by Feng Yise
"Rufeng, Ruyan, the two of you have to perform well this time. Even if you're defeated, you also have to obtain Sovereign Star Abyss's favor! As long as you become his disciple, our Xiao Family can likewise protect our family business!" Xiao Changfeng said softly with visible joy on his face.
The pair nodded slightly. But Ye Yuan sighed lightly in his heart.
This Xiao Changfeng was evidently an experienced and cunning person. But he was too conservative with this sort of major matter. It might not have a good outcome!
Firstly, this method of Tian Jian racing horse strategy was actually a very negative way of dealing with things. It was equivalent to admitting that their own family was not as strong as the other party.
Giving up fighting with the other party's strongest person and letting the strongest person on their side deal with the Tong Family's number two figure, even if they won in the end, there would not be anyone cheering for the Xiao Family either.
Xiao Family would obtain victory, but lose the respect of others.
And Xiao Changfeng making his own son and daughter perform well to draw the attention of Sovereign Star Abyss was similarly a method that lost one's drive.
The Xiao Family was in an inferior position to begin with; the family did not know how to risk it all to fight, but entrust their hopes onto another person instead. Ye Yuan could not agree with this way of doing things.
Furthermore, Ye Yuan had a feeling that that Tong Wenhui and Tong Wenshou might not be easy to deal with.
Truly, the older the person was, the smaller the guts were.
"Alright, the once in a decade Grand Pill Assembly is about to begin. Most of the people present here know this old man, but this old man better still introduces himself first. I'm the Alchemist Association's First Elder, Yang Xiu. The Grand Pill Assembly this time will be hosted by me."
Speaking up to here, Yang Xiu cleared his throat. Xiao Changfeng and Tong Fangshuo got up at the same time and said, "I'll have to trouble Sovereign Star Abyss and Elder Yang."
Yang Xiu nodded slightly and continued, "Sovereign Star Abyss has already spoken. The juniors of the Xiao and Tong families have good fortune. The sovereign has not taken in any disciples for close to 50 years already. This time can be considered as an epoch-making event! Alright, enough superfluous words. The two Xiao and Tong families have already sent the name list of the battles to my hands. I'll now announce the battle sequence."
Speaking up to here, Yang Xiu looked at the battle name list in his hands, his eyes involuntarily swept over Xiao Changfeng.
Xiao Changfeng's heart palpitated but did not say anything. He naturally knew that doing it this way was inappropriate. But this was also a solution that could not be helped.
Yang Xiu was silent for a moment, and continued, "The first battle, Xiao Family's Xiao Ruyan against the Tong Family's Tong Wenhui!"
When these words were uttered, the crowd burst into an uproar.
"What? Xiao Ruyan is actually facing the Tong Family's weakest Tong Wenhui? What kind of situation is this?"
"Heh heh, to think that Xiao Changfeng actually pulled this sort of underhanded trick. Looks like the Xiao Family's fortune is over."
"Yeah. Looking at this, Xiao Family has already given up on the battle with Tong Wenchang, leaving Xiao Rufeng and sister to go deal with the weaker Tong Wenshou and Tong Wenhui."
Tong Fangshuo was also a little stunned. But he immediately burst into laughter and said, "Hahaha! Xiao Changfeng, you're really deteriorating the older you get! The Xiao Family declining in your hands is also something within reason! But if you think that victory is within your grasp like this, then you're too naïve!"
Xiao Changfeng was aware that reason was not on his side and did not respond to Tong Fangshuo. He looked straight ahead, no idea where he was looking at.
Yang Xiu coughed lightly and continued, "Silence, silence! The second match, Xiao Rufeng against Tong Wenshou. The third match, Ji Qing versus Tong Wenchang!"
"That boy is really pitiable, to actually have to face Tong Wenchang. I reckon that he'll be defeated horribly."
"Hehe, what's pitiful about him isn't this! I heard that his strength isn't bad. A middle-rank Alchemy Grandmaster that can actually refine Tier 3 high-level medicinal pills. He joined the Xiao Family in their moment of crisis but was directly forsaken by Xiao Changfeng. That's his pitiable part."
"Using such a method, even if they won, it will also be winning through unorthodox means. It's just sad for this young man."
Many people felt sorry for Ye Yuan. A middle-rank Alchemy Grandmaster battling a Quasi-Alchemy King. What chances of victory was there?
There were also many who felt disappointed. They originally thought that they could see Xiao Rufeng and Tong Wenchang's summit battle. Who knew that there was no opportunity?
Although Tong Wenchang was a Quasi-Alchemy King, he had only just advanced to the realm of Quasi-Alchemy King not long ago. In truth, there was still a chance to win, though this chance was very minuscule.
Xiao Rufeng had enjoyed Xiao Family's limitless resources. Adding in his talent, he had always been keeping in pace with Tong Wenchang these few years.
It was just that Tong Wenchang stepped into Quasi-Alchemy King Realm a step before Xiao Rufeng. That was why Xiao Rufeng appeared a level weaker.
But now, the Xiao Family retreating without fighting made many people present feel disappointed.
Yang Xiu continued and said, "The rules of the Grand Pill Assembly will be the same as past years. I won't be repeating them. Now, starting the first match: Xiao Ruyan versus Tong Wenhui!"
On the stage, the Xiao and Tong two families faced each other across a great distance. All sorts of alchemy medicinal herbs, wares, and medicinal cauldrons were also placed between them.
Xiao Ruyan took in a deep breath and stepped up.
Not knowing why, before Xiao Ruyan stepped onto the stage, her gaze unconsciously looked over towards Ye Yuan.
And Ye Yuan was also presently looking at her and gave her a hand gesture, "Miss Ruyan, good luck!"
Chapter 377 - Xiao Ruyan Lost?
Although Ye Yuan's words were cheers, no matter how she looked at it, it somewhat lacked some sincerity.
But not knowing why, Xiao Ruyan's originally rather nervous feelings actually calmed down under Ye Yuan's encouragement.
She shot a fierce glare at Ye Yuan and came to the fighting area.
"Tch. Good intentions taken for granted!" Ye Yuan muttered to himself resentfully.
At this time, a quasi-alchemy king came to the arena. Clearly, he was the person maintaining order on-site, while the final ruling was still by Yang Xiu and the other six alchemy kings.
As for Sovereign Star Abyss, he shut his eyes from the start just now, looking as if he was snoozing, like everything here had nothing to do with him at all.
"The first match, constituting medicinal pills! There will be people delivering a hundred types of spirit medicines right away. The two of you need to differentiate these hundred types of spirit medicines and freely match these hundred kinds of spirit medicines together, forming pill formulas. Finally, the one who composes the most pill formulas win!" That quasi-alchemy king explained.
There was a long table in the center. When the quasi-alchemy king finished talking, some apprentice looking people brought up stalk after stalk of spirit medicines. There were tier 2, tier 3, so on and so forth.
Xiao Ruyan and Tong Wenhui each respectively went to one side of the arena and started to differentiate the spirit medicines.
This was actually testing the fundamental skills of the alchemist. Speedily and accurately identifying spirit medicines was an essential skill for alchemists.
But in this sort of Grand Pill Assembly that determined the fates of two families, identifying the spirit medicines were clearly not an easy matter.
It was true that the two people could differentiate the vast majority of the spirit medicines. But there were definitely a handful of rarel
y seen spirit medicines that the pair had not even seen before.
Under this sort of situation, one would have to see if the alchemist's foundation was sturdy or not, and if they could identify them through the records in the books.
"Old Liu, in your view, which of the two of them will win?" Yang Xiu asked an old man beside him.
This old man was similarly an Alchemy King powerhouse; Alchemist Association's Elder Liu Han.
Liu Han said, "Ruyan's, this lass's, talent is exceedingly high. Her future accomplishments are boundless. It's just too bad that she was dragged down by the Xiao Family. Tong Wenhui is seven to eight years old older than that lass, but his foundation is more solid than hers. In my opinion, the outcome should be around 50/50."
Yang Xiu nodded and said, "Actually, I feel that the Xiao Family only has Ruyan, this lass, that can give Tong Wenchang a run for his money. Rufeng that boy is already beaten by Wenchang. If Ruyan this lass performs well, maybe she can let Lord Star Abyss take her in as his disciple."
Liu Han concurred and said, "These two brats have been at loggerheads for so many years. This time, they finally will determine the winner. But I heard that Rufeng this boy was able to take part in the Grand Pill Assembly today because Ruyan that lass refined the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill. Looks like this lass's talent is even above her brother's!"
Yang Xiu exclaimed in surprise, "There's actually such a thing? No wonder! Assaulting cultivation realm and failing is the most troublesome. Although the Xiao Family has the Vast Tuber Essence Stimulating Pill's complete pill formula, they were missing the refinement method. To think Ruyan that lass actually successfully refined it!"
When Xiao Ruyan and Tong Wenhui started, the others were all discussing fervently. There was a sound isolating formation around the arena. The two of them could not hear it.
But quite a few people thought highly of Xiao Ruyan's potential. Although, in terms of strength, Xiao Ruyan might not be able to beat Tong Wenhui.
However, the Xiao Family could not afford to lose!
They had to win the first two matches completely. Otherwise, there was only the outcome of being eliminated.
The two people's identifying speed was remarkably quick in the beginning. But towards the back, the two people's speed visibly slowed down, especially Xiao Ruyan's.
Her speed was noticeably slower than Tong Wenhui.
Of course, the most important thing was still the composition of medicinal pills!
As long as the medicinal pills composed on one side was more than the other, even if the spirit medicines were not fully identified, they would still win.
Xiao Ruyan deduced over and over again, repeatedly evaluating numerous times, before writing down the answers at the last moment.
Tong Wenhui was not any better. The two people handed over their answers at practically the same time.
The answers were sealed within jade slips. Both parties did not know how many answers the other person wrote.
The quasi-alchemy king hosting passed the sealed answers to Yang Xiu. The seven judges started to examine and verify the answers.
Yang Xiu placed the two person's jade slips into a spirit artifact. Very quickly, the contents inside the jade slip were projected onto a wall.
"Xiao Ruyan wrote 93 types of spirit medicine names. Tong Wenhui wrote 95 types of spirit medicine names. In the match regarding the spirit medicines' names, Tong Wenhui wins by a small margin. Now, we'll take a look at the pill formulas that the two of them have written." Yang Xiu's voice sounded out sluggishly. Everyone held their breaths.
While talking, Yang Xiu inserted another jade slip into the spirit artifact again. The contents of the jade slip likewise appeared on the wall.
Yang Xiu pointed to the newly projected contents and said, "The newly projected contents are the model answers that the six elders present and I spent two nights to enact. All the possible combinations of these hundred types of spirit medicines are all on here. Next, let us cross-reference then one by one."
Inferring pill formulas according to these one hundred types of spirit medicines, the pill formulas written out might not all be able to be refined out. It was just a theoretical answer.
The creation of a type of pill formula needed to experience extremely complex experiments. It might only succeed through countless failures.
There might even be the possibility that it would not succeed at all!
These one hundred types of spirit medicines, with combinations of pairs and trios, it could theoretically infer out thousands upon thousands of answers.
But because of the various spirit medicine's attributes and differences in medicinal properties, there were but scarcely several dozen kinds that genuinely had the possibility of forming a pill formula.
And among these scanty few dozen types, it was already pretty good for one type to be able to form a pill formula in the end after going through numerous tests.
But even the pill formula that could ultimately be formed might not be a useful pill formula.
Some pill formulas might be very heaven-defying, but there were pill formulas that had very insignificant effects on martial artists; utterly without value.
Hence, each and every kind of ready-made pill formula was exceptionally precious.
Other than those common pills, as long as it was a pill formula that had some slight value, each major faction would treasure it greatly.
And each development of a new kind of pill formula was also riddled with difficulties.
Especially the higher the rank of the medicinal pill, the more valuable the expended medicinal herbs naturally was. How could the average alchemist have that level of financial resources to develop new pill formulas?
Only those titanic factions could have the possibility of developing new pill formulas.
Just like the Tranquil Cloud Sect, a large group of Quasi-Alchemy Kings engaged in it for a long time, and only just developed some Tier 1 medicinal pills.
The medicinal pills that Ye Yuan took out were roughly the same as the things that they developed. Back then, it was like stepping on their tails.
"There are a total of 63 types of pills in our answer list. Xiao Ruyan wrote down 38 types of pills, and Tong Wenhui wrote 40 types. Now we'll be comparing the correct answers now."
Yang Xiu started to match Xiao Ruyan and Tong Wenhui's answers with the correct answers one by one.
The result was that Xiao Ruyan only got one pill formula wrong, while Tong Wenhui had three wrong. It was actually a draw in the end!
And under the situation where it was a draw, they would look at who wrote the most spirit medicines.
"Since the two of them wrote down the same number of pill formulas, then the one who wins in the end is . . ." Yang Xiu was about to announce the results.
"Wait a minute!" Ye Yuan suddenly got up and interrupted Yang Xiu's words.
Chapter 378 - What He Said Is Right!
Hearing Yang Xiu announced the results, the expressions of Xiao Changfeng and son were very ugly.
Getting off on the wrong foot, the first match was already a loss. Clearly, it would be a tremendous blow to the Xiao Family.
Furthermore, Xiao Ruyan only lost the match because of a slight disadvantage. It would be hard to avoid affecting her competition later at the back.
But right then, Ye Yuan suddenly stood up.
"Wait a minute!"
Yang Xiu furrowed his brows and said unhappily, "Whatever it is, wait until after I announce the results, then talk. Sit down for me!"
Ye Yuan clasped his hands and said, "My Lord, the winner of this match should be the Xiao Family!"
Yang Xiu's expression turned sullen. His tone became cold as he said, "Are you questioning if the seven of us are partial to the Tong Family?"
But Ye Yuan smiled and said, "I'm just taking the matter on its merits. Tong Wenhui got four answers wrong. Hence, this round should be his loss."
"Harrumph! A load of crap! Just now, I matched it c
orrespondingly to the model answers. How can it be wrong? Family Head Xiao didn't even say anything, how can a junior like yourself be allowed to talk drivel here?" Yang Xiu said with a cold snort.
Xiao Changfeng's brows also knitted slightly. He did not understand why Ye Yuan was so extreme and could not help urging, "Little Brother Ji, I know that you hope for the Xiao Family to win, but it's better to not say these sort of words."
He naturally wished to see the Xiao Family win. But in front of so many people, the Alchemist Association could not possibly play favoritism and commit irregularities. Ye Yuan doing this was truly a bit unreasonable.
But Ye Yuan did not care at all and said coolly, "The path of alchemy is ever-changing. Even if the few of you are Alchemy King powerhouses, how can you dare say that the answers that you came up with are the model answers? I don't even have the right to give my opinion?"
When Ye Yuan's words came out, the expressions of the few alchemy kings from the Alchemist Association changed, their faces revealing unhappiness.
And that Sovereign Star Abyss's eyelids quivered, then returned to normal right away.
"Xiao Changfeng, is this person that you found intentionally here to cause trouble? Can it be that the seven of us Alchemy Kings added together can't even match this Alchemy Grandmaster brat? Then what's there still to compete in this Grand Pill Assembly for? Your Xiao Family can just directly win!" But Yang Xiu ignored Ye Yuan and directly questioned Xiao Changfeng.
Xiao Changfeng's expression changed. These words from Ye Yuan offended all of the judges. What was there to compete later at the back?
"Ji Qing! Stop rambling blather! Sit down for me!" Xiao Changfeng said solemnly.
At this time, he could not help suspecting Ye Yuan's motives. Jumping out to challenge the judges at this time, wasn't this deliberately ruining the Xiao Family?
Ye Yuan's brows knitted and he turned his head to look at Xiao Changfeng, his eyes becoming cold.
Not knowing why, when Xiao Changfeng saw Ye Yuan's eyes, he involuntarily felt a chill from the bottom of his heart and actually did not dare to meet his gaze.