The daily life of a genius who enjoys gossip and cultivates immortality

Chapter 417 Alchemy Competition 0.5

The guy next to him who had just started the explosion also raised his head slightly, his glassy eyes looking at Cheng Jiu with curiosity.

Others only noticed Cheng Jiu's abnormally high success rate and speed in refining pills, but he noticed the spiritual plants Cheng Jiu used in refining pills.

Did Xianqing notice that too?

Thinking about it, he lowered his head and continued to sort out the spiritual herbs in his ring. Every qualified alchemist should learn to clarify the spiritual herbs they possess.

Cheng Jiu's audacity in starting things right from the beginning and refining pills precisely on time is undeniable.

What if we fail even once? That would become the biggest joke of this alchemy competition.

How confident must one be in themselves to dare to do something like this!

Those who follow Cheng Jiu are in a state of shock and disbelief.

Indeed, a great reputation is well-deserved.

No one was eliminated in the first round.

The manager of Wanbaoge was busy appraising the pills, and he couldn't stop smiling.

Almost all the alchemists present chose to consign their pills for auction.

So many Grade 5 pills, including the versatile Peiyuan Pill, greatly enriched the Wanbao Pavilion's reserves!

It was his foresight in volunteering to cover all the expenses of the alchemy competition. Otherwise, how could Wanbaoge have gotten such a lucrative opportunity? Didn't they see how much their rivals outside were regretting it?

Each round, based on the quality of the elixir, will issue corresponding tokens, which are divided into five grades: jade, gold, silver, bronze, and stone.

After all the competitions are over, these tokens will be exchanged for corresponding points, which will be used to rank the alchemists based on their strength.

What Cheng Jiu held in his hand was naturally a jade pendant that emitted a glowing light.

With the Wanbaoge appraisal concluded and everyone receiving their scores, the second round of competition began.

Two disciples of the Medicine Alliance carried in a person covered in blood, with wounds all over his body from the bites of demonic beasts.

The disciples of the Medicine Alliance placed the person on the stone platform. This was the second round of the test. During the training, the person was attacked by Night Shadow Wolves. None of his fellow cultivators survived, except for him, who was still alive.

However, he was covered in sores that there wasn't a single unscathed spot on his body; he had suffered severe external injuries and needed a sixth-grade elixir for treatment.

This person's family is too wealthy to access or buy such a precious elixir.

Fortunately, the alchemist from the Medicine Alliance I encountered was a good person. Such a typical and severe external injury was simply a perfect candidate for evaluation.

After some questioning, he agreed.

The Medicine Alliance only provided basic treatment for his injuries. After the second round, they will select one pill from the refined pills to heal his wounds.

The reason it looks so gruesome is because it's covered in blood plasma to make the injuries appear more severe.

The results proved to be good; almost all the alchemists present knew what to refine in the second round.

There are many Grade 6 pills for treating external injuries, so the two elders did not impose any restrictions on them; as long as one did not deviate from the prescribed path, it was considered acceptable.

The wide range of elixirs presents a greater challenge to alchemists. How to prudently maximize the use of the spiritual herbs at hand is more difficult than formulating elixirs according to rules. Knowing too many elixir formulas often leads to difficult choices.

Cheng Jiu carefully examined the spiritual herbs in the ring, but the recipe for a sixth-grade healing pill kept appearing in her mind. Then she discovered that there was only one copy of some of the more important or key spiritual herbs.

This was clearly a carefully planned scheme; which formula should be chosen?

Sometimes, having more choices makes things more complicated, especially when there's a deliberate attempt to create confusion, which makes people hesitant to make a decision.

This is a common human failing, and Cheng Jiu is no exception.

Moreover, this is an alchemy competition. Passing is one thing, but getting a high score is another. It's all about scoring, so how to stand out among so many alchemists is yet another question.

For a moment, all the alchemists fell silent, and no one opened their furnaces to refine pills.

After thinking for a short while, Cheng Jiu made a decision: the greatest truths are the simplest. In the second round of the competition, she would refine the most common type of sixth-grade pill, the Replenishing Essence Pill.

The reason for choosing the Replenishing Essence Pill is that most of the spiritual plants it uses are very common and will not affect the subsequent assessment.

Moreover, as the top-tier sixth-grade healing pill, it is inexpensive and effective. The injured person on the stage does not need any particularly precious healing pills, but only a Qi-replenishing pill.

As for the rating, the rating of a top-grade Replenishing Pill will definitely not be low. The simpler the pill, the harder it is to refine it into a top-grade one. This is not only limited by the alchemist's own skills, but also by the quality of the medicinal herbs.

Fortunately, Cheng Jiu is a Wood-type character, so this problem doesn't exist for him.

Cheng Jiu's speed in refining pills was as fast as ever. While most alchemists were still hesitant to even start their furnaces, Cheng Jiu had already refined a full batch of pills.

Nine pills, each with a beautiful pattern, rolled onto the tray.

The elders of Medicine King Valley's eyes turned red, and they couldn't help but look at Immortal Lord Qingxu with jealous eyes, for everything below could be seen above this group of Mahayana Immortal Lords.

Especially the vibrant green hue of Cheng Jiu's alchemy technique caught the eye of the Medicine King Valley elders. The Life-Generating Wood element in alchemy was practically a cheat code; such a disciple should rightfully belong to their Medicine King Valley, but…

Why is he from the Guiyuan Sect? Can Qingxu, a sword cultivator, teach well?

The alchemy competition had only gone through its second round, but the first place had already been decided in the hearts of these immortal lords.

Jealousy needs no further explanation.

Cheng Jiu handed over the second round of pills and sat quietly waiting for the third round.

Glug, glug...

Huh? Where did that sound come from?

Cheng Jiu subconsciously looked to the side, after all, the opponent had a history of misconduct at the beginning of the competition, which left a deep impression on Cheng Jiu.

Then she met a pair of clear, glassy eyes, which were filled with doubt, as if they didn't understand why she was looking at him.

The flames beneath the alchemy furnace were calm, occasionally spewing out blue flames; the furnace had not yet been opened.

Cheng Jiu calmly nodded at him, then immediately looked away!

Ah! For some reason, Cheng Jiu felt incredibly rude when she met those glassy eyes!

Perhaps it's because the other person's eyes are too pure and innocent!

Cheng Jiu followed the strange sound and searched around for its source. Then she saw the alchemist to her left rear, covered in sweat, with the alchemy furnace in front of him roaring incessantly.

The alchemist was completely unaware, focused solely on dealing with a difficult spiritual plant.

His mental energy was clearly out of control; veins bulged on his forehead, a clear sign of overuse of his mental energy.

As the impurities were gradually removed from the elixir in his hands, the alchemist slowly revealed a smile of accomplishment.

Cheng Jiu silently withdrew his gaze. Clearly, this alchemist was aiming to refine a more difficult pill in the second round of the competition in order to get a higher score.

But the other party clearly overestimated themselves.

"It's going to explode!" Cheng Jiu thought to himself.

Sure enough, before the other party could even show a smile of success in processing the elixir, the alchemy furnace in front of them completely revealed its ferocious fangs.

The smile in the alchemist's eyes hadn't faded when a white light flashed!

boom!

The scorching heat, carrying the fiery spiritual energy, spread in all directions, while the alchemists, who were firmly suppressed in one area by the protective shield, looked extremely disheveled.

The precious medicinal herbs he had prepared were completely destroyed in the explosion, leaving no trace of his body. His alchemy furnace rolled to both sides, its body and lid completely separated.

It didn't break; the alchemy furnace is of good quality!

The alchemist stared blankly at the scene of the explosion, for a long time, a second, two seconds, just staring blankly, clearly still not recovered from the shock.

But after a short while, the alchemist regained his senses, skillfully picked up the alchemy furnace from the ground, cleaned it briefly, and started refining pills again.

It's just a furnace explosion. Every alchemist who starts learning alchemy has experienced it.

We're used to it!

only!

The alchemist who cobbled together a new pill formula became even more cautious and methodical. If the furnace exploded again, he would truly be eliminated in the second round.

He's a sixth-grade alchemist! How can he face his master's gaze when he's eliminated in the second round?

The acrid smell was quickly purified by the formation. Although it didn't have a major impact on the surrounding alchemists, it inevitably made them a little impatient.

This round eliminated a large number of contestants, mainly disciples from small sects. The fifth rank was already their limit, and the sixth rank was really too difficult for them.

It's never been this intense in previous years; they were eliminated in the second round.

For a moment, one-fifth of the field was empty.

The third round of competition begins.

Before each alchemist appeared an unfamiliar pill formula: Jade Spring Snow Mystic Pill.

The required elixirs are clearly listed above, but the quantities are not specified.

The prescription was completely unfamiliar, and Cheng Jiu had never seen it before.

These kinds of pill formulas are either ancient formulas that have been lost for a long time, or formulas that alchemy masters specially developed for this competition.

Either way, it would be enough to make the alchemists on site go black!

In particular, the prescription for the pill contains only two portions of the elixir, one of which is three qian of the herb.

This means that they had very little chance to try and make mistakes when faced with this unfamiliar formula. It also means that the alchemist who used the three-qianzi formula in the first round was eliminated before the start of this round because he did not have the three-qianzi formula.

Unless he can find a spiritual medicine in the ring that can replace the three qianzi, which is obviously impossible for the alchemists present, even Cheng Jiu cannot do it.

Those pill formulas that can replace spiritual herbs are all formulas that the cultivation world has mastered thoroughly. The properties of the spiritual herbs in them have been thoroughly studied, which is why substitutes can be found.

However, the formula was unfamiliar, and the role of the three qianzi (a traditional Chinese medicine) in it was unknown, let alone the ability to thoroughly understand the formula and find a substitute in such a short time.

Upon receiving the pill formula, everyone felt a wave of dizziness. There were no ingredient markings, meaning they would need to complete the formula before they could refine the pills.

This requires a high level of understanding of the medicinal properties of the alchemist, and the accurate dosage of the medicinal herbs determines the success rate of a batch of pills.

Before the refining process even began, a group of alchemists had already given up. They were eager to ask the organizers if testing them in the third round was overestimating their abilities. Was this reasonable?

Elder Huoyan clearly thought so too, and he whispered to his old friend beside him, "Isn't this third question a bit too difficult?"

Even seasoned alchemists would find unfamiliar and unreliable pill formulas challenging, let alone their disciples.

Although everyone present was a young talent from the cultivation world, it couldn't hide the fact that they were still young.

Even those who are hundreds of years old are nothing more than children in the eyes of these ancient monsters who have lived for thousands of years.

"The Star Domain quota is no small matter." Elder Du Qing crossed his arms and stared straight ahead: "You don't think this alchemy competition is just for those rogue cultivators and disciples of small sects, do you?"

Elder Huo Yan fell silent. Even though he had a biased view of rogue cultivators, he had to admit that compared to the disciples of the five major sects, the other alchemists were far too miserable. The confidence and foundation that came from the major sects could not be faked.

"Don't underestimate them. If you had used your usual methods, this alchemy competition would have taken forever to finish. This competition is designed to select the geniuses and prodigies among us alchemists. Only a competition like this is worthy of these guys."

As he spoke, Elder Duqing couldn't help but laugh, his voice filled with undisguised sarcasm: "Even if the entire army is wiped out, isn't there still a second plan?"

Elder Huoyan glared at this suddenly unserious fellow and then fell silent.

The contrast is quite stark!

Many alchemists from sects have already calculated the required quantities for alchemy and started refining pills, while independent cultivators and disciples from small sects are still completely clueless.

Just as Elder Duqing said, the main characters in this alchemy competition have never been the rogue cultivators and disciples of small sects; in the end, it is nothing more than an internal competition among the disciples of the five major sects.

Cheng Jiu also calculated the amount of the spiritual medicine and started refining the pills.

Her movements were completely undisguised, and those around her, who had no clue what was going on, silently observed the amount of spiritual herbs Cheng Jiu was using as she began to refine pills.

Those who can participate in the alchemy competition are mostly clever people; these alchemists might not have discovered the secret of the three-cent seed at first.

However, later on, the amount of Sanqianzi was too small, and some alchemists could detect something was wrong, so they used Xianqing instead and kept some for themselves.

The name "Jade Spring Snow Mystic Pill" sounds fancy and unfamiliar, and the formula doesn't even specify the dosage.

It should actually be derived from the sixth-grade beauty-enhancing elixir, Jade Frost Pill, and the dosage can be deduced from the Jade Frost Pill formula.

The most wonderful ingredient is Sanqianzi, which requires only a small amount but is irreplaceable.

Unlike the Jade Frost Pill, which has a subtle and gentle effect, the Jade Spring Snow Mystic Pill, as its name suggests, gives people a feeling of coldness. Even the coldest pill needs to be warmed up to be accepted by the human body.

Phoenix grass tail core is a very good choice, but Phoenix grass tail core is generally yang in nature. If you want to avoid being rejected or devoured by other medicinal materials, then the spiritual herb Sanqianzi, which has excellent compatibility, becomes the best choice.

A batch of six snow-white, patterned pills fell into the plate. Although it wasn't a full batch, it was quite astonishing for the first time.

Furnaces were also being lit one after another nearby, and there were quite a few disciples like Cheng Jiu who were caught off guard.

But seeing it doesn't guarantee you can successfully refine it, since they can only see it with the naked eye.

The specifics depend on how it's made by hand.

The sounds of exploding furnaces echoed around Cheng Jiu, clearly indicating that the first attempt at refining had failed.

As time passed and the materials were exhausted, only a very small number of people succeeded in refining the materials and remained in the arena, while the rest were all eliminated.

None of the disciples from the five major sects were eliminated. Just as Elder Du Qing said, this alchemy competition was for these disciples from the five major sects to compete.

As for the rogue cultivators, the contrast was so stark that Elder Huoyan was at a loss for words.

With a sigh, they announced the fourth match.