by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
Up until now, the one with the best result was Duan Tianqiao. She was the only one to have refined a six-ring pill, and she was filled with pride.
However, the competition was still not over yet. Long San and Huo Wufang were still refining at a low temperature. Both of them were icily staring at the other, their gazes filled with provocation. They were obviously competing.
One hour… two hours… three hours… Their control over their Pill Flames was absolutely shocking. They continued all the way until the sky brightened once more.
“Time is about up. You should prepare to open your furnaces,” said the tower administrator, pointing to the sand. These two fellows had been staring at each other for a full night.
Two bangs rang out. Huo Wufang slowly opened his furnace, causing startled cries to ring out from the crowd.
Chapter 671 Another Slap in the Face
“Eight… eight-ring Nine Revolution Life Pill.”
Within Huo Wufang’s furnace, there were nine pills. Three of them had five rings, and one of them had eight rings.
“Long San, I’ve refined an eight-ring Nine Revolution Life Pill. What are you going to use to compete with me?” Huo Wufang icily stared at Long Chen.
“Even after this long, you’re still such an idiot. You really haven’t grown at all,” sneered Long Chen. But after saying that, his heart shook. His tongue had slipped just now, and he saw that Huo Wufang’s expression had changed slightly. His tone and mannerisms just now had been the same as in the Jiuli secret realm.
Long Chen waved his hand, opening the lid. Light blossomed.
“Nine… nine… nine rings! Nine-ring Nine Revolution Life Pill! He really did manage to refine such a thing!” Even the elder who had explained the secret behind the Nine Revolution Life Pill was shocked.
Nine-ring pills represented the peak of high grade pills. Many Pill Emperors might spend their whole lives without managing to refine a single one, even for lower level fifth tier pills.
“Hahahaha! This Long San really is hardworking,” Fang Mingyuan laughed heartily.
Long San was a monster with endless potential. A month ago, he had been a complete amateur regarding high tier pills. But after just a month’s grooming, he had risen to the point where even Fang Mingyuan was shocked.
Even old pill demons like Fang Mingyuan and Chai Gaoyang were not able to refine a nine-ring pill at will. It would depend a great deal on luck. And that referred to just ordinary pills, not one as difficult as the Nine Revolution Life Pill.
Long San was an alchemy genius who was still an unpolished gem. Now that he had been groomed by the Fang family, he was finally releasing his light. And that light was both dazzling and blinding.
Furthermore, this genius was unswervingly loyal to their Fang family and filled with hostility toward the Huo family. That was what delighted Fang Mingyuan the most.
“Ah, thanks old boss Huo. You let me win.” Fang Mingyuan cupped his fists to Huo Changsheng. His expression was truly a petty one, but it made Huo Changsheng incredibly furious. With a wave of his sleeve, he left.
Looking at the nine-ring pill in Long Chen’s furnace, Huo Wufang’s face was incomparably ugly. He was also incredibly shocked. How had he done this?
He had already brought out his full strength, but he had still lost. Although this was the elimination round and not the finals, it still made him extremely uneasy.
“This Long San is extremely smart. The reason he defeated Huo Wufang isn’t because his alchemy arts are stronger than his,” said the elder.
“Please explain, senior,” begged the people around him.
“Look inside Long San’s furnace. The other pills only have two rings and below. However, Huo Wufang’s pills all have three rings and above,” said the elder. Everyone hastily looked and saw those hints, and they came to a sudden comprehension.
The elder continued, “Long San wisely chose to use his powerful Spiritual Strength to concentrate the life energy into one of his pills.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but six hours ago, he already reserved his Spiritual Strength. Although the fluctuations were extremely weak, it was still noticed by this old man. At that time, I thought he was intentionally weakening the flame to stall for more time. But now that I think about it, he should have already finished storing enough energy to create a nine-ring pill,” said the elder with a bitter smile.
Everyone realized the truth: at that time, Long San had already essentially completed his refinement. But he had intentionally stalled until the end just to give Huo Wufang a slap in the face. This fellow was truly evil.
“However, to do so with his Spiritual Strength requires extremely precise control. Not only did he have to keep the flame at its weakest possible level, but he also had to split a portion of it to concentrate the life energy in the air into just one pill. That would require an exceedingly vast Spiritual Strength. The amount of Spiritual Strength this Long San has is truly shocking,” sighed the elder.
Although he had seen through Long Chen’s technique, that was useless to him. This kind of technique was something no one else could learn from. Who else had such abnormal soul energy?
“Hmph, a little trick is all it was. Let’s meet again at the finals,” snorted Huo Wufang icily before leaving.
“Hehe, goodbye. Don’t bother seeing me out.” Long Chen very amicably waved his hand at Huo Wufang, blessing his luck inside. He had almost been exposed. But the nine-ring pill had drawn all of Huo Wufang’s attention, causing him to forget his suspicions.
“Hahaha, Long San, nice work! Your face-slaps are too wonderful. So this divine ability actually has its origins in all aspects of life. I understand,” laughed Fang Chang as he came over with Chai Liehuo.
“It should be said that it came from a burst of insight that stemmed from life. The main thing is that if others stick their heads out toward you, take such a graceful posture, and just wait for you forever, wouldn’t you feel ashamed to not slap them? You have to at least give them this much face,” said Long Chen bashfully.
“Haha, profound, truly profound!” laughed Fang Chang.
At this time, the alchemists that the Fang and Chai families had pulled to their side also came. They were truly elites worthy of the two of them spending so much time and effort to pull in. Only seven of them had been washed out this round.
But some people were a bit ashamed. If it hadn’t been for the previous people’s failures, which had allowed them to hear other people’s discussion, they would have also failed.
Even they had only heard of the Nine Revolution Life Pill. As for the secret on how to raise the quality of it by slowly absorbing the life energy in the air, they had had no idea. The fact that they had passed was partly due to luck.
There was no way around that. There were so many pills formulas, and no one knew which one would be picked for the competition.
Just as their group was chatting, a certain person walked over, startling everyone. They hastily bowed.
“Greetings, tower administrator.”
The tower administrator nodded slightly and then turned to Long Chen. “Your display today was not bad. But next time, remember to reserve yourself a bit.”
“Yes, tower administrator.” Long Chen could only nod. He knew the tower administrator was referring to his trouble with Huo Wufang.
“Next time is the finals, and a Tower Ancestor will personally be supervising it. According to what I know, that Tower Ancestor doesn’t like trouble. Don’t end up failing because you want to mess around,” warned the tower administrator.
Everyone was shocked. The finals weren’t being supervised by the tower administrator, but by a Tower Ancestor?
They were extremely grateful for this personal warning. Rather than saying he was warning them, it was more accurate to say that he was warning Long San. It seemed he looked very favorably upon him and didn’t want him to be expelled.
“Many thanks for the reminder. We are incomparably grateful.�
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The tower administrator nodded and left. Looking at his departing figure, Fang Chang sighed, “Even the tower administrator looks favorably upon you. Long San, you really are about to soar.”
It had to be known that the tower administrator represented Pill Valley. He could be so arrogant that he could completely ignore the three families.
To have received a personal warning from him was truly an honor. Most likely, even if Long San failed, the tower administrator might bring him into Pill Valley. He cared deeply about his terrifying Spiritual Strength.
The others were extremely envious, but it was not the same kind of envy as when they had first met.
It was extremely curious. This thing called envy was something that only appeared when the two parties’ strengths were similar. When one person rose to the point that the other could only look up to, there would be no envy.
An ant wouldn’t envy an elephant. A housefly wouldn’t envy a Kunpeng. The reason was that the differences between the two were too big. Even if they wanted to be envious, they didn’t have the power to be. The current Long Chen was like that.
“Hehe, good, good. If I can get into Pill Valley, then we can coordinate from outside and inside to cut down the Huo family. Then we can think of a way to bring the two of you into Pill Valley as well to play around. Wouldn’t that be fun?” laughed Long Chen.
“If you have this kind of heart, then we’re happy. But as for bringing us into Pill Valley, you should probably forget about it. We’re aware of our own strength. Let’s go celebrate.”
Although Long Chen’s words had been a bit exaggerated, they still made Fang Chang and Chai Liehuo feel extremely comfortable. Even though Long Chen already had hope of entering Pill Valley, he still placed their families in his heart. That was something rare.
In this world, the least reliable thing was a person’s heart. When people saw a new target, their hearts would change. But Long Chen’s heart had been unswerving from start to finish.
Their celebration this time lasted a full three days. Long Chen had truly become famous. He was a brilliant youngster who was soaring, his brilliance lighting up the sky.
The news that Long San had used a nine-ring Nine Revolution Life Pill to defeat Huo Wufang was rapidly spread throughout the entire alchemy world by the Fang and Chai families. The name Long San was something anyone with the slightest status would know.
Even the various large sects received this news. When this news reached Shui Wuhen’s ears, she couldn’t help but sigh.
“When Long Chen does something, it always gets blown up into a huge matter. I really don’t know what kind of ending he will cause. Huo family, just accept your bad luck. You could have targeted anyone, but you targeted that fellow.”
After the three days had passed, Long Chen entered seclusion once more. He had to study the flame magical arts he had gained. Last time, he had simply memorized them in one go.
But such magical arts were too profound and Long Chen found himself lost. There was still one month until the finals, so he finally had time to study them.
However, he had only been studying for two days when Long Chen was pulled out by Fang Chang and Chai Liehuo. They said that cultivating so all-out like this wasn’t a good thing, and he needed to relax.
As a result, the two of them directly brought Long Chen in front of a majestic, lavish building. It was extremely large, and a dazzling slight from the distance.
Atop the building, written in bold strokes, were three words: House of Pleasures!
“What the fuck? Big bros, did you bring me to some low-grade brothel?” Long Chen was dumbfounded.
Chapter 672 House of Pleasures
“A low-grade brothel? What an ugly way to put it. This place is extremely high class, so don’t use such vulgar words to describe it. Others will laugh at you!” said Fang Chang hastily.
“Then what is this place?” asked Long Chen.
“It’s a place for emotions to connect with emotions, for flesh to connect with flesh, for liquid to connect with liquid,” said Chai Liehuo with a perverted expression.
Long Chen had never expected that these two grand junior masters would do such things. He couldn’t help being speechless. What was so high class about this place?
“Long San, this expression of yours is wrong. You know that we’re all youngsters. We need to occasionally release our fire. That way we’ll be able to relax. If we find women outside, we always have to have worries and it’s extremely troublesome. But this place is much better. We spend money, they make money. Both sides are willing, and most importantly…”
Chai Liehuo suddenly whispered, “Most importantly, in terms of technique, they are true experts. They can make you feel as though you’ve ascended to the heavens. We, alchemists, often play with fire. It’s easy for that to cause our own fire to flare. Plus, the last few days have been extremely tense. We’ve already set things up for the others. Today, we especially set up a peerless beauty for you. It’s said that she’s still a virgin.”
“What ghost are you trying to trick? Tell me, how is a virgin supposed to have any technique?” Long Chen was speechless.
“Why would I trick you? She really is a virgin. She hasn’t accepted any guests yet, so I won’t say anything about her technique. But her beauty, that body, just looking at it is enough to infatuate a person’s soul.
“Long San, let me tell you, don’t you dare try any nonsense with me. Your big bro spent a huge sum of money to set this up for you,” warned Fang Chang.
This newcomer was truly beautiful. She was the new top beauty of this place. The old top beauty had already been bought by the Huo family.
However, the price for this newcomer’s first time was truly beyond reason. Even Fang Chang was incredibly pained by the price. If it hadn’t been for enticing Long Chen, he wouldn’t have been willing.
“Of course, it’s also been a long time since we’ve vented. We’ve been too busy recently. We need to relax. This way, brother San will also have a companion,” encouraged Fang Chang.
Long Chen was speechless. He had Meng Qi, Tang Wan-er and Chu Yao. Which one of them wasn’t as beautiful as a fairy? Why would he come to such a place to waste his money?
But then looking at their happy and excited expressions, Long Chen could only thicken his skin and enter with them. His head was rapidly working at a way to extricate himself.
“Aiya, big brother Fang Chang, you’ve come! I’ve missed you.” As soon as they entered, a very well-rounded woman greeted them and intimately wrapped her arms around Fang Chang’s elbow.
Seeing Fang Chang exchange flirting glances with her, Long Chen immediately knew she was Fang Chang’s ‘friend’. She should have long since received news of their coming and been waiting.
The only thing that made Long Chen flabbergasted was that this woman’s aura was extremely powerful. She was actually a Xiantian expert.
What was going on? Someone actually cultivated so hard to reach the Xiantian realm just to come here?
“Hehe, sister Taohong, a day apart from you feels like three years. Your big brother has also missed you.” Fang Chang was like a prodigal son, stealthily pinching her curves.
Seeing him act that way, Long Chen felt that Fang Chang’s words had been off. It should be: a day without sex is like parting for three years.
“Taohong, hurry and call out lady Shuihua for junior master Chai. And don’t forget to set up a beautiful lady for this brother of mine. Let’s eat first.”
Lady Shuihua? As in a fickle woman[1]? As expected, every profession had its own elites. Long Chen had at least gained experience into the world.
Following Fang Chang upstairs, he saw an extremely expansive hall, and it was not a private room.
Seeing Long Chen’s shock, Chai Liehuo laughed, “Hehe, brother, now still isn’t time for that. The ladies are still preparing themselves. For now, let’s just eat, drink, and enjoy the scenery.”
The three of them found seats
near a window. They saw a beautiful landscape of lakes and mountains. The scenery was extremely pleasant.
Long Chen narrowed his eyes slightly. He saw a certain scene that was familiar. He suddenly recalled that he had also been able to see this scenery from Xiao Cui’s home. But now the view was different.
Sweeping his gaze around, he saw Xiao Cui’s old home. However, it had been transformed into a new manor. In fact, a large swath of territory around it had been rebuilt with beautiful and elegant pavilions.
“Brother Fang, what’s going on over there?” Long Chen pointed.
“That place? Have you forgotten? That’s where we first met each other. That bastard Huo Wufang still decided to seize that place and built a massive bastard nest for himself to take a concubine,” said Fang Chang.
“He wants to take a concubine? And with this much ceremony?” asked Long Chen.
“There has to be at least this much ceremony. The concubine he’s marrying is a genius from an ancient family. It seems to be someone from Biluo Mountain’s Hua family. Apparently, they have some status, but I’m not sure about the details,” said Fang Chang.
Biluo Mountain’s Hua family? Wasn’t that Hua Biluo’s family? Suddenly thinking of a possibility, killing intent surfaced within his eyes.
“What is it Long San?” asked Fang Chang upon seeing the change in him.
“Big bros, you once mentioned Long Chen. Later I asked around and I heard that Huo Wufang suffered a great deal because of this person.”
“Of course. He really was a vicious person. Unfortunately, he didn’t just kill Huo Wufang, or we’d have much more peace,” said Chai Liehuo.
Long Chen nodded. “I’ve heard a bit about what happened in the Jiuli secret realm. I heard that someone called Hua Biluo helped Long Chen to face the Righteous and Corrupt paths, which was clearly going against Huo Wufang. Now, it’s said that Long Chen has already fallen. Huo Wufang has only just recovered, but he’s gone to Biluo Mountain’s Hua family to take a concubine. Do you think…?”