Starting from the Tiger Demon Yaksha, the demon immortality

Chapter 249, Chapter 258: Grabbed in one swift motion, refined in an instant (5,000 characters)
Although Huayin County is a county seat, its location near the capital and its historically strategic position on trade routes have attracted a considerable population.

Despite the standoff between the imperial court and the puppet Qi regime, life had to go on. As dawn broke, vendors appeared on the deserted streets, and carts carrying night soil rolled over the stone slabs.

"A distinguished person is traveling; please give way!"

The porter turned around in surprise, only to see a procession of ceremonial attendants, with luxurious carriages and fine horses, approaching.

He hurriedly steered his donkey cart to avoid the danger, fearing that even a drop of the night fragrance might offend the nobleman's nose, resulting in a beating or even his death in the street.

After all, there have been too many refugees pouring into Huayin recently. No matter what kind of work it is, as long as you are given a meal, people will rush to do it.

As a result, news of servants being beaten to death by their masters has been increasing day by day in the streets and alleys, making people feel more and more fearful.

Fortunately, the porters reacted quickly and made way. The brightly dressed guards on their tall horses, though they covered their noses and showed their disgust, did not do anything more.

The only puzzling thing is that these powerful and wealthy people got up and arrived too early.

For a full quarter of an hour, carriages and horses arrived one after another, rushing out of the city in droves.

Every now and then, the porters could hear the voices of the noblemen in the cart urging them on, and catch a few words like "Louguan Dao," "true teachings," and "alchemy."

"These people in the city really have a keen sense of smell; they're here to join in the fun so early in the morning."

Du Guanglei looked down at the bustling traffic at the mountain gate, a hint of dissatisfaction in his expression.

"In the end, it's just a friendly exchange of alchemy skills among the true disciples of the sect. These spoiled brats would rather go to brothels than come to Louguan Dao to cause me trouble."

As he spoke, he summoned a disciple dressed in inner sect attire and instructed him to increase manpower and strengthen defenses.

These people were either descendants of founding dukes and marquises or relatives of the Li imperial family. No matter how much they were disliked, their safety had to be guaranteed.

At this sensitive time, even the smallest thing could trigger unforeseen consequences.

The inner disciple received the order, clasped his hands in a fist salute, his sleeves fluttering, producing a clanging sound as armor plates collided, and then turned and retreated.

Du Guanglei went straight to Liangyi Peak to meet Yan Daotong.

The sect leader sat cross-legged on a futon in the quiet room. After listening to the report, he simply nodded slightly, indicating that he was already aware of it.

“Master, this competition between the three disciples is a private matter within our sect. We should just have a closed-door exchange.”

"With the news leaked out, these powerful and influential people in the city have already moved in. They could easily have stopped them at the mountain gate. Why?"

Du Guanglei finally couldn't help but speak up, and while speaking, he couldn't help but secretly observe his mentor's expression.

Upon hearing this, Yan Daotong gently stroked the iron ruyi, sliding his fingers along the silver flowing cloud pattern, without saying a word.

The former, familiar with his teacher's temperament, knew he wouldn't get any information from him and had no choice but to bow and take his leave.

His wide Taoist robe revealed a bright red armor, making him appear fully armed.

"I'm curious about this too."

As his disciple's figure disappeared from sight, Yan Daotong murmured to himself, holding the Ruyi scepter as he walked out of the quiet room.

The gaze passes through the golden glow of the rising sun and lands on the glazed tiles of Miaoyan Palace, seemingly able to penetrate tangible and intangible barriers to see the Taiyi Zhenren sitting quietly within.

The latter seemed to sense something, transforming into a stream of blue light that meandered like a dragon and landed beside him.

"Louguan Taoism is the state religion of the Great Qin Dynasty, but now that the empire is about to collapse, the court may not be of one mind with us or with Qinglong Temple."

"For a sect to gain a foothold in the chaos, it needs to show goodwill to its allies and also demonstrate its strength."

"Junior Brother Taiyi, what exactly did Li Cunxiao do to make you so confident that today's competition will be of sufficient importance?"

"Would this allow Li Cunxiao to rest easy from now on, and also solidify the sect's position?"

From his vantage point, he could see three completed high platforms at the foot of Liangyi Peak, surrounded by a dense crowd of people.

It is conceivable that today's competition will soon spread throughout Louguandao, Huayin County, and even Xijing Daxing City.

The winner will undoubtedly gain the title of the young generation's leader in alchemy, while the loser will inevitably become the talk of the town.

Taiyi's favor towards Li Cunxiao was obvious to all, and Yan Daotong couldn't understand why the other party would do something that seemed to push him into a fire pit.

A young man barely twenty years old is going to compete in alchemy with two alchemists who have over ten years of experience. It sounds like he's destined to fail.

Yet some people are still very confident, even saying that Li Cunxiao's talent is not only enough to make him famous throughout the world, but also enough to benefit Louguandao.

"Senior brother is usually so calm and composed, why is he so restless today?"

The old Taoist priest looked relaxed, a smile playing on his lips. Although he was the master of the two competitors today, he seemed even more relaxed than Yan Daotong.

"I'm just curious."

"Anyway, regardless of who wins or loses, it's not a bad thing to show the spirit of young people and let all forces see the next generation of leaders of our Louguandao."

Yan Daotong chuckled. He had always been the one to solve the riddles, but today his junior brother had taken the lead.

As he said, although the main characters of this competition were Li Cunxiao, Li Siqi and Ye Shuyi, the participants were not limited to the disciples and elders of the sect.

With this terrestrial immortal presiding over the place, and the four grandmasters of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise by his side, no one would doubt the strength of the Louguan Sect's martial arts.

But now that war is raging, what the outside forces are most concerned about is naturally the elixirs and alchemists of the "Number One Alchemy Sect in the World".

Compared to force, sometimes these special resources are more effective at bridging conflicts and deterring troublemakers.

"Oh, and don't forget my disciple's purple robe."

Taiyi mentioned it briefly, then took the lead in descending the mountain.

"Are you so certain that Li Cunxiao will be promoted from inner disciple to true disciple today?"

You'll see when the time comes.

"Then I'll wait and see," Yan Daotong said, his heart stirred with emotion, but he said no more.

Merits sufficient to advance to the level of a true disciple, alchemy, competition, calming pills... Could it be...?
"Li Cunxiao's choice of Xin Dan was really a bit too presumptuous."

Li Siqi looked at the sea of ​​people surrounding the platform, but she was not intimidated.

As an elite member of the Longxi Li clan and having managed Qinglong Peak for many years, this was nothing more than a minor matter for him.

It is easy to imagine that the results of today's competition will spread quickly, and within two or three days, the whole capital region will know about it.

This is precisely why he finds it even more puzzling that Li Cunxiao, with his limited experience, would choose the Tranquilizing Pill, a formula that is quite difficult even among fifth-grade pills, as the subject of the competition.

Especially when his opponents are two alchemists with more than ten years of experience, the winner of the competition will almost certainly be decided between the latter two.

To have the honor taken by others while he becomes a laughingstock throughout the capital is not something Li Cunxiao would do, nor is it something Taiyi Zhenren would allow.

The massive crowds surrounding the platform were undeniable, and he recognized many of them.

"Duke of Anbian County, Duke of Daning County, Marquis of Jingrong County, Earl of Fufeng County"

Guo Zhao looked at the familiar faces one by one. Among them were old friends of the Prince of Fenyang and relatives by marriage.

It's either related to him, or it's related to the mansions of Duke Hu, Duke Lu, or Duke E.

"They've all arrived quite well; it seems they know that today's competition is no ordinary event."

"Uncle-Master Taiyi didn't choose to spar in seclusion, but instead did the opposite—Junior Sister, what do you think is the deeper meaning behind this?"

Ye Shuyi sat on a folding chair, with a parasol held up by her attendants behind her to shield her from the increasingly intense morning sunlight.

Her slender fingers turned the pages of the book, revealing a section of her lotus-root-like arm beneath her wide robe.

She remained silent until the sect leader and the four sect masters arrived together, then she closed the book and said calmly:
"I'm only here to refine pills; I don't need to be distracted by anything else."

"You have composure in the face of great events; in this respect, you are not as good as your senior brother."

Guo Zhao gave a thumbs-up, then teased:
"It seems you're determined to win, but Li Cunxiao is in trouble."

"Can he really refine a fifth-grade Mind-Stabilizing Pill?"

Ye Shuyi frowned upon hearing this, but quickly relaxed.

"That's something for Uncle Taiyi and Junior Brother Li to consider. I'll just focus on refining pills."

"Alright, alright, stop nagging your senior brother. I won't do anything unnecessary."

Guo Zhao watched his junior sister stand up, his gaze passing over her shoulder and landing far below another high platform. The Li brothers, dressed in jade-green Taoist robes, were as elegant as orchids and jade trees, equally attracting the attention of the crowd.

"Li Cunxiao, Li Cunxiao, are you just getting carried away, or have you prepared a surprise for us that no one can guess?" "I'm really curious."

As the sun gradually rose, the disciples and nobles waiting on the sidelines grew impatient, craning their necks and looking around anxiously.

"That's Li Cunxiao, the sect leader's personal disciple. He looks quite young."

"I heard this person is only in his early twenties, right? It's said his cultivation has already reached the Heavenly Ladder Realm. He's a prodigy. If we could arrange a marriage with him, our Marquis's mansion would be in great shape in the future."

"That's not quite right. I don't deny Li Cunxiao's talent in martial arts, but fighting and alchemy are two different things. Precisely because he's young, he had absolutely no hope of winning, which was truly reckless!"

"In this competition, only Ye Shuyi can rival Li Siqi. After all, they are both well-known and experienced. Not to mention their alchemy skills, they have seen many similar situations before."

"Yes, we don't even know where Li Cunxiao came from before. His alchemy skills are already quite poor. If he messes up on the spot, it will be quite embarrassing for him this time."

The noisy chatter came from the surrounding seats, but Li Cunxiao did not react. He simply patted Li Mucha, who was even more nervous than the person involved, and then turned and went up to the platform.

As soon as they stopped in front of the alchemy furnace, the three opponents immediately noticed each other's presence.

Ye Shuyi glanced at it briefly before turning her gaze away to inspect the alchemy furnace and materials.

Li Siqi looked at Li Cunxiao with burning eyes, her intense obsession almost written on her face.

The latter knew clearly that this persistence was not only for himself, but also for Taiyi Zhenren.

'Master, today I will prove you chose the wrong person.'

'I've waited all these years, just for this opportunity.'

'I don't aspire to be a sect leader or guild master; I simply want everyone to know that what belongs to me, I will personally claim!'

Li Siqi took a deep breath, withdrew his gaze, and began to inspect the alchemy furnace and medicinal herbs.

It is generally believed that the less malevolent energy a pill contains, the purer it is, and the higher its quality.

As weapons of slaughter and conflict, demonic artifacts are filled with malevolent energy, so they cannot be used as alchemy furnaces. However, the cost of crafting spiritual artifacts and divine weapons is too high.

At such times, a large number of "quasi-divine weapon" alchemy furnaces appear.

However, due to the varying financial resources of different alchemists, even among "quasi-divine weapons," the upper and lower limits of alchemy furnaces differ greatly.

Therefore, to ensure fairness in this competition, participants are not allowed to use their own alchemy furnaces, nor are they permitted to bring their own materials.

Under such conditions, whoever refines the highest quality pills will naturally be considered superior and win the championship.

"The challenge for this competition is the Mind-Soothing Pill, with a time limit of four hours."

"Once the refining is complete, the three sect leaders will naturally evaluate it."

Yan Daotong didn't keep them in suspense. After exchanging a few polite words, he let the three contestants come up on stage.

Ultimately, this was just a friendly sparring match between a few true disciples (inner disciples), nothing special. It was only because of the current situation and the instigation of certain individuals that it has become what it is today.

Taiyi Zhenren was originally a master of alchemy, and in principle he should have served as a judge. However, the old Taoist priest was so biased that he didn't even bother to hide it. Yan Daotong's status was already high, and it would be an overreaction for him to personally judge the case.

Therefore, the three sect leaders naturally became the referees.

As soon as he finished speaking, a disciple brought over a huge four-foot-long incense stick. Changsun Chi casually tossed it over, and wisps of green smoke rose up.

"here we go!"

The countdown began as the incense ash fell, and Li Siqi immediately began a series of fluid and graceful movements.

Ignition and temperature control, extraction and mixing, conversion between heat and heat, and sealing after ignition.
During this month, he had repeatedly reviewed the process of refining the calming pill, striving to memorize it thoroughly.

If the raw materials weren't so precious and not suitable for consumption, he probably would have refined over a hundred batches in a month of preparation.

Once he entered this state, nothing in the outside world could disturb him in the slightest; his mind was filled only with the rising flames and the medicinal herbs within them gradually changing their properties.

Although Li Siqi already knew the prescription by heart, he was not careless at all.

There were only three sets of materials for this competition, which was not a large quantity for the more difficult Dingxin Dan.

Therefore, even with his more than ten years of experience, he still dared not throw all the medicinal materials in at once in order to improve efficiency, but instead chose the safer method of refining the medicinal materials one by one.

Fortunately, after half an hour, all the materials had been successfully refined, turning into clumps of crystalline liquid, which were then enveloped in the alchemy furnace by the true essence flames.

Li Siqi breathed a sigh of relief. As long as there were no problems with the material refining, they were already halfway to success.

After all, today's competition was too important to him. During the pause to adjust his breathing, he couldn't help but look at the other two.

'Li Cunxiao has the favor of his ancestral master, who passed down the Nine-Turn Elixir Method; he will surely be no ordinary person in the future.'

'But precisely because the Nine-Turn Elixir Method is so wondrous, it's impossible for him to learn it in just one month; even getting to the basics is nearly impossible.'

'In this way, it was actually Ye Shuyi and I who had a solid foundation, allowing us to stay until the end. Sure enough, Ye Shuyi, like me, sought a safer approach, choosing to refine each step one by one.'

On another high platform, Ye Shuyi looked at the clearly separated medicinal liquids in the alchemy furnace and breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, when she first heard that Li Cunxiao had obtained the "Nine Turns Flowing Pearl" manual, she also felt a moment of psychological imbalance.

They are all chosen ones, so who would admit to being inferior to others?

But no one can question the vision of the patriarch, and she is the kind of person who would rather improve herself than complain about injustice.

She genuinely intended to exchange skills and learn from Taiyi, the master of alchemy, during this competition.

However, deep down, he also harbored a strong desire to prove that learning divine skills and secret techniques does not necessarily lead to the creation of miraculous elixirs.

True alchemists achieve their success step by step. The hard work, sweat, and thousands of days and nights of experience and accumulation cannot be easily dismissed with a simple label like "genius."

Even geniuses don't achieve their goals overnight, especially in the field of alchemy to which she has poured her heart and soul!

Thinking this, Ye Shuyi's gaze couldn't help but rise, meeting Li Siqi's, and then both of their gazes fell on Li Cunxiao.

He immediately looked surprised and confused.

In front of Li Cunxiao, the three portions of raw materials were still there, and there was no flame flickering in the alchemy furnace.

The furnace hasn't been opened yet?
Are you kidding me? !

In the distance, the thick incense sticks had burned for more than one-eighth of their length, meaning there were still three and a half hours left.

Generally speaking, it takes no less than an hour and a half to refine a calming pill.

In other words, if the first attempt to refine the essence fails within four hours, including the time needed to adjust one's true essence, one can only attempt to refine it once more.

Li Cunxiao, however, just stood there, letting half an hour pass by.
'Are you really that arrogant? Or are you just trying to get attention?'

Li Siqi frowned deeply. Although he didn't think his opponent could win from the beginning, he should go all out since they were going to compete.

It's utterly incomprehensible that someone who is at the biggest disadvantage among the three would adopt such an arrogant attitude!
“Junior Brother Li, if you only treat alchemy as a pastime or a tool for seeking fame and fortune, then this competition is not for you.”

Ok? !

These words immediately drew a sidelong glance from Li Siqi, caused Guo Zhao to facepalm, and made Changsun Chi sigh.

Despite his reputation as a "dan fanatic," even Li Siqi, his true rival, wouldn't have said such impolite things in this setting.

However, Ye Shuyi acted impulsively upon seeing her faith being disregarded. She realized her mistake halfway through her sentence, not to mention the gaze of Taiyi Zhenren cast upon her from afar.

Just as things were getting awkward, Li Cunxiao, who seemed to be lost in thought, snapped out of it and smiled slightly.

"Senior Sister Ye, you misunderstand. I am not arrogant. It's just that my pill refining speed is perhaps a bit faster than yours."

A novice who has been learning alchemy for less than two years can refine pills faster than two alchemists who have been immersed in it for many years.
Isn't this arrogant and conceited?

Before he could utter a single word, Li Siqi saw the true essence within the other party transform into a blue dragon, which rolled up most of the materials—no fewer than twenty different items in total—and was about to throw them into the alchemy furnace.

This action immediately caused Ye Shuyi to cry out in surprise:

"Wait! The medicinal herbs cannot be added all at once. This requires too much control over one's true energy, and if one is not careful, they will all be destroyed!"

"Junior brother's cultivation is inferior to ours, so there's no need to be impatient. Senior sister just spoke without thinking. In a sparring match between fellow disciples, regardless of victory or defeat, you should still refine these medicinal herbs one by one; don't waste them."

“There’s no need for that,” Li Cunxiao said, slamming his five fingers heavily on the alchemy furnace. The furnace lid opened, and the Azure Dragon, carrying medicinal herbs, rushed in before slamming it shut again.

In an instant, the flames of the Crimson Emperor's Flowing Mercury flickered and expanded, like a giant hand grasping dozens of medicinal herbs in its palm—

Refined instantly!

(End of this chapter)