âYou heard your master. So just how should I play with you?â
Everyone was flabbergasted at his words. Fatty Yu, Shou Hou, and the othersâ jaws all dropped to the ground. âDamn, brother Long really is brother Long. Just one sentence of his can choke the whole crowd.â
Xia Baichiâs face was ashen from rage, and her eyes glared daggers at him; if looks could kill, then Long Chen would already have been turned to pulp.
Grandmaster Yun Qiâs expression was odd, and he shook his head slightly. But he was relaxed inside; Long Chen was actually helping him relieve his own anger. Was this what it meant for evil people to attract retribution?
âThis rascal!â Chu Yaoâs face was completely red. This Long Chen was too crude! Seeing Xia Baichi trembling from her anger, she wondered if she would even have the energy left to refine later.
âKid, must you be so boorish? The old man only asked you up here for a small competition,â said Wei Cang angrily. He truly wanted to give this youngster a slap on the face.
âIâll stop. Do I get that if I win?â Long Chen pointed to the bottle in Wei Cangâs hand, sounding a bit undetermined if he should participate.
âHmph, naturally this old manâs words are true. I definitely wonât renege out of this,â snorted Wei Cang.
Xia Baichi finally calmed herself down enough. Gritting her teeth, she spat out, âYou must be dreaming if you think you can beat me. If you lose, I want you to kneel down and kowtow to me three times. Then, youâll crawl to me and lick my feet clean.â
Xia Baichiâs voice shocked everyone. From her angry words, they suspected that there was a great deal of enmity between the two of them.
They suddenly realized that Wei Cangâs arrival here was definitely not a coincidence. Apparently, it was to target Long Chen and grandmaster Yun Qi.
Xia Baichiâs terms were far too malicious. No person would accept such a thing.
Wei Cang had personally said that Xia Baichi was his apprentice, so her pill arts must definitely be shocking.
But Long Chenâs pill arts were something no one had ever seen before. Whether he could truly refine pills was still doubtful.
Even if he knew how to refine pills, just how long had he known grandmaster Yun Qi? How much could he have learned in two months? It was unlikely for him to have gained even a superficial understanding!
Chu Yaoâs face was pale now with worry. Although she hadnât known Long Chen for long, she could sense that Long Chenâs pride had seeped into his bones. Even in death, he wouldnât accept such humiliation.
âLong Chen, since you arenât my apprentice, you donât need to jump into this trap,â Yun Qi warned him. He was very clear that Long Chen hadnât gained his inheritance.
âI know itâs a trap⊠but⊠the bait is just too tempting.â Long Chen appeared unwilling to give up, his face knotted in contradiction.
Fatty Yu and the others almost vomited blood. Brother Long, if you know itâs a trap, then why are you accepting?
Everyoneâs expressions were strange; was Long Chen actually stupid, or was he just acting stupid?
He hesitated for a moment, before saying, âI accept, but I have another condition.â
Seeing Long Chenâs acceptance, Xia Baichi sneered and ridicule flashed in Wei Cangâs eyes.
âFine, whatâs your condition?â
âIf I win, I donât want to get her as a bride. With her relations with you, Iâd be afraid of getting a disease,â said Long Chen.
âLong Chen⊠Iâll kill you!â Xia Baichiâs rage was exploding. Her originally pretty features were completely twisted into an extremely frightful visage.
âLong ChenâŠâ Wei Cang was clenching his fists tightly, the veins on his forehead bulging. Despite being calm all the way until now, he actually started to tremble in fury.
âOld fellow, you didnât get a blood clot in your head, did you?â asked Long Chen worriedly.
Wei Cang was a monster who had lived for who knew how many years. His restraint exceeded Long Chenâs expectations, and he actually quickly suppressed his anger with a snort.
âThis pill battle will be decided with the Blood Condensing Pill. The medicinal ingredients must be prepared on your own, and you can have at most three portions. Weâll start in fifteen minutes.â
After stating the rules, he returned to his seat. He had actually become a bit afraid of Long Chen. That bastardâs ability to anger people was definitely heaven-defying. He was actually afraid of losing his control and slaughtering him in his fury.
Xia Baichiâs medicinal ingredients had naturally already been prepared by Wei Cang. As for Long Chen, he could only rely on grandmaster Yun Qi. This time, Wei Cang was using Xia Baichi to disgrace Long Chen and also Yun Qi. Yun Qi would definitely not look on without lifting a finger.
âGrandmaster, can you please lend me the medicinal ingredients?â Long Chen spread his hands.
âLong Chen, you have to think about this carefully,â warned grandmaster Yun Qi solemnly.
âGrandmaster, I did this all for myself. Donât worry, I am sure of myself,â said Long Chen.
âThen, fine.â Although he had some concerns, seeing how determined Long Chen was, he merely nodded. He had a Pill Apprentice go back to the guild to get the medicinal ingredients.
The Blood Condensing Pill was a second tier medicinal pill. It was a precious pill for Blood Condensation experts that allowed them to break through the minor levels and was very expensive.
The ingredients to refine it werenât particularly rare. The most expensive main ingredient of it was the Blood Spirit Fruit.
The pillâs quality was mostly dependant on the purifying of the Blood Spirit Fruit. It had a great deal of impurities within and purifying it was difficult. If the flameâs temperature increased just slightly, then it would immediately burn into ashes.
But if the flame wasnât strong enough, then the impurities wouldnât be separated out, which had a huge effect on the pillâs quality. It could be said that the Blood Condensing Pill was extremely difficult to refine, even amongst second tier pills.
Moreover, refining in front of a crowd was even more troublesome. Although three sets of medicinal ingredients sounded like three chances, it was still extremely risky for a pill with as high a failure rate as the Blood Condensing Pill.
Both parties finished preparing very quickly. Two small refining stages were set up atop the martial arena. The whole crowd would be able to see both of them very clearly as they refined.
âLet the competition begin. You both get two hours. After two hours, whoever has refined the higher quality Blood Condensing Pill will be the winner.â
With the start of the competition, Long Chen and Xia Baichi both walked to their respective stages and placed their medicinal ingredients on top of it.
Long Chen suddenly blinked. A very conspicuous plump fruit was sitting on her pill stage.
âA Blood Spirit Fruit thatâs over a hundred years old?â
Long Chen was startled. It appeared Xia Baichi had truly come prepared. Two of his Blood Spirit Fruits were only thirty years old, and the best one he had available was only fifty years old.
âHmph, itâs already been said that the medicinal ingredients would be prepared by yourself. You can only blame your guild for being too poor.â Xia Baichi coldly laughed at him when she saw him looking over.
Grandmaster Yun Qiâs expression sunk slightly. âEven after all these years, you still use these underhand methods.â
Grandmaster Yun Qiâs words werenât targeted to anyone in particular, almost as if he was speaking to himself. But Wei Cang still coldly laughed, âThe winner is the king while the loser is nothing; all I care about are the final results. It was you guys who were careless. Who else can you blame?â
âGrandmaster, did they mess around with the ingredients?â Although Chu Yao couldnât tell the age of the Blood Spirit Fruits, she still caught onto a couple of clues from their exchange.
Yun Qi nodded. âTheir Blood Spirit Fruits are all over three hundred years old. The essence refined from them will be extremely pure which will definitely increase the refined pillâs quality.â
âThen isnât that very disadvantageous for Long Chen?â asked Chu Yao worriedly.
Their opponents were already ahead before the refinement even began. Chu Yao couldnât help being worried. Grandmaster Yun Qi sighed, âItâs my fault, I underestimated how thick Wei Cangâs skin was.â
For a moment, the entire crowd was restless. Grandmaster Yun Qiâs words werenât quiet, and the people nearby all heard it clearly.
But grandmaster Wei Cang also wasnât wrong. The ingredients were self-supplied, so it was their own fault.
âDo you guys think brother Long will be okay?â asked Shou Hou worriedly.
âWhat a joke. Who do you think brother Long is? Just watch and see.â Fatty Yu was actually filled with confidence.
Long Chen saw that Xia Baichi was already busy with her own refining. However, he was just standing there, not preparing his ingredients nor warming up the cauldron.
âHmph, have you given up? Just wait to lick my toes.â
Seeing Long Chen was completely motionless, she thought Long Chen had been too intimidated to continue. She raised her hand, and a pale yellow flame puffed into existence.
Although Xia Baichi definitely didnât get a high ranking on the scale of personality, her Pill Flameâs quality was actually quite high.
She was definitely at the peak of all Pill Apprentices. It was no wonder she was so confident and dared to throw out such a bait.
However, Long Chen had already been attracted by that bait. That Flame Leopardâs beast flame wasnât particularly high ranking in terms of beast flames, but it was at least ten times better than his current Pill Flame.
If he could refine that Flame Leopardâs beast flame, then it would be of definite assistance to him. He would be able to refine the top grade Starfusing Pill that Chu Yao was in dire need of.
That was because the foreign energies in her body had been there for too long. It was as if a seed had already sprouted into a huge tree. It required the top grade Starfusing Pill in order to completely refine those energies.
This was something Long Chen was very aware of. That was also why he had accepted this pill battle despite knowing it was a trap. It was as he had said: the bait was just too enticing.
Xia Baichiâs movements were very smooth and fluid as she finished warming up her cauldron. Each step was completed without the slightest hesitation.
Wei Cang smiled and stroked his beard, his eyes filled with confidence.
âBaichi is worth cultivating. If she can refine a Blood Condensing Pill today that isnât too low in quality, then she can be promoted to Pill Adept.â
The Blood Condensing Pill was one of the requirements to be promoted to Pill Adept. If she could refine it in front of this many people, then it would express to everyone here that Xia Baichi could advance in ranks.
âThis is all due to grandmasterâs training. Grandmaster has just arrived and must be tired. Changfeng has already found a place for you to rest,â said Xia Changfeng.
After saying that, he whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear, âChangfeng has also found two beautiful twin sisters for grandmaster that havenât been broken in yet.â
The solemn Wei Cang immediately lit up at that, but he quickly suppressed it. In a normal voice, he said, âI just need to randomly rest a bit. Thereâs no need for such a thing.â
âI know grandmaster doesnât want such a thing. But wouldnât it be nice of you to let the people who worship you to have such a chance?â smiled Xia Changfeng.
But inside he was cursing: you old lecher, your lust is something everyone under the heavens knows about, yet you still put on such a fake act.
âHaha, just let someone set that up. My heartâs not up to such a thing,â said Wei Cang.
Your heartâs not up to such a thing? Of course not, because youâd rather force yourself on them. Xia Changfeng muttered inside for a while when his expression suddenly went rigid as he noticed Xia Baichi had begun to refine the Blood Spirit Fruit.
The success of the Blood Condensing Pill was largely related to the Blood Spirit Fruit. If you could extract the pure essence out, then it would increase the probability of success greatly.
Xia Baichi carefully placed the Blood Spirit Fruit inside her cauldron and slowly increased the Pill Flameâs temperature. In truth, this was the first time she had refined such an aged Blood Spirit Fruit, so she didnât dare to be careless.
âAHH! HEY!! AHH!!â
What shocked everyone was that at such a crucial moment when the entire plaza was silent, Long Chen suddenly started to yell and shout.
BANG!
Xia Baichiâs hand shook and her Pill Flame sharply increased, causing that Blood Spirit Fruit to immediately turn to ashes.
The entire plaza turned deathly silent as they gazed in shock at Long Chen.