Chapter 903 Making Elixirs With ThoughThe Alchemy Guild had offered an abundance of cauldrons, herbs, Dharma Array, and Earth fire source. Each and every device was a spirit treasure. Some of them were even of a Superior-grade. There were also a few golems that worked to assist the alchemist.
In addition, the shelves had been filled to the brim with spirit medicines; some were thousands if not tens of thousands of years old. They were being kept in dharma seals which were able to contain their fragrance.
It had everything an Alchemist would need.
As the amount of resources implied, the Alchemy Guild didn’t need to play any tricks to defeat Chen Fan. Therefore, Chen Fan’s silent daze was seen by many others as the sign of being overwhelmed.
“Humph. What did I tell you? He is not a Grand Alchemist. He can’t even get the fire started.”
Jiang Han smirked.
Grand Alchemists had to be Golden Core Perfected Cultivators due to the cauldron’s high level. Without enough power, the Alchemist wouldn’t even be able to use his tools.
Yan Wuwang lowered his head.
Meanwhile, Hu Xiao sat atop the Feiyun Pavilion and snorted. He looked at the gorgeous girl next to him and said, “My Goddess, didn’t I tell you that this guy is a fraud? You asked the wrong person for the Heavenly Ginseng of Nine Spirits.”
Violet Moon Fairy furrowed her brow. Her long sleeves flowed against the wind, dancing with the loose strands of her silken hair.
“Was I wrong about him?”
Her doubt and confusion was shared by many others.
Alchemists in the guild and all over the State of Ancient Medicine shook their heads. Alchemy was a trade which required skill, and an Alchemy Master would stand out from the very beginning.
Guild Master Xu Yuan linked his hands behind his back and said lightly, “There are three general steps in creating Treasure Pills: Identify, Select and Refine. There are countless spirit herbs in the world with different effects. Identifying the best strand is key in creating the most effective pills.”
Meanwhile, Elder Situ furrowed his brow and said, “Guild Master, do you think this young man is simply pretending to be an amateur to hide his true abilities?”
“It’s possible. The methods for creating Treasure Pills were well kept secrets among sects and major families. As a result, most Alchemists only know bits and pieces of recipes for a couple of Treasure Pills. We will wait and see if he really is a Grandmaster, ” Xu Yuan said calmly.
Meanwhile, countless eyes were on Chen Fan.
They watched as Chen Fan regarded the countless tools and herbs while standing still.
The highest grade elixir he had crafted using the Tianhuang’s technique was a superior-grade Spirit Pill. However, Treasure Pills were much more advanced than Spirit Pills due to a considerable higher degree of sentience the pills possessed. Chen Fan was very interested to see how the alchemists on Tianhuang handled such a challenging task.
Half an hour later, Chen Fan heard someone shouting, “Young Elixir Lord has started to refine the ingredients, and began the actual brewing process.”
Situ Cheng gathered all the Spirit Herbs that he had carefully prepared and started the fire in an inferior-grade alchemy cauldron. Carefully, he placed the herbs into the bowel of the cauldron one after another.
Timing was critical at this point. Every step, such as the addition of ingredients or stoking the fire had to follow strict and precise timing. Missing one step by a millisecond would have irreversible effects.
Alchemy was a very precise art, and no mistakes were tolerated.
Alchemy was also a gateway to the secrets of the universe. In order to reach the ultimate control of self and the elements, Alchemy needs its practitioners to devote their divine wills into the task without reservation.
“Whoosh!”
Fire gained more intensity.
Above the cauldron, a puff of black smoke rose up and formed the shape of a Lingzhi mushroom. It was a sign that the Recuperating Pill of Three Souls was taking form.
The audience looked away and saw Chen Fan was still idling. They shook their heads in disapproval. Wu Qinyan had already given up on Chen Fan. Meanwhile, Qiao Qiao looked at Chen Fan with a pair of teary eyes, but even that wouldn’t spur Chen Fan into action.
An hour later, Situ Cheng opened the cauldron and carefully fished out a half finished product. He then placed it into another alchemy cauldron on a different Earth fire.
Two hours later, he switched the cauldron again and added more ingredients.
Recuperating Pills of Three Souls was an infrequent pill because it was much more difficult to create compared to normal Treasure Pills. To make it, one would have to change the cauldron seven times while its normal counterparts only required three.
“Just as Golden Cores require multiple tribulations to perfect, so too the Elixirs need countless refinement. That is why the Immortal would spend hundreds of years creating one batch of Elixirs.”
Xu Yuan shook his head and lamented.
Meanwhile, Hu Xiao clapped his hands and exclaimed, “Brother Xuanfeng and Violet Moon Fairy, I think our hope of getting the Nine Transformation Spirit Pill lies with Situ Cheng. We might not even need to bother Elixir Lord.”
“It’s still too early to say. The Nine Transformation Spirit Pill is a Heavenly Spirit Pill and requires Heavenly Herbs to create. Recuperating Pills of Three Souls can’t compare.”
Wang Xuanfeng shook his head slowly.
Five hours later, Situ Cheng changed the cauldron for the fifth time.
By then, the smoke above the cauldron not only looked like a Lingzhi mushroom, but it also had a nose, mouth and a pair of googly eyes.
The hallmark of treasure pills was their sentience. It wasn’t uncommon for a batch of pills to escape their maker and start cultivation of their own.
Meanwhile, dark clouds gathered In the sky. Vile forces that were straight from hell lurked behind the clouds
“The Elixir Tribulation is about to arrive. This is the final test of the Alchemist.”
Countless people looked up.
Meanwhile, Situ Cheng’s face darkened as sweat appeared on his forehead. It was hard to imagine the kind of pressure he was under. He had spent half an hour on the sixth cauldron, but the seventh one had taken him two hours.
The contest carried on into the night.
Lights in the State of Ancient Medicine were lit up, illuminating the sky. A few times, the Lingzhi mushroom shaped smoke attempted to sneak away under the shadow of the dark clouds.
However, Chen Fan still had taken no action.
After examining all the herbs, he sat down with a great measure of assuredness. To everyone’s surprise, he started to absorb the spirit qi of those herbs directly into his system instead of using them for alchemy.
His outrageous actions had made everyone lose hope in him.
“Grandpa!”
Qiao Qiao’s eyes become teary again.
“He is running out of time. Nine hours have passed and he only has three hours left. There’s no way he could finish a Recuperating Pill of Three Souls, not even a Heavenly Lord can do that.”
The old man shook his head.
“But, he will die if he loses the competition.”
Qiao Qiao’s face turned pale and her body trembled in fear.
“He gave up, why are you so worried for him?”
The old man heaved a sign and looked at Chen Fan with resignation in his eyes.
Although this competition would shed no blood, losing it was fatal. Everyone thought that Chen Fan was playing with fire and they loathed him for it.
A second rank Alchemist said with a cold smile, “Hehe, I even believed his words, thinking that he really was a genius or a reclusive Alchemy Master. I really thought that he was going to take the Northern Barren Land by storm. Who would have thought he was just a fraud.”
“Brother Qi, I told you to bet on Young Elixir Lord like I did, but you wouldn’t listen. So now you have to lose all the ten thousand spirit stones,” his companion jeasted.
Alchemist Qi shook his head.
Everyone, including Wu Qinyan was disappointed in Chen Fan. Wu Baisu lamented, “I came here waiting to see a fantastic show down, but it was only a one man show. What a waste of time.”
Wu Qinyan held the thin waist of a girl in one hand and murmured, “Seven sister, it’s not a waste of time to see me, is it? But I agree. I can’t believe that I thought so highly of him before. I nearly recommended him to the clan..”
Meanwhile, Elder Situ and Xu Yuan shook their heads and said, “The competition is practically over, there is no need to keep on watching.”
By then, Situ Cheng had already finished the refinement and was ready to take on the Elixir Tribulation. The dark clouds sent down countless dark lightnings that pierced layers of Dharma Arrays and landed on the Lingzhi mushroom shaped smoke. Tempered by the energy inside the lightning, the Lingzhi mushroom gained more solidity until it looked just like the real thing.
After the forty-nine Thunder Tribulation, a Linzhi Fey flew out of the smoke, with a streak of dark light trailing behind it. It flew into a web-like Dharma array and was trapped.
“After ten hours, the Recuperating Pill of Three Souls is finally done. I hope I didn’t disappoint you.”
Situ Cheng picked up the Linzhi Fey using a Treasure Vase and handed the vase to the judges. After a while, Perfected Cultivator Wei Huang announced, “Inferior-grade Treasure Pill, the Recuperating Pill of Three Souls was completed and it is of mid-superior-grade.”
A silence filled up the air in the city, before it was broken by a tsunami of cheers.
He had not only created the Treasure Pill, but the pill was of mid-superior-grade. Although a mid-superior-grade pill was only one level higher than superior-grade, it was much more difficult to make than a normal superior-grade pill.
“Young Elixir Lord has succeeded, what about Chen Beixuan?” many people asked.
They looked to the other end of the platform and saw Chen Fan was still sitting on the ground in a daze.
“Should we wake him up?” someone asked.
“No. The rule of the competition says twelve hours, and twelve hours have yet to pass,” Elder Chenyan said. However, that couldn’t stop people from making fun of him.
“Perfected Cultivator Azure Wood is not here for a competition, he’s here to sleep.”
Wang Xuanlong and Wu Baisu were not sure what to think of Chen Fan’s behavior.
“I was wrong about him. But it was worth it to see Brother Situ’s amazing skills,” Wang Xuanfeng said candidly.
Situ Cheng bowed humbly as a reply. Even if he had already become a Grand Alchemist, it would be unwise to ignore Young Lord Wang, much less acting arrogantly in front of him.
“I’ve overestimated him.”
Situ Cheng gave Chen Fan a quick glance and shook his head, lamenting the unworthiness of his opponent. He was the Young Elixir Lord, and he had accepted the challenge with confidence. The outcome of the competition further proved that he was right.
Eleven hours.
Eleven hours and thirty minutes.
Eleven hours and forty minutes…
With every second that passed, Qiao Qiao’s hope diminished. By then end, she buried her head into her grandpa’s chest, unable to witness Chen Fan’s defeat. Wu Qinyan heaved a sigh of disappointment.
Meanwhile, Xu Yuan and Elder Situ were about to leave for the headquarters.
No one in the State of Ancient Medicine believed that Chen Fan was going to win. Not even the God of Heavenly Medicine could produce a Treasure Pill in less than half an hour.
When the timer only had fifteen minutes left, Perfected Cultivator Wei Huang’s patience finally wore thin. He walked over to Chen Fan and offered a reminder.
“Perfected Cultivator Azure Wood, you only have fifteen minutes left.”
“Oh? Really? Time sure flies.”
Chen Fan was taken aback.
“Hah.”
He yawned and rose to his feet, stretching his arms and legs.
“Yes. Young Elixir Lord has already completed his Recuperating Pill of Three Souls. Alchemist Chen, are you going to forfeit or keep going?” Perfected Cultivator Wei Huang paused a second and asked.
Situ Cheng linked his hands behind his back and said with an impassive face, “If only you would have listened, you would have never found yourself in this situation.”
His conviction of certain victory added to the mockery and disdain in his voice.
“Don’t worry, I said I wouldn’t kill you, so I won’t. I’m a man of my word.” Chen Fan chucked.
“You still think you can win?”
Situ Cheng was amused by the response.
His shock was shared by millions among the audience.
“He has gone mad,” Jiang Han said.
Hu Xiao and Wang Xuanfeng burst out laughing. They looked at Chen Fan as if he were a dying insect. Meanwhile, Elder Chenyan and the others readied their arts to execute Chen Fan as soon as the time ran out.
Chen Fan ignored the laughter and sneers. He looked away at the crowd and said calmly, “The Alchemists of Tianhuang think that the ability to follow recipes step by step is what makes a great Alchemist. You have missed the point. Alchemy is the art of Heaven, and Heaven is in your heart. That is the real truth of Heavenly Alchemy.
“If you don’t understand that, I will teach you today.”
After he had said that, Chen Fan reached out a hand.
“Elixirs, come!”
Swish, swish, swish!
Endless spirit medicine flew off the shelves, each with the perfect proportion for making the Recuperating Pill of Three Souls. They gathered together at Chen Fan’s behest.
“Fire, arise!”
Chen Fan stomped the ground.
Suddenly, a green energy emerged from the ground and formed the Yi Wood Divine Flame. The azure fire engulfed the herbs and finished nine transformations in a blink. A Lingzhi mushroom the size of a man’s arm appeared out of thin air. It had taken Situ Cheng ten hours to reach this point.
Chen Fan then curled his fingers and clawed the air.
“Thunder Arise!”
A rumbling thunder in the sky echoed his command.
Eighty one flashes of lightning pummeled the Lingzhi mushroom at the same time. They merged into a dark lightning shaft as thick as a tree trunk.
Chen Fan stomped his foot again and shouted, “Elixir, complete!”
Boom!
The dark clouds rolled away and the thunder stopped.
Under many incredulous eyes, a Linzhi Fey appeared in front of everyone. It had a dark crystalline skin and was much larger than the one created by Situ Cheng.
An extraordinary fragrance permeated throughout the air, spreading across the city.
It strengthened the Divine Souls of those who smelled a whiff of it.
By then, only a fraction of a minute had passed.
The turn of events shocked everyone. The judges, Wang Xuanfeng and Hu Xiao gaped in disbelief, while Wu Qinyan and Yan Wuwang had turned into frozen statues.
Situ Cheng was speechless.
Dumbfounded, Perfected Cultivator Chenyan defused his art.
The leaders of the guild turned around and were seized by disbelief.
A deadly silence filled the arena. Chen Fan held the Treasure Pill in one hand and held Situ Cheng’s gaze. “You need ten hours of toiling, but I only need a thought.”