Chapter 373: The Battle of the Pill Wager

Chapter 373: Chapter 373: The Battle of the Pill Wager

When Yi Lu saw Yi Xiaoyao step forward, she smiled faintly and nodded. There was no trace of worry in her eyes; after all, she knew that Yi Xiaoyao’s Alchemy Mastery was in no way inferior to her own.

Seeing this, the cold glint in Di Shen’s eyes intensified. ’So it’s true, there’s something between them,’ he thought. Yi Lu had never shown such a smile to anyone else.

At this thought, Di Shen’s resentment toward Yi Xiaoyao deepened, and the killing intent in his eyes flared.

"What? Did I strike a nerve? Feeling embarrassed and angry?"

Di Shen shot a glance at Yi Xiaoyao before sneering at Yi Lu. "Everyone says you, Yi Lu, are so noble and aloof. I never thought you’d be such a promiscuous slut deep down."

Yi Xiaoyao snorted coldly, walked right up to Di Shen, and looked at him. "You think your Alchemy Mastery is greater than mine?"

"Only an ignorant fool like you could ask such a question," Di Shen said with a sarcastic laugh.

At the Holy Pill Academy, anyone whose Alchemy Mastery surpassed his would have long since become an Honored Guest Elder or an elder. Here, aside from Yi Lu, who was already an Honored Guest Elder, only Di Shen could refine a sixth-grade Six-Stripe Elixir. This was common knowledge, yet someone was still foolish enough to ask such a question.

"Di Shen, when you refined that Six-Stripe Elixir just now, the kid was dozing off. He didn’t see it," someone pointed out. Many of them had seen Yi Xiaoyao with his eyes closed the entire time.

Hearing this, Di Shen sneered at Yi Xiaoyao. "In that case, I challenge you to a Dan Fighting match. Do you dare?"

"What are the rules?" Yi Xiaoyao asked, his expression indifferent.

"You don’t even know what Dan Fighting is, and you dare to provoke me?" Di Shen and the surrounding crowd burst into laughter.

Just then, Yi Lu’s voice reached Yi Xiaoyao’s ears. "Dan Fighting is a dueling method in our Red Wilderness. Both sides refine a Poison Pill and battle with their Pill Souls. The loser must consume the Poison Pill refined by their opponent."

"Fine, I accept."

After learning the rules, Yi Xiaoyao let out a faint, relaxed smile. ’To think someone would willingly walk into their own doom like this.’

Hearing Yi Xiaoyao agree, the crowd’s interest soared. A match this exciting was going to be a real show.

’That guy is still such a braggart. Even now, he’s still putting on a front. He’s really willing to die just to save face,’ Lan Yue thought, frowning as she watched Yi Xiaoyao from the crowd and sighing inwardly.

However, having seen Di Shen’s true colors, Lan Yue now found herself hoping Yi Xiaoyao would win. It would be best if he poisoned that heartless bastard to death.

"Since you’re seeking death, I’ll be happy to oblige!"

A cruel look appeared on Di Shen’s face as he stretched out his hand. A Pill Fire ignited in his palm, and with lightning-fast movements, he began tossing in ingredients and started the refining process.

A cold smile played on Yi Xiaoyao’s lips. His eyes flickered for a moment as if he had decided which elixir to refine, and then he began as well.

The crowd stared at the two men without blinking, faintly anticipating the moment the elixirs would be complete.

「A short while later.」

"HISS!"

A blood-curdling hiss echoed out. As the crowd gasped, they saw the massive, blood-red phantom of a Blood Python erupt from the elixir in Di Shen’s palm. It opened its fanged maw at Yi Xiaoyao, viciously spewing clouds of green, toxic mist.

"It’s a Six-Pattern Red Blood Green Poison Pill!"

"That Pill Soul! It’s so violent—one can only imagine how toxic it is!!"

Everyone’s heart pounded with fear. If anyone were to consume that pill, even if they didn’t die, they would surely suffer a Purgatory-like agony as the poison ravaged their body.

At this thought, everyone couldn’t help but cast sympathetic glances toward Yi Xiaoyao, as if it were already a foregone conclusion that he would lose and be forced to consume the Poison Pill Di Shen had refined.

Yi Lu, on the other hand, watched Yi Xiaoyao with curiosity in her eyes. Her thoughts were different from everyone else’s; she was wondering what kind of Poison Pill Di Shen would be forced to swallow.

"I’ve never even heard of this kid. I guess Di Shen was right; he must have been chosen by Honored Guest Elder Yi Lu for... other reasons."

"Right? Look at him. He hasn’t even produced a Pill Soul yet, but he’s still trying to put on a brave face."

"Only a Six-Stripe Elixir can have a Pill Soul. Isn’t it perfectly normal that this kid can’t produce one?"

Seeing that Yi Xiaoyao had yet to produce a Pill Soul but remained perfectly calm and composed, the crowd began to whisper among themselves.

Di Shen sneered at Yi Xiaoyao. "Kid, stop wasting time. Just obediently take my elixir and give me your spot in the Alchemy Dao Assembly. If you do, I might give you the antidote."

Yi Xiaoyao glanced indifferently at Di Shen. "It’s not yet certain who will be eating whose elixir."

The moment he finished speaking, the phantom image of a blood-red lotus flower appeared above his elixir.

"A Pill Soul appeared! But... what good is a single lotus flower?"

The crowd’s expressions turned strange. How could a lotus Pill Soul possibly fight that Blood Python?

"I’m surprised you could actually produce a Pill Soul." Di Shen raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise, but his sneer only widened. "A pity it’s so pathetic. This won’t change the fact that you’re doomed to lose."

As he spoke, the blood-red lotus exploded into countless fragments. Then, two ferocious heads suddenly sprouted from the same point, pulling a serpentine body out with them.

"What kind of Pill Soul is that? A two-headed snake?" The crowd grew even more confused.

But in the next moment, everyone’s eyes went wide. They watched as the two-headed serpent’s body instantly split in two. The fragments of the exploded blood lotus transformed into scales that fused onto the bodies, which finally took shape and let out a furious roar.

"That’s not a two-headed snake!"

"Those are two Poisonous Drakes!"

"A Double Pill Soul!! He actually refined a Double Pill Soul!!"

Everyone cried out in utter disbelief. Just as they were seeing, the Pill Souls now roaring and coiling before Yi Xiaoyao were two terrifying, blood-red Poisonous Drakes—a Double Pill Soul!

In the next instant, the two blood-red Poisonous Drakes opened their massive, fanged mouths and bit down on Di Shen’s Blood Python Pill Soul. They instantly ripped it apart, fighting over the pieces before devouring them. Throughout the entire process, the Blood Python was utterly powerless to resist.

"ROAR! ROAR!"

The two Poisonous Drakes roared ferociously at Di Shen. Given their savagery, the toxicity of the elixir they came from was simply unimaginable.

Di Shen was already pale with fright. The elixir, which had shattered the moment its Pill Soul was devoured, slipped from his trembling hand and fell to the ground.

A cold smile hung on Yi Xiaoyao’s lips as he looked at Di Shen and asked lightly, "You think your Alchemy Mastery is superior to mine? You question Honored Guest Elder Yi Lu’s choice?"

Di Shen’s lips trembled. He finally understood. When Yi Xiaoyao had criticized his elixir a month ago, it wasn’t arrogant slander—his Alchemy Mastery truly was far beyond his own.

Before Di Shen could process this, his face turned deathly pale. Yi Xiaoyao’s hand was already stretched out before him, holding a highly toxic pill with six Pill Patterns and a Double Pill Soul.

"You lost. Eat it."

The cold words issued from Yi Xiaoyao’s mouth.

At that moment, it finally dawned on the crowd: Di Shen had lost!

In a Dan Fighting match, the loser must consume the Poison Pill refined by their opponent. Whether they lived or died was up to fate!

...