by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
If everyone else failed, then perhaps a garbage pill really might take the first place. They all recovered from their despair.
The Tower Ancestor smiled and then took out a large hourglass. He flipped it over, and the sand began to slowly trickle down.
“You have seventy-two hours to refine the Overflowing Sea Expanding Pill. Let the finals of the Pill Emperor Competition begin!”
[1] Shit sounds similar to die.
Chapter 688 Flame Merging Art
Following the Tower Ancestor’s shout, white-robed experts came out and distributed the medicinal ingredients.
It was still the old rules. Each person was given three sets of ingredients. In other words, if you failed three times, you would immediately be eliminated.
Various Pill Flames lit up. This time, the pill formula was extremely detailed. Even the order with which you should merge the powders had been fully explained. There was no need to grope about on your own.
The main thing this pill tested was everyone’s Spiritual Strength and their flame energy. Previously, they had only refined pills that could be finished quickly. To compare, previously they had been cooking stir fry, but now they were simmering stew. They were competing in terms of endurance.
Long Chen was a bit lost in thought. In truth, this Overflowing Sea Expanding Pill was nothing to him. It couldn’t even compare to the Enlightenment Palace Pill.
If he summoned the Earth Flame, Long Chen could refine it with his feet and still beat Huo Wufang.
But the main thing was that Long Chen couldn’t reveal the Earth Flame. If he did, then his status would be completely exposed.
In all the Eastern Wasteland, the only one of his age who controlled an Earth Flame was Long Chen. It would be too obvious.
But if he didn’t use the Earth Flame, he wouldn’t be able to defeat the first ranking beast flame, the Earth Dragon Golden Blaze. Seeing Huo Wufang’s disdainful expression, Long Chen had an urge to take off his shoe and slap him with it.
This test was extremely favorable to Huo Wufang. His powerful Pill Flame gave him an immense advantage here, especially when it came to purifying the ingredients. He was already far ahead of everyone else.
In the distance, Huo Changsheng was looking at Huo Wufang confidently. This test had practically been made for Huo Wufang to win. Although his Spiritual Strength might be weaker than Long Chen's, so what? As long as you had enough to refine the pill, what was the point of having leftover Spiritual Strength?
On the other hand, Chai Gaoyang and Fang Mingyuan’s expressions were a bit uneasy, as this wasn’t favorable to Long Chen. His strongest point was useless here.
Long Chen sighed. “This is forcing me to show off. In truth, I’m a very low-key person. Why must everyone force me?”
A flame burst into existence over Long Chen’s palm. As soon as that flame appeared, startled cries rang out from the crowd.
“What… what flame is that?!”
“There’s red, white, and also green? One, two, three… there’s actually eighteen colors. What’s going on?”
People were shocked to see a multi-colored flame in Long Chen’s hand. Its coloring was extremely complicated.
“It seems to be a legendary merged flame. He merged various beast flames together to release an unprecedented strength!”
“Are you joking? Each person can only use one beast flame. If they tried to use two, the stronger flame would devour the weaker ones. How could you possibly use this many at once?” retorted someone.
“Then tell me, what is that flame?!” Having been criticized, that person was a bit angry. He pointed at Long Chen’s flame.
The criticizer was immediately at a loss for words. A merged flame was like trying to gather a wolf, insect, tiger, leopard, chicken, duck, cat, and dog together. They would definitely fight and kill each other, and couldn’t possibly merge. But other than a merged flame, there was no other way to explain the flame in Long Chen’s hand.
The Tower Ancestor smiled and nodded. “This little one is really interesting. He’s actually able to merge flames.”
On the other hand, the tower administrator shook his head. “Merging flames is extremely difficult. It exhausts too much Spiritual Strength. He won’t be able to keep up with it.”
The Tower Ancestor said, “You’re wrong. This little fellow isn’t using any energy to control these flames. With your Spiritual Strength, perhaps you can’t sense it. In truth, there is a terrifying existence in this little fellow’s body that is suppressing those flames. That’s why they don’t dare make a fuss.”
The tower administrator was startled. Even the first rank Earth Dragon Golden Blaze was unable to suppress that many beast flames. Could it be…?
“That’s why I said the children these days really are interesting. My trip to the Eastern Wasteland wasn’t wasted. Perhaps I’ll be able to bring back a true treasure for those old monsters,” laughed the Tower Ancestor.
The tower administrator’s heart jumped. He naturally knew who those old monsters he mentioned were. Those were figures whose very names could shake the continent. Thinking of that, he sighed. Long San’s future accomplishments would perhaps rise to the point that he could only look up to them.
But then thinking of Long San’s character, he bitterly smiled. If he went to Pill Valley, then the calm they had enjoyed for countless years would be immediately broken!
The merged flame Long Chen had summoned shocked everyone. Despite being so far away, they could still sense a terrifying heat from that flame.
“The power of his merged flame seems to be on the same level as Huo Wufang’s Earth Dragon Golden Blaze!” exclaimed people. Although there was no way to make a detailed comparison, the powerful fluctuations from both flames were similar.
Huo Wufang couldn’t help being startled. But then a cold smile crept onto his face.
If you gathered one hundred sheep, they might have the same strength as a tiger, but in truth, what was the point?
Long Chen ignored the exclamations and suspicions. With the suppression of an Earth Flame, these beast flames had to listen to him. He had achieved his goal.
What was the point of a hundred sheep? With Long Chen’s Spiritual Strength controlling them, even if the merger couldn’t defeat Huo Wufang’s flame, the difference was no longer so great. As long as the difference wasn’t drastic, Long Chen wouldn’t feel any pressure. He began to refine the ingredients into powders.
“Ah, compared to the Earth Flame, this is truly trash.” Long Chen was speechless. If he could use the Earth Flame’s energy to refine this level of medicinal ingredients, it wouldn’t take more than a few breath’s time.
But now, to refine one ingredient into powder required an incense stick’s worth of time. It was no wonder they had given them three days.
If they had only given them a day, then everyone could just directly give up. That wouldn’t even be enough time to refine the ingredients into powders.
Long Chen actually had it better than the others. The others required at least twice the amount of time per ingredient. Furthermore, because their Pill Flames weren’t strong enough, more of the medicinal ingredients’ essence was lost during the refining process.
The majority of the people here had no hopes of refining a high grade pill, or even a middle grade pill. As long as they managed to condense the pill, it would be amazing. Even if it was just a trash pill, it would be great.
They could already tell that the top two spots would definitely be Long Chen’s and Huo Wufang’s. As for who would be first, that had nothing to do with them.
All they hoped to do was refine the pill. The Overflowing Sea Expanding Pill was too difficult for them to refine. Many of them already felt that their souls had begun to reach their limits. For them, refining this pill would rely on luck.
After twelve hours, the sky had darkened. Some people were already unable to continue. This was too exhausting on their Spiritual Strength, and they had to recover their
soul energy.
In this competition, it was permitted to consume medicinal pills to reenergize the soul. The only goal was to see a person’s potential.
There were over ten people who were completely pale now, and they had to take a break, consuming soul nourishing pills.
By the twentieth hour, the majority of them had to take a break. Only people on the level of Fang Chang and Chai Liehuo were still enduring.
When the sun once more rose from the east, when the twenty-fourth hour passed, Chai Liehuo and Fang Chang were also no longer able to continue. They had to rest their souls.
Currently, the only ones still continuing were Long Chen, Huo Wufang, and Duan Tianqiao. But Long Chen and Huo Wufang clearly had plenty of energy to spare, while Duan Tianqiao was a bit pale.
Refining these ingredients was extremely taxing, both spiritually and mentally. On the thirty-sixth hour, Duan Tianqiao was unwilling, but she was forced to stop for a break.
As for the others, they had already recovered and continued refining the ingredients.
After refining the last ingredient, Long Chen couldn’t help but sigh. This had been too tiring. The most irritating thing to him was that if he could use his Earth Flame, he could have finished in just two hours. But he had been forced to act like a show-off with his useless merged flame.
He was jittery and completely vexed inside, but in order to show off, he had to have a faint smile on his face, acting completely natural. Sometimes Long Chen wondered if he was a masochist.
The old saying was very true: if you wanted to show off in front of others, you had to work hard when they weren’t looking. Long Chen sighed. Why bother!?
Long Chen had only just finished when Huo Wufang also completed his refinement. He looked over at Long Chen. Seeing that he had finished before him, he let out a cold snort. He sat and consumed a soul nourishing pill to recover.
Although he still had almost half of his Spiritual Strength, the true refinement was about to start. He had to keep himself in his peak state, as he couldn’t allow the slightest error. Due to the initial refining step requiring so much time, only half of the seventy-two hours remained. At that time, the competitors would only have one shot at refining a furnace of pills.
If that failed, then they wouldn’t have time for another one. The three sets of ingredients only offered them the chance to fail this initial refinement. They only had one chance at the later stage.
The only reason why Huo Wufang had gone all-out to refine these ingredients was because he had been hoping to beat Long Chen in terms of speed. Unfortunately, Long Chen didn’t even give him that chance. He could only calm himself down and prepare himself for the final stretch.
Seeing that, Long Chen sneered disdainfully inside. If he had wanted to, he could continue until next month with this refinement.
This level of exhaustion was nothing to Long Chen’s Spiritual Strength. If he adjusted himself and decided to refine while also focusing on recovering, then let alone next month, he could continue until the next Pill Emperor Competition.
Long Chen took out a reclining chair, as well as a parasol to block the sun. He laid down, crossed his legs, and began to fake sleep.
The spectators’ jaws dropped. Wasn’t this showing off a bit too much? He wasn’t going to consume any medicine, and he wasn’t going to sit in meditation? Instead, he was sleeping?
The tower administrator’s expression sank. Long San was too arrogant. He was about to say something when the Tower Ancestor shook his head. “Young people need to be lively. Furthermore, he hasn’t broken any rules. Let him do as he pleases.”
Chapter 689 First Place is Mine
When the sun once more rose, Long Chen opened his eyes. He stood up and stretched. Originally, he had just been acting, but as a result, he really had fallen asleep. He had even drooled a bit.
Seeing the Tower Ancestor smiling in amusement, no matter how thick Long Chen’s skin was, he couldn’t help being embarrassed. He hastily bowed toward him to express his apologies.
Putting away the chair and parasol, Long Chen saw that there were only eighteen people remaining. Many people had washed out while he had been asleep.
That was due to the order in which they had refined their ingredients. They had left the three hardest ingredients for last. Most of them had probably failed there.
There was no way around it. They naturally left the hardest ingredients for last, as then you would be deeper in your mental refining state. That would increase the odds of successfully refining it.
If everyone had started with those three ingredients, then perhaps in just six hours, most of them would have already failed.
At this time, Long Chen saw that everyone was solemnly feeding their medicinal powders into the pill furnaces.
They had all realized that this was their only chance of succeeding. After finishing the refinement of the final ingredient, they had all rested for the final part of the refinement.
Long Chen also saw Huo Wufang had already long since been waiting for him. It seemed he truly wanted to compete with him until the end.
He couldn’t help laughing inside. Did Huo Wufang want to compete with him in terms of alchemy? Now Long Chen truly had an urge to take off his shoes and refine with his feet.
But that would be a bit too much. It was also an insult to alchemy, and the Tower Ancestor might directly kick him out.
Long Chen’s flame burst into existence once more. He began to warm up the furnace. As expected, Huo Wufang immediately got to work once he saw Long Chen start.
If he wanted to compete, then he could compete away. Long Chen was too lazy to bother with him. He focused his attention on his flame. After all, this was not his Earth Flame, and he wasn’t used to it. He had to be careful. If he failed because of carelessness, then this act of his would end with him acting like an idiot. He certainly didn’t want to do such a thing.
This was Long Chen’s first time refining the Overflowing Sea Expanding Pill. Although the Pill Sovereign memories did contain this pill, it was best to be careful with his first refinement.
Furthermore, getting first place wasn’t just for himself. It was to accomplish his promise, to repay Fang Chang and Chai Liehuo. Taking first place was extremely important.
If he did, the Huo family’s prestige would drop a great deal, while the Fang and Chai families' prestige would rise. Then, the one in the predicament would be the Huo family.
Although Long Chen was confident, he was still sensible. He continued refining normally. The old fellows present all had sharp eyes; thus, he couldn’t expose his true strength.
“Eh? Why are Huo Wufang’s actions so practiced?”
Long Chen’s divine sense was stealthily probing Huo Wufang. He saw that Huo Wufang’s refinement seemed very practiced. He controlled the flame extremely naturally.
“The fuck? This is cheating! That bastard’s definitely already refined the Overflowing Sea Expanding Pill, and not just once!” Long Chen cursed inside. The Huo family had definitely cheated. They had to have known what the test this time would be, and they had drilled Huo Wufang in it. It was no wonder he had been so confident.
It wasn’t just Long Chen who saw this. Even the distant Fang Mingyuan and Chai Gaoyang noticed, and their expressions became ugly.
As for Huo Changsheng, he just calmly watched. He pretended not to see their furious glares.
Sitting at the top platform, the Tower Ancestor was simply watching. The tower administrator quietly whispered, “Isn’t this unfair?”
“Does this world contain anything that’s fair?” asked the Tower Ancestor.
“...”
“Let me tell you the answer: there was never anything fair in this world. Asking for fairness is the whining of the weak. In the world of the strong, asking for fairness is just a joke.
“No one listens to the crying of the weak, while the strong never care about fairness. The big fish eats the small fish, while the small fish eats the shrimp. Who
will care about the shrimps’ cries?
“The cultivation world is one where the strong feast on the weak. If you’re just prey, then don’t cry about unfairness. Instead, think of how you can increase your own strength so you can prey on others.
“When the weak become the strong, they also prey on others, and they will also ignore other people’s cries for fairness.
“But in my eyes, fair and unfair are a cycle, one in constant motion and balance. The circle falls and rises, coming back to the start. So don’t bother about these things, as these are the Heavenly Daos,” said the Tower Ancestor.
Hearing this, the tower administrator's heart shook. He hastily bowed. “Many thanks for your teachings.”
“What teachings? Let’s just calmly watch the game. I also want to know how Long San plans on playing,” laughed the Tower Ancestor.
Six hours went by in the blink of an eye. The entire crowd was silent. The only sound was the sizzling of Pill Flames.
Finally, a loud bang drew everyone’s attention.
“Heavens, Huo Wufang is the first to seal his furnace!”
Sealing the furnace represented an important part of the refinement. Normally, it represented that the refinement was ninety percent finished and was merely lacking the final step.
Long Chen also sealed his furnace. But he was extremely irritated inside. That idiot was cheating. Despite being idiots, the Huo family was actually quite skillful. Their connections were so strong that they had secretly learned the test for the finals.
Startled cries rang out once Long Chen sealed his furnace. The two of them were refining at almost the same speed.
Huo Wufang circulated his Earth Dragon Golden Blaze to its full strength. Golden flames enveloped his pill furnace, causing space to twist. It was truly worthy of being the existence ranked first on the beast flame rankings.
The Overflowing Sea Expanding Pill’s final step required an extremely powerful flame. The stronger the flame, the higher the final quality. This part was extremely important.