The Strange Flame Rekindles in Battle Through the Heavens

Chapter 63 The Mischievous Liu Ling

Gu He also shook his head, not optimistic about Xiao Yan either. Although his disciples Liu Ling and Yao Yue had a very low success rate, they still had at least a one-third chance, while Xiao Yan's success rate was at most one-tenth.

The rewards for this competition are very generous, and all three people in the audience are gambling on it. After all, while the success rate of refining second-grade pills honestly is high, the chances of winning are very slim.

As time passed, Liu Ling and Princess Yaoyue had finished refining all the necessary medicinal herbs and were about to begin fusing and condensing the pill, but Xiao Yan had only refined two-thirds of the herbs.

However, Liu Ling and Yao Yue had no time to pay attention to Xiao Yan for the time being. They each took out a Qi-restoring pill from their storage rings and put it in their mouths. After all, it was clear that their current Dou Qi reserves were not enough to forcibly refine a third-grade pill.

Liu Ling and Yao Yue had reached the crucial and most difficult moment in their alchemy process. The slightest mistake could turn all the refined medicinal herbs to ashes. Both were incredibly tense, and beads of sweat were forming on their foreheads.

However, they were nervous, but someone was even more nervous than them: Chemir and Guhe. Their eyes were fixed on their disciple; every subtle movement of his touched their hearts, and they wished they could step down and refine it themselves.

Their concern for the younger generation's victory or defeat wasn't because of the rewards. Those rewards held little appeal for these advanced alchemists.

It was said that the three juniors in the audience were competing in alchemy skills, but wasn't it also a competition between the three of them in secret? This was a matter of face; which senior alchemist wouldn't want their apprentice to shine in the audience?

Both Chemir and Gu He had already concluded that even if Xiao Yan wasn't Fa Ma's disciple, the two would have some kind of connection. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so fond of him!

Although Yao Ye didn't understand alchemy, she knew the basics of medicine making and knew that her younger sister Yao Yue had entered a crucial stage. She secretly cheered her sister on. Both the Three-Pattern Azure Spirit Pill and the Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill were excellent medicines that could enhance the empire's strength, so she desperately wanted to obtain the formulas for both.

Although the empire also has elixirs to enhance strength, these elixirs all have resistance, and only by taking different elixirs can one quickly improve their strength.

Nalan Yanran's gaze, however, was strangely not on Liu Ling, not even for a second. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on Xiao Yan. The longer she spent with Xiao Yan, the more she felt that he resembled the person in her heart.

Of course, Nalan Yanran's actions did not escape Liu Ling's notice, who had been watching her closely. As a result, Liu Ling's hatred for Xiao Yan intensified, and she immediately tried even harder to prove herself.

Under the expectant gazes of the group, the medicinal herbs in Liu Ling's cauldron gradually fused together, and a rough pill gradually took shape.

Seeing the pill gradually taking shape in his disciple's medicine cauldron, Gu He breathed a sigh of relief. Based on his experience, he knew that the pill's refining was essentially successful.

Not long after Liu Ling's pill took shape, the pill in Yao Yue's cauldron also gradually took shape, slowly forming an uneven pill.

On the high platform, Chemir was overjoyed to see his apprentice nearing success. Although Yaoyue and Liuling were both refining third-grade pills, given his relationship with Fama, would Fama possibly favor an outsider? As for Xiao Yan, sorry, in Chemir's heart, he had already failed.

However, when Chemir's gaze shifted to Fama, he saw Fama looking at Xiao Yan with a solemn expression, and Gu He's eyes were also fixed on Xiao Yan. He couldn't help but glance in Xiao Yan's direction and discovered that Xiao Yan had finished refining the medicinal herbs and was now fusing them together.

"Could this kid really master it?" Chemir thought with some disbelief. He had originally intended to make a joke, but he consciously stayed in his seat and continued watching.

"Bang!" Liu Ling slammed her hand on the medicine cauldron, and with a loud bang, a pill flew out of the cauldron. Liu Ling caught the pill and placed it in a jade bottle that had been prepared beforehand, waiting for the three people on the high platform to evaluate it.

However, it was just a matter of collecting pills, there was no need to make such a big fuss. Obviously, Liu Ling did it on purpose, just to affect the two people beside her, especially Xiao Yan.

However, Xiao Yan's attention was entirely focused on refining medicine, and he had entered a state of complete absorption. Even thunder in the sky could not affect him.

Xiao Yan was unaffected, but the little princess was in a terrible state. Startled, she lost control of her flames and nearly failed. Fortunately, the pill was already mostly formed; otherwise, the herbs would have been reduced to ashes immediately after fusion.

The little princess struggled greatly before finally managing to control the flames. She continued to nurture the flames with the fire for a while before tapping the furnace and taking out the pills inside.

After taking out the pill, the little princess glared angrily at Liu Ling. Although she had always admired Liu Ling before, at this moment, she felt extremely disgusted with him.

"Sorry! I got a little excited and couldn't help myself, so I used a bit too much force!" Liu Ling was greatly disappointed to find that she had offended the little princess instead of Xiao Yan.

Chemir and Yaoye on the platform also had gloomy expressions, and their gazes towards Liu Ling became unfriendly. However, since Liu Ling had already apologized, they couldn't say anything more and had to suppress their anger, though their faces were extremely ugly.

Even Nalan Yanran's gaze toward Liu Ling changed from admiration to disgust.

"This is probably the first time my unworthy disciple has refined such a high-level pill, so he was a little excited and couldn't help but use too much force," Gu He explained somewhat embarrassedly.

Hearing Gu He's explanation, Chemir and Yao Ye's expressions softened slightly. However, when their gazes shifted to Fa Ma, they noticed that Fa Ma's eyes never left Xiao Yan. Now, only Xiao Yan was refining the item. Although they knew his chances of success were slim, they could only continue watching.

Fa Ma stared intently at Xiao Yan, every movement of Xiao Yan triggering memories for him. He recalled his own youth, when, though he was clumsy, that person had patiently guided him step by step, teaching him how to refine medicine. Although the instruction lasted only three days, it had benefited him for life, making him a top alchemist in the Jia Ma Empire.

At this moment, only three medicinal herbs remained to be fused in Xiao Yan's medicine cauldron. Everyone present stared at these three herbs in Xiao Yan's medicine cauldron; some hoped that Xiao Yan would succeed in refining them, such as the Fa Ma, but most people hoped that he would fail.

Xiao Yan stared intently at the pitted, mud-like mass in the medicine cauldron, which had already fused with seven medicinal herbs. He then used his soul perception to fuse the remaining medicinal herb with it, and then used flames to temper it once more.

Xiao Yan stared at the nearly formed pill, feeling that the time was about right, and then directly fused the remaining two medicinal materials together.

When all the medicinal herbs were fully combined, a nascent elixir slowly emerged from the cauldron.

Seeing that Xiao Yan was almost finished refining the pill, the people on the high platform all stood up and stared at him in shock. They hadn't expected that Xiao Yan would actually be able to refine a pill that was at least at the peak of the third grade.

"Even if you succeed, so what? At most, it will only be a third-grade refinement, which may not be as good as mine." Seeing that Xiao Yan was about to succeed, Liu Ling was unwilling and could only console herself.

(End of this chapter)