for arrays as well, then things will get interesting.”

“He already won the competition for the Path of Crafts?”

Hearing what the leader had said, all the elders became flustered and a guess emerged in their hearts.

The leader saw right through them and laughed, “If you are thinking that the young man is the multi-talented master, then I can answer you responsibly that you have guessed correctly.”

All the different elders froze at this.

They have all heard Ling Xian announcing his name. When he entered the barrier so easily, they also had that thought. It was just that the idea of that happening was far too ridiculous so they didn’t think much of it.

Now that the leader had confirmed their guesses, they naturally felt more shocked than ever.

The multi-talented master who astounded the entire Shang Qing Sect was that young man?

Disbelief was written all over the elders’ faces.

Though they were also called masters themselves, how old were they? The youngest of them was 200 years old.

Yet Ling Xian had merely been cultivating for roughly two decades and he had already acquired the master title. What an achievement that was.

Don’t forget, not only was he achieved in one area, he was considered talented in multiple. This was even more surprising.

“Unbelievable. A newly acquired pupil has such profound knowledge with both arrays and crafts!” A grey-haired elder’s voice trembled out.

“No, you are wrong.”

An elder in a black robe was full of awe, “Don’t forget, he had just brewed a Dan of the fifth realm and the ninth rank. He also did it on his palm.”

Hearing this, all the elders silenced.

Only after some time, did all of them gasp in unison and the shock on their faces intensify.

If being achieved in two areas would surprise them this much, then being achieved in three areas puts these people in absolute astonishment.

All because being successful in three areas was far too unbelievable!

“How insane. We can no longer describe him as merely a Heaven’s Favorite.”

“Demon! Other than that word, I cannot think of another one.”

“He truly is heaven-defying. To be so successful in all three areas and standing out this much is hard to believe.”

All the elders spoke their thoughts with awe in their voices.

A demon talented in three areas deserved anyone’s exclaim!

“That is true.”

The leader of alchemy softly nodded and his old eyes were flickering with the highest level of praise, “I anticipate that he will end up winning three titles. That will be setting a record for the Shang Qing Sect.”

Hearing this, all elders nodded and their eyes shone with high expectation.

Since the creation of the Shang Qing Sect, countless Competitions of the Four Paths have been hosted. The highest record was set by someone who won three titles solo.

If Ling Xian can achieve this as well and do the same… of course, people would want to see that.

Below, Hong Zhuang Luo was having high expectations as well.

However, she didn’t know Ling Xian’s identity. So naturally, she wasn’t having high expectations for this one thing. Instead, she was thinking about what happened just now.

She was a proud person and she had only been defeated once before – to Ling Xian at the gathering of alchemists. Today, she was ending up with another loss. Therefore, she, of course, would remember this.

She just wasn’t aware of the fact that she had lost twice to the same person. If she knew, how would she feel?