Thunk!
After a muffled sound, numerous spectators saw that the psychic power saber had been inserted directly into that puny shield. It had gone a few centimeters in, but it was firmly embedded inside. It couldn’t shatter the shield at all. Naturally, it was also impossible to wreck Gu Zuo’s pill refining.
Gu Zuo treated this as nothing. He was completely unaffected as he continuously performed hand seals.
With his current realm and robust accumulations, Immortal Realm medicinal pills were incapable of causing him any trouble. Right now, his success rate for refining Immortal Realm pills was equal to his success rate for when he once refined Xiantian and Houtian pills. So long as he wanted, refining a full set of pills was no problem.
This time around, Gu Zuo held nothing back in order to let Hu Chang’an, his life-saving benefactor, vent his anger. Although he had never refined the Three Aperture Pill before, he was careful and meticulous. He was afraid of causing a reduction in the number of medicinal pills due to a moment of carelessness. He was cautious with every step of the way.
…In the end, prudence had its uses.
On the other side, when Wu Ziqi discovered that his attack was ineffective, he switched to earnestly refining his own pills. Meanwhile, Gu Zuo’s pill cauldron was undergoing many changes. This caused the medicinal liquid to quickly assemble together, and it formed into medicinal pills.
After nearly an hour passed, the insides of the cauldron emitted pleasant chirps. At the same time, an exotic fragrance assailed the senses. Because the standardized cauldron’s capabilities were simple and crude, it couldn’t isolate the changes within it. As a result, the aroma quickly spread everywhere. It was incomparably rich — With a slight sniff, people would feel worry-free from head to toe as it penetrated deeply into their hearts.
Although Hu Chang’an wasn’t a pharmacist, he had experience in distinguishing medicinal pills. Just by sniffing the fragrance, he couldn’t helping revealing a smiling expression: “These medicinal pills are superb.”
Hu Changbi and Hu Changfeng smiled one after another: “Big Brother Ah Zuo is awesome! It’s been a long time since anyone has refined such pills. It seems that this pill fragrance is even more pure than what many of our clan’s outstanding pharmacists can make! That Wu Ziqi says that he’s amazing, but he can’t refine as quickly as Big Brother Ah Zuo!”
Hu Chang’an faintly nodded his head: “If I haven’t guessed incorrectly, what Brother Ah Zuo has refined might be flawless pills…”
Hu Changbi widened her eyes in astonishment: “Really?”
Hu Chang’an smiled at her: “There’s a very big possibility.”
Hu Changfeng also exclaimed in admiration: “Big Brother Ah Zuo is like a lofty immortal. He wouldn’t show his true form to just anyone. Maybe this time, we can…”
A large amount of confidence sprung up unbidden within Hu Chang’an and Hu Changbi’s hearts.
Granted that the Wu Clan had forced the situation, they, the Hu Clan, were no pushovers!
Unlike the joy of the Hu Clan on this side, the Wu Clan on that side weren’t particularly delighted.
Someone behind Third Young Master Wu quietly said: “Third young master, nothing unexpected should happen, right?”
Third Young Master Wu swept a glance over the three siblings who couldn’t conceal their happiness, and revealed a sneer: “This is just the first round. What does it matter? It’s merely the Three Aperture Pill, and it isn’t hard at all. That trash came from who knows where — He can refine one type of pill, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there won’t be any problems later on. Although Ziqi is young, his studies span extensive fields, and he can refine many unorthodox medicinal pills. What kind of foundation does that Ah Zuo have? We just have to watch him make a fool of himself!”
Several parties on the outside had different reactions. However, Gu Zuo was concentrating on pill refinement, and didn’t pay them any attention.
Right now, he was already receiving the pills.
The pill cauldron produced a peal of clattering sounds. Gu Zuo fingers moved continuously, and formed several afterimages. Shortly thereafter, quite a few hand seals were made, which entered the cauldron and repeatedly tethered those medicinal pills.
Suddenly, the cauldron lid popped off. Following this, several pills launched out, and were pulled by Gu Zuo’s Pill Receiving Seal. They fell into the tray in front of him.
These three medicinal pills were the Three Aperture Pills, which suited Immortal Realm martial artists. The maximum number of formed pills also happened to be three pills.
After collecting the pills, Gu Zuo stayed seated.
This was because Gu Zuo’s neighbor, that Wu Ziqi, was still in the process of pill refining. However, looking at his posture, he was also at the finishing stages. In probably a few more minutes, he would smoothly receive his pills.
Merely, the present situation was that Wu Ziqi’s pill refining speed was a step slower than Gu Zuo’s. As such, unless he refined a full set of pills and that those pills were of a higher quality, then he would lose.
Sure enough, after a short period, Wu Ziqi collected his pills without a hitch. Similarly, three pills fell onto the tray in front of him.
After that, it was time to inspect the quality of the medicinal pills.
The two of them put away their psychic powers. Gu Zuo took his tray, and stood up. Wu Ziqi did the same.
The two stood before Hu Chang’an and Third Young Master Wu. They were going to be this instance’s pill refining inspectors. In this public space with numerous people, for the sake of the two clans’ prestige, they certainly wouldn’t make any unfair determinations during the judging.
Hu Chang’an gave a sweeping glance, and saw that the Three Aperture Pills the two refined were tricolored. Moreover, the colored sheen roamed and wandered, and the color and luster were full. The pills were sparkling and translucent, pure and limpid. It was very beautiful.
There didn’t seem to be any different appearances with a cursory gaze. However, for the specifics, it was better to get closer to do a careful examination.
Hence, Hu Chang’an first took one of the Three Aperture Pills that Gu Zuo refined. He appraised it with Third Young Master Wu: “This pill is… This Hu believes that this is a grade twelve pill.”
As he spoke, Hu Chang’an couldn’t conceal his smiling expression.
Third Young Master Wu’s expression stayed the same, but a trace of astonishment flickered in his eyes. He took a deep breath, and carefully observed this medicinal pill. As expected, he discovered that there wasn’t the slightest feeling of roughness amid the roving three colors. In addition, after scrapping a little bit with his fingernail for a taste test, he felt that the medicinal power was pure. There wasn’t even a hint of impurities.
After a while, although Third Young Master Wu wasn’t willing, he still nodded his head in agreement: “Indeed. It’s a grade twelve flawless pill.”
Hu Chang’an’s smile became even happier.
Following this, Third Young Master Wu took out one of the pills that Wu Ziqi refined, and evaluated it in front of the two people. However, this time, he furrowed his brows and only spoke after observing it for a long while: “This is a grade nine pill.”
Without any objections, Hu Chang’an said: “Indeed. It’s grade nine.”
Grade nine and grade twelve — Also, the term “flawless” was tacked on right after the “grade twelve” designation. Even though Gu Zuo wasn’t too knowledgeable about this place’s ranking division, he more or less understood that he had won decisively over the judgment for this first round’s medicinal pills.
Wu Ziqi’s complexion was stiff. He almost didn’t dare to believe that he was actually inferior.
Immediately after this, Hu Chang’an and Third Young Master Wu assessed the remaining two pills for both competitors. Absolutely nothing unexpected happened for Gu Zuo. Each pill was a grade twelve flawless pill. And as for Wu Ziqi? The product grades for his three pills were pretty good, but the remaining two pills were both grade eight pills. As it turned out, they weren’t even grade nine.
After the judging was finished, Wu Ziqi lost thoroughly. The spectators also couldn’t help inwardly praising the Hu Clan — Even a scrawny camel was bigger than a horse. This veteran medicine-refining aristocratic family was superior to the Wu Clan.
Third Young Master Wu still had a smile on his face, but his mood wasn’t happy.
After the pill fragrance from Gu Zuo’s cauldron wafted out, he did think that Wu Ziqi would lose the opening match, but he didn’t expect that Wu Ziqi would lose this miserably. Not only did the Hu Clan win, three flawless pills also came out! Were flawless pills so easy to refine? Their Wu Clan was such a large aristocratic family, and it had so many pharmacists. However, the number of flawless pills it could produce was no more than a measly hundred!
Heaving a long sigh, Third Young Master Wu elegantly said: “This time is my Wu Clan’s loss. Sure enough, the Hu Clan is no small matter. As such, Young Lord Hu, why don’t we continue to the second round?”
Hu Chang’an looked at Gu Zuo.
He didn’t know if the present levels of true qi within Gu Zuo were enough or not. After all, Gu Zuo wasn’t an Immortal Realm…
Gu Zuo nodded at Hu Chang’an, indicating that he wasn’t under any pressure.
Hu Chang’an set aside his worries. Turning his head to Third Young Master Wu, he spoke confidently: “Might as well.”
Third Young Master Wu coldly harrumphed in his mind, but he didn’t show it on his face: “In that case, draw the lots.”
Previously, the Hu Clan had blurted out such big words, so at this time, it was still Wu Ziqi who would choose the next topic.
Wu Ziqi reached out a hand, and clutched one of the next two paper balls. Just like last time, the short note he grabbed was written by the Wu Clan. And when this slip of paper was opened, the corner of his mouth couldn’t help curling into a slight grin.
He would certainly win this time!
[Profound Infusing Pill, a golden-level pill suitable for Atomic Realm martial artists. The pill prescription will be self-drafted. Those with destroyed pills will lose. Those with unformed pills will lose. Those who exceed the time-limit will lose. Medicinal pills below grade four will not be counted. Because this medicinal pill skips a grade, the duration of the pill battle is changed to four hours.]
Gu Zuo’s heart suddenly jumped.
Profound Infusing Pill? Wasn’t this the most commonly-seen medicinal pill that Atomic Realms took to replenish their profound qi? Although it was the simplest type to refine among the golden-level pills, under normal circumstances, the psychic power realm needed to have reached the Core Psyche Realm and the true qi realm needed to have reached the Immortal Realm to be able to refine it.
As of now, his psychic power realm had met the requirements, but his true qi realm was lacking by one large realm… No matter how robust his accumulations, this discrepancy still existed.
After the contents were revealed, the other spectators who had gradually gathered were all shocked.
What the hell was the Wu Clan planning to do? With two human-level pharmacists, and ones so young, the slip of paper they had written during the spar required a type of golden-level medicinal pill? This was too childish! Whether the two exploded their cauldrons or failed to refine the pills, who would win and who would lose in the end? Was this specially used to set up a tie?
But there were also some people who keenly sensed something.
Since the Wu Clan wrote this content, did it mean that the participant, Wu Ziqi, could actually refine the Profound Infusing Pill?
The three Hu Clan siblings felt like their hearts had stopped.
Previously, that Third Young Master Wu really seemed to have mentioned that Wu Ziqi was a human-level pharmacist who could refine a small number of golden-level pills… Could it be that he was talking about this?
On the contrary, Gu Zuo wasn’t too panicked.
He didn’t think that he was bound to lose. There were so many golden-level pill prescriptions in his possession. Although he would always fail in the beginning, it was frequently due to deficiencies in true qi and because he couldn’t persist in the refinement. But at that time, wasn’t he only at the Coalescing Psyche Realm? Currently, he was at the Core Psyche Realm, and his success rate had definitely risen.
Besides, while his opponent’s true qi realm was indeed higher than his own, his opponent’s psychic power realm was only at the Coalescing Psyche Realm. Compared to Gu Zuo, this was inferior. Both of them had a condition that hadn’t been reached. Neither person held an advantage over the other. Victory and defeat were at equal odds!
After such determinations, Gu Zuo calmly and unhurriedly prepared the medicinal ingredients. He conscientiously handled the herbs, warmed the cauldron, and completed other such matters.
At the same time, a small, wobbling shield appeared at a position next to him. It still didn’t look that sturdy, but at this moment, it was trained towards Wu Ziqi’s direction.
Wu Ziqi breathed calmly, and also started warming his cauldron.
T/N: For those wondering, the Profound Infusing Pill is the stage after the Qi Infusing Pill, which is suitable for Immortal Realm martial artists. This pill is part of the same family of pills as the Qi Gathering Pill. The Qi Infusing Pill was first mentioned in Chapter 198.
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