Battle Through the Heavens Chapter 316-320

Chapter 316: Failure

The strange scene that had suddenly appeared on the open ground was also out of Xiao Yan’s expectations. He eyed the numerous stunned gazes that were shot toward him and could only helplessly shrug his shoulders. With a shake of his hand, he threw the green colored flame into the medicinal cauldron. Only at this point did the flames in the competitor’s hands return to normal.

“This fellow.” The Little Princess softly mumbled. She was a little depressed. Having never witnessed the strength of a ‘Heavenly Flame’, she had always thought that her ‘Dry Blue Water Flame’ was not much weaker than it. However, with the supernatural display of her flame just now, any observant person would be able to tell on sight that it was far beneath the ‘Heavenly Flame’. Otherwise, it would not display this kind of subservient manner.

Compared to the Little Princess dispiritedness, Liu Ling’s face was slightly ugly. The brown colored flame was something that his teacher had invited numerous strong people in order to obtain from a rank five Magical Beast’s body, which was similar to a human of a Dou Wang class. It was really unexpected that before it gained any limelight after being displayed today, it actually saluted another person’s flame. This really caused him to be speechless.

“Humph. What is the use of having a good flame? If one is unable to control it, one would only end up incinerating himself by playing with fire.” Yan Li let out a soft cold laugher as he placed the black colored flame on his hand into the cauldron.

As the strange phenomenon disappeared on the open ground, all the competitors also gradually pulled back their minds, returning them to focusing on the examination question they were facing. The flames on their hands were poured into the medicinal cauldron. After which, all of them took out their medicinal ingredients and began the first step of refining medicinal pill, purifying.

Xiao Yan’s gaze stared intently at the medicinal cauldron. Occasionally, he would wave his hand and throw one or two medicinal ingredients from the stone table into the medicinal cauldron. After which, he controlled the temperature of the flame and slowly refined the necessary essence needed to refine the medicinal pill according to the information that was recorded on the medicinal formula.

Although there was a very detailed medicinal formula in his mind, Xiao Yan did not dare to be even the slightest bit careless. There were only three sets of medicinal ingredients that had been prepared this time around. If he lost a medicinal ingredient because of a careless mistake, it would significantly raise his chances of failure in refining. This was something that Xiao Yan could not accept. Therefore, he did not dare to throw in all the medicinal ingredients in at once despite his ability to control the ‘Green Lotus Core Flame’. Instead, he chose the safest method of refining only two medicinal ingredients at a time.

There were quite a number of people who shared Xiao Yan’s thinking. This included Little Princess, Liu Ling. Even that Yan Li, who had always been arrogant, was currently adopting a serious expression as he carefully controlled the flame, meticulously refining each medicinal ingredient. Everyone clearly knew just how heart breaking it would be to lose a medicinal ingredient at such a moment.

All the competitors on the open ground maintained silence. Only a crackling sound was emitted as the flames refining the medicinal ingredients reverberated throughout the open ground.

Being infected by this kind of quiet atmosphere, the originally somewhat noisy seats on both sides also gradually quietened down. All their gazes roamed over the alchemists on the open ground below.

“They have indeed all hid something. The young people these days…” Nalan Jie, who was seated on the VIP seats, eyed the rising flame on the open ground below and could not help but smile as he said, “But seeing the strange phenomenon just now, it looks like little friend Yan Xiao is better than the rest.”

“A ‘Heavenly Flame’ is a strange object that even elder Gu He never possessed. Its power is naturally something that those flames of Little Princess and the others, which were obtained from Magic Beasts. could not be compared with.” Nalan Yanran by the side smiled as she replied.

“Ke ke, that’s right.” Nalan Jie nodded his head. After which, he abruptly turned it to Nalan Yanran and said with a frown, “Was the person from the Misty Cloud Sect who came this morning asking you to return?”

“Yes.” Nalan Yanran nodded slightly.

“Ah.” Nalan Jie sighed gently. His voice was somewhat low, “Is it because the Three Year Agreement is approaching?”

Hearing this, the wrist which Nalan Yanran used to push aside her black hair abruptly stilled. She pursed up her red lips and softly said, “That should be part of the reason.”

“Xiao Yan has already vanished for nearly two years. I have told you before that when he left Wu Tan City, he had already agglomerated and formed his Qi vortex and become a Dou Zhe. This was done in less than a year. You should also clearly know how difficult it is to raise one’s Dou Qi before one becomes a Dou Zhe. Yet, he once again rose suddenly in a lightning like manner in less than a year. In other words, the training talent that had strangely disappeared back then has once again appeared.” Nalan Yanran let out a long sigh. He said in a deep voice, “During these two years, there has been no information about him. However, I think that according to his training talent, I’m afraid that he would at least be at the Dou Shi class.”

Nalan Yanran nodded her head.

“Ah, I don’t want to say anymore. You won’t listen even if I said them. However, I hope that you will apologize to him regardless of who wins or loses in the Three Year Agreement.” Nalan Jie rubbed his forehead and said somewhat tiredly.

“Apologize?” Hearing this, Nalan Yanran knit her eyebrows slightly together. Immediately, she stared at Nalan Jie somewhat stubbornly. “I did no wrong! Why should I apologize.”

“You could have easily privately went to the Xiao clan and nicely ask Xiao Zhan if he could cancel the wedding engagement. Perhaps, all of these problems would not have happened if you did that, but you deliberately chose to borrow the strength of the Misty Cloud Sect and forcefully pressured the Xiao clan into cancelling the engagement. You clearly know just how great a blow this was to the Xiao clan’s reputation. It is just that as your status grew increasingly prominent during these few years, you were unwilling to open your mouth and apologize.” Nalan Jie looked at his granddaughter indifferently and said, “But do you know that if things continue on like this, it will only deepen the gap between you and Xiao Yan.”

“Even if the gap did not deepen, he and I can never be together. Since it is impossible, then it does not matter if the gap deepens.” Nalan Yanran frowned and waved her hand to stop Nalan Jie. She softly said, “Grandfather, you don’t need to bother about my matter. In any case, once the Three Year Agreement is over, he and I will no longer have any interactions from then on. It is not as though no one is interested in your granddaughter, why do you repeatedly think about him? Alright, you should stop talking. Let’s relax and watch the competition.”

Once she said those words, Nalan Yanran turned her head and threw her gaze onto the open ground. A faint Dou Qi covered her ears, clearly not wanting to hear Nalan Jie’s nagging.

Seeing this manner of hers, Nalan Jie was helpless even though he was somewhat furious. Moreover, since this was a public place thus, he could only glare angrily at her before helplessly turning to gaze at the open ground.

At this moment, nearly half an hour had passed since the start of the examination. Some of the alchemists on the open ground who needed to refine less medicinal ingredients had already completely refined all of them. Additionally, they had also began preparing for the next step.

Xiao Yan ignored those participants who had completed their refination and was totally focused as he stared at his medicinal cauldron. His left hand would occasionally throw a medicinal ingredient in while his right hand hurriedly sucked out the ingredients in the medicinal cauldron that had been refined before storing them into jade bottles.

While Xiao Yan was kept busy this way, some perspiration gradually appeared on his forehead. He did not bother to wipe it off as he threw in the last medicinal ingredient on the stone table into the medicinal cauldron. Over ten minutes later, he carefully took out the last ingredient that had been refined and stored it into his jade bottle.

Seeing that the refining process was this smooth, Xiao Yan finally heaved a long sigh of relief. He turned his head and looked around. With some surprise, he discovered that Little Princess, Liu Ling, and Yan Li had actually not completed their refinement.

“Tsk tsk, looks like the tier of the medicinal pills that they want to refine isn’t going to be low. Although the quantity of the medicinal ingredients does not represent the tier of a medicinal pill, those that required more ingredients to be refined and more complex in nature usually belong to a higher tier.” Xiao Yan shook his head slightly and rested for a moment. After which, he adopted a serious expression as he began the next step to fuse the ingredients into a pill.

The green colored flame slowly rose within the medicinal cauldron. His pupils stared intently at the leaping flame seedling. A moment later, his hands abruptly began dancing. One bottle after another, the ingredient essences that he had refined earlier were being orderly thrown into the medicinal cauldron by him. The flame seedling immediately pounced forward, wrapping those medicinal ingredients in an instant.

Closing his eyes, Xiao Yan’s turbulent Spiritual Strength was emitted from between his eyebrows. At this moment, his Spiritual Strength appeared to be out in force, each of the subtle reactions from any portion of the fusing ingredients within the medicinal cauldron would be instantly transmitted into his mind. After which, he would swiftly compare it with the reaction recorded on the medicinal formula to decide if the direction of the refining process was correct.

As Xiao Yan began to merge and form a pill, the Little Princess, Liu Ling, and Yan Li had also completed refining their ingredients one after another. Without any rest or unnecessary words, they quickly placed the ingredients that they had refined into the medicinal cauldron and similarly began the step of fusing them into a pill.

There were some soft muffled sounds being occasionally emitted on the large open ground. These sounds were something that alchemists were very familiar with. This was because each time they failed in refining a medicinal pill, this kind of vexing sound would appear. Following which, there would occasionally be some dejected faced competitors leaving the competition ground. Therefore, the original hundred plus competitors on the open ground was gradually being reduced.

This Grand Meeting was like a sieve with quite a large hole, eliminating those small sized and weak competitors. Those who had the qualification to remain after being filtered for a couple of rounds were naturally among the top of the younger generation.

Time slowly passed by. Some of the competitors on the open ground who originally had calm expressions also began to pant a little. Such a huge burden and consumption really caused people to become tired.

“Can you see which of the medicinal pills that they are refining are of a higher tier?” Hai Bodong slowly walked to a spot behind Fa Ma, eyed the open ground and inquired softly.

“I can’t tell now.” Fa Ma shook his head and voiced his thoughts, “However, it is still possible to spot some clues when the pills are about to be formed. When a tier four medicinal pill is taking shape, it will emit its own unique pill fragrance. The more concentrated the pill fragrance is, the higher the grade of the medicinal pill being refined. When a tier five medicinal pill is about to be formed, a substantive energy ripple will appear out of nowhere due to the large energy that is being contained within the pill.”

Hai Bodong nodded his head slightly and ceased questioning. His hands were placed behind his back as he quietly waited for the results of the competition.

Half an hour passed by under the expectations of countless of people. On the high platform, Fa Ma’s expression suddenly changed and a joy surfaced on his old face. His gaze eyed the direction Xiao Yan was at. At that spot, a faint pill fragrance was being emitted and spread from the dark red cauldron.

“This little fellow is so fast in forming the pill? The ‘Heavenly Flame’ is indeed extraordinary.”

The faint medicinal fragrance that was being spread from within Xiao Yan’s medicinal cauldron was also sensed by Little Princess, Liu Ling, and Yan Li not far away. The first two appeared slightly surprised. However, Yan Li laughed coldly with disdain after smelling the pill fragrance. According to the density of this kind of medicinal fragrance, it could not be compared with the medicinal pill that he was refining this time around. If this was the foundation of that fellow, then the champion spot this time around would undoubtedly belong to Yan Li.

Xiao Yan’s gaze stared intently at the green colored medicinal pill that was ceaselessly rolling within the medicinal cauldron. He sniffed the pill fragrance that drifted around and shook his head slightly. An ordinary ‘Three-Line Green Spirit Pill’ would have difficulty attaining victory.

“I can only go all out,” Xiao Yan sighed softly. He suddenly inhaled a deep breath that contained some of the medicinal fragrance in the air. His right hand then swiftly took out a pale purple Danwan from his storage ring. After which, he squeezed it into his mouth and chewed. At the same time, he abruptly withdrew the Spiritual Strength controlling the green colored flame. As he did so, the originally turbulent green colored flame quietly became small with a ‘puff’ sound. The instant when the green colored flame was about to disappear, Xiao Yan opened his mouth and a cluster of purple colored flame flew out, finally pouring into the medicinal cauldron.

“This little fellow is actually thinking of refining the second line?” Seeing Xiao Yan’s action, Fa Ma, who had just sighed in relief, suddenly felt his heart become tense. He also knew that if Xiao Yan wanted to obtain victory, an ordinary ‘Three-Line Green Spirit Pill’ was insufficient. However, when refining the ‘Three-Line Green Spirit Pill’, the most difficult point to grasp was the time when the flame needed to be changed. It should be known that even when Fa Ma refined it back then, he had failed two to three times before succeeding. Xiao Yan, on the other hand, had merely obtained the medicinal formula for one night. There were many crucial details that were impossible for him to thoroughly understand and grasp. After all, regardless of how much talent he had, it was impossible for him to completely study a tier four medicinal formula in such a short time.

“Little fellow, be careful. You don’t have many chances.”

Fa Ma softly muttered In a certain instance, his expression abruptly changed. He suddenly sensed that the originally calm flame within Xiao Yan’s cauldron had suddenly become disorderly. This was the mistake that most easily appeared as well as most difficult to avoid during the change between flames.

Fa Ma’s gaze stared intently at the middle of the open ground. At that spot, the medicinal cauldron’s purple colored flame appeared to be about to rush out of the containment of the cauldron’s cover. The temperature of the surrounding air around the stone table had also been grilled until it became somewhat illusionary.

After creating such a big activity, countless gazes from the audience seat immediately turned over. When they saw Xiao Yan’s perspiration filled red face, they all took soft breaths.

“Ah, it has failed.” Fa Ma sighed softly after a while as he felt that increasingly violent fluctuations. His old face had some bitterness.

After Fa Ma’s sound fell, a muffled ear-piercing sound was suddenly emitted from the medicinal cauldron in front of Xiao Yan. The purple colored flame were suddenly extinguished. Faint black colored ashes came pouring out of the medicinal cauldron.

“Ah.” Hearing that muffled sound, the audience on the seats at both sides let out a wave of regretful sighs.

Chapter 317: I Am Going To Be The Champion!

Hearing the ear piercing muffled sound, the Little Princess, Liu Ling, and Yan Li who had been deeply focused on the step of fusing the ingredients into a pill were also stunned. They immediately turned their heads over and eyed the direction that Xiao Yan was in. When they saw the black colored ashes pouring out from the medicinal cauldron, each of their expressions were a little different.

“Ah.” The Little Princess sighed softly. Xiao Yan was originally the one with the greatest ability to fight with the grey-robed young man from the Chu Yun Empire during this Grand Meeting. However, seeing this unexpected situation, it appeared that…

“Since you have withdrawn, then it all relies on me. I will represent the Jia Ma Empire’s Alchemist scene and defeat that fellow. I will let everyone know that even if you aren’t up the task, that fellow will not be able to snatch away the champion’s spot!” Liu Ling tightly pressed his mouth together and tightened his fist. Although he felt some pity in his heart, most of his feelings were joy. Ever since Xiao Yan had arrived on the stage, he and that mysterious grey-robed young man had undoubtedly become the competitors that had received the most attention during this Grand Meeting. Given Liu Ling’s haughty character, he did indeed feel a little resentful.

“Hei, you seem to have run out of steam. Since you have been defeated, there is no longer anyone who can stop me during this Grand Meeting! The champion spot belongs to me!” The corner of Yan Li’s mouth was lifted into a cold smile. He waved his palm and the black colored flame within the medicinal cauldron once again surged. Different medicinal ingredients were gradually beginning to perfectly merge together under the grilling of the flame.

“He has failed?” On the high platform, Hai Bodong’s expression changed slightly as he turned his head toward Fa Ma and asked softly.

“Yes.” Fa Ma nodded his head and sighed softly. Immediately, he forcefully cheered himself up and smiled as he said, “But it doesn’t matter. He still has other chances.”

Although Fa Ma spoke in this manner, his emotions was overcast and filled with with bitterness. As an alchemist grandmaster who had a vast amount of experience, he clearly understood just how great a difficulty it was for Xiao Yan to obtain victory under such a situation. From the manner in which he changed the flames just now, it was clear that he was extremely unfamiliar with the means of changing the flame in use with another. If this was his limit, then it was likely that the result of the remaining two tries would not be much better.

Moreover, Xiao Yan only had three tries, which meant that the pressure he was under was already quite great. After this failure, the pressure that he carried would undoubtedly be multiplied. Even some of those very experienced high tier alchemists would have difficulty recovering their composure in such a short time when they were under this kind of high degree of pressure.

However, this was a competition and not an ordinary refining of medicine. Currently, time was extremely precious. It could not accommodate one to waste it. Therefore, if Xiao Yan were to drown in this failure for too long, it represented that the him who did not have sufficient time would lose his qualification to fight for the champion spot.

Therefore, the current Fa Ma could only pray in his heart, hoping that this young man who had been performing quite well could have the admirable ability to withstand a blow. As long as he could swiftly pull himself back to his peak condition from his failure, his chances would not completely disappear. At the very least, with the blessing from the heavens, some strange thing may happen. The chances of such a thing happening may be so small, to the point that it would make everyone speechless, but at the very least, it was like a wisp of a dying flame light within the darkness, giving people a kind of expectation and hope.

“Ah, little fellow, currently you can really only rely completely on yourself. Additionally, this is a barrier on your path to refining pills. If you break through it, the benefit it will have on you in the future will be beyond what you can imagine, but if you fail, you might end up being forever stalled at your current level in the future.” Fa Ma softly muttered as he eyed the young man who was staring at the dark black ashes on the rock table with a gaze that was filled with low morale.

“Break through and change for the better, or sink into the abyss. Paradise or hell is completely dependent on your thoughts.” Updated from nov𝒆lbIn.(c)om

The gazes of everyone present were currently eyeing that young man in the middle who did not do any other actions. After a long while, they discovered that he did not even make the slightest movement. It appeared that this person, who was the greatest hope in everyone’s heart to contend with the mysterious alchemist from the Chu Yun Empire had currently descended into the dead end of his failure. Therefore, waves of disappointed sighs were involuntarily emitted from the audience seats.

“Looks like the blow of this failure is quite a great one for him. Ah, but it is not unexpected. He’s a young person…” When he heard the hissing sound from the surrounding, Nalan Jie shook his head and softly sighed.

Nalan Yanran knit her eyebrows slightly together. A moment later, she softly said, “From the way he appears, it doesn’t look like… he doesn’t look like someone who is extremely impatient. Perhaps he has some other plans?” The words of Nalan Yanran were clearly something that even she was uncertain off. Therefore, she paused for a couple of times as she spoke and did not dare to use any affirmative words.

“I also hope that’s true, but…” Nalan Jie fondled his beard and bitterly laughed. However, he did not complete his sentence.

Xiao Yan’s body was stiffened as he stood in front of the rock table. His dark pupils were staring at the black colored soot that was pouring out. His originally intelligent and calm eyes currently appeared somewhat at a loss. Ever since he had lost Yao Lao, this was the first time that he had met a difficult problem that took him by surprise. He did not expect that the equilibrium point needed when changing flames would actually be this difficult to grasp. In the past, he appeared to have overestimated his abilities.

“This time around, it’s going to be troublesome. Teacher, what should I do now.” As Xiao Yan’s mouth trembled, a soft inaudible voice that contained a perplexity was softly emitted from it.

Unfortunately, Yao Lao was currently in a deep slumber. He did not know of the difficult problem and the feeling of loss that Xiao Yan faced. Therefore, as Fa Ma had mentioned, Xiao Yan really have to rely on himself for everything.

Transform and evolve or sink into destruction?

Although Xiao Yan had become silent, the time for the competition did not stop just because of his importance to the competition.

A short distance away, Yan Li, Little Princess, and Liu Ling were gradually progressing into the steps where they intensified the heat. The wisps of pill fragrance that were emitted from the medicinal cauldrons also pulled over the gazes of the audience, who were originally focused on Xiao Yan.

When nearly half the time allocated for the competition had passed, the medicinal cauldrons of the three of them had a medicinal pill that had taken an initial shape and were already gradually being solidified. After a while, a dense medicinal fragrance was first emitted from the Little Princess’ medicinal cauldron. When they sniffed the richness of the medicinal fragrance, the alchemists who still remained behind the rock tables immediately exclaimed, “Tier four medicinal pill?”

When she heard the waves of astonished voices sounding around her, a proud expression involuntarily appeared on the Little Princess’s pretty face. The medicinal pill in the cauldron was the only tier four medicinal pill that she was confident in refining. Moreover, it still possessed some chances of failure. It was fortunate that her luck today was quite good and she had actually succeeded in refining it on her first attempt. If one were to discuss about luck, she appeared to have much more than Xiao Yan.

However, the shocked sounds did not persisted for very long. The medicinal cauldron on the other side belonging to Liu Ling quickly followed her’s and emitted an even richer and more attractive medicinal fragrance. Two pill fragrances were individually rising from each medicinal cauldron and finally blended together on the open ground, making it difficult to tell them apart.

Despite this, the alchemists with a strong perception would be able to differentiate these two pill fragrances apart immediately. The grade of the medicinal pill that Liu Ling was refining was a little higher than the one Little Princess was refining.

“This fellow.” The Little Princess who had quite a good perception was similarly able to differentiate the pros and cons of the two kinds of medicinal pills. Immediately, she frowned slightly. With her eyes, she violently cut Liu Ling who was smiling at her.

“Haha, Yue-er, I’m sorry. Allow me to take the lead today.” When faced with the depressed eyes of Little Princess, Liu Ling faced her and cupped his hands together as he replied with a smile.

“Two kinds of tier four medicinal pill. These two little fellows are also quite good.” On the high platform, Fa Ma’s heavy heart was a little better when he sensed the pill fragrances that were rising from the medicinal cauldrons belonging to Little Princess and Liu Ling. He nodded his head and spoke.

“Ha ha, you two little fellows who are wet behind their ears. Isn’t it a little too early to be actually preparing to celebrate at this time?” A strange laughter suddenly sounded from the side. It swiftly pulled over the Little Princess’s and Liu Ling’s furious eyes, only for them to discover that the flame was burning intensely within Yan Li’s cauldron. After a while, a fragrance that actually carried a pale-purple color was quietly rising like that of smoke.

“A colored pill fragrance?” As they eyed the pale purple pill fragrance, almost all the alchemists in the open ground began to cry out involuntarily, clearly understanding what this represented.

“He is actually able to refine a medicinal pill that produces a colored pill fragrance? This bastard. He had really come prepared.” The smile on Fa Ma’s face, which had surfaced only a short while ago, had instantly become overcast under the pale-purple pill fragrance.

“What’s a colored pill fragrance?” On the high platform, Hai Bodong hurriedly asked as he saw Fa Ma’s expression suddenly become extremely ugly.

“A colored pill fragrance is usually only produced by a tier five medicinal pill. Of course, some of the peak tier four medicinal pills can also create such a thing. Seeing the richness of his pill fragrance, I think that the medicinal pill that he is refining belongs to the latter.” Fa Ma’s face was dark as he said, “Compared to his, the tier four medicinal pills that Yue-er and Liu Ling are refining are undoubtedly inferior.”

“This time around, I’m afraid that we will definitely lose.”

In the open ground, Little Princess and Liu Ling were dully staring at the colored pill fragrance that was rising from Yan Li’s medicinal cauldron. Their expressions instantly became despondent and pale as they bitterly laughed. In the face of absolute superiority, any excuses would appear to be extremely weak.

“That is yet to be certain.” A young clear faint laughter suddenly sounded.

The sudden faint laughter caused Little Princess and Liu Ling to become stunned. Immediately, they turned around, only to find that Xiao Yan, who was standing like a wooden pillar behind the stone table had unknowingly raised his head once again. That face which usually appeared very cold, currently had an extremely rare gentle smile.

The Little Princess and Liu Ling stared at the smile. For some unknown reason, they were somewhat in a trance as they discovered that the current Xiao Yan appeared to have something more compared to the past. There appeared to be some sort of change in his temperament and self-confidence.

“I’m sorry. Chairman Fa Ma.” Xiao Yan turned his body around and bowed toward Fa Ma on the high platform as his lips move slightly. He knew that with the latter’s ability, he would definitely know what was being said.

“Ke ke, it is good that you can recover.” Fa Ma was momentarily at a loss as he eyed the soft smile on the young man’s face below. Immediately, he nodded, feeling comforted.

Xiao Yan smiled gently and turned his body around. He tilted his head and eyed Yan Li, who was staring at him in a dark and cold manner. With a smile, he lifted his thumb, only to invert it under the full view of everyone.

“I am going to be the champion!”

Chapter 318: Rising Once Again

“Hei, so what if you’ve recovered. You want to refine a medicinal pill that surpasses the one in my cauldron during the remaining time which is half of the allocated time? Ha ha, you should do things within your means. Otherwise, you will only be a joke to others. Ha ha.” Yan Li laughed coldly as he eyed Xiao Yan and mocked him.

Xiao Yan smiled, but ignored his mocking words. With a gentle wave of his hand, a breeze blew away the dark black soot on the rock table. He flicked his finger gently and a huge amount of medicinal ingredients once again completely filled the rock table.

Xiao Yan’s body was as straight as a pen as he stood in front of the rock table. His hands were slowly extended. After a short silence, a green colored flame seedling rose from his body and adhered to the surface of his clothes. Not long after the first wisp of green colored flame seedling appeared, clusters of flames began to continuously surge from within Xiao Yan’s body. Finally, the green colored flame had actually completely wrapped Xiao Yan within. The raging green colored flame rendered him into a green colored flame person.

“Are those all ‘Heavenly Flame’? Just how much spiritual strength is needed to control so many of these ‘Heavenly Flames’?” All of the alchemists on the open ground involuntarily inhaled a breath of cold air as they eyed Xiao Yan, who had almost become a flame person, with stunned gazes.

During the time that the green flame was rising on Xiao Yan’s body, Little Princess and Liu Ling, who were preparing to extract their pills, were also shaken until they were stunned. Yan Li, who was on another side may have controlled his expression well, but his eyelids also began twitching at this moment. He could not understand why this young person was able to display an ability that shocked and surprised everyone after experiencing such a blow.

“This little fellows Spiritual Strength seems to be much stronger than before.” On the high platform, Fa Ma’s comforted voice carried some envy as he watched Xiao Yan whose entire body was wrapped in flame, feeling surprised. “He chose the correct path earlier and obtained a breakthrough under pressure. This kind of powerful Spiritual Strength is something that even some of the elders in the association have difficulty comparing with. He gained quite a lot this time around!”

It was common knowledge that the Spiritual Strength of an alchemist could not be actively trained with a purpose. It can only slowly become more powerful over time. Of course, there is nothing absolute in this world and there are always exception for everything. In this large Dou Qi continent, there are those lucky people who were able to enter various strange conditions due to their luck. Under these kinds of extremely mysterious conditions, those lucky people obtain the reward of having their Spiritual Strength increase greatly. Currently, the one that Xiao Yan had displayed was extremely similar to that kind of condition. Thus, even a alchemist grandmaster like Fa Ma could not help but be a little envious.

“Does he still have any chance of victory?” Hai Bodong fondled his beard and smiled as he asked.

“I don’t know.” Fa Ma shook his head slightly and let out a soft sigh, “I will still stick to that line of mine. Everything would have to rely on Yan Xiao’s performance. Although Yan Xiao’s current condition is spectacular, but the other party is not a simple person. I’m afraid that there will be another very close and fierce competition.”

“He is about to begin the refinement.” Hai Bodong nodded slightly as his eyes that was watching the open ground abruptly brightened.

On the open ground, Xiao Yan, whose entire body was wrapped within the flame, slowly raised his hand. A surging green colored flame violently rushed out from his finger. Immediately, it was poured into the medicinal cauldron. In just the blink of an eye, the turbulent flame had already began writhing and burning within the cauldron.

As he watched the flame within the cauldron, Xiao Yan flicked his finger gently. A few medicinal ingredients on the stone table were skillfully thrown into the medicinal cauldron at the same time. Immediately, the green flame pounced on them, wrapping them up and began to wildly burn and refine them.

This time around, Xiao Yan’s refinement was clearly much faster than what it was a moment ago. Moreover, he no longer had any cautious feelings nor any fearful movements of his limbs as he performed his task. When he controlled the ‘Heavenly Flame’, he no longer had the slightest hesitation. A leisured and unforced imposing presence faintly appeared whenever he gestured and moved. This kind of presence would usually only appear on those extremely experienced alchemist grandmasters like Fa Ma.

One by one, the medicinal ingredients were thrown in by Xiao Yan. After which, his other hand would control the refined essence of the ingredients within the cauldron and stored them into jade bottles. Under the condition where he used both his hands together and released his Spiritual Strength to its peak, the medicinal ingredients that were placed on the rock table were swiftly being turned into the essence ingredients needed to refine the ‘Three-Line Green Spirit Pill’ at a gratifying pace.

Xiao Yan, who had once again cheered up and began refining, had undoubtedly raised the atmosphere of the open ground to the climax. The Little Princess and Liu Ling, whom many had placed their hopes on after Xiao Yan’s earlier failure, had performed poorer than Yan Li due to their weaker abilities. In this kind of situation where everyone was about to see the other party become the champion of their country in front of their eyes, the recovery of Xiao Yan, whom everyone had placed the greatest hopes in before, had undoubtedly caused the countless people in the audience to sigh in relief. Therefore, the countless gazes from the seating areas at both sides of the open ground were currently focused on the human figure on the open ground who was wrapped in the green colored flame. A deafening cheer resounded throughout the place.

“Hmph.” Hearing the noisy cheer, Yan Li’s dark and cold pupils drifted toward the direction Xiao Yan was at. He eyed the graceful and smooth refining manner and a surprise and solemness finally flashed across Yan Li’s eyes. From the other party’s Spiritual Strength which had suddenly become much stronger as well as his graceful presence, Yan Li clearly understood that this young person had not only recovered from the blow he received from his failure, and also obtained a breakthrough of his mind from such a hopeless situation. This kind of mental strength was really terrifying.

“This fellow does indeed have some foundation. It is just that I don’t know just which old fellow is able to teach such a student. Looking at his performance, it was clear that he is much more outstanding than Gu He’s disciple. Hei, the reputation of Pill-King Gu He is not entirely true. At the very least when it came to teaching, he is far inferior to another.” Yan Li coldly laughed in his heart. He turned his gaze toward the flame raging in his medicinal cauldron. From the transparent mirror of the medicinal cauldron, he could clearly see that an initially formed medicinal pill was rotating within the flame.

“Soon, I am about to succeed.” As he eyed the initial formed of the medicinal pill which was about to be completed, Yan Li braced up his spirit. Pride faintly surfaced on his tender face. He definitely had absolute confidence in the medicinal pill which he had refined!

Xiao Yan’s hands, which were wrapped within the flame, were repeatedly shifting toward the rock table. Following their swift movement, the medicinal ingredients on the table were quickly reduced. On the other side, the number of jade bottles that contained the essence of the ingredients were increasing.

Currently, the medicinal pills that Little Princess and Liu Ling had refined were already formed. They beckoned with their palms and the medicinal pills shot out from the medicinal cauldrons and were stored into jade bottles. They eyed the colored pill fragrance which was repeatedly seeping out from Yan Li’s medicinal cauldron and the both of them let out a soft depressed sigh. Immediately, they lifted their heads and turned their gazes toward the position Xiao Yan was at. Currently, he had become the only one who had some chance of surpassing Yan Li.

The question of which party would obtain the champion spot of the Jia Ma Empire’s Alchemist Grand Meeting this time around, was up to the ability Xiao Yan displayed.

However, if any person were able to see under the green colored flame where no one could discover what was happening, they would definitely become stunned. This was because, Xiao Yan, who appeared to be in his peak condition to those of the outside world, was currently closing his eyes and frowning slightly. At one glance, it was as though he had descended into a: half-asleep, half-awake, mysterious condition.

Although Xiao Yan’s eyes were indeed closed, his senses was able to clearly see every single occurrence in the outside world even more clearly than what his eyes could. His surge in Spiritual Strength within the medicinal cauldron had even caused him to be able to clearly see how the medicinal ingredients were gradually fragmented and broken after being burned by the flame, leaving behind the necessary kinds of ingredient essence under the high temperature.

Xiao Yan slowly smoothed out his breath in his heart. He could clearly sense that the refining of pills this time around was the first time that he had not relied on Yao Lao and yet displayed his peak and perfection. Under this kind of condition, Xiao Yan even had the confidence to challenge a tier five alchemist.

None of the medicinal ingredients which were covered by the green colored flame were even slightly damaged as the temperature of the ‘Heavenly Flame’ changed with Xiao Yan’s desire. At this moment, he had even managed to control its temperature to exactly match the one recorded in the medicinal formula. New n𝙤vel chapters are published on

“The purification is complete.” At one instance, the medicinal ingredient on the stone table were finally completely refined. Only then did Xiao Yan slowly open his tightly shut eyes. His body stilled for an instant before he abruptly waved his sleeves. A force shook and broke all the twenty over jade bottle in front of him. Following which, a shapeless force sucked the ingredient essences within them and threw them all into the medicinal cauldron. The flame once again became turbulent at this moment.

This time around, the time needed for Xiao Yan to refine the ingredients had been reduced by nearly half compared to the last time.

A green flame writhed within the medicinal cauldron. The twenty plus ingredient essences were completely wrapped within Xiao Yan’s Spiritual Strength and were slowly being merged.

Like flowing water, time quietly passed by. At this moment, there was merely less than an hour left until the time when the examination would end. On the other side, the colored pill fragrance that was emitted from Yan Li’s medicinal cauldron was growing increasingly rich. The medicinal pill that he had refined was clearly about to be formed!

“The Three-Line Green Spirit Pill is about to succeed.”

Fa Ma was staring intently at the open ground when he suddenly softly said at a certain instance. However, his face did not reveal any appearance of being relax. He knew that it was impossible to defeat Yan Li by just relying on an ordinary Three-Line Green Spirit Pill!

The medicinal cauldron in the open ground where the green flame was rolling suddenly became quiet. A faint pill fragrance was scattered and a green colored round medicinal pill that was like an emerald was repeatedly rotating within the cauldron.

As the medicinal pill rotated, the green colored flame that was covering the surface of Xiao Yan’s body suddenly began to shrink swiftly. In the blink of an eye, the green colored flame began withdrawing into Xiao Yan’s body like the tide. At the moment when the green flame within the cauldron was about to be completely withdrawn, Xiao Yan’s chewing mouth was abruptly opened. A purple colored flame was once again violently spurt out before it was poured into the medicinal cauldron.

Fa Ma’s heart was suddenly raised as he saw Xiao Yan once again spurt out the Purple Flame. His eyes stared intently in the direction where Xiao Yan was at.

If Xiao Yan were to once again fail this time around, the champion position would completely miss him. At the same time, the reputation of the Alchemist Association would be damaged because of this.

Chapter 319: Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill

The Purple Flame abruptly poured into the medicinal cauldron. At this moment, Xiao Yan’s expression had turned extremely serious as he swiftly pressed his hands over the cauldron’s flame outlet. His Spiritual Strength surged forth without being held back. The current him must be able to perfectly control the change between the two kinds of flames. Otherwise, something similar to his failure the last time around would once again appear.

If Xiao Yan were to fail once again during the less than an hour remaining, there would be no miracle and the result would be Yan Li becoming the champion.

n Xiao Yan’s forehead, concentrated cold sweat gradually appeared. After which, the sweat rolled down, dripping into his dark eyes which were wide open. Xiao Yan, however, did not dare to blink despite the sour feeling.

The Spiritual Strength that poured out without any reservations was like a floodgate that had been lifted. The rolling waves like the flow of a river howled as they flooded the medicinal cauldron. Under the suppression and guide of Xiao Yan’s Spiritual Strength, the green colored flame from earlier did not come into the slightest contact with the purple colored flame. Additionally, even the heat contained within the flame was also wrapped and isolated by Xiao Yan’s Spiritual Strength.

Within the medicinal cauldron, the situation had turned into something like two groups standing opposite each other with a river between them. The green and purple flames each took one side while the Spiritual Strength formed a river in the middle where the green colored medicinal pill was still slowly spinning. If the flames’ temperatures were to exceed the suppression of his Spiritual Strength, it would causing a collision between them. Even if the force created was not too strong, it would be more than sufficient to destroy this weak medicinal pill which had yet to be formed. Xiao Yan’s failure the last time was due to this reason.

Using the lesson he had learned from the last time, the current Xiao Yan split his concentration into three portions. One was used to suppress the Purple Flame and another was used to lead the Green Flame to withdraw from the other fire outlet. The most important of the three was used to maintain the appropriate temperature between the two opposing flames in order to keep the heat grilling the medicinal pill as needed. Otherwise, the refinement would end up in failure.

Splitting his concentration into three; if Xiao Yan’s condition had not become spectacularly good after the odd state he went into earlier, the current Xiao Yan would be unable to complete this kind of operation that would be extremely tricky to even a tier five alchemist. Of course, even if he could barely succeed, the perspiration repeatedly rolling down his face was but only the impact on the surface. This kind of controlling method was extremely exhausting on one’s Spiritual Strength.

“Withdraw!” The standoff was maintained for ten seconds within the medicinal cauldron before Xiao Yan’s hand abruptly shook on the surface of the medicinal cauldron. Following a clear sound, the green flame within the medicinal cauldron completely moved along the flame outlet and was whisked out.

Xiao Yan did not have the leisure to control the green colored flame that had escaped. At the moment when the green flame withdrew, the purple colored flame, which had been waiting for a long time immediately pounced wildly onto the medicinal pill like a violent tiger that had descended from the mountains.

“Suppress! Suppress! Suppress, damnit. I want you to fall!” Xiao Yan’s pupils stared intently at the purple colored flame that had pounced onto the medicinal pill. Blood stains even surfaced in his eyes at this moment. His heart was a little crazy as he repeatedly cried out in a soft and hysterical manner. At the same time, his Spiritual Strength was crazily suppressing the Purple Flame’s temperature.

The first step after the change of the flame was to suppress the new flame’s temperature, maintaining the same temperature as the flame that had left earlier. Otherwise, the sudden increase or decrease in heat energy would only result in one ending, failure.

This was something that particularly tested an alchemist’s control over the flame’s temperature. Even the slightest mistake would result in a tragic end.

Under waves after waves of the suppression by the Spiritual Strength,the temperature of the Purple Flame continued to descend wildly as it covered the mere twenty plus centimeters from the medicinal pill.

As the Purple Flame eventually descended to the required temperature, the flame finally came into contact with the repeatedly rolling green colored medicinal pill. Immediately, the Purple Flame submerged the pill within it. Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience

“What is he trying to do?” All the gazes within the place were dazed and confused as they watched the panting Xiao Yan, whose head was completely covered in perspiration. Was the medicinal pill not already successfully refined?

“What exactly is this fellow refining? He actually needs to change the flame? This is something that even Teacher is not confident of!” The delicate hand of the Little Princess patted her chest. Earlier, the red-eyed and green-faced manner of Xiao Yan was really somewhat shocking. Looking at the situation now, however, it was fortunate that the most dangerous moment was already successfully overcome.

“I don’t know what he is refining, but I think that the tier of the medicinal pill will definitely not be lower than ours.” Liu Ling’s face was somewhat flushed red. When he recovered, he realized that he had actually forgotten to breathe when he was watching Xiao Yan’s soul-stirring change of flame.

“Hu. He has succeeded.” On the high platform, Fa Ma, whose heart had been raised to his throat, finally exhaled a long breath at this moment. From his senses, he could tell that the flame within Xiao Yan’s medicinal cauldron had completely calmed down and did not even show any signs of revolt as it did the last time. Based on this situation, Xiao Yan was not far from successfully refining a ‘Two-Line Green Spirit Pill’.

“His potential is really very terrifying. He may have succeeded because of the current wondrously great condition he is in, but the talent needed to swiftly grasp the trick with the changing of flame after just one failed attempt is really extremely shocking.” Fa Ma watched the wildly panting young man who was supporting himself on the stone table with one hand while the other was controlling the flame. He suddenly turned his head, stared at Hai Bodong and said with a smile, “If this fellow were given enough time, I think that his achievement would far surpass us old fellows. It has been a very long time since the Jia Ma Empire produced an epic level strong person who could shake the continent.”

“I have never doubted him.” Hai Bodong smiled and waved his head. His knowledge of Xiao Yan far surpassed that of Fa Ma’s. This fellow could create the ‘Angry Buddha Lotus Flame’ that could seriously injure a Dou Huang. What else could he not do?

Moreover, Hai Bodong would never forget that under the disguise of this ordinary looking young man was actually a youth that was not even twenty years old.

“Next, we should just quietly wait.” Fa Ma’s gaze drifted toward Yan Li, who was focused on refining the medicinal pill. A worry still existed between his eyebrows. Even though Xiao Yan had refined a ‘Green Spirit Pill’ that had two lines, there was still some unknown risk if he wanted to beat that medicinal pill of Yan Li, which the exact details of it were currently unknown. However, he currently knew that Xiao Yan had really put in all his effort. Therefore, he could only listen to the fates.

“Not only did he not sink under such a setback, but instead he managed to search for a break through from such a hopeless situation. What a terrifying mental strength. Given time, this fellow will definitely shine.” Nalan Jie fondled his beard gently. He eyed Xiao Yan who had become stronger and spoke softly with a sigh. Each time when others thought he had reached the limit, Xiao Yan would give everyone a huge shock.

“He is indeed very strong.” Nalan Yanran nodded her head slightly. In so many years, it was the first time that she felt an admiration for someone of her age group. She knew that if she ended up such a situation, she definitely would not become dispirited. However, if she wanted to go all out and gain a breakthrough under that kind of situation where her entire body and spirit were emitting a powerless feeling, there was only one word to describe it: Difficult.

Nalan Yanran’s bright eyes swept at the young man who was supporting himself on the stone table. Although he was currently panting wildly, his waist remained very straight like a pillar that would not collapse. Nalan Yanran’s pupils which were faint like autumn water suddenly and quietly gained something.

On the open ground, Yan Li’s expression was serious as he stood in front of the stone table. His gaze was staring intently at the medicinal cauldron. The earlier commotion from Xiao Yan’s direction did not escape his notice. Although he was shocked at the way Xiao Yan changed the flame, he did not feel anything else. He did not know what kind of medicinal pill Xiao Yan was trying to refine by changing flames, but he had absolute confidence with the medicinal pill that he was refining!

“Regardless of how you struggle, the champion spot is mine! You are not allowed to fail. Similarly, I cannot fail!” Yan Li abruptly clenched his fist tightly as he cried softly within his heart. This time around, he had risked his life to arrive at the Jia Ma Empire by himself. As long as he was able to become champion and give a huge blow to the reputation of the Jia Ma Empire’s Alchemist Association, the position of the chairman of his country’s association would opened its arms for him once he returned. When that time comes, his position within the Chu Yun Empire would rise steeply!”

“Everything is for power! Come out, my masterpiece!”

Yan Li’s palm abruptly slapped onto the medicinal cauldron as he suddenly raised his head and let out a roar. The cauldron’s cover flew up and a large cluster of dark black flame swarmed out in all directions from within the medicinal cauldron. In the middle of the dark black flame, a purple colored glow shot forth. In an instant, it caused that black colored flame to be riddled with holes.

Following the glow that was shot out, a rich purple colored pill fragrance slowly rose. Finally, it acted like a fog with a spirit, forming a purple colored cloud in the space above Yan Li’s head.

“What a dense colored medicinal fragrance.” As they eyed the purple colored pill fragrance which was sufficient enough to cover the entire rock table, the corner of the mouths of all the alchemists on the open ground twitched as they muttered.

After watching the purple colored pill fragrance with gloomy expressions, Little Princess and Liu Ling exchanged glances. Their eyes had an uneasiness. Seeing the degree of richness of the pill fragrance, the medicinal pill that Yan Li had refined was definitely among the peak of the tier four medicinal pills. Currently, it appeared extremely difficult for Yan Xiao to defeat him.

“Ha ha, ha ha!” The black flame in mid air was slowly extinguished. A purple colored medicinal pill the size of a dragon’s eye was rotating as it appeared under countless gazes. Yan Li beckoned with his hand and the purple colored medicinal pill flew into his palm. As he held the medicinal pill, he finally could not resist emitting a wild laughter.

“Ha ha, the ‘Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill’ is finally successfully refined. This is a medicinal pill that is comparable to a tier five medicinal pill. How will any of you compete with me? Ha ha.”

Yan Li’s wild laughter reverberated through the air of the open ground causing the two sides of the VIP seats to immediately descend into a momentary silence. After a while, numerous gazes which had quickly become heated stared intently at the purple colored medicinal pill in Yan Li’s hand.

“‘Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill’, a peak tier four medicinal pill. It is similar to the ‘Three-Line Green Spirit Pill’. This also belonged to the class of medicinal pills that are able to directly raise people’s strength. However, its effect is only useful at the Da Dou Shi class. If anyone belonging to this class consumed the ‘Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill’, it would let the person raise his strength by one star. Additionally and most importantly, a person could take two such medicinal pills one after another when in the same class without producing too much of a resistance to the medicinal pill. In other words, as long as one is able to collect two ‘Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill’, one would be able to steadily raise one’s strength by two stars.” On the high platform, Fa Ma narrowed his eyes as he spoke in a soft and slow manner, describing this medicinal pill which had quite a high reputation in the alchemist world.

“How unexpected. I did not think that this Yan Li would actually have such boldness. The chances of failure when refining the ‘Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill’ would not be much less than the ‘Three-Line Green Spirit Pill’. However, he actually really dared to refine it on such an occasion. He should know that if he were to fail, he would definitely not be able to walk out of the Jia Ma Empire.” Fa Ma shook his head and softly sighed. At this point, his heart was like dying embers. This was because even if Xiao Yan were to successfully refine a ‘Green Spirit Pill’ that possessed two lines, it would be difficult to compare with the ‘‘Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill’ that Yan Li had.

Although a ‘Two-Line Green Spirit Pill’ could also help raise the strength of the person consuming it by two stars, there was some chances of a backlash. This was sufficient to deter many people from taking it. Therefore, if one were to choose between the two medicinal pills, many people would choose the ‘Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill’ and not the ‘Two-Line Green Spirit Pill’.

“Unless…”

As he thought of that possibility, Fa Ma suddenly mocked himself and shook his head. When Hai Bodong by the side saw the way the former acted, he frowned slightly and inquired, “Unless what?”

Fa Ma let out a long sigh. He raised his eyes and glanced at Hai Bodong, “Unless Yan Xiao is able to refine the highest grade ‘Three-Line Green Spirit Pill’. In other words, it means that he must take out the third type of flame!”

“But can a person possess three types of flames?” Fa Ma’s heart was filled with bitterness as he muttered.

“Three type of flames, huh…” Hai Bodong softly mumbled as he raised his head and sighed. The abruptly cold and hot thick white flame that he had seen Xiao Yan had used back then gradually appeared in his mind. He clearly remembered that the ‘Angry Buddha Lotus Flame’ back then was created by the merger of a green colored ‘Heavenly Flame’ and a thick white ‘Heavenly Flame’. In other words, there was actually a ‘Heavenly Flame’ more terrifying that that green colored flame which he had yet to display, hidden in Xiao Yan’s body.

“Perhaps this is not entirely hopeless.” Hai Bodong shrugged his shoulders, eyed the young man in the open ground and softly spoke.

Fa Ma bitterly shook his head, treating Hai Bodong’s words as an attempt to comfort him.

In the open ground, Xiao Yan stared at the purple colored round and sleek medicinal pill. Currently, a green and a purple Pill-Line had already appeared. Conversely, it meant that he had already successfully refined a ‘Two-Line Green Spirit Pill’.

“So it’s the ‘Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill’.” Xiao Yan slowly turned his head over and watched Yan Li who was wildly laughing. He was able to sense the gazes of Little Princess and the others shooting at him. It appeared that they thought that Xiao Yan no longer had a chance.

“Ah, damn Grand Meeting, it really frustrates people.” Xiao Yan sighed softly as his eyes stared at the purple colored flame within the cauldron. Suddenly, his mind became black. A long while later, he finally gently rubbed the dark black ancient looking ring on his left hand. Inside it, there was the ‘Bone Chilling Flame’ that Yan Lao had stored before he descended into a slumber”

“Teacher, sorry to disturb you.” Xiao Yan slowly bowed. After which, he straightened his waist. The finger which Xiao Yan wore the black colored ring on was gently placed over the flame outlet of the cauldron. He closed his eyes slightly and softly muttered, “Come forth, ‘Bone Chilling Flame’.”

Chapter 320: Cauldron Explosion

Following Xiao Yan’s soft mutter, the dark black ring on Xiao Yan’s finger was quiet for a moment before it suddenly trembled gently a moment later. A faint icy cold feeling began to shroud the tip of Xiao Yan’s finger, causing the joint of his fingers to become slightly white.

The Purple Flame within the medicinal cauldron appeared to have sensed something and it actually began to dance around uneasily. It was fortunate, however, that there was the absolute suppression from Xiao Yan’s Spiritual Strength. Therefore, its uneasy movement did not cause any problems.

At that moment Yan Li’s unrestrained laughter on the open ground gradually weakened, these gazes which were thrown on the ‘Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill’ were once again shot toward the direction where Xiao Yan was at. Currently there was only him still refining on the entire stage. The remaining alchemists had all either chosen to admit defeat or had long since withdrawn from the competition. After all, in front of the peak tier four medicinal pill that Yan Li had refined, they did not have the ability to oppose fate and make a comeback with a result that would shock everyone.

Yan Li ceased his tossing of the ‘Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill’ in his palm. He crossed both of his hands in front of his chest and coldly smiled at Xiao Yan’s last struggle before his defeat a short distance away.

On the high platform, Fa Ma, whose expression was originally slightly dark, frowned slightly. He lifted his head and looked in the direction where Xiao Yan was at. As the highest tier alchemist of the entire place, he could naturally be able to swiftly sense the flame changes in the area where Xiao Yan was at.

“What has happened? Why is the flame in the cauldron beginning to show signs of agitation and uneasiness?” Fa Ma muttered, clearly at a loss. At that moment, his expression abruptly changed drastically. His eyes, which were staring at the medicinal cauldron in front of Xiao Yan suddenly shrunk. At that spot, he appeared to have vaguely seen a somewhat white colored thing. Moreover, a coldness was actually slowly seeping out from the medicinal cauldron.

“Cold air?” He sensed the temperature of the entire open ground had suddenly fallen, Fa Ma’s expression changed once again. The current him was totally confused by this sudden situation that had occurred.

“The temperature here has fallen. What a dense cold air. It can actually affect such a vast area. Don’t tell me it is created by Old Man Ice?” Jia Lao had unknowingly come to Fa Ma’s side and said as he looked at Hai Bodong beside him in a strange manner.

“If I am able to spread the cold air throughout the entire place without the both of you sensing my actions, I’m afraid that I would have long been of the Dou Zhong class.” Hai Bodong rolled his eyes. In his heart, he clearly knew that this cold air should be due to Xiao Yan starting to use that thick white colored ‘Heavenly Flame’. Back then, he had exchanged blows with this kind of flame and clearly understood the terror of this thing. It contained an extreme heat in the extreme cold. It was an extremely great headache when one had to handle it.

“No, that’s not it. That cold air seems to be emitted from Xiao Yan’s medicinal cauldron.” Fa Ma shook his head and said in a deep voice.

“What is he doing? Creating cold air when refining a pill? Isn’t he afraid of extinguishing the flame in his cauldron? Don’t tell me that fellow decided to break everything and give up?” Jia Lao frowned and said.

“No. Given his character, he would definitely not do such a silly thing. I think that he should have another intention.” Fa Ma shook his head. From what he knew of Xiao Yan, it was impossible for the him to think that the latter was giving up on himself.

“Little fellow, what exactly are you doing?” Fa Ma let out a soft sigh as he stared at the young man in the middle of the open ground.

The trembling of the dark black ring had become increasingly intense. Following the intensity of the shaking of the ring, Xiao Yan’s Spiritual Strength was once again out in force, ready to control the Purple Flame’s withdrawal from the medicinal cauldron at any moment. Of course, neither of these two flames really belonged to him. Therefore, the changing of flames this time around would be much more difficult compared to the last time. However, with the experience of his success the last time and his strange condition which was so good that it could not be better, Xiao Yan still had quite a lot of confidence in himself.

“Teacher, help pray for me.” Xiao Yan slowly exhaled. His finger, which was slightly bent at the flame outlet, extended abruptly. His dark black ring once again trembled. A thick white colored flame suddenly surged forth. At this moment, the surrounding temperature around Xiao Yan once again descended.

“Withdraw!” Xiao Yan let out a low cry in his heart. At the same time that the thick white flame surged into the medicinal cauldron, the purple colored flame was swiftly being lead out from the other flame outlet on the other side in an orderly manner. After which, it slowly disappeared.

“Raise temperature.” In a lightning like manner, Xiao Yan’s Spiritual Strength wrapped around the thick white flame which had surged into the medicinal cauldron. His feet violently stomped on the ground and a couple of crack lines began spreading out from there. Perspiration fell from his forehead as though it was raining. The alchemist robe on his body was instantly drenched. Fortunately, the workmanship of the robe was extremely good and it was able to absorb perspiration completely absorbed all of the perspiration on the surface of his skin. It was due to this that Xiao Yan did not appear to be in an overly terrible state.

Under the control of his Spiritual Strength which was released entirely, the temperature of the thick white flame began to swiftly rise. At one point, it finally wrapped around the green colored medicinal pill under Xiao Yan’s heavily burdened eyes.

Although Xiao Yan did his best to raise the temperature of the cluster of ‘Bone Chilling Flame’ that wrapped around the medicinal pill, the remaining flames that were not suppressed still repeatedly emitted a cold icy air. Fortunately Xiao Yan had already wrapped the medicinal pill within the flame whose temperature had been raised. Therefore, the writhing cold flame did not bring about too much trouble for Xiao Yan. All of these, however, were merely temporary.

As the ‘Bone Chilling Flame’ was writhing within the medicinal cauldron, threads of white cold air seeped out from the cauldron’s interior. Finally, it covered the medicinal cauldron until it became slightly blurry.

“What is he doing?” The Little Princess and Liu Ling looked at the cold air that was being spread out and then faced each other. Their faces appeared totally lost. Since Xiao Yan had extended his finger into the flame outlet when using the ‘Bone Chilling Flame’ and cold air came pouring out afterwards, even the Little Princess and the others who were a short distance from Xiao Yan still remained ignorant that a third flame was being changed within the ordinary dark red cauldron.

“What a strange cold air. It clearly is icy cold yet why does a probe using my Spiritual Perception tell me that it is as hot as a flame?” Yan Li eyed the cold air and said with a frown as he held the ‘Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill’ within his hand. For some unknown reason, he began to feel uneasy at this moment.

“There’s no need to worry. I don’t believe that this fellow is able to do something in the less than half an hour time that remains.” Yan Li gently rubbed the purple colored medicinal pill. Currently, only this little thing gave him a steadfast feeling.

“Buzz.” A strange sound suddenly caused Xiao Yan to be at a loss while his gaze stared intently at the round medicinal pill within the cluster of thick white flame.

Xiao Yan’s gaze swept over the rock table and finally paused on the dark red medicinal cauldron. That buzzing sound was emitted from the it.

Xiao Yan frowned. Just as he was puzzled, a minute cracking sound caused his expression to suddenly sink. He twisted his neck as his gaze paused on the dark red cauldron. His eyes had suddenly shrunk to the size of a pin-hole.

He noticed that a tiny crack line had quietly began to spread from the cauldron’s sleek exterior!

“A cauldron explosion is about to occur.” Xiao Yan’s throat moved slightly as he eyed that tiny crack line. His mouth suddenly felt a little dry. After the change of three different kinds of flames, this cauldron had finally reached the limit that it could endure and was about to blast apart. Xiao Yan, who had always neglected finding a good cauldron had finally realized for the first time how a good medicinal cauldron was not the type of unneeded external object to an alchemist as he had imagined.

“This is troublesome.” Perspiration once again slowly rolled down on his face. Xiao Yan did not expect that such a comical scene would actually appear at the last moment.

Not long after the first cracking sound appeared, the second one followed closely. After which, the third and fourth followed. In merely an instant, the medicinal cauldron, which was originally in good condition, was actually covered in tiny crack lines. Through the crack lines, Xiao Yan could even see the dancing thick white flame within it.

“Heavens.”

As the Little Princess and the others were a close distance from Xiao Yan, they sensed something not long after that ear-piercing cracking sound appeared. When they saw Xiao Yan’s face which was covered in cold sweat, everyone exclaimed. Who could imagine that this fellow would actually cause his cauldron to reach a point where it was about to explode.

On the high platform, the corner of Fa Ma’s mouth twitched. He had imagined many methods in which Xiao Yan would be defeated. However, he had never thought that Xiao Yan would fail because of a caldron explosion, a method that caused people to be speechless.

A long while later, Fa Ma finally shook his head with bitterness. He said softly, “Ah, it’s over. What exactly was this little fellow doing during this last period of time? Before this, the medicinal cauldron had to endure that high temperature. Now, there is suddenly so much cold air. Adding this to the low quality of the cauldron, it would be surprising if the cauldron did not explode.”

Hai Bodong frowned slightly. He was much clearer about the whole story compared to Fa Ma. It was likely that Xiao Yan had intended to use the thick white flame to refine the ‘Green Spirit Pill’ until it reached the ‘Three-Line’ grade, but had accidently overlooked this little problem. However, it was this little problem that determined who the champion spot belonged to at such a crucial moment.

“Ha ha, your medicinal cauldron is about to blow apart. Just what can you refine?” Yan Li was stunned as he watched the medicinal cauldron which was covered in crack lines. After being at a loss for a moment, he could not resist slapping the rock table as he laughed uncontrollably. Seeing how he had lost himself, it was clear that he had received quite a serious shock over Xiao Yan’s mysterious actions earlier.

Xiao Yan ignored the voices and gazes from the outside world. His head was filled with perspiration as he tried his best to preserve the medical cauldron from further damage. Unfortunately, he was an alchemist, not a blacksmith. Therefore, even after he had put in all his effort, he could only helplessly watch the medicinal cauldron gain increasingly large crack lines.

When the crack lines on the medicinal cauldron had expanded until they reached their limit, the rate at which the crack lines that were spreading came to a stop. It was quiet for a moment before a turbulent white colored cold air abruptly surged out from the crack lines of the cauldron, completely wrapping the entire stone table within.

The moment the cold air appeared, the medicinal cauldron began to swell. Xiao Yan’s gaze stared intently at the increasingly large medicinal cauldron. At the instant before it exploded, he suddenly slapped a spot at the bottom of the medicinal cauldron violently while his eyes were crimson in color.

“Bang!”

The medicinal cauldron which had already reached its limit finally burst apart with a bang with this slap from Xiao Yan.

An intense explosion reverberated throughout the open ground. Countless medicinal cauldron fragments shot in all directions, frightening the surrounding alchemists as they hurriedly pulled back.

“Ha ha ha ha. I have already said that the champion spot is mine!” Yan Li laughed wildly. He had finally completely relaxed as he eyed the stone table which was covered by a white colored cold air.

On the entire open ground, only the remnant explosion sound and Yan Li’s wild laughter could be heard. Everyone else had quietened down. Failure by Xiao Yan was a foregone conclusion.

-----------------------------------------------
💖 Support My Work, Please Donate Here👇