Chapter 34: The Great Alchemy Competition (Part 2)

  The whole audience was silent!

  Everyone stared at Xia Chen's hand holding the Yuanqi Dan, their faces filled with incredulity.

  This brief fifty breaths, Xia Chen's performance, was like a loud and high-pitched heroic melody, infinitely shocking everyone's mind.

  Zhan Kongchen and Han Dongyu simultaneously inhaled a mouthful of cold air, staring at each other from afar with eyes wide with infinite shock.

  "Brother Han, is this...is Xia Chen really your disciple?" Huang Guang's expression was dull and his words were incoherent.

  "Yes, Brother Huang, what do you think of this disciple?" Han Dongyu came back to his senses and asked the same question as before.

  "I...I really can't see it." Huang Guang was almost dizzy.

  "War brother, it seems that your Zhenyuan Sect is indeed hiding dragons and sleeping tigers." The Zhao surname cultivator said with a slightly gloomy tone, his proud expression had already disappeared without a trace.

  "Haha, Brother Zhao is overpraising me." Zhan Kongchen said with a pleased expression, his eyes almost narrowing into a slit.

  Xia Chen, every time you appear, must you always leave people in a state of shock and awe?... Chen Qiushui's beautiful eyes gazed deeply at Xia Chen, her stunning face bearing a subtle smile.

  "It's impossible! How could I lose to him?!"

  Song Cheng's expression was first stiff on his face, then turned into shock, then turned into anger, and finally turned into gritted teeth.

  He had just provoked Xia Chen and was about to humiliate him severely, but unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, he became the one being humiliated. This huge disparity was something Song Cheng could not accept at all.

  "Xia Chen, this Yuan Qi Pill of yours is fake, it's not something you refined yourself!" Song Cheng suddenly shouted loudly.

  "Oh?" Xia Chen's expression changed, "You say this Yuan Qi Pill is fake, what evidence do you have?"

  "It's impossible to refine a Yuanqi Dan in just fifty breaths, this goes against the normal principles of refining dan. This Yuanqi Dan of yours is definitely fake! If you don't believe me, let me take a look and I'll definitely be able to find evidence that it's fake!"

  Song Cheng's face turned gloomy, thinking to himself: "Just you wait, once I crush your elixir into dust, whether it's real or fake, you'll be dead and there will be no evidence. Even if I have to endure being ridiculed, I won't let you surpass me."

  "Go ahead!" Xia Chen casually tossed the Yuanqi Dan over to Song Cheng.

  Song Cheng was overjoyed and grabbed Xia Chen's Yuan Qi Dan, ready to crush it with force!

  Suddenly, he let out a loud cry and hastily threw out the Yuanqi Dan, inhaling cool air as he stared at his hand, where a large patch on his palm had been scalded red.

  "Song, this Yuanqi Dan was just refined from the fire and is very hot." Xia Chen caught the Yuanqi Dan and said lightly, "You were too anxious to grab my Yuanqi Dan and forgot to use your true energy, didn't you?"

  Everyone was shocked and couldn't help but let out a hiss, their eyes filled with disdain. To think that Song Cheng would say someone's elixir is fake just because he can't compare to them, and even want to crush Xia Chen's medicine, this is simply shameless.

  Song Cheng's face turned beet red, he tried to steal the chicken but ended up losing the rice instead, and was exposed by Xia Chen for his hypocritical thoughts. He was truly humiliated to the extreme, and wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

  "Brother Warrior, your sect's new disciple is quite unique. Is it necessary to be so aggressive in a pill-refining competition?" said the dark-faced Zhao surname cultivator.

  "Hehe, no need to mind, Brother Zhao," said Zhan Kongchen with a smile. "I hereby declare the tournament ended!"

  He stood up and said loudly: "This time, the new disciples' alchemy competition is intended to temper and sharpen each other, not to compete, so everyone doesn't have to worry about the outcome of the competition. I declare that Donghua Sect's new disciple Song Cheng has successfully refined the Yuanqi Dan and won first place in the competition, with a reward of 20 Yuanqi Dans! Yunling Sect's Xie Guan and Zhengyi Sect's Qi Zhongyue both refined the Yuanqi Dan and tied for second place in the competition, with a reward of 10 Yuanqi Dans each. The new disciples of the three major sects will each receive a reward of 3 Yuanqi Dans. As for my own Zhengxuan Sect disciples, they only participated in the competition as friends and did not participate in the ranking or receive any rewards."

  When he heard Zhenkong Chen's announcement, Zhao's face slightly softened.

  Everyone looked at Xia Chen with regret, if they really had to evaluate, Xia Chen was undoubtedly the first.

  Xia Chen smiled indifferently, he was never interested in the alchemy competition to begin with. He only participated to respond to Song Cheng's provocation, and now that his goal had been achieved, whether or not he received a prize was of no consequence.

  With the Aladdin's lamp, as many Yuanqi Dan as you want.

  Song Cheng's anger was uncontrollable, although he got the first place, everyone knew that this first place was not deserved, and he couldn't help but sneer: "Xia Chen, at least I'm still in first place, you didn't get anything, you're still a loser."

  Xia Chen sneered with a smile: "Song Cheng, are you still okay? You can say such foolish words? Are you trying to find an excuse for yourself? Alright, I lost, and I'll fulfill your last bit of dignity, haha."

  Song Cheng's face turned red with rage, and he shouted: "Xia Chen, I've also refined the finished Yuan Qi Dan. If we're really going to compare the quality of our elixirs, it's not certain who'll be first. You just took advantage of being a friendly participant, don't think you're stronger than me."

  "I'm too lazy to say..." Xia Chen said faintly, "Actually, you're not even qualified to be the first. You just said that the pill I refined was fake, but in fact, the pill you refined is a waste product. However, since it's just for training and sparring, it doesn't matter. I'll give East Huapai a little face."

  "What did you say? Say it again." Song Cheng's mind buzzed, his blood rushing upwards, "You said the pill I refined is a defective product?"

  "It doesn't matter anymore." Xia Chen waved his hand, "We just said it was a training exercise, and besides, you got first place anyway. Let's not make a big deal out of this little ugly thing, or else it'll have a bad influence."

  As he spoke, Xia Chen was about to walk towards the viewing platform.

  "Stop right there, Xia Chen!" Song Cheng's eyes seemed to be spitting fire, "Explain yourself clearly, how can the Yuan Qi Pill I refined be a defective product? If you can't explain it, it's an insult to me and an insult to the Donghua Sect!"

  Everyone was shocked by this scene, and they did not expect things to turn so dramatic. Song Cheng had just said that Xia Chen's elixir was fake, but in the blink of an eye, everything turned upside down.

  "Brother, a disciple of your sect actually slandered my disciple's elixir as a waste pill? If you don't give me an explanation, we're not done." That Zhao surname cultivator said angrily.

  "Brother Zhao, can't you wait for Xia Chen to finish speaking? He won't shoot randomly! Unlike your Donghua Sect's disciples, not only do they slander Xia Chen's elixir as a fake, but also want to seize the shattered medicine." Seeing the unreasonable behavior of the Zhao surname cultivator, Zhan Kongchen's face also turned cold.

  Zhao surname repair officer suddenly speechless, face also a red.

  "Do you really want me to say it?" Xia Chen's cruel smile, he had been provoking Song Cheng all along, just for this moment.

  "Speak!" Song Cheng said loudly, "Point it out now! If you can't point it out, Xia Chen, you must kneel down and apologize!"

  His face was gloomy, and he took out the finished product of Yuanqi Dan that he had just refined.

  "What if I point it out?" Xia Chen said, "Are you going to kneel down and apologize too?"

  "Of course!" Song Cheng said with a smile, "If I refine fake pills, I'll kowtow to you three times in public!"

  "Alright, I'll tell you why your elixir turned out to be a waste product!" Xia Chen sneered. "The Yuanqi Dan consists of three medicinal materials: Yuanqi Grass, Water Spirit Branch, and Sweet Blue. When you were distinguishing the medicinal properties of Yuanqi Grass, your hand accidentally came into contact with a thread of Water Spirit Branch's medicinal liquid, causing your distinction to be slightly confused. Then, when you added the medicinal materials to the cauldron, the Water Spirit Branch's medicinal liquid mixed with the Yuanqi Grass again, which was another mistake. Originally, this elixir shouldn't have been successfully refined, but one mistake after another actually led to its successful refinement, albeit as a waste product! So although this elixir appears to be a finished product, it's actually a waste product!"

  Song Cheng's eyelid suddenly twitched, and he indeed felt that he had been contaminated with a hint of Shuilingzhi liquid when refining the elixir. However, at that time, the situation was urgent and he didn't pay attention to it. Moreover, this matter wasn't even certain to him, so how could Xia Chen possibly see it so accurately?

  His face changed several times, and he sneered: "What does that have to do with anything? Just because of your empty words, can you prove that the elixir I refined is a waste product? Do you think you're the only one who understands the whole scene? So many divine elders are watching, do you think you'll be stronger than all of them?"

  Xia Chen took out a Yuanqi Dan from his bosom and said loudly, "This is the real Yuanqi Dan given to me by my master. Watch closely, what phenomenon will occur when I crush it."

  He lightly pinched it, and the yuanqi dan immediately burst into a cluster of green smoke, floating in mid-air. The smoke was filled with countless twinkling streams of energy, which were the yuanqi energies richly contained within the dan medicine. Without its protection, they slowly dispersed.

  "Song Cheng, crush another one of your refined Yuan Qi pellets and see if it's the same?" Xia Chen shrugged his shoulders and made a please gesture.

  "Go ahead and kneel, I'm waiting for you to kowtow to me!" Song Cheng said coldly, exerting force with his hand.

  Puff! The dan medicine in his hand suddenly turned into a pile of powder and fell to the ground, just like pinching a hard dough.

  "Impossible!" Song Cheng's face changed greatly.

  He hastily took out a few more yuanqi dan that had been refined together earlier, pinched them to pieces one by one, but without exception, these yuanqi dan all turned into dull and lifeless dead dan, crumbling into dust on the ground.

  Xia Chen revealed a hint of cruel smile: "You think I was pretending to be foolish when I first started refining the elixir? Your mistake has been clear to me all along, and I originally wanted to leave you some last bit of dignity. But since you insist on me pointing it out, haha, you really are shameless!"

  The whole audience is silent!

  Including the cultivators of the Spirit Communication Sect, everyone was shocked to look at Xia Chen, never expecting that his eyesight would be so sharp and his understanding of elixirs would be so superb!

  "Kneel down for me! Song Cheng! Kowtow and admit your mistake, this is the promise you made beforehand." Xia Chen said calmly.

  Everyone looked at Song Cheng, their eyes already filled with pity. If he hadn't insisted on challenging Xia Chen, how would he have ended up losing all his dignity and being humiliated to such an extent?

  Song Cheng's face turned blood red, as if he was about to bleed, and for the first time in his life, he suffered such a great humiliation, with hatred in his heart that was simply overwhelming.

  "No!" Song Cheng suddenly roared, "Xia Chen, it must be your doing! The yuanqi dan I refined is real, how could it be a fake? You scum, you want to frame me, I'll kill you!"

  He seemed to have gone mad and roared loudly, rushing towards Xia Chen fiercely.