The clan school’s top three, of which the second place and third place were Li Yanxin and Zuo Hongle respectively, were currently discussing the refining events that had just passed a moment ago. Within the clan school’s Great Competitions, second place was alternatively held by these two, and although they were rivals, they were also friends. The first place Yao Tong could not be shaken even by lightning, and was not discussing with them or mentioned by them.
“It’s unfortunate. Back then if my Spiritual Perception had not been deceived by the flame’s strength for a split second, my Silver White Pill’s quality would have definitely been top grade.”
“You? Top grade third tier pill? Haha, don’t joke around. Of course when it comes to me, if I had not made a tiny error just now, I would definitely have refined a top grade third tier pill. But that flame controlling technique you told me about last time is really not bad. But I just learned some new things….”
The two of them were talking about what they had learned about flame controlling techniques when Zuo Hongle inadvertently turned his head a bit and suddenly became distracted. “What? That fellow… something’s strange!”
“What’s strange?” Li Yanxin turned his head and also became shocked. “What is that?”
Within the refining region, one person was using both his hands to continuously form some strange hand seals, drawing in some subtle Dou Qi to superimpose in front of him. At first, this kind of superimposition of Dou Qi didn’t have any use, but following more and more hand seals, this superimposition started to cause people to feel a formidable aura.
“Major Superimposition Technique?”
Amongst the clan elders were also some who lightly gasped.
“Not right. It does have some similarity to the Major Superimposition Technique, but its core appears to be some other Dou Technique.”
Elder Yao Lan was moved, as the one who was using hand seals to superimpose Dou Qi was not some random person, but Yao Chen!
Two years ago, Yao Chen’s potential had been burned through overdrawing it. When Yao Lan heard about it, he simply sighed. In his mind, Yao Chen was a pretty good seedling, but now with his potential burned, it was simply a waste.
But looking at Yao Chen’s hand seals appearing one after another, he once again aroused his interest.
“This isn’t the Major Superimposition Technique; it’s the Inner Energy Explosion Technique. It’s his branch family’s original Dou Technique. It’s unfortunate that this kind of Dou Technique is extremely complicated, and almost nobody is capable of genuinely practicing it to a high level.”
Contrary to what one might expect, Yao Lan actually recognized this Dou Technique from the hand seals. The one who passed this technique down was Yao Chen’s great-grandfather from over a hundred years ago. He was a person who managed to get his name carved onto the Clan Monument and was a famous godly figure who had created his own branch. Unfortunately, over the years, for various reasons Yao Chen’s branch started to weaken generation over generation. It truly was a waste for such a gifted branch to decline.
Yao Huo ended up like that, and Yao Chen…would probably also end up like that.
However, by using this Dou Technique’s set of Inner Energy Explosion’s hand seals, it appeared that Yao Chen was actually still pretty good. Although his potential had been burned, the talent of his mind didn’t follow with it. But even so, the more one thought about it, the more it would make people regretful. If that event hadn’t occurred, then just how perfect would this disciple have been…?
Outside, Luo Shu also jumped, raising his eyebrows and gasping. At last he could finally retaliate, “You dregs, now you see, this is the Inner Energy Explosion technique. Even if you had a hundred years, you wouldn’t be able to master this Xuan class Dou Technique, dregs!”
“Peh, what are you proud of? Keep acting!”
This group of rascal disciples’ leader Shi Bo put on a disgusted expression.
However, observing Yao Chen’s current performance, they all turned silent.
“What a pity. Even if his Dou Qi miraculously rose, unless he could reach the level of a Da Dou Shi’s Dou Qi to refine more quickly, he doesn’t have enough time left to finish.”
“Indeed, right now only a quarter of an hour is left. Elder Yao Lan, isn’t it almost time to prepare for the evaluations?” A couple of the elders looked towards Yao Lan. Yao Lan was the chief elder at the clan school, so naturally everything would follow his instructions. And if there was a problem, it would naturally also be his responsibility.
Yao Lan gently smoothed his white beard. Muttering to himself, he finally nodded his head, “Fine, but don’t disturb the disciples who still haven’t finished refining just in case they can finish.”
The clan elders all nodded approvingly. When they walked to the refining area, the entire scene became quiet. Everyone present knew the time to evaluate the results had arrived.
Following the elders’ entrance, a couple of disciples who hadn’t finished refining became disturbed and their Dou Qi flared, immediately causing a cauldron explosion or failed refinement. Black smoke started surging upwards in all kinds of different manners. It really was the case of putting in all one’s effort only to fail at the end.
But at this moment, the clan school’s elders all essentially ignored these people, directly walking to the stage for evaluating pills. All the disciples who had successfully refined a pill placed their pill into a bottle and wrote their name on it before remaining on the stage to wait for their result. To the side were also five Iron Guards whose eyes were constantly roving around, preventing people from stealing or exchanging contents.
But this was mostly needless, as in the Yao clan, even the most garbage people didn’t have to worry about whether they would have enough food, water, and shelter. The clan even had some arrangements for finding a wife; of course they wouldn’t dare to say it would be a beautiful, delicate woman, but it would still be a guaranteed safeguard. The Yao clan was one of the eight ancient clans; no matter how lacking the disciples were, they still had the blood of an emperor flowing through their veins. Even if this generation was useless, the next generation might be extremely talented. But cheating in the clan was an extremely grave offense. It was absolutely a crime that couldn’t go unpunished. Even if it was the main bloodline, they would not be able to escape punishment. If it was a repeat offender then they would be expelled out from the Yao clan; from this one could tell just how extremely severe the consequences were.
If one were to describe it with one sentence, then the Yao clan disciples would dare to do anything except cheating.
Outside the refining area, Luo Shu was worriedly sweating. Hurry and finish! The elders had already entered the arena; although no one directly said anything, but even idiots could tell that the disciples who still hadn’t finished refining at this time would count as failures in the eyes of the elders. There was only an extremely slim chance. If you could complete the pill before the elders finished appraising the numerous medicinal pills, then you might still have a shot.
Yet Yao Chen was still controlling the flame at a speed that was not very fast. His entire attention was on the pill furnace’s interior; the outside world’s happenings were things that he didn’t notice at all.
On the top of the appraising platform, the elders were already beginning their evaluations. The first pill to be evaluated was from Yao Tong.
“Respected elders, this pill’s name is the Moon Suppressing Wind Pill.” Yao Tong advanced extremely steadily towards the various elders, and bowed, giving the proper etiquette. He respectfully introduced the pill before getting up and walking to the side, no longer saying anything.
All the elders were satisfied, nodding their heads. Yao Tong also slightly nodded his head. It was difficult to find someone with more talent that him. He was a branch bloodline disciple, and only within the inner clan could he profoundly develop and have good prospects. If one was like Yao Huo, whose temperament was too indulgent and didn’t make the main bloodline pleased, they wouldn’t care about your talent or ability….
Yao Lan shook his head, no longer thinking about those events. That person had already died, so thinking too much about it did no good. He put his focus on Yao Tong’s Moon Suppressing Wind Pill.
Yao Lan opened the bottle, and a fragrant odor come out and assaulted his nose, shaking his spirit. “Oh, not bad.”
Taking out the pill and using Dou Qi to wrap it and move it to his palm, a thread of Spiritual Perception entered the pill and carefully evaluated its inner contents, efficiency, and its quality.
After only using the time it took for half an incense stick to burn, Yao Lan’s perception return to him. Placing the pill back in to bottle, he turned to face Yao Tong, indifferently saying, “This pill’s pill formula isn’t from the clan’s collection. It’s a new pill formula?”
“Yes. Half a year ago this disciple obtained it while outside the clan to gain experience. However at the time it was almost destroyed; only recently did I restore it to its complete condition.”
“Very good, to dare to try a new pill formula at the Great Competition, not bad! Yao Tong, third tier Moon Suppressing Wind Pill. Can be used to reduce the effects of attacks caused by wind affinity Dou Qi, and even more importantly is that it can even be taken by Dou Zhes, as its toxicity level is basically negligible. Even its quality is also high grade. Excellent.”
Yao Lan let out a faint smile; for a strict judge like him to repeatedly praise the pill was an extremely high compliment.
Yao Tong still simply stood to the side, not moving even a bit, his face not showing any kind of happiness. Heavily, he slowly replied, “Thank you for the praise elder.”
Yao Lan once again nodded, moving on to the second pill.
Li Yanxin stepped forward. This pill in that bottle had been refined by him. At this moment he bowed courteously and said, “Respected elders, this pill’s name is the Stone Skin Pill.”
“Oh, the third tier Stone Skill Pill, interesting.”
Yao Lan lightly nodded, once more performing his assessment, after which he gave out his evaluation. “Third tier Stone Skin Pill. The pill formula comes from the clan treasury. After taking it, for fifteen minutes the whole body’s skin will obtain a stone nature, giving it a shocking strength. Pairing it with a ground type Dou Qi would increase its efficiency even more and the pill quality is high grade.”
The slender Zuo Hongle jumped forward, laughingly saying, “Elders, it should be my turn now right? My pill is the Armor Piercing Pill. This time my result is definitely stronger than Li Yanxin.”
“Stand to one side. If you continue to laugh and joke around, we’ll deduct marks.”
Zuo Hongle stuck out his tongue at Li Yanxin, but nevertheless he didn’t speak another word.
…
While one side was continuously evaluating medicinal pills, Yao Chen was entering the crucial phase of his Inner Energy Explosion Art. His hands unceasingly made seals in order to add to the superposition of Dou Qi in front of him. At this time, the Dou Qi ended up merging with Yao Chen’s body, mysteriously bringing Yao Chen to the Dou Shi class. However this kind of state was only a fake Dou Shi. Booming rang out as blazing flames unceasingly entered into the medicinal cauldron.
Currently, no matter how Yao Chen burst out, the elders didn’t pay him any attention. There was very little time left now; in their eyes even if Yao Chen by means of a Dou Technique managed to break out and obtain a Dou Shi’s strength, it was already too late. It was absolutely impossible for him to complete a medicinal pill in the remaining allotted time.
However, no one noticed that Yao Chen’s furnace was actually exploding out an exceptionally intense temperature. The flame’s strength had already far surpassed the realm of a Dou Shi. This kind of frightening temperature was something only a Da Dou Shi was capable of achieving!
Other than his Dou Technique, Yao Chen also had his Spiritual Perception. It was currently playing an extremely large role in his refinement. In reality, although his Dou Qi was weak, Yao Chen’s Spiritual Perception was already at the level of a Da Dou Shi… so much so that it had actually long surpassed the level of a Da Dou Shi.
At this moment, the pill furnace’s various medicinal ingredients all quickly merged together. As for the impurities, under his Spiritual Perception’s keen examinations, they were all speedily distinguished and under the sensitive control of his Dou Qi, they were all expelled from the congealing medicinal pill. The impurities fell to the bottom of the furnace, but these impurities still had a quite a bit of medicinal strength left in them, and at the moment Yao Chen didn’t let them go to waste. Urging the bursting superimposed Dou Qi, he once more squeezed these impurities, once again using the furnace’s fire to purify them.
Crackling noises came out, as strands of medicinal strength were extracted and injected back into the congealing medicinal pill.
Time was slowly trickling away. Other than Yao Chen, the entire refining area had no other disciples. They had all already given up. Although if they had continued they might have been capable of completing their medicinal pill, but the Great Competition would have already finished. If they stayed behind they would only cause people to ridicule them. Under this kind of situation, would there still be anyone else who wished to insist on continuing?
So naturally Yao Chen who was still persevering would become more eye-attracting.
“Oh? He’s still continuing?” Yao Lan was still performing evaluations when he saw him out of the corner of his eye. His heart faintly trembled, and he took a more attentive glance. What he saw really made him want to let out a bitter laugh; he recognized the pill that Yao Chen was trying to refine as the second tier Azure Flame Pill!
He shook his head, quickly turning his head back. Something like the Azure Flame Pill was incapable of coming up onto this stage. It was something that didn’t even require a second glance.
At this time, there were still five people who still needed to be evaluated. Although none of them were the equal of Yao Tong, Li Yanxin, or Zuo Hongle, they were still not bad high level second tier pills. Comparing to the Azure Flame Pill, although they were the same category as second tier pills, but just in terms of the pill’s efficiency and popularity they were far above.
One pill after another passed through the evaluations, and some elders even occasionally nodded their head in satisfaction. This time’s clan school’s disciples truly had quite a few talents. Although they weren’t all super talented geniuses, they could still stand on top of this stage. If put in the inner clan they would be somewhat inferior, but if they went outside the clan then they would be targets that everyone would have to look up to! This too was one of the Yao clan’s hidden strengths.
The time was nearly out and Yao Lan had even picked up the last pill bottle. Using his Dou Qi to wrap up the pill, he delicately examined it and in just a short moment he opened his mouth and commented, “Lower second tier Amplification Pill, quality - ordinary. Once used, one’s Dou Qi will have some minor growth.”
In terms of pill quality, it would start at ordinary grade, then middle grade, then high grade, and finally top grade. The last grade, top grade, completely lacked any defect. However top grade was something that could be found, but not sought. Whenever a top grade medicinal pill was born, the alchemist would usually keep it for his own personal collection.
That last pill was also the last one to be submitted. To even be able to complete the pill refinement when rushed was already not bad for that disciple, so of course the quality was merely at the ordinary grade.
Now, Yao Lan put down that last pill, declaring. “This time’s Great Competition….”
Just when he was about to declare that the Great Competition was finished, suddenly a loud booming noise blasted out!
An extremely dense white smoke flew out of the refining area!
Yao Lan’s words cut off. He looked at Yao Chen’s position, and all he could see was the white smoke blocking his vision. From within he could faintly feel the undulations from the Dou Qi. From this feeling, it was probably due to completing the pill.
“Pill energy rushing towards the heavens, this is….”
“Impossible, right?”
“This… he’s about to complete the pill?”
“The time! Has it already run out?”
Unexpectedly, when one of the elders turned his head to look towards the hourglass, he saw that the final pieces of sand were currently falling and there were only a couple breaths worth of time left.
However, just at this moment a rumbling noise came out. The pill energy that was rushing towards the heavens returned back and fell back down into the furnace, revolving around a golden yellow medicinal pill that rushed out, landing in a pill bottle in Yao Chen’s hand.
“The pill energy returned to the cauldron; it appears to be top tier.” Yao Lan voice seemed to be a bit strange now. He hadn’t thought that Yao Chen would be able to even finish his pill, let alone finish refining what appeared to be a top grade pill. Although it might not definitely be top grade, but this kind of accomplishment, in contrast to the events from two years ago, caused Yao Lan to feel a difficult to understand feeling.
The other elders also stopped speaking. Seeing that Yao Chen had collected the medicinal pill, they walked over.
Yao Chen was already completely drained. It weren’t for his extremely strong spirit, he would probably have already collapsed. “Respected elders, this pill’s name is the Violet Flame Pill.”
Yao Lan personally received the pill bottle, saying “Someone come support him to the side to rest.”
Luo Shu quickly rushed over from the side, not forgetting to also glare at Shi Bo.
Holding onto Yao Chen, fatty Luo was incessantly winking at him, but he didn’t dare say anything in front of the school elders. But his eyes were full of a worshipful enthusiasm, almost to the point where he couldn’t hold it in.
Yao Chen also smiled, but nevertheless he was still somewhat anxious as he looked at Yao Lan.
Yao Lan opened the pill bottle. A faint white air overflowed from the pill bottle, and spreading with the wind it scattered all around, immediately filling the whole place with the pill’s fragrance.
“Good pill!”
A couple of the elders couldn’t help but to open their mouths and praise it.
Yao Lan finished his appraisal in just a short moment, placing the violet pill back into the bottle. His eyes seemed to be a little unsteady now. It took him quite a while before he opened his mouth to say, “Excellent. Superb! This Violet Flame Pill was born from the Azure Flame Pill, and as far as its effectiveness, well, Yao Chen, why don’t you explain it.”
Just this short sentence caused a huge commotion. With elder Yao Lan’s strict nature, no one expected he would actually evaluate it so highly!
Even Yao Tong only received a good evaluation. With his current praise, wouldn’t that mean that the pill that Yao Chen refined would be superior to Yao Tong’s!
This, was it even possible?
Everyone’s eyes all landed on Yao Chen.
In this moment, Yao Chen said “Yes elder. This pill is similar to the Azure Flame Pill. It can increase flame attribute techniques’ strength, but it is different in that the Azure Flame Pill can only increase strength by ten percent, but this pill can increase strength by fifty percent or greater.”
Fifty percent! And even greater!
Everyone’s gaze seemed to not be able to believe it, “Letting flame attribute techniques increase their strength by fifty percent or greater, wouldn’t this kind of effect only be achievable by a fourth tier pill?”
This kind of medicinal pill that could directly increase one’s fighting strength was not the same category as body strengthening or healing pills. This category of pill was to be used during battles; if one side’s strength suddenly explosively increased by ten or twenty percent, it would definitely decide a life or death battle. Then what about a fifty percent increase?
“Is there a sequelae after?”
At this time, a couple of people opened their mouths to question it, as it really was simply too hard to accept as true! Some fellow whose name they hadn’t even known had actually refined a pill that they didn’t even dare to think about that apparently could increase one’s Dou Qi’s strength by fifty percent?
Yao Lan waved his hand, saying, “This pill has never appeared before. It can currently be classified as a third tier pill, as for the other things, there still needs to more assessment before we can give the final evaluation.” Elder Yao Lan’s voice seemed somewhat lowered as he declared this.
The crowd bursted into noise. Elder Yao Lan actually couldn’t immediately give the pill an evaluation?!
Just what kind of concept was this?
Yao Chen’s brilliant performance amazed the crowd!
“Ok, let’s stop at this point. This time’s Great Competition is formally over, and as for the rankings, they will be announced in the evening on the bulletin board of the clan school.”
After Yao Lan finished his announcement, he once again gave a profound glance towards Yao Chen as he brought all the elders to leave.
Once the elders left, all the clan school disciples all looked towards Yao Chen with both jealousy and envy. Even elder Yao Lan couldn’t identify the medicinal pill’s level with a quick exam. No matter what the final result was, Yao Chen’s reputation within the clan school would definitely soar.