Chapter 102 - 101: Taking First Place
Chapter 102: Chapter 101: Taking First Place
"The pill is formed!"
"Who would have thought the second person to finish would be the Alchemist from Beast Taming Peak!"
"Hahaha, I wonder how the people who bet on Hu Liang are feeling right now?"
"Dammit, what the hell is Hu Liang doing? He’s still just messing around!"
"This is infuriating!"
Some of the disciples in the crowd clutched their chests, fuming.
These were the disciples who had bet on Hu Liang from the beginning, and they’d all wagered a considerable amount of Spirit Stones. Hu Liang was taking forever to form his pill. His Pill Furnace looked like it was about to burst into flames, yet he was still shouting about beautiful fairies. How could they not be furious?
Their initial amusement had turned to bitter regret. Such is the way of gamblers.
"There’s still a chance, there’s still a chance!"
"Yu Changsheng’s pill won’t necessarily be better than Hu Liang’s!"
"That’s right! Hu Liang is aiming for perfection! As long as he can suppress the Desire Immortal Smoke, he’ll definitely form ten pills. If he finishes strong, even getting One Pill Pattern won’t be a problem!"
"Brothers, we have to believe in Master Hu!"
Amidst the shouts of some disciples, Yu Changsheng had already extinguished his Pill Fire.
"Open!" With a flick of his sleeve, Yu Changsheng sent the furnace lid flying, revealing the Desire Immortal Pills below!
In the stands, Xu Nian’s eyes were fixed, eager to see how many pills had formed.
Gongsun Yang stroked his beard, his face wreathed in smiles, clearly confident in his disciple.
"Oh? Ten pills formed, absolute perfection! And this quality!"
Elder Huang’s expression changed, growing more serious. He walked over to Yu Changsheng, picked up a Desire Immortal Pill, and lowered his head to take a sniff.
"Ah, excellent! A fine item! A truly fine elixir!"
Elder Huang’s face immediately flushed. He took a long, deep sniff, mesmerized by the aroma.
"Excellent! I never thought a little fellow like you could refine an elixir of this caliber!"
"Although it doesn’t have One Pill Pattern, its effects are no weaker than one that does. Ten pills... very good. I’ll give you one hundred and fifty points!"
Elder Huang looked at Yu Changsheng with great appreciation, his wrinkles creasing as he smiled. This was far better than the first Desire Immortal Pill he had ever tasted back in the day.
"One hundred fifty points?!" Yu Changsheng exclaimed in surprise.
He knew his Desire Immortal Pills wouldn’t be bad, but he never expected to get a hundred and fifty points. That was a lot of bonus points!
At the same time, Mi Lifu’s eyes darkened, a sense of defeat rising within him.
The gap between his score and this one hundred and fifty points showed him that he and Yu Changsheng were not in the same league.
’Perhaps this is what they call talent,’ Mi Lifu sighed inwardly.
"Only Hu Liang is left. We’ll have to see if he can even form a pill. Otherwise, first place will undoubtedly go to him."
Two of the Alchemists had now finished their refinement; only Hu Liang was left.
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on him.
Hu Liang made a toasting motion with one hand while wrapping his other arm around a hallucinatory beauty. He laughed loudly, swaying from side to side.
"Come, another round!"
He raised his head and drank. There was no cup in his hand, no wine, but he seemed to be savoring the finest vintage in the world!
But the next moment, he spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning ashen.
"PUH!"
After spitting out that mouthful of Essence Blood, Hu Liang seemed to sober up considerably. His eyes stared intently at the Pill Furnace as he reached forward.
"No, no! Don’t!"
The Desire Immortal Smoke swirling around him began to dissipate. The fire in the Pill Furnace started to die out, and along with it, the elixir!
The nascent Desire Immortal Pills cracked with a CRACKLE, then began to turn to ash.
Seeing this, Hu Liang’s eyes became vacant, and he slumped to the ground in a daze.
"Why did Master Hu spit blood? Don’t tell me he failed?!"
"It’s over! The Pill Furnace is extinguished. The Desire Immortal Pills inside are probably ruined!"
"I bet a thousand Spirit Stones on him. Looks like it’s a lost cause now!"
"You only bet a thousand Spirit Stones? I put down three thousand! I’m the one who’s really lost big! This is infuriating!"
"AHHH! Why did he have to fail?!"
Hu Liang snapped out of his despair and slammed a fist onto the stone platform.
Everyone saw Hu Liang’s display of despair, and their faces turned grim.
A slight smile touched Gongsun Yang’s lips as he looked at Hu Liang.
"It seems your disciple’s mental fortitude is still a bit lacking."
Beside him, Hu Liang’s master, Xu Nian, snorted coldly. "He merely suffered from a lack of Magical Power. Otherwise, with his Alchemy skills, what’s a mere Desire Immortal Pill to him!"
"’Oh? So you’re saying my disciple had an unfair advantage, then? Hahaha." Gongsun Yang laughed loudly, then lowered his voice. "But your disciple should probably go into seclusion to cultivate for a while when he gets back."
"’Quite a few people over there were recording your disciple’s disgraceful display with Memory Stones. If those get out, there’s no guarantee your disciple’s Dao Heart won’t shatter.’"
"’As his master, you should counsel him well.’"
As he finished speaking, Xu Nian’s expression became impossibly ugly.
"That’s none of your concern, Gongsun Yang!"
With Hu Liang’s failure, the Alchemy Conference officially came to a close.
Some laughed, some cried, and some sighed.
"The fifth round of pill comparison is over," Elder Huang announced.
First Place: Yu Changsheng, two hundred sixty-four points.
Second Place: Mi Lifu, one hundred fifty-seven points.
Third Place: Hu Liang, eighty points.
Although Hu Liang had failed his refinement, he still placed third. This was because the top three contestants in the Alchemy Conference all earned the opportunity to choose a Tier Three or lower Spirit Grass from the sect’s collection.
Furthermore, the points they earned would not be cleared but would be converted into Sect Contribution.
For example, Yu Changsheng’s two hundred sixty-four points could be exchanged for 26,400 Sect Contribution points. This was enough for Yu Changsheng to acquire the components for various elixirs, and even gather the main ingredients for a Foundation Establishment Pill!
"You juniors are the hope of the new generation. You must cultivate diligently in Alchemy. Even if it is not your main focus, you must still apply yourselves."
Elder Huang said earnestly to Yu Changsheng and Mi Lifu.
The top two in this Alchemy Conference were rather special. One was from Beast Taming Peak, the other from Magic Peak, yet both possessed terrifying talent in Alchemy that far surpassed the others.
Hearing this, Yu Changsheng nodded vigorously, then turned his gaze to study Mi Lifu.
’This person’s Alchemy technique, combining it with Talismans from Magic Peak, is quite novel. I wonder how much of the Magic Peak’s Magic he has learned, and how strong he really is.’
’If he’s like me, with strong talent in both areas, then I’ll need to pay close attention to him in the future. We might run into each other during the trials for promotion to Inner Sect Disciple one day.’
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Yu Changsheng never underestimated any strong opponent.
Mi Lifu saw Yu Changsheng sizing him up and gave him an ugly smile, revealing yellow teeth that were genuinely disgusting.
Coupled with his sleazy appearance, few people would have taken him seriously if he were lost in a crowd.
Just like in this Alchemy Conference—at the beginning, no one would have ever imagined that he would take second place!
Of course, after this Alchemy Conference, Yu Changsheng’s fame would far eclipse Mi Lifu’s. First place and second place were simply not on the same level.
When disciples gossiped among themselves, they always talked about the winner!
Yu Changsheng swept his gaze over the disciples in the crowd, feeling not the slightest bit of guilt!