Chapter 906 - 140: Familiar Faces

The next day!

The Celestial Craft Pavilion was still bustling with noise, and the number of Martial Artists in the stands was even ten percent higher than yesterday.

The top hundred round of the Alchemy Competition wasn’t worth too much attention for many powerhouses, but now that it was a hundred advancing to ten, its spectacle was far from comparable to the first round.

The seating was the same as yesterday, but this time the Li Family’s Fourth Elder, Li Hong, had also appeared.

On the entire spectator stand, there was no shortage of Innate Fifth Realm powerhouses. Families like the Li Family and some sects had all sent Elders to attend.

"Fourth Elder, the previous Alchemy Competition can’t even be mentioned in the same breath as this one."

A Li clansman beside him sighed. He had just thought of releasing his Divine Thought, but before it had extended very far, he immediately withdrew it, because his Divine Thought had been instantly suppressed by several even stronger Divine Thoughts.

"It will be even livelier tomorrow."

Li Hong spoke faintly. Those who had come today were still only Innate Fifth Realm like them. By tomorrow, even some Innate Sixth Realm powerhouses would likely show up.

"Master Xiao is on stage!"

As the bell rang, Lin Chen and the others filed into the plaza.

This time, only one hundred Pill Furnaces remained in the plaza, each contestant having plenty of distance between them.

The ranking from the first round of the Alchemy Competition would not be counted into the next two rounds, but the first round determined the seating order. Lin Chen had placed seventy-sixth last round, and at this moment he was in the middle of the seventh row.

"I wonder what will be tested this round?"

"If they follow the rules of previous years, the Thousand Mechanism Sect will prepare three Pills of different attributes this round. Each contestant must complete all three, and whoever finishes the fastest will be first."

Innate-level Martial Path Pills were roughly divided into four categories: one to boost Innate Power, one to strengthen the Divine Soul, one for healing, and the last for special effects, such as Poison Pills and the like...

The Alchemy Competition naturally wouldn’t test Poison Pills, so it was usually the first three categories that were examined.

"This year is different. The rules might change as well."

"This old man instead feels the rules won’t change, but the difficulty might be increased."

While the many onlookers were speculating, at the very front of the plaza, a white-haired old man hovered in midair. "In the second round of the Alchemy Competition, you are required to refine three types of Pills in total: Innate Powder, Spirit-Storage Pill, and Jade Dew Pill!"

Hiss!

Hearing the old man announce the required Pills, a collective gasp rippled through the stands.

"It’s actually three Four-Star Pills!"

"More than just Four-Star Pills—these three are all mid-to-high difficulty among Four-Star Pills."

"If this were the previous competition, I’m afraid half the contestants wouldn’t even talk about racing for time; whether they could successfully refine them at all would be uncertain."

...

Lin Chen’s Divine Thought was also paying attention to the other contestants. When the old man spoke the names of the three Pills, he could sense that quite a few contestants’ Divine Souls wavered.

It seemed the difficulty of this round had exceeded their expectations as well.

At the very front, Jiang Yaoyan glanced at the black-clothed man beside him. He already knew the other’s identity: Jiang Chen, Direct Disciple of the Thousand Mechanism Sect’s Pill Pavilion Master.

Seeing that Jiang Chen’s expression did not fluctuate, a cold sneer rose in Jiang Yaoyan’s heart. It seemed the Thousand Mechanism Sect had informed this Jiang Chen in advance what Pills would be tested this round; it was even possible that Jiang Chen had practiced refining these three Pills many times already.

But so what? He was the Young Valley Master of Medicine King Valley; among the younger generation, no one could surpass him in Alchemy.

"In this round, time will be measured by units of one shichen. If the completion times differ by less than one shichen, they will be considered the same time. Aside from time, if the time is the same, the number of Pills refined will determine the ranking. If both time and quantity are equal, this seat will judge the strength of the medicinal effect to determine the ranking. Do any of you have objections?"

Upon hearing that if the difference was within one shichen it would count as the same time, many contestants let out a breath of relief.

What they feared most was chasing speed and thus making flaws by refining too quickly. Now that a difference within one shichen was considered the same time, they no longer needed to overly pursue speed.

The white-haired old man slowly swept his gaze over all the contestants’ faces. Seeing that no one raised any objections, he continued, "When the bell rings, that will mark the start of Alchemy."

After announcing the rules, the white-haired old man directly sat down on the chair at the very front. Soon, Disciples of the Thousand Mechanism Sect carried baskets of medicinal ingredients and distributed them to each contestant.

"Senior Brother Zeng, do you think Senior Brother Jiang can win this round?"

On the front-side stands belonging to the Thousand Mechanism Sect, a group of youths were currently whispering among themselves.

Zeng Xi listened to a Junior Brother’s question at his side and shook his head. "Hard to say. That Jiang Yaoyan of Medicine King Valley is no weakling. The key point is that this round is only a hundred advancing to ten. First and second place are actually the same; they won’t be counted into the final round’s ranking."

"Although it doesn’t count toward the ranking, winning first in all three rounds versus only getting first in the final round—those are entirely different in meaning and influence."

A youth from the Thousand Mechanism Sect muttered. A true Celestial Pride would not hold back in the earlier rounds just for the final one. Those who reserved their strength in front could only be said to lack sufficient confidence in their own strength.

Those who are confident will choose to sweep all the first places. In previous years, aside from a few exceptions, most who won first place in the Alchemy Competition did so by taking first in all three rounds.

Hearing the soft mutters of the people around him, Zeng Xi gave a wry smile. As a Disciple that the Sect placed great emphasis on nurturing, he knew more of the inside story of this year’s competition than the other senior and junior brothers. This year there were many Alchemy prodigies, and several of them had even stepped onto the field right at the fifty-year-old age limit; their strength was not to be underestimated.

...

"Many thanks."

Watching the Thousand Mechanism Sect disciple place the medicine basket beside him, Lin Chen smiled at the other party to express his thanks.

"Senior, you’re too polite, n–no need."

The Thousand Mechanism Sect disciple heard Lin Chen’s thanks and became somewhat flustered. He was only an outer-sect disciple of the Thousand Mechanism Sect; outside the sect he had some status, but in the eyes of Innate Powerhouses, that was nothing at all. Besides, those able to appear here weren’t just Innate Powerhouses—they were also alchemists with extremely great potential.

The scene of Lin Chen thanking an outer-sect disciple was seen by several contestants nearby. Their expressions varied—there was puzzlement, surprise, as well as disdain and ridicule.

Lin Chen didn’t really care about this, and very soon those few also had no mind to pay him attention, because the bell over the plaza had begun to ring.

Dong!

At the instant the majestic bell rang out, the hundred contestants in the plaza all moved at once, and the originally noisy stands also fell silent at this moment.

Confirm the ingredients, then select the ingredients, into the furnace...

Boom!

This time, the fastest to get the ingredients into the furnace and send flames surging skyward was neither Jiang Yaoyan nor Jiang Chen, but an alchemist from the second row.

This was a middle-aged alchemist. At the moment his pill furnace lid closed, crimson flames rose up beneath it.

"Innate Fire!"

On the stands, quite a few Martial Artists cried out in surprise, but only in a small area. For those who understood this Alchemy Competition, in this year’s competition, alchemists who possessed Innate Fire were definitely not few.

"That’s Soul-Devouring Fire. Although among Innate Fires it’s not the most suitable for alchemy, it’s still much stronger than ordinary flames."

On one part of the stands, a group of youth men and women dressed in red were quietly discussing. If Lin Chen were looking this way, he would definitely notice a few familiar faces among them.

Elder Zhuang of the Ten Thousand Flames Sect, as well as Du Shuang and Zhao Haoyang.

For every Artifact Refining Competition held in the Thousand Mechanism Domain, the Ten Thousand Flames Sect would have an elder lead disciples over to watch, precisely because in every competition there were at least several Artifact Refiners who had refined Innate Fire.

"This person hasn’t truly refined the Innate Fire, he’s only subdued it. Look carefully at that Soul-Devouring Fire—on the surface it’s stable, but at the very bottom there are tongues of flame drifting outward."

Zhuang Lie swept a glance over that middle-aged man and gave his verdict.

In the eyes of most Martial Artists, they simply couldn’t distinguish the difference between subduing Innate Fire and refining Innate Fire. Especially for Artifact Refiners, they only needed to use Innate Fire to make the Artifact Refining or alchemy process smoother; whether it was subdued or refined was all the same.

But as the sect that had researched Innate Fire the most deeply, the Ten Thousand Flames Sect clearly understood the difference between the two.

Refining a strand of Innate Fire meant making it a part of one’s body, controlling Innate Fire as naturally as one’s own limbs. But when you only subdue Innate Fire, that Innate Fire is still an external object—more like controlling a treasure. In normal situations there’s not much difference, but in certain special circumstances, the distinction becomes obvious.

"It really is so. Master, your eyes are still the sharpest."

Zhao Haoyang flattered him with a compliment. Zhuang Lie snorted coldly: "No matter how much you flatter me, it’s useless. When we go back this time, if you still haven’t refined a second strand of Innate Fire, you can prepare to stay in the Fire Cave for three years."

"Master..."

Zhao Haoyang’s mouth twitched. He had only recently refined his first strand of Innate Fire—how could he possibly refine a second so quickly?

"What, you think the requirements I set for you are too difficult? Don’t forget that as early as last year Lin Chen had already refined three strands of Innate Fire. Weren’t you the one who refused to accept Lin Chen?"

Faced with his own master’s words, Zhao Haoyang fell completely silent.

He had only been unconvinced by Senior Brother Lin at the very beginning; afterwards he was convinced so thoroughly he couldn’t be more convinced, utterly obedient.

Du Shuang and the others beside him were secretly laughing. The whole sect knew that after Lin Chen joined the Canglan Sect, Elder Zhuang had nearly broken his leg from regret; on several occasions he said that Lin Chen not coming to the Ten Thousand Flames Sect was simply a waste of his talent in Refining Fire.

Elder Zhuang coveted Lin Chen so badly that after taking Junior Brother Zhao as a disciple, he strictly demanded things of Junior Brother Zhao according to Lin Chen’s standard.

"Let me tell you, if you could refine three strands like Lin Chen—no, you don’t even need three, just two strands of Innate Fire—then if you went up there to do alchemy now, you’d be able to enter the top ten."

"Master, you’re not joking, are you?"

Zhao Haoyang was somewhat unconvinced, and Du Shuang and the others were the same. The alchemists in the arena had all steeped themselves in alchemy for over ten years, even several decades—could mere Innate Fire alone surpass them?

"Refining Innate Fire requires a powerful Divine Soul, and alchemy likewise needs a powerful Divine Soul as its foundation. So-called alchemy is to use Divine Thought to sense the condition of the pill, then control the flames to let the pill take shape. That’s the general process—then you just learn a bit of Alchemy Principle on top of it."

Seeing that his disciples still had suspicious looks, Zhuang Lie snorted lightly and didn’t bother explaining further.

Alchemy was indeed as he’d described, but actually doing the refining was by no means that simple. Still, he believed that if that brat Lin Chen were here, with his Divine Soul talent and the Innate Fire he’d refined, as long as he understood the principles of alchemy, he’d still have a chance to enter the top ten.

That little brat, ever since he reached the summit of Martial Arts Mountain, had never sent any news. Zhuang Lie didn’t know how far he was now from the Innate Second Realm.

Zhuang Lie thought back to what he had told Lin Chen at the time—that he should come to the Ten Thousand Flames Sect again two years later, provided he had already stepped into the Innate Second Realm.

He’d originally thought Lin Chen might not be able to step into the Innate Second Realm within two years; he hadn’t expected that the brat would give him a huge surprise. In the battle with Sima Kong, he had already stepped into the Innate Second Realm.