Chapter 416

Xiao Yan looked through the ice mirror at the medicinal materials being extracted in the medicine cauldron. Although the power of the Yin-Yang Dual Flames was already close to the top five of the Exotic Fire Rankings, there were too many medicinal materials to be extracted this time, and it took more time.

At this moment, above the sky, numerous stone platforms were suspended, and every participating alchemist was earnestly extracting medicinal materials. For a time, the entire square became incomparably quiet, with only the sound of flames burning and the crisp sounds made when medicinal materials were extracted.

Refining pills is an extremely boring task, especially refining these high-grade pills; spending ten days or half a month is very normal.

The pills refined at this Pill Gathering were almost none below the seventh grade; after all, pills below the seventh grade could not win at the Pill Gathering at all.

And refining a seventh-grade pill takes at least ten days or so, so five or six days had passed, and the square was still very quiet.

Time passed bit by bit, until the seventh day, when a sound like muffled thunder came from the square. This was a sound that alchemists were very familiar with; every time this sound was heard, it meant that the pill refinement had failed.

However, failure was fine; one only needed to prepare the medicinal materials again and continue refining. The Pill Gathering did not stipulate how many times one could fail before being eliminated, but those who failed three times in a row would usually leave on their own; this was an unspoken rule.

"Boom!"

The originally azure sky was suddenly covered by dark clouds, and a low, muffled sound of thunder echoed in everyone's ears.

Countless gazes subconsciously looked toward the sky, only to see that a dark cloud had appeared in the sky at some point, and lightning was appearing within the dark clouds.

"Pill Lightning!"

Most of the people present were alchemists, and almost no one did not recognize Pill Lightning. The appearance of Pill Lightning meant that the pill was about to be successfully refined, and it was a seventh-grade pill; after all, sixth-grade pills rarely attracted Pill Lightning.

At this moment, countless people shifted their gazes toward a stone platform under the dark clouds, discovering that a middle-aged man there was looking at the thunderclouds in the sky with a proud face; after all, he was the first person to attract Pill Lightning.

Following the appearance of the first Pill Lightning, it was as if a chain reaction had occurred in the square; a Pill Lightning appeared every half day or so, but the Pill Lightning was relatively weak, mostly single-colored Pill Lightning, and only very few were two-colored Pill Lightning.

As time passed, the frequency of Pill Lightning appearing in the square became lower and lower, and in the end, no Pill Lightning appeared for several days in a row.

At this moment, there were still more than a dozen people refining pills on the stone platforms. So much time had passed, and they had not yet formed their pills; clearly, the pills they were refining were more advanced—they were eighth-grade pills.

Although there is only one grade difference between eighth-grade pills and seventh-grade pills, the medicinal effects are worlds apart, and the time spent cannot be mentioned in the same breath.

The biggest difference among them is that eighth-grade pills possess spirituality, which is why one must have a soul level that reaches the Spirit Realm to refine eighth-grade pills.

Because only when the soul level reaches the Spirit Realm can one add spirituality to the medicinal materials and pills during refinement. Pills without spirituality are just dead objects, while pills with spirituality can already be considered to have been endowed with life and can survive forever.

"Boom!"

A thunderous sound far louder than before rang out, and the entire square was covered by dark clouds. Such a terrifying momentum could only appear when an eighth-grade pill was taking shape.

At this moment, a pale figure sat cross-legged on the stone platform, looking at the huge dark cloud above their head, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief, then continued to warm and nourish the already-formed pill.

As the pill was continuously warmed and nourished, the thunderclouds rolled rapidly, and three colors—cyan, silver, and red—appeared, rendering the Pill Lightning into a three-colored state.

Dan Chen looked at the three-colored Pill Lightning in the sky and sighed. Although she wanted more Pill Lightning, her body and energy had already reached their limit at this moment, and she could not continue at all, so she could only give up.

"Three-colored Pill Lightning?" Cao Ying looked at Dan Chen not far away. Previously, she had always regarded Dan Chen as an opponent, but ever since Xiao Yan appeared, she had shifted her attention to Xiao Yan. At this moment, she just wanted to see the results of her former opponent.

Cao Ying looked toward the sky, then changed her hand seals, and a brilliant beam of light shot out from the medicine cauldron, shooting straight into the sky.

At the end of the beam of light, energy surged crazily. Following the surging energy, thick mist began to gather rapidly, eventually forming the shape of thunderclouds.

"Your disciple is not bad either! This Pill Lightning is likely also three-colored Pill Lightning." Yao Chen looked at the thunderclouds rapidly forming in the sky, then glanced at Xuan Kong Zi beside him, and could not help but laugh.

Hearing this, the corners of Xuan Kong Zi's mouth twitched. As Cao Ying's teacher, he naturally knew how capable Cao Ying was. Before meeting Xiao Yan, Cao Ying's best result was only two-colored Pill Lightning.

But ever since she was struck by Xiao Yan during the Five Great Families assessment last time, she had restrained her arrogance and focused on improving her medicine refinement techniques.

Of course, it was not just Cao Ying who was struck; the Dan family's Dan Chen was the same, otherwise she would not have achieved her current good results.

During the exchange between Xuan Kong Zi and Yao Chen, the Pill Lightning above Cao Ying's head soon appeared in three colors.

Cao Ying looked at the three-colored Pill Lightning in the sky, a look of satisfaction appearing on her face; after all, this was her best result to date.

"Three-colored Pill Lightning?" Seeing that Dan Chen and Cao Ying had produced three-colored Pill Lightning, Old Mu Gu was also a bit startled, but he did not take it to heart.

Old Mu Gu shifted his gaze away from Cao Ying, then looked toward the stone platform where Xiao Yan was. He did not take anyone else seriously; only Xiao Yan was regarded by him as a true opponent.

Xiao Yan sensed a cold gaze watching him, and then a cold sneer curled up at the corner of his mouth. He didn't even need to look to know who it was.

Old Mu Gu used his soul to investigate the pill Xiao Yan was refining. Because Xiao Yan did not deliberately hide it, most people could see the pill Xiao Yan was refining.

"Fuling Qing Pill?" Old Mu Gu investigated and found that Xiao Yan was only refining an eighth-grade intermediate pill. Although this kind of pill was not bad, it was still a little bit worse compared to his. It was estimated that the pill Xiao Yan was refining could at most attract three-colored Pill Lightning just like Cao Ying and Dan Chen.

Of course, under Old Mu Gu's investigation, there was also a green-robed old man with profound strength. The pill this green-robed old man was refining was also eighth-grade, but this old man clearly did not want people to know what pill he was refining and used his soul power to hide it.

However, this could only be hidden for a short time. A beam of light shot out from the green-robed old man's medicine cauldron, then condensed into a huge dark cloud in the sky. The thunderclouds rolled, and soon formed three-colored Pill Lightning.

"It seems the final champion of this Pill Gathering belongs to me." A smile curled up at the corner of Old Mu Gu's mouth, and he shifted his gaze back to Xiao Yan. At this moment, only he and Xiao Yan had not yet formed their pills, so victory was only between the two of them.

(End of chapter)