“Boss, the medicinal ingredients, furnace and charcoal is ready for you now.” Although the little bird still doesn’t know why she was chosen over big sister Lan Caier to act as the assistant here today, it nevertheless doesn’t change the fact that Little Crow was thrilled to be picked.
This would be her first time helping Ling Yue in her human form so its imperative she express herself in the best light.
First giving the child there a faint nod to affirm she’s got it, Ling Yue then immediately focuses back onto remembering the various details involved with refining a seventh-grade reincarnation pill.
A blue-patterned can increase the chances of a user succeeding in their trial by twenty percent, yellow by forty, and red by sixty. Since most of the contestants coming today are around the seventh ranked in their control of the spirit force, that means I would likely need to create something around a yellow pattern to likely take the top three….
“Boss, look over there, it’s Chen Minzhi!” With her fingers pointed at a certain back, the little girl exclaims and calls for her mistress to look.
Ling Yue’s noticed it as well after that reminder. Separated by five furnaces from their location was a young man and an elder turned against them. Based on her initial assessment, the senior should be an eight-cauldron alchemist considering how heavy and thick the person’s aura was.
And perhaps its because of their gazes, or perhaps it’s the noises the girls were making, but the youngster with its back turned against them had finally turned around to give everyone a much better look at that snakish grin.
It’s really Chen Minzhi!
Ling Yue didn’t know why, but there’s something off about this man before her. Originally she only thought the second young lord of the Kai Jiang Manor to be a disgusting and lowdown character who would use sweet words and underhanded methods to achieve his goals, but this time the vibe coming off of that person was so creepy to the point where Ling Yue’s very only skins were getting goosebumps.
“This time the civil selection really is a mixture of all sorts of people, they are now letting even dogs and cats into the contest.” It was then another sarcastic remark shot over from the right.
Looking over in search, Ling Yue immediately recognizes who the source of this voice was – Alchemist Wei Bo who got scammed by her over the twin-headed snake’s corpse.
Mostly likely also able to recognize who the lass was upon further inspection; this revered senior of the Dan Palace swiftly averts his gaze upon making contact. Probably out of embarrassment or a sense of egotistic pride, regardless of the reason, he didn’t further dwell on the mocking after the first remark.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Dan Palace. Today, we will be conducting the civil selection as promised with the assignment being the creation of a reincarnation pill as you are all well aware. For the next three days, I and three other elders of the Dan Palace will be acting as the judges so please pay heed to what I’m about to say. First of all, only the top three contestants from this test will be able to join the upcoming Star Cave Venture so I hope all of you will do your upmost here. Furthermore, each contestant is permitted to bring along one assistant with them so I hope for all of your sakes… choose wisely!”
That said, the senior in his grand white attire then made a wave of his hand in the most extravagant manner. Next thing anyone knew, three super thick and super long incense sticks had materialized into existences, each firmly stabbed into the cauldron next to the senior.
With the signal given after igniting one of them, it was time the contestants got to work.
Like any good alchemist, Ling Yue’s first instruction to her little helper was to sort out the good charcoals from the bad before going off for the next step. However, their work quickly became interrupted when a series of loud clamoring cheers exploded from the VIP seating’s above them.
Looking around, the girls soon understood why. It was Zhu Ge Yi, the Hong sibling’s grandfather. The person was flexing his Dan fire around like a theatrical show, willing the glowing red mass of heat from his body into a wolf form before firing it off at its target.
Through this, he was able to instantly ignite the giant bonfire underneath his cauldron and raising the temperature to an astronomical number.
“This elder of the Sky Armor Sect is not bad, he’s quite experienced considering how quickly he managed to raise the temperate to order.” Praising the elder here was Xue Pian Ran from her seat, which immediately caused several of the people next to her to gloat with pride.
“Of course, our grandfather’s Dan Fire is quite famous even within the Sky Armor Sect. They say it’s capable of raising the ingredient’s grade by a whole tier once refined. Such a magnificent ability is beyond anything that Ye Ling Yue could ever muster up.”
Similar to Jin Wu Monster’s reincarnation flame, an alchemist’s Dan Fire was a more extreme manifestation of their spirit force. And by doing so, it has directly given this elder of the Sky Armor Sect a direct advantage over the other contestants.
But not everything would always go as one wills it to be, not in this gathering of the skilled anyways.
Before the smug grin on that old face could finish having his moment, the limelight hovering over his head were soon snatched away by another more astonishment feat nearby. To be more exact, it was the Kai Jiang Manor’s team.
Firing out a strangely eerie beam from his iris, Chen Minzhi was currently lifting up one of the cauldrons in front of himself using that freaky power. Then before anyone knew it, the giant container which weighed over four hundred pounds was tossed across the field, smashing hard into the wall and leaving a heavy crater in its wake.
And as if that wasn’t amazing enough, the youngster then summoned a mini cauldron from his palm like it just materialized out of thin air. At first glance the thing looked no better than any ordinary item of its class; however, that couldn’t be any further from the truth.
With a loud bang against the marbled flooring upon landing, the tiny thing expands, sending out a reverberating “gong” in doing so like its been enchanted with a magical effect.
Now, returned to its true form, what stands before the audience was a giant cauldron mixed comprised of two varied colors. Similar to a Tai Chi symbol in it swirls, the color was gold and bronze instead of the black and white.
Spookily enough, in light of the bottom not being lit with any heat source, the thing was making a “hissing” sound like its being boiled and releasing steam. Then in no time at all, following the gathering of the nearby energies in the air around the magical object, the ingredients placed inside were swiftly processed and refined to the point where only the essence remains.
Ye Ling Yue naturally wouldn’t recognize the strange object with her meager knowledge, but that didn’t stop those who are better informed to know the true nature of this magical artifact.
“It’s the Origin Fire Cauldron!” Someone exclaims from their seats.
According to rumors, this legendary cauldron of the Origin Sect could spontaneously absorb the energy of the world to fuel itself, thus making it a very special artifact that could turn anything in its bowel to something great. As to how something this amazing managed to fall into the hands of the Kai Jiang Manor, that’s simple, Chen Minzhi’s eldest brother was a disciple in that powerful sect and likely borrowed it for this occasion.
Confronted with this pinch, Ling Yue only wanted to cry foul at the competition, Isn’t this civil selection too lax in its technical requirements? One has a Dan Fire and the other has a legendary Origin Fire Cauldron, each are equivalent to cheats so how is this fair!
Like her mistress, Little Crow was also somewhat discouraged at this point based on how droopy her head was. Which in kind, warranted her a hard knock on the head the next second.
“Hey, no lazing around and go watch the fire.” That said, Ling Yue then began her process of refining the ingredients to extract their essence using the old fashion way.
Alchemy is an art of technical knowhow. Dan Fire eh? Legendary artifact eh? I like to see who gets the last laugh here in the end!
Due to how difficult the process of creating a reincarnation pill was, it took no time at all before the two days of the three were up. And of the hundred or so cauldrons currently being used, many are also starting to show their fruits of labor. In particular were the Kai Jiang Manor’s team and Sky Armor Sect’s who produced the strongest aroma among the many.
While in comparison, Ling Yue and Little Crow’s team who were stuck in-between these two powerhouses could only be described as lackluster considering how slow they were going.
Now there’s only one stick of incense left burning and time was ticking fast.
Regardless of this fact, the girls won’t be rushed. Throwing the last bit of the purified medicinal ingredients into the cauldron there, the only step left for Ling Yue was to wait now until everything comes together in the early next morning. That leaves her with some time to rest those eyes until then.
Sure enough, it’s exactly like they predicted. Two hours before the final conclusion of this contest, a super rich aroma too had started to spill out of the cauldron in front of the girls, masking everything else within the test field in doing so.
“What a rich Dan aroma.” Even Elder Wei Bo who was in charge of this contest was pricking his brow over that intense fragrance.
Then in a sudden jolt of an unsettlement, the senior abruptly recalls back to a certain reminder from his superior, Master Hong Ru.
Wei Bo, pay close attention to that Ye Ling Yue from Da Xia~