Tyrant Sky Martial Soul
Chapter 289 Alchemy Duel_1

Chapter 289: Chapter 289 Alchemy Duel_1

"What’s wrong with him?" an Inner Sect Disciple asked.

"What the Senior Brother doesn’t know is that Ling Xiao had once, with his cultivation at the Eighth Layer Martial Vein Peak, successively defeated the half-step masters ranked twenty-sixth and tenth among the Outer Disciples, breaking the record of the Moon Hua Sect for the past hundred thousand years,"

replied the old Outer Disciple.

"Heh, challenges in Martial Arts sometimes involve a lot of contingencies, but alchemy is quite different. Alchemy requires extensive experience and a suitably exceptional flame for assistance. Ling Xiao is playing with fire; he has become extremely cocky,"

said the Inner Sect Disciple, who was also an apprentice of the Pharmacy Hall and clearly understood how difficult alchemy could be. So, he simply did not believe that Ling Xiao could win against Qing Mu.

In fact, except for Yang Dan Lin and Lan Yu’er, all the spectators on-site felt the same.

Even the three Elders from the Medicine Hall who were serving as judges thought so.

These three Elders had cultivation levels and alchemy skills that were on par with Yang Dan Lin, only being decades older than him and nearing the end of their lifespans. Nevertheless, they were treasured by the Moon Hua Sect.

At the very least, their judgment wouldn’t be flawed, so their role as judges was absolutely fair.

"Alright, let’s not waste any more time. Both of you, begin. Today, each of you will refine a furnace of pills. You will be making the ’Top-quality True Essence Pill.’ The materials have already been prepared; that’s all there is. Whoever has the highest success rate and the highest rate of creating perfect pills will be the victor,"

announced one of the Elders, starting the alchemy competition.

The Top-quality True Essence Pill was considered a minor elixir, not even qualifying as a Yellow-grade Elixir, but for Martial Artists at the Martial Vein Realm, it was the best pill to enhance inner strength and cultivation.

In the mundane world, it was incredibly difficult to come by.

This alchemy showdown was a test of operation, not capability, so they couldn’t possibly give Ling Xiao a pill that he was incapable of refining.

After all, even if Ling Xiao was outstanding, he was just a minor Alchemist who could only refine minor pills right now.

If Ling Xiao could refine the same pill better than Qing Mu, then he would be considered the winner.

In terms of selecting materials, Ling Xiao was obviously faster and more precise.

Although the materials were prepared, how much to use was entirely up to them. If they took too much or too little, problems would arise.

After selecting the materials, both began to grind and roll the pill masses. It was a tedious process, but a necessary one.

Subsequently, almost simultaneously, they placed their twenty unrefined pills into the Alchemy Furnace.

Unrefined pills have not been processed and do not possess the special effects of elixirs.

The next step was crucial.

"Wow! It’s the Wenwu Sacred Fire Martial Soul!"

Suddenly, the onlookers exclaimed in astonishment.

Ling Xiao hadn’t started the fire yet; he turned his head for a glance at Qing Mu.

There, behind Qing Mu, a flame manifested, interestingly split in nature: one half was fiercely aggressive as if it could incinerate everything, while the other half was gentle, clearly better for sustained heating.

In the process of alchemy, there’s a concept of using ’scholarly’ (gentle) or ’martial’ (strong) fire.

The so-called gentle fire is like a slow and steady infusion of energy; the strong fire refers to a forceful and intensive application of power.

The Wenwu Sacred Fire possesses both gentle and strong fire characteristics, and its effects are superior, making it extremely suitable for alchemy.

Ling Xiao took one glance at it and then withdrew his gaze, focusing on his own alchemical process.

Qing Mu’s Wenwu Sacred Fire was indeed impressive, but for refining a minor pill like the Top-quality True Essence Pill, a common fire was enough.

Ling Xiao had refined the Top-quality True Essence Pill in the Mountain and River World no less than a thousand times, and he had become extremely proficient at it.

The key was that in the Mountain and River World, one could simulate alchemy, where the process did not consume materials, of course, and the pills produced could not be used.

Yet this process had no slight difference from actual alchemy in reality, so the alchemy techniques Ling Xiao learned were genuine, without any falsehood.

However, Ling Xiao did encounter some troubles.

He discovered a problem with the formation of his pills.

Generally speaking, the humidity, age, and quality of the same batch of ingredients should be roughly similar.

But after the pill formation process, Ling Xiao suddenly realized something wasn’t right; his ingredients were too moist, almost as if someone had deliberately sprinkled water on them.

Among the crowd, two individuals were whispering to each other.

"Hehe, that kid is bound to lose. His materials have been dampened with a special kind of spring water which has a very high ignition point -- ordinary fire simply cannot evaporate it, so his pills will never be successfully refined unless he uses one of the twelve types of Divine Fire."

"Well done. If Elder Qinɡ Mu wins this time, he will truly become the Medicine Hall Master. In the future, you won’t need to do those hard jobs of moving materials. Train by my side instead."

The second person was none other than Black Rope.

Black Rope had always been looking for ways to deal with Ling Xiao, but for a long time, Ling Xiao was either returning to his cave dwelling or was with Lan Yu’er or Yang Dan Lin, leaving Black Rope with no opportunity to strike.

However, this time, Ling Xiao, for reasons unknown, actually decided to openly compete with Qinɡ Mu in alchemy.

Even more, Elder Master Yang, Yang Dan Lin, dared to gamble his position as Hall Master on this challenge.

How could Black Rope not seize this opportunity to trip Ling Xiao up?

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Vice Hall Master Qinɡ Mu’s abilities; rather, he felt that Ling Xiao was too prone to sudden breakthroughs, so to be absolutely safe, he instructed someone moving materials to tamper with Ling Xiao’s ingredients.

"Thank you, Senior Black Rope!"

Black Rope smiled and cast his gaze back to the square.

At this moment, Yang Dan Lin and Lan Yu’er also noticed something was amiss.

Instead of igniting the fire as he should have, Ling Xiao was sitting there, staring blankly.

With their keen eyes, it wasn’t hard for them to detect a problem with the ingredients.

"Elder, should we announce a pause? If this continues, it could spell trouble," Lan Yu’er asked nervously.

Yang Dan Lin also showed a serious expression on his face. He had wagered his position as the Medicine Hall Master, so it was impossible to claim he felt zero pressure, especially now that he knew Ling Xiao’s materials had been sabotaged.

"No, to interrupt the competition now would make others think we’re cheating," Yang Dan Lin said, shaking his head. He also wanted to stop the match, but if he did, he would lose face and be unable to continue serving as the Medicine Hall Master.

Even if someone had tampered with the materials, it would be a reflection of his own lack of managing properly, and it most likely wouldn’t implicate Qinɡ Mu at all.

"But we will lose if it continues like this," Lan Yu’er was getting anxious.

"Don’t rush to conclusions, let’s wait and see. Besides, the prescribed time for refining a Top-quality Zhenyuan Pill is half an hour; it’s still early," Yang Dan Lin said as he wiped the cold sweat from his brow. His fate was now tied to that of Ling Xiao; all he could hope for was that Ling Xiao would resolve the issue himself.

Would a miracle occur?

Hu~~

Ling Xiao exhaled deeply, forcing himself to remain calm.

If someone had sabotaged the materials, then he would need to find another way to solve the problem.