Chapter 63: Liu Ling

Gu He also shook his head, not optimistic about Xiao Yan either. Although his disciple Liu Ling and Yao Yue had a low success rate, they at least had a one-third probability, whereas Xiao Yan had at most a one-tenth chance of success.

The rewards for this competition were extremely generous. The three people below the stage all had an element of gambling involved; after all, while the success rate of diligently refining a Third-Grade medicinal pill was high, the hope of winning was very slim.

As time passed bit by bit, Liu Ling and Princess Yao Yue had already finished refining all the necessary medicinal materials and were about to begin the fusion and pill-forming process, yet Xiao Yan had only refined two-thirds of his materials.

However, Liu Ling and Yao Yue had no mind to pay attention to Xiao Yan for the moment. Each took a Qi Recovery Pill from their storage rings and popped it into their mouths; after all, with their current Dou Qi reserves, forcibly refining a Third-Grade medicinal pill was clearly insufficient.

Both Liu Ling and Yao Yue had reached the critical moment of pill refining, which was also the most difficult stage. A single moment of carelessness would cause all the refined medicinal materials to turn directly into ash. Both of them looked incredibly tense, with fine beads of sweat already seeping out on their foreheads.

Yet, while they were nervous, there were people even more nervous than them: Qie Mi Er and Gu He. Both of their gazes were now fixed on their disciples. Every subtle movement of their disciples could tug at their heartstrings, and they wished they could go down to the stage and refine the pills themselves.

Nalan Yanran's gaze, however, strangely did not rest on Liu Ling—she hadn't even looked at him once—but instead kept watching Xiao Yan. Because the longer she stayed around Xiao Yan, the more she felt he resembled that person in her heart.

Under the expectant gazes of several people, the medicinal materials in Liu Ling's medicine cauldron gradually fused, and a rough medicinal pill began to take shape.

Seeing that his disciple was also about to succeed, Qie Mi Er on the high platform felt immense joy in his heart. Although both Yao Yue and Liu Ling were refining Third-Grade medicinal pills, given his relationship with Fama, surely Fama wouldn't be biased toward an outsider, right? As for Xiao Yan, sorry, in Qie Mi Er's heart, he had already failed.

Fama was staring fixedly at Xiao Yan, his eyes never leaving him. Every one of Xiao Yan's movements plunged him into memories. He remembered his own youth; although he was very clumsy, that person still carefully guided him movement by movement, teaching him how to refine medicine. Although he only taught him for three days, it still benefited him for a lifetime, allowing him to become a top-tier Alchemist of the Gama Empire.

Both Qie Mi Er and Gu He had concluded that even if Xiao Yan wasn't Fama's disciple, the two must have some kind of connection. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so favored!

Although Yao Ye did not understand alchemy, she knew the basic common sense of medicine refining and knew that her younger sister Yao Yue had entered a critical stage, so she secretly cheered her sister on. Because both the Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill and the Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill were good medicines that could enhance the empire's strength, she very much wanted to obtain these two pill recipes.

Xiao Yan's eyes were fixed on the pitted, mud-like mass formed by the seven medicinal materials already fused in the medicine cauldron. He used his Soul Perception to fuse the remaining medicinal material with it once more, then used his flame to temper it again.

Although Xiao Yan was unaffected, the Little Princess was miserable. Startled by that, her flame control became unstable, and she almost failed directly. Fortunately, the medicinal pill had basically taken shape; if it had been at the moment of initial fusion, the materials would have basically turned to ash.

"Sorry! I was a bit excited and couldn't hold back, so I used a bit too much force!" Seeing that he hadn't affected Xiao Yan but had instead offended the Little Princess, Liu Ling felt deeply disappointed.

However, when Qie Mi Er's gaze shifted toward Fama, he saw Fama looking at Xiao Yan with a solemn face, and Gu He's eyes were also fixed on Xiao Yan. He couldn't help but glance in Xiao Yan's direction as well, discovering that Xiao Yan had already finished refining the medicinal materials and was currently fusing the refined materials.

"My inferior disciple is likely refining such a high-level medicinal pill for the first time, so his mood was a bit excited, and he couldn't hold back for a moment, using a bit too much force," Gu He explained embarrassedly.

"Boom!" Liu Ling slapped the medicine cauldron hard. With a loud bang, a medicinal pill flew out from the cauldron. Liu Ling reached out to catch the pill, placed it in a jade bottle prepared in advance, and waited for the three judges on the high platform to evaluate it.

However, it was just collecting the pill; there was no need at all to make such a big commotion. Clearly, Liu Ling did it on purpose, aiming to affect the two people beside him, especially Xiao Yan.

At this moment, only three medicinal materials remained unfused in Xiao Yan's medicine cauldron. Everyone present was staring at these three materials in Xiao Yan's cauldron; among them were those who hoped Xiao Yan would succeed, such as Fama, but more people hoped he would fail.

Qie Mi Er and Yao Ye on the high platform also had gloomy faces, their gazes toward Liu Ling becoming unkind. However, since Liu Ling had already apologized, they couldn't say anything more and had to swallow this anger, though their expressions were incredibly ugly.

Seeing the medicinal pill gradually taking shape in his disciple's cauldron, Gu He breathed a sigh of relief. Because with his experience, he naturally knew that the refining of the pill was basically a success.

Even Nalan Yanran's gaze toward Liu Ling changed from previous appreciation to disgust.

After the Little Princess took out her medicinal pill, she glared angrily at Liu Ling. Although she had always appreciated Liu Ling before, at this moment, she felt incredibly repulsed by him.

While it was said to be a competition of medicine refining techniques among three juniors, wasn't it also the three of them secretly competing? This was truly a matter of face; what high-level Alchemist wouldn't hope for their disciple to shine brilliantly on the stage?

When all the medicinal materials were completely fused together, an embryonic pill slowly emerged in the medicine cauldron.

But Xiao Yan's attention was entirely on refining the medicine; he had entered a state of selflessness, and even if thunder struck in the sky, it wouldn't affect him.

Hearing Gu He's explanation, Qie Mi Er and Yao Ye's expressions became slightly better, but when their gazes shifted to Fama, they saw that Fama's gaze had never left Xiao Yan. Now, only Xiao Yan was still refining. Although they knew his chance of success was very small, they could only continue to watch.

Xiao Yan stared at the nearly formed medicinal pill, feeling that the time was about right, so he directly fused the remaining two medicinal materials together.

Naturally, Nalan Yanran's actions did not escape Liu Ling, who had been watching her, so the hatred in Liu Ling's heart toward Xiao Yan deepened once more, and he immediately tried even harder to prove himself.

Their concern for the victory or defeat of these juniors was not because of those rewards. For these high-level Alchemists, those rewards did not have much appeal.

"Could this kid really succeed?" Qie Mi Er felt somewhat incredulous in his heart. Originally prepared to make a joke, he also consciously stayed in his seat to continue watching.

Not long after Liu Ling's medicinal pill took shape, the medicinal pill in Yao Yue's medicine cauldron also gradually took shape, slowly forming an uneven medicinal pill.

Although the empire also had pill recipes for enhancing strength, medicinal pills had resistance, and only by taking different medicinal pills could one rapidly enhance their strength.

The Little Princess spent a great deal of effort to barely control the flame. She continued to warm it with the flame for a while before slapping the pill furnace and taking out the medicinal pill inside.

Seeing that Xiao Yan was really about to finish refining, the people on the high platform stood up one after another, looking at Xiao Yan in shock. They hadn't expected that Xiao Yan would really refine a medicinal pill that was at least Third-Grade peak.

"So what if you succeed? At most, it's just Third-Grade; it might not be as good as what I refined." Seeing that Xiao Yan was about to succeed, Liu Ling felt unwilling in his heart and could only comfort himself.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 64 =====