Asura Emperor Venerable
Chapter 399: Forcing a Draw

Chapter 399: Chapter 399: Forcing a Draw

"The last bottle?"

Everyone shook their heads; they had resigned themselves to their fate. The standard of Alchemy Dao on the Eastern Fire Continent was indeed weaker than that of the Northern Silver Continent, not just by a small margin, therefore any youngsters from there could easily beat them.

"Let’s just get this over with, no need to come for the third round; it’s just humiliation from the Northern Silver Continent. What’s there to see?"

"Hmm?"

"Eh!"

"Ah!"

The three appraisers opened the bottle stoppers, all momentarily stunned.

Having been through so much, they knew what standards seven or eight grades were; Lord Zuo did not need to intervene personally. They were about to routinely announce "Grade Seven," but the fragrance of the elixir hit them, invigorating their spirits.

Perfect grade, oh no, it’s definitely grade five, even surpassing it!

They had already encountered what grade five elixirs were like. As for appraising power, they just hadn’t been exposed broadly; once they knew what grade five looked like, they could instantly recognize it upon encountering it again, otherwise how could they qualify as such professionals?

"Grade five."

"At least grade five!"

"Could Lord Zuo please have a look?"

The three appraisers spoke in turn, all eventually looking towards Lord Zuo.

What!

The crowd was initially stunned, then erupted into an uproar.

At least grade five?

That meant they were not inferior to the Northern Silver Continent, and might even surpass it!

Everyone was excited, all turning to look at Lord Zuo, because only he could judge elixirs above grade five. Ultimately, the final decision was up to him.

Lord Zuo too was startled. On this continent, could someone actually refine an elixir surpassing grade seven?

How could this be possible?

The Alchemy System here was so rudimentary. No matter how brilliant a genius, limited by such a rough Alchemy Dao system, being able to refine a grade six elixir was already a miracle, and now they were talking about grade five?

What a joke!

Are you from the Eastern Fire Continent unable to accept defeat?

He snorted and took the elixir; as the fragrance reached him, he couldn’t help but be taken aback.

Damn, such a pure scent.

He immediately put aside the disdain he had felt and began to assess it carefully.

The more he observed, the more solemn his expression became.

This this this, it reached the level of grade three.

How could this be possible?

With such a backward Alchemy Dao system, where most pill masters had a success rate of less than fifty percent, could there actually be a genius who could refine a grade three elixir?

But then, thinking of the Cloud Flame Fire, his expression changed immediately, and he blandly said, "Not bad, I’ve finally seen a decent talent. This indeed has the quality of grade five."

Upon hearing this, the crowd was in an uproar.

What, the three appraisers said, this quality surpassed grade five! They just hadn’t seen what grade four or three looked like, so they called you to decide.

Yet you say it is only grade five?

That’s shameless!

Is the Northern Silver Continent unable to accept defeat?

"Rigged!"

"Definitely rigged!"

"The three appraisers all said, this quality exceeds grade five!"

"Don’t think you can fool us just because we haven’t seen elixirs above grade five."

"Yes, just because you haven’t seen a pig run, doesn’t mean you haven’t eaten pork, right?"

"Hehe, dare you put three ’Grade Five’ Elixirs together for comparison?"

The crowd began to speak up, and the voices became louder with more and more people joining the condemnation.

Lu Qi and Lu De were naturally furious, being from the Northern Silver Continent; recognizing a genius that could match them wasn’t enough?

Wanting to crush both of them?

Do you think you’re worthy?

"Hmph!" Zuo Duming snorted, and instantly, a terrifying aura swept over, immediately silencing everyone.

The power of the Ninth King was too frightening.

"If this old man says these are Grade Five Elixirs, who dares not believe it? Those who doubt me, step forward and let this old man see!" he said sternly.

Everyone was so stifled that they turned red but couldn’t utter a word.

—Under the pressure of the Ninth King’s aura, they even found it hard to breathe.

But, the result of oppression was that it made the people even more outraged.

Oh, if you’re outclassed, you resort to brute force?

You should know, this is the Eastern Fire Continent; your cultivation might be strong, but the Founding King Court in Seven Elixirs City has at least twenty mighty ones. If they gang up on you, let’s see if you can withstand them.

Yuan Kang then stepped in to mediate, "Alright, everyone calm down. Isn’t there still the third round?"

His point was that whether Shi Hao’s Elixir was Grade Five or Four wasn’t important; he had definitely made it to the third round, where they could still compete.

This did not satisfy everyone, but without the support of the Founding King Court, who would dare confront a Ninth King directly?

The crowd was left fuming, visibly displeased.

Yuan Kang continued, "Ten people passed the second round and can participate in the third round. The list is as follows: Shi Hao, Lu Qi, Lu De..."

He placed Shi Hao first, implying in an unspoken manner that he considered Shi Hao as the first place!

Zuo Duming glanced at him, somewhat displeased, but said nothing.

He was grimacing as he reluctantly admitted Shi Hao’s Elixirs were only Grade Five, already feeling very awkward, and now he was somewhat guilty, so he did not retort.

Seeing his condition, the crowd was even more certain; Shi Hao’s Elixers were surely beyond Grade Five. Otherwise, with the arrogance of the people from the Northern Silver Continent, would they willingly let Shi Hao’s name be placed first?

However, while Zuo Duming still felt somewhat guilty, Lu Qi and Lu De didn’t have such awareness and instead felt humiliated.

If everyone’s scores were the same, why should their names be placed behind?

They were from the Northern Silver Continent and naturally believed they were above anyone from the East Rock Continent, but now they had to subject themselves to such nobodies; how could they bear it?

But since even Zuo Duming did not speak up, what could they do?

Fine, they would just have to defeat that fellow completely in the third round!

Hmph, what nonsense, to even be considered equal to them!

...

Back at Li Mansion, Shi Hao received treatment like a hero.

Initially, the Eastern Fire Continent was being overwhelmingly defeated, but fortunately, Shi Hao emerged and turned the tide, preserving a shred of dignity for the Eastern Fire Continent.

Therefore, the ladies in the house looked at Shi Hao with adoring eyes, almost desiring to serve him in his chambers.

Shi Hao couldn’t help but grimace and quickly made the excuse of being tired, escaping the scene.

He sat cross-legged on his bed, carefully recalling the day’s alchemy process, pinpointing his deficiencies.

After obtaining the Sunfire Rune, his Alchemy Dao had improved significantly, but it was still far from perfect.

He couldn’t be complacent; he had to continue striving.

No choice; since Yuan Chengmie was only skilled in alchemy and had no desire to elevate his alchemy level.

Now, Shi Hao could only rely on his own explorations to gradually improve.

The third round was three days later, but the rules of the competition were released early, allowing the competitors to prepare in advance.

This time, the task was to refine a three-star Exploding Dragon Pill.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.