Chapter 931: Xiao Yan? I’m Afraid It’s Regrettable
Chapter 931 -152: Xiao Yan? I’m Afraid It’s Regrettable
At the competition arena!
Dozens of light beams suddenly lit up, dividing Lin Chen and the others into separate small areas.
The sudden change brought a look of confusion to Lin Chen and the martial artists watching at the scene.
“Silence!”
Gu Yunfeng, the Pavilion Master of the Pill Pavilion of the Thousand Mechanism Sect, spoke, his voice clearly spreading throughout the entire competition arena, including the stands. Although his tone was flat, it carried the unique pressure of a strong individual from the Innate Sixth Realm, instantly silencing the previously noisy stands.
“According to the agreement of us judges, during this competition, each contestant will be in a separate space and will not be disturbed by others.”
Upon hearing Gu Yunfeng’s words, many martial artists on the scene showed a strange expression on their faces. Why did the Thousand Mechanism Sect change the rules? From the situation on the field, the answer was already very obvious.
“Isn’t this temporary rule change unfair to Xiao Yan?”
A martial artist whispered, while an elder beside him sneered, “Where in this world is there absolute fairness? Don’t forget that the reward for first place this time is jointly provided by the Thousand Mechanism Sect and the Medicine King Valley. If you want absolute fairness, would it be okay if these two canceled the reward?”
Fairness is always relative.
This time, the sudden increase in rewards for the Alchemy Competition puzzled everyone at first, but once it was known that Jiang Chen, the direct disciple of the Pavilion Master of the Pill Pavilion, and Jiang Yaoyan, the Young Valley Master of the Medicine King Valley, were participating, the reason was found.
It was because these two participated that the rewards were increased later.
A little tilt in the competition doesn’t really matter; at least the Thousand Mechanism Sect didn’t find an excuse to suppress Xiao Yan.
“It seems they’re afraid my flame might affect them.”
Lin Chen also smiled wryly at this moment, fully understanding the reason behind the words of the senior from the Thousand Mechanism Sect. However, he didn’t feel anything was amiss, as without the participation of Jiang Yaoyan and Jiang Chen, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to observe the “Nine Revolutions Cyan Spirit Record.”
Rules announced, medicinal materials prepared.
At this moment, everyone began to focus their minds and start alchemy. The entire competition arena returned to a state that outsiders found dull.
In front of Lin Chen was a three-legged pill furnace provided by the Li Family. Although it was not as good as the ones that Jiang Yaoyan, Jiang Chen, and Wei Yang brought out, it was not much worse than those of the other six contestants.
As time passed bit by bit, two two-hour periods later, some contestants had already finished refining their pills. The moment the furnace opened, a cheering roar erupted from the stands.
Hearing the sound, Lin Chen also glanced over, nodding imperceptibly at the pills produced. Those who reached this stage of the competition weren’t weak in alchemy at all.
The “Guiyuan Pill” refined by this contestant was also a top-tier four-star pill, and they had refined a full sixteen in this batch.
However, this contestant, after completing the alchemy, did not show any smiles despite losing their previous tense expression, as they knew quite well that they had no chance of entering the top three. In this final match, they were merely accompanying others, and their only goal was to hope to make it into the top five.
After the first contestant finished, the second completed it after a quarter-hour interval.
The second, third, fourth, and sixth…
When six contestants completed their alchemy, all the martial artists on the stands once again perked up because, in their view, the ones truly qualified to compete for first were Jiang Chen, Jiang Yaoyan, Wei Yang, and Lin Chen.
Among these four, whoever successfully performed alchemy would surely surpass the previous six in ranking.
And at this moment, Lin Chen no longer seemed as carefree as before. The Five Elements Creation Pill was a top-tier five-star pill. Even though he possessed four types of Innate Fire and had also merged with the Cyan Li Flame, he dared not be careless. His powerful divine soul constantly watched over the pill, controlling the medicinal liquid with divine soul to separate impurities and reduce the loss of potency…
On the stands.
“Qin’Er, after this alchemy competition, the family has decided to let you manage the business of ten more cities in the south of the Thousand Mechanism Domain.”
Li He said with a smiling face. Upon hearing her elder say this, Li Qin was overjoyed. Her family had shops in every city within the Thousand Mechanism Domain, and even beyond it. However, those responsible for business outside the Thousand Mechanism Domain were usually those punished for past mistakes.
Only by establishing merits could one qualify to handle business within the major cities of the Thousand Mechanism Domain. Before her, her branch only managed five cities, and if they gained ten more cities, the power of her branch would significantly increase.
“Thank you, Elder.”
“No need to thank me. This reward for bringing Xiao Yan to the family is well-deserved. Xiao Yan’s talent in alchemy is beyond my expectations. With such talent, he could become a Master Level Alchemist within five years and has the potential to become an Alchemy Grandmaster in the future. Such a genius… if we could establish a closer relationship with our Li Family, it would also be greatly beneficial to the clan.”
Upon hearing this, Li Qin’s heart skipped a beat as she understood why the Third Elder said this now, so she responded after a brief pause, “I will try my best.”
“Hmm.” Li He smiled faintly, saying no more.
…
…
Boom!
On the field, a flame soared to the sky, and everyone saw that Jiang Chen’s pill furnace was suddenly engulfed in flames.
“What’s going on, did he fail?”
“Flames devouring the pill furnace, that’s not a good sign.”
As everyone was puzzled, the flames bloomed petal by petal like a flower, and when the petals fully bloomed, they revealed the true form of the pill furnace.
But at this moment, the pill furnace was without its cover, and seven pills, each shining with a glazed purity, quietly floated there.
Glazed Purity Pill, refining complete!
Lin Chen’s gaze also shifted to that direction with a trace of envy in his eyes. This was the special nature of the Azure Fall Spirit Fire; its spirituality far exceeded other Innate Fires, imparting an aura of spirit even to the pills.
Glazed Purity Pill, capable of purging impurities from the Martial Artist’s Divine Soul, making it more pure, and the one Jiang Chen refined is undoubtedly a top-quality pill.
One pill might be worth tens of thousands of Flame Coins.
A furnace with seven pills, nearing the value of three hundred thousand Flame Coins.
This has already reached the profits of a Master Level Alchemist.
“As expected of Senior Brother Jiang, normally an alchemist can produce five pills and that is already very impressive.”
“Senior Brother, I’m ashamed. I have refined this pill several times, but each time just five pills. No matter how I purify it, I can’t produce more.”
The Thousand Mechanism Sect disciples, seeing Jiang Chen’s seven pills in front of him, cheered aloud.
Senior Brother Jiang, this time is definitely an outstanding performance.
Zeng Xi felt the cheers from many fellow disciples around him, though he also showed a smile, his heart wasn’t as optimistic as others. For some reason, he vaguely felt a familiarity in Xiao Yan’s style, his intuition telling him Xiao Yan isn’t the kind to boast without substance.
No matter how many Glazed Purity Pills Senior Brother Jiang refines, as long as Xiao Yan succeeds in refining the Five Elements Creation Pill, the first place is still Xiao Yan’s.
In the arena, Jiang Chen looked at the seven pills floating before him, with a smile on his face, but the moment his gaze fell on Lin Chen and the others, the smile disappeared.
As an alchemist, he has participated in dozens of alchemy competitions, and each time he confidently believed himself to be first as soon as the pill was successfully refined, without waiting for others to finish.
But this time, he lacked that confidence.
Jiang Yaoyan need not be mentioned, that Wei Yang actually has the Taiyin Nether Fire, so his strength won’t be weak, as for that Xiao Yan… he continuously surprises and shocks him.
High on the platform, Gu Yunfeng watched his disciple complete the alchemy, showing a smile and straightforwardly said, “In the past, my disciple never faced setbacks in alchemy, developing an arrogant character. No matter the result this time, at least he learned there are always stronger individuals out there. A furnace of seven Glazed Purity Pills already surpasses his past achievements, surprising me as a master.”
Gu Yunfeng did not praise his disciple or feign humility. Though none of them broke the rules by using Divine Thought to sense the alchemy of the competitors, Gu Yunfeng was certain that his disciple might be destined to miss out on first this time.
It’s also good, through this alchemy competition, his disciple’s arrogance can be restrained, allowing him to go further along the alchemy path in the future.
“Pavilion Master Gu is modest, when old man was Jiang Chen’s age, I couldn’t ensure making seven Glazed Purity Pills.”
The president of the Alchemy Association laughed as he spoke, and another Alchemy Grandmaster sighed, “This year’s alchemy competition, until the last moment when the furnace is opened, it’s hard to say who will take first place.”
“Haha, old man feels such competitions are more interesting. Though being far ahead is admirable, contests with close calls are more intriguing.”
As Gu Yunfeng and others were communicating, Jiang Yaoyan also finished the alchemy, with an unusual red light emanating from his pill furnace, shimmering with eerie red glow.
Bang!
Three breaths later, the pill furnace suddenly exploded!
This scene startled all the Martial Artists watching from the stands, did the furnace really explode?
But quickly everyone knew that Jiang Yaoyan did it intentionally, as the furnace burst open, a surge of red pill vapor sprayed out, but the next moment, something within the vapor seemed to exist, reclaiming all the pill vapor.
Three soul-stirring red pills suspended in the air.
“Ten Thousand Beasts Blood Essence Pill!”
The pill formed from the blood essence of a hundred Demon Beasts, even floating quietly in the air, made many low Realm Martial Artists dare not gaze directly.
“Both are top quality, and there are three pills, who is superior, Jiang Yaoyan or Jiang Chen?”
Martial Artists unfamiliar with alchemy could not help but ask nearby alchemists. Naturally, they knew the two kinds of pills, but as for the value… the value isn’t fixed; for Martial Artists, whichever they need more is deemed most precious.
However, alchemy evaluations differ; besides pill value, they consider the difficulty of refining, pill quality, and how much potency is lost…
“Hard to say, if looking at potency loss, Jiang Yaoyan should be superior. Normally, from those materials, a furnace yields just two pills, but Jiang Chen clearly produced extra, we can’t decide, no wonder several Grandmasters personally oversee this time.”
High on the platform.
Gu Yunfeng gazed at the three pills before Jiang Yaoyan, calmly stated, “Jiang Yaoyan wins!”
As a Grandmaster Alchemist, he wouldn’t favor his own disciple. In terms of pill difficulty, Jiang Yaoyan and his disciple are equals, but Jiang Yaoyan produced one more, while although his disciple produced two extra, he was slightly lacking in controlling the rejection of pill potency. If just one more could be refined, this round would be his disciple’s victory.
“Alas, never has a competition had such a narrow gap in victory.”
The president of the Alchemy Association also sighed lightly, in past events, first place often led with significant margins.
“Not necessarily.”
Yang Rongtian, who had been silent, suddenly spoke, smiling, “Didn’t everyone say if Xiao Yan can refine the Five Elements Creation Pill, he’ll undoubtedly take first? If Xiao Yan succeeds, the gap would widen, right?”
Hearing Yang Rongtian’s words, several Alchemy Grandmasters exchanged glances.
“True, but Xiao Yan’s progress seems off. At the timing for the Five Elements Creation Pill’s formation, Xiao Yan should have entered the Nascent Soul stage, yet Xiao Yan is still purifying the medicinal liquid, probably struggling to form the pill.”
An Alchemy Grandmaster sighed, the one who had previously spoken for Lin Chen. He hoped Xiao Yan would surprise him. Unfortunately… Xiao Yan missed the best timing for the Five Elements Creation Pill’s formation, with the medicinal liquid purified too long, resulting in a pill being difficult to form, with cracks, turning into a defective product.
“I don’t understand alchemy, just saying casually.”
Yang Rongtian nodded, not continuing.
Failed… Having failed is fine; at least the follow-up will save me some trouble, otherwise it would be difficult to fulfill an old friend’s request.