Chapter 146: Pill Refining Competition (Bonus chapter 5 for Alliance Leader Xiao Li Ya)

Watching Xu Chen leave surrounded by beauties, the atmosphere in the main hall plaza quickly became dull and eerie.

Although Biyunzi had indeed refused Xu Chen's request, the Alchemy Hall's most beautiful female disciple had gone off to drink tea and discuss the Dao with him; what was most hateful was that this guy already had a large group of the most beautiful female disciples from Yuqing Hall by his side, all of them inner-sect elites, each one a target that many young male cultivators dreamed of getting close to and becoming Daolu with.

"Master, is... is this really appropriate?" a True Essence Realm cultivator over fifty years old stood beside Biyunzi and asked hesitantly.

Biyunzi, however, held a horsetail whisk in one hand and stroked his snow-white beard with the other, his facial muscles twitching slightly.

He had not expected Xu Chen to leave so decisively, refusing without the slightest hesitation.

Could it be that he truly did not want to observe and learn the Alchemy Hall's cultivation techniques and pill formula heritage?

Or was it that he did not want to make the refining method of the Taiyuan Soul-Entering Pill public?

Although his own request seemed excessive, in reality, it was not excessive at all; this was not his idea alone, but a method decided upon by the entire group of Elders after deliberation.

After all, the Alchemy Hall's heritage was the core of the core of the entire Yuqing Hall, the most important resource outside of cultivation techniques, and in the thousands of years since the sect was founded, it had never been opened to outsiders, let alone allowed to be observed and studied without reservation.

For Taiyuan Sect to use the Taiyuan Soul-Entering Pill to trade for such an unprecedented learning opportunity could be said to be taking full advantage, yet he had not expected Xu Chen to seemingly give it up so easily.

"Still too young, ignorant of the ways of the world!" Biyunzi finally sighed and shook his head, flicking his whisk as he said: "You all continue to preside over the pill refining competition; let this matter end here. If he is unwilling to cooperate and the Supreme Elder blames us, I will bear the responsibility alone."

"Yes, Disciple obeys!" A group of scruffy-bearded Elders and deacons all bowed to accept the order.

Soon, the dozens of disciples participating in the competition sat down again to continue refining pills, but their moods were in total disarray; from time to time, they would look up in the direction where Xu Chen and the others had left, and being distracted, plumes of thick smoke rose into the air one after another, the burnt smell of ruined Spirit Medicine permeating the entire plaza, infuriating the group of old Daoist proctors who roared loudly, their voices resounding throughout the entire Alchemy Hall.

An hour later, Xu Chen returned to the main hall plaza, beaming with joy and chatting happily with Murong Qin.

At this time, the competition was still ongoing, but the atmosphere at the scene was completely different from when they had first arrived; apart from a mere seven or eight disciples still sitting in the arena refining pills, a large group of disciples stood dejectedly in a line in front of the main hall, receiving a lecture and spit-fire from a group of white-bearded old men.

However, smelling the burnt odor throughout the courtyard, Xu Chen couldn't help but ask curiously: "I wonder what kind of pill is being refined in today's competition; it looks quite difficult, and the success rate seems rather low."

Before his voice had even faded, two pill furnaces in the arena suddenly erupted with rolling black smoke one after another, clearly indicating that someone had ruined their Spirit Pill again.

The two cultivators refining the pills closed their furnace fires with gloomy faces and stood up, then turned their heads to glare at Xu Chen in anger.

Sensing these murderous gazes, Xu Chen chuckled dryly: "Sorry, it seems I have disturbed you Daoist Friends in your refining; we shall leave now!"

"Daoist Friend Xu, wait!"

Just as Xu Chen was leading the way out of the Alchemy Hall, a voice rang out across the plaza.

Xu Chen turned back and saw a young cultivator in black robes clap his hands; as the pill furnace shook open, a puff of dense pill vapor sprayed out, and several golden-yellow pills shot out of the furnace, which he snatched into his hand before standing up to look at Xu Chen and saying:

"I heard that Daoist Friend Xu agreed to help the Supreme Elder, Baiyun Zhenjun, refine some Spirit Pills, which is how you obtained the opportunity to enter the Alchemy Hall to observe and learn. To be valued by the Supreme Elder, Daoist Friend Xu's pill refining technique must surely be extraordinary. I, Han Qing, am willing to have a competition with Daoist Friend Xu. If you defeat me, I can request that my Master open the first floor of the Alchemy Hall's Scripture Pavilion for you to visit, so you don't make a wasted trip, and so that if word gets out, outsiders won't say that our Yuqing Hall does not keep its promises. What do you think?"

Xu Chen rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment before asking: "I wonder what is on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion?"

Han Qing said: "The first floor of our Alchemy Hall's Scripture Pavilion contains all the various basic pill refining techniques and almost all First-grade Pill formulas collected and organized by Yuqing Hall over the thousands of years since its founding; the number of pill formulas alone is no less than three hundred. In addition, there are a vast number of secret techniques for planting, cultivating, picking, and processing Spirit Medicine, countless illustrated catalogs of Spirit Medicine, and the insights and experiences left behind by countless generations of our Alchemy Hall's predecessors. Any one of these is a non-transferable technique, and for your Taiyuan Sect, they would absolutely be considered precious secret manuals."

Xu Chen lowered his head and pondered for a moment before suddenly smiling: "This wager is not bad, but I have no interest in just the first floor. After all, no matter how good a First-grade Pill is, it is still a First-grade Pill, only useful for cultivation in the Kaiyuan Realm. Currently, every sect and faction, apart from rogue cultivators, has more or less accumulated its own pill formulas and heritage; the quantity doesn't affect cultivation, and there are only three or five types that can be used daily. Even if Yuqing Hall has over three hundred First-grade Pill formulas, I believe ninety-nine percent of them are just gathering dust inside, useless. I wonder if Brother Han agrees with my statement?"

Before Han Qing, whose face had turned ugly, could speak, Yun Xi hurriedly nodded and said: "That's right, that's right, what is there to see in First-grade Pills? Even a fool can refine them. I have collected over a dozen types myself; if Daoist Friend Xu wants to see them, I'll give them to you!"

The onlookers were speechless, but they had no way to refute this.

Xu Chen was quite gratified; this little girl who could eat, steal, and whose intelligence was somewhat lacking was clearly leaning heavily toward him. They had only known each other for less than a day, and she had already started speaking up for him; such a Daoist Friend was worth befriending.

Han Qing's expression shifted between light and shadow for a while, and after concentrating for a moment as if receiving some instruction from the higher-ups, he gritted his teeth and said: "Then I wonder how Daoist Friend Xu wants to compete? As long as it is not too excessive, I can help apply for it."

A smile immediately bloomed on Xu Chen's face as he said: "Since Brother Han says so, then I will reluctantly give it a try. My request is not high: if I win, then open all pill formulas and secret techniques of Three-grade Spirit Pills and below for me to view!"

"Wow~" The whole arena was suddenly in an uproar.

"Agree to him, but we must specify the type of pill to be refined!" The Divine Sense Transmission of the Second Elder, Biyunzi, reached Han Qing's ears.

Han Qing hesitated for a moment and nodded: "Fine, but if Daoist Friend Xu wants to see the secret pill formulas up to the third floor, then I will specify the content of the competition."

This time, Xu Chen nodded readily: "That works. I wonder what Spirit Pill Brother Han wants to compete in refining?"

At this moment, a deep voice came from the main hall; it was the voice of Biyun Zhenjun: "Since Little Friend Xu is interested, I naturally would also like to see the pill refining techniques of the Taiyuan Sect. By thus verifying with each other and learning from each other's strengths to offset weaknesses, I have a pill formula here, ranked at the top of the Second-grade. You two shall use this pill formula as the standard and each refine a furnace; whoever succeeds first will be the winner. If Little Friend Xu wins, then you will be allowed to enter the first to third floors of the Alchemy Hall's Scripture Pavilion to observe and learn for three days."

Xu Chen was overjoyed upon hearing this and hurriedly bowed: "In that case, please bestow the pill formula, Senior Biyunzi."

Two beams of green light flew out from the Alchemy Hall's main hall and hung in front of Xu Chen and Han Qing respectively. Xu Chen snatched his into his hand, pressed it to his forehead, and probed it with his Divine Sense; a strange look immediately appeared on his face.

It was actually the pill formula for the Seven Spirit Pill, the reward for today's pill refining competition.

Various Spirit Pills that help with Soul Power cultivation are very rare in the Immortal World.

Taiyuan Sect is almost a blank slate in this regard.

Even though they were the first to know the wonders of the Soul Bead, apart from Xu Chen and the Great Elder, no one else could use it at all.

And the reason Xu Chen could use it was only because of the auxiliary effect brought by the Blue Jade Bead; he himself didn't even know how he absorbed it, remaining in a completely passive state.

However, Yuqing Hall has a long heritage and a deep foundation; it has already formed a basic system for pill refining methods to stimulate Soul Power. Although it is not very complete, after thousands of years of research, it has still accumulated quite a bit.

At least, the original method of using Soul Beads to absorb Soul Power and carving arrays into pills was successfully developed by the three Elders of Yuqing Hall in a very short time, and the effect was surprisingly good.

Although the cost was a bit high and there was no possibility of widespread dissemination, given time, with the large-scale appearance of Soul Beads, Yuqing Hall would inevitably slowly find a simpler way to refine Soul Beads into pills, eventually developing new Soul Power pills.

And at Taiyuan Sect, this possibility could never be realized.

This was the reason for the vast difference in foundation.

The Seven Spirit Pill is somewhat similar to an aphrodisiac; it works by squeezing the limits of a cultivator's Soul, forcibly doubling the Soul in a very short time at the cost of forcibly improving the qualifications for breaking through a barrier. Although the aftereffects are also very strong, for the effect achieved, no one can refuse it.

Even Xu Chen had this feeling.

His current Soul had almost reached the state of the early Danyuan Realm. If it were forcibly doubled again, the strength of his Divine Sense would definitely reach the level of the middle Danyuan Realm. With such powerful Soul support, let alone the True Essence Late Stage, even when facing a powerhouse with the strength of a true Danyuan Realm, he would be able to contend for a while by relying on his own cultivation.

Of course, this kind of confrontation would almost be at the cost of his life; he might be beaten into pulp after three or five moves, but at least he would have a brief power of self-preservation, and under extreme conditions, he could win a short chance to escape.

As for the aftereffects, once he reached that point, there would be no need to consider them.

Therefore, in the eyes of the fourth and fifth-generation young disciples of Yuqing Hall, the greatest use of the Seven Spirit Pill was to help break through levels and upgrade.

But for Xu Chen, after experiencing all kinds of life-and-death beatings, his first consideration was staying alive.

However, the difficulty of refining a top-tier Second-grade Spirit Pill must be very high. Just looking at the dense, dozens of strange Spirit Medicines in the Jade Slip that he had never seen before, Xu Chen felt his scalp go numb.

Han Qing's expression, however, was much more relaxed. Although the Seven Spirit Pill was difficult to refine and this was his first time coming into contact with it, it was, after all, a pill formula inherited by Yuqing Hall. In terms of pill refining techniques, it was of the same lineage and had nothing too unusual. The only thing he was not very familiar with was the refining process of some rare Spirit Medicines inside, which was somewhat difficult for him.

However, judging by his cultivation and strength at the True Essence Late Stage, as well as the vast experience he had accumulated in pill refining, if he couldn't refine it, Xu Chen definitely wouldn't be able to either.

Therefore, after reading the pill formula, Han Qing breathed a slight sigh of relief and bowed: "Daoist Friend Xu, shall we compete with the Seven Spirit Pill?"

(End of this chapter)