Chapter 394: The Shocked Crowd

395. Chapter 394: The Shocked Crowd

Amid the bewildered gazes of the crowd, the five clones grabbed the Spirit Medicines from the tabletop and tossed them into their respective Alchemy Furnaces, igniting flames to begin alchemy; each clone was clearly refining a different type of pill.

Just as when refining the Great Cauldron Pill earlier, Long Xuan skipped the step of refining the Spirit Medicines one by one; to save time, he dumped all the ingredients from the Pill Formula into the Alchemy Furnace at once, and relying on having enough Split Souls, he refined all the Spirit Medicines simultaneously the moment they entered the furnace.

Seeing Long Xuan refine pills this way, the Judges couldn't help but twitch the corners of their mouths; this was the first time they had ever seen alchemy performed like this—it was simply absurd.

Originally, the remaining time was insufficient to refine even one furnace of pills, but with such alchemy speed, how could it not be fast? If the furnace didn't explode, he might truly manage to snatch back enough time.

This method of alchemy sparked curiosity in many people, who couldn't help but turn their eyes over, attempting to steal the technique.

At this moment, Long Xiaoyao finally set his mind at ease; setting aside the quality of the pills for now, at least pills would be finished within the prescribed time.

However, he soon lightly furrowed his brows again; although Long Xuan was refining five furnaces of pills simultaneously, these five furnaces clearly contained different types of Pill Quality.

The competition rules for the Third Round were not about who refined the most pills, but rather scores were assessed based on the value of the refined pills; what exactly was this Long Xuan up to? Long Xiaoyao pondered without finding an answer, his brows knitting tighter and tighter.

Feng Tiancheng glanced at him, sneering disdainfully: "I wondered what profound realization he had just achieved; is this what he realized?"

"He merely comprehended five types of Pill Formulas; the materials were simply changed by Attribute, but in reality, he only comprehended one type of Pill Formula."

"This Pill Formula seems related to breaking through realms; the value of a Third Grade Realm-Breaking Pill is still not higher than that of a Three-Rank Ice-Fire Bipolar Pill."

"By refining Third Grade Realm-Breaking Pills, he will not only fail to achieve the highest score, but his score will also fall far behind the others."

"Does he think refining several more furnaces of pills will add more points? It seems he hasn't understood the game rules; he is bound to lose this round."

Long Xiaoyao remained silent, unsure of what words he could use to refute this.

"What the hell is he doing! What use is refining five furnaces of pills at once? What use is displaying skills? Does he think showing off will increase his score?" Long Yuyao clenched her fists, her face iron-green, shouting with frustration that he was failing to live up to expectations.

Fen Tian Old Ancestor shook his head and sighed: "What a pity; I looked forward to this for nothing."

At this moment, many people showed expressions of disappointment; quite a few onlookers could already imagine the outcome, and after shaking their heads, they began to leave the venue.

However, just as a large number of onlookers had reached the entrance, an unexpected change suddenly occurred.

Long Xuan's alchemy speed was truly too fast; so fast that he was already beginning to finish the pills.

The five clones almost simultaneously slapped their Alchemy Furnaces; instantly, the lids of the pill furnaces flew high into the air, and from each Alchemy Furnace flew out five round pills, each of a different color: gold, green, blue, red, and brown—five different pills corresponding exactly to the colors of the Five Attributes of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.

Although no one had ever seen this type of pill before, and it was undoubtedly a Self-created Alchemy Formula, that was all it was; in the Third Round, creating a new formula did not grant extra points.

At this moment, quite a few people displayed expressions of mockery.

However, just as they thought the alchemy had ended and most of the Judges had already tallied their scores, the scene that unfolded next caused all the Judges to widen their eyes in shock.

They saw that the twenty-five pills flying high into the air did not fall down, but instead flew directly toward the center, finally landing together inside that silver Alchemy Furnace in the middle.

At this moment, Long Xuan's main body, who had been sitting in the central position with eyes closed cultivating, finally opened his eyes; a flash of firelight sparkled in his gaze, and a ball of deep red Flame suddenly rose beneath the pill furnace—he was actually preparing to begin alchemy!!!

"This..."

In this instant, all the Judges were so shocked they leaped to their feet, each widening their eyes, their expressions terrified to the extreme.

At this moment, they finally understood what this youth intended to do; originally, what he had just refined were not pills, but materials.

He intended to use this method to improve the quality of the materials, thereby accomplishing the surpassing of Fen Tian Old Ancestor and Qin Dan.

Refining pills using pills as materials—this was what he was preparing to do.

"Hiss..."

In this instant, the sound of sharp intakes of cold air rang out throughout the entire venue.

The onlookers who were nearly out the door all stopped in their tracks, turned their heads, and revealed expressions of profound shock; in this moment, no one remained calm.

"How is this possible? He is actually refining pills using pills as materials; such alchemy is simply unheard of, never before seen from ancient times to the present."

"Refining pills into pills; what a creative idea, he's nesting dolls here! Can he continue nesting dolls afterward? Truly a ghost-like genius idea!"

"Tsk, tsk; if using pills as materials, the quality of the materials will definitely be higher than that of Spirit Medicines; the pills refined using this method will absolutely be superior; I am now truly curious about what will ultimately be refined."

"The Spiritual Power of twenty-five Spirit Pills merging into one; setting aside the medicinal potency, just the concentration of Spiritual Power can already rival a Fourth Grade Pill; this youth truly intends to defy heaven!"

After a brief moment of stupefaction, the Judges quickly descended into chaos, loudly discussing amongst themselves, each with an excited, flushed face, looking as out of sorts as one could possibly be.

Feng Tiancheng suddenly clenched his fists tightly, his face gradually growing gloomy; an ominous feeling surged into his heart at this moment, and this scene made him somewhat panicked.

"Hahaha... I was saying how could he possibly refine such low-grade pills; it turns out he had this backup plan; refining pills with pills—truly a thought akin to a heavenly being, a heaven-endowed genius!"

Long Xiaoyao excitedly slapped the table and burst into loud laughter.

He cast a triumphant glance at Feng Tiancheng and smiled: "My apologies, but it seems he has refined a Fourth Grade Pill; it appears you are about to lose this round as well."

"Prepare your five Extreme Grade Gu Worms; I will reluctantly accept them with a smile, hahaha... I hope that you, having lost ten Life-Bound Gu Worms, do not become trash."

Feng Tiancheng clenched his fists; at this moment, he seemed to have lost his soul, his eyes bloodshot, his expression ferocious, staring fixedly at that silver Alchemy Furnace, unsure of what he was praying for in his heart, let alone having any mind to reply.

Fen Tian Old Ancestor narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze fixed fixedly on Long Xuan, and said gravely: "I never expected that one could refine pills using this method; it has truly broadened my horizons."

"Once this pill is completed, it may not be a Fourth Grade Spirit Pill, yet it surpasses a Fourth Grade Spirit Pill; the score for this pill will likely exceed ninety points."

"Where exactly did this youth emerge from, that he causes me to suffer setbacks time and again?" Fen Tian Old Ancestor furrowed his brows deeply.

Qin Dan glanced at him, then shifted his gaze to Long Xuan, the corner of his mouth curling up as he smiled lightly: "Interesting, interesting, truly interesting; such a method of alchemy is indeed full of creativity, truly opening a precedent in history."

"After this Alchemy Competition concludes, this method will inevitably cause a sensation throughout the entire Alchemy Realm, with all Alchemists vying to research it; a new school of thought is about to be born in the Alchemy Realm, and this major event is sufficient to be recorded in history forever."

After sighing with emotion, Qin Dan added gravely: "This Western Regions Alchemy Competition truly hides tigers and coiled dragons; monstrous geniuses are emerging one after another."

"I originally thought that as the former champion of the Western Regions Alchemy League, participating in this competition would be a sure win, yet I never expected that monstrous talents would arise frequently in this Alchemy Competition; first Fen Tian Old Ancestor appeared, and now him, causing me to fail to gain an advantage in the first three rounds."

"Hehe! I do not regret losing this round."

He then used Soul Transmission to speak to a mysterious soul within his body:

"Little Medicine Boy, this must be that old friend of yours, right? Originating from a Barren Land yet able to defy heaven so thoroughly; this brain of his is almost catching up to mine."

"It seems I have encountered an opponent; for the upcoming matches, I must also get serious."

As soon as he finished speaking, his gaze condensed, revealing a hint of seriousness in his eyes.

At this moment, a voice responded in his mind: "Then you truly must get serious; this old friend of mine is a Qi Luck Child; whatever he does goes smoothly and favorably."

"Furthermore, this person's various ideas are unconstrained and imaginative; his imagination is certainly no less than mine; the Cockroach Gu was created by him when he was still a minor; now, his mind is estimated to be even more heaven-defying."

"I advise you to focus your attention on him; trust me, he is even more troublesome than that Fen Tian Old Ancestor!" (End of Chapter)