Chapter 77: Blade Mountain Elimination Competition
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor:
Shi Jun said slightly nervously, "Wuji, ever since that time where you were by my side, I have never succeeded in concocting the Channel Solidifying Pill. Your luck must help me this time ah. If I cannot concoct the Channel Solidifying Pill, I'm finished."
Shi Jun had a lot of trust in Mo Wuji. In the cultivation world, luck was not an illusory thing; some people were able to rise above others because they had greater luck.
However, Mo Wuji did not understand how luck was involved. He was also a little nervous as he whispered to Shi Jun, "Pill Master Shi, I actually have another method, it's called Lucky Contact. We just need a bucket of water. I will wash the ingredients with my hands, and that would help to spread the luck. Your success rate would definitely be at least two times more than usual."
"No problem, I will get someone to bring a bucket of water." With that, Shi Jun muttered a few words to the disciples who were carrying in the pill furnace. Sure enough, the disciples brought in a bucket of water in less than a minute.
"Pill Master Shi, what are you doing exactly?" someone immediately asked.
Shi Jun replied calmly, "I intend to wash each of my ingredients to increase my success rate. Wuji, I will be concocting the pill soon, so I will leave this washing job to you."
Seeing Shi Jun call Mo Wuji over to wash the ingredients, the people in the hall started to have an understanding on why Shi Jun wanted an ingredient boy in the first place. After all, this was a job for the ingredient boy and not the pill refiner. At the same time, they also didn't question about washing the ingredients. Every pill refiner had their own methods, so there was nothing wrong with that.
Shi Jun's pill furnace was the second from the right while Pill Master Ju's pill furnace was the third from the right; coincidentally, they were neighbours. When Mo Wuji saw that, he couldn't help but curse his bad luck.
The fact was, Shi Jun called Mo Wuji here so that Mo Wuji could help him. On the other hand, Mo Wuji had come here to observe how the other pill refiners concoct pills.
The person Mo Wuji hoped to see the most was Yan Qianyin. After all, she was a Tier 4 pill refiner. As an Earth Pill Refiner, her methods must definitely be above the rest. Unfortunately, it wasn't Yan Qianyin beside him. It was only after threee other pill refiners got into position that Mo Wuji discover that Yan Qianyin did not even come down at all.
Mo Wuji quickly discovered the reason: As a Earth Pill Refiner, Yan QIanyin did not need to personally come down.
"My Formless Blade Mountain has not been opened for a thousand years. To raise the capabilities of our pill refiners, we will be specially opening it. As the resources in the mountain are limited, only seven people are allowed in. Initially, our Formless Blade Sect only had four Tier 3 pill refiners and one Tier 4 pill refiner, who will not be participating in our sect's internal pill concocting competition. The ones competing in this elimination competition are the five newly advanced Tier 3 pill refiners. Out of the five, only two can enter the Formless Blade Mountain. Everyone will have two tries to concoct a Tier 3 pill. Let the competition begin," Seeing the five pill refiners get into position, the sect head announced loudly.
Mo Wuji only just discovered that only seven people can enter the Formless Blade. If you were to include the ingredient boys, there would only be 14 people entering. Previously, when he saw the crowds discussing in the Hall of Affairs, he thought that many people could enter the mountain.
Shi Jun promised him a chance to enter the Formless Blade Mountain if the pill concoction succeeded. In light of the numbers, this was really a huge favour.
Mo Wuji noticed that all the pill refiners had a red firestone underneath their pull furnaces. A huge flame burned below the furnace, and this red firestone seemed to be able to adjust the strength of the fire.
Shi Jun also ignited the flame as he prepared to clean his furnace.
Mo Wuji started immersing the ingredients into the bucket of water, washing each and everyone of them. Only the Green Fire Fruit wasn't added to the water. Instead, it was coated with the Water Velvet Vine juice which he kept in his sleeves.
After washing two batches of ingredients, Mo Wuji left them to the side to dry.
At the same time, Shi Jun had also finished cleaning his furnace, and was starting to concoct the Channel Solidifying Pill.
Mo Wuji had seen Shi Jun concoct pills before, and in all honesty, it wasn't really nice to look at. His eyes then landed on Pill Master Ju and he discovered that this Ju fella was the most capable one among the five competitors.
Mo Wuji wasn't clear what pill Pill Master Ju was concocting. However, his techniques were more natural than Shi Jun, and his actions were far more elegant.
Mo Wuji discovered that this Ju fella did not use any spatula whatsoever. He solely used the pill furnace to refine the ingredients within.
Towards the end, Pill Master Ju even inserted his hand into the hot and steaming pill furnace to move the ingredients. His hand did not even look like it was affected by the heat. With this, Mo Wuji was sure that Pill Master Ju was better than the other four, and his methods were far superior to Shi Jun’s 'Doggie Paddle'.
Not even an hour passed before Mo Wuji heard a loud 'Bang!'. He saw that the pill refiner who was first from the left had a face covered with ash and grime. Ostensibly, he failed in his concoction, and his pill furnace exploded.
At this moment, Mo Wuji heard another 'Bang!'. A wave of hot air rushed towards him, causing him to subconsciously take a few steps back. When he regained his bearings, he discovered that it was Shi Jun's furnace which exploded.
It looked like this Pill Master Shi's mentality was not focused; he was affected by the failure of the other pill refiner.
Seeing Shi Jun's dispirited expression, Mo Wuji hurried to say, "Pill Master Shi, you still have one batch of ingredients, there's still an opportunity to succeed. Think about it, if not for that other guy's failure affecting you, you would definitely have succeeded. Furthermore, no one would have a 100% success rate when concocting pills."
Listening to Mo Wuji's words, Shi Jun's spirit was lifted. That's right! Which pill refiner would have a 100% success rate?
Mo Wuji heaved a sigh of relief as he saw Shi Jun regain his spirits. Shi Jun's success or failure would affect his chances to enter the Formless Blade Mountain. If he could enter the Formless Blade Mountain, he could obtain large amounts of spiritual ingredients to practice purification. That would help him to advance to the next milestone in pill refining.
He was a mere service disciple. It was almost impossible for him to obtain large amounts of spiritual ingredients to practise purification. His future success would be tied onto Shi Jun. If Shi Jun succeeded, he would have a chance of succeeding in the future.
When Shi Jun started on his second batch of Channel Solidifying Pills, Mo Wuji noticed that Pill Master Ju had already finished purifying the ingredients, and was expelling the medicinal dregs.
Just now, there were two consecutive explosions. Furthermore, Shi Jun's explosion was right beside Pill Master Ju. However, he did not seem to be a half bit affected and continued with his work. Even if his concoction ends up failing, Mo Wuji could not help but be impressed with him.
Another half an hour passed. Shi Jun had finished purifying his ingredients while Pill Master Ju's pill furnace was emitting a faint pill aroma. Mo Wuji signed in his heart; Pill Master Ju was indeed capable. Unless Mo Wuji hurls the bucket of water at his pill furnace, Pill Master Ju's first batch of pills was definitely going to succeed. One of the two places was definitely his. Shi Jun could only fight for the last place with the other three pill refiners.
Fortunately, the other three pill refiners had all failed in their first batch of ingredients. This time around, Shi Jun wasn't affected by the other two's pill explosion. At this moment, Shi Jun had already expelled the medicinal dregs and fused the medicinal essences. He was starting to condense the pill itself.
Just as Mo Wuji was retracting his gaze from Pill Master Ju, he felt a pair of eyes landing on him. He subconsciously lifted his head up to see the Tier 4 pill refiner, Yan Qianyin, staring at him. When their eyes met, she even nodded at Mo Wuji.
However, Mo Wuji wasn't worried. He had borrowed the wooden bucket to coat the Water Velvet Vine juice onto the Green Fire Fruit. He was sure that no one else saw what he was doing.
At this moment, a strong pill aroma wafted over. Mo Wuji turned to look at Pill Master Ju. Sure enough, he was extracting a few pills from his furnace, directly sending them into a prepared jade vase.
This fella was really the first to finishing concocting a batch of pills. Even though Mo Wuji was dissatisfied, there was nothing much he could do. He could only focus on Shi Jun and pray that his current batch must not fail.