Chapter 368: Chapter 368: The Three Arena Leaders
At every historic Pill Refiner’s Assembly, the most exciting part is certainly the last segment called Alchemy Tao Challenge.
The so-called Alchemy Tao Challenge involves the genius pill refiners of three countries co-selecting three challengers. The rest of the contestants can choose to challenge one of them. The successful challenger becomes the new host and continues receiving challenges.
If one sustains five rounds undefeated, they can become the real host and no longer need to accept further challenges.
The last three hosts standing will face off in a final showdown. The victor becomes the strongest host and is guaranteed a place in the Pill Pole Tower.
From a rules perspective, the Alchemy Tao Challenge is quite fair. Everyone has a chance, and it’s not guaranteed you’ll remain in the host position.
At this moment, the genius pill refiners from the three countries had already selected their three hosts.
The names of these three were already guessed by everyone. As expected, they were exactly as anticipated.
Zhao Shenkong representing Yun Country, Su Xiaotong from Qian Country, and Guo Zhen from Meng Kingdom, were doubtless the three hosts chosen by everyone.
Three towering platforms were already built. The three of them had already ascended their platforms and were now looking down at all the attendees.
“Who do you think can stick to the end among these three hosts?”
“It must be Zhao Shenkong.”
“I also think it’s Zhao Shenkong.”
“Guo Zhen and Su Xiaotong are not weak either.”
“I’m afraid all three will stick to the end.”
“Could be.”
Everyone gazed at the three hosts, fussing and discussing. As far as most people were concerned, it should not be a problem for Zhao Shenkong to withstand five rounds of challenges. The real problem perhaps is determining who is the strongest of the three in the final showdown.
“Now, you can choose to challenge any of the hosts. The challenge topic is the Dew Pill,” a Pill Alliance steward loudly informed the crowd.
The Dew Pill is a third-grade pill, not too difficult to refine, and is also a quite commonly seen potion that tests the basic skills of a Pill Refiner.
For this part of the competition, pill refiners can freely display their skills. There are no restrictions on pill furnaces, materials, etc.
Put simply, if you have a good pill furnace, use it. If you have a Soul Commanding Pill Fire, you can also use it. In sum, play to your strengths and do your best to defeat your opponent.
Such rules may seem unfair, but in practice, they are very reasonable.
After all, a challenge is where the weak challenge the strong. Artificially restricting the power of the strong to let the weak gain a fair situation would not be right.
Once the Pill Alliance Stewart finished speaking, the venue was quiet for a while. None acted rashly; all were secretly weighing their options.
For several people from Qian Country, if they were to choose someone to challenge, they naturally should choose between Guo Zhen and Zhao Shenkong.
After all, Su Xiaotong is from Qian Country as well. So, it would be a bit unpleasant to challenge her.
The other two countries had the same idea. They wouldn’t challenge the host from their own camp and would first pick hosts selected by the other two countries.
However, these three hosts were able to be chosen, which naturally meant they’re extremely powerful. Everyone accepted as fact that none of them was an easy target, and if they failed to win the challenge, they could not choose from the other two hosts.
If all three hosts were to be challenged and failed, the challenger would lose the qualification to continue in the competition.
So, for the challengers, there were only three opportunities to challenge. Once defeated, they’d have to humbly step aside and allow those with a better chance to proceed with their challenge.
In historic Pill Refiners Assemblies, it was very rare for hosts to be defeated since those who were elected were all very strong. They were not easy to beat, quite the contrary.
However, there were always exceptions. Three hundred years ago, a little-known young man defeated the then-renowned most powerful host in one strike.
He still actively participates in the Pill Alliance today and has now become a top-tier figure.
But incidents like that are quite rare. Having been elected as a host, their strength was quite convincing and not expected to be easily challenged.
“I challenge Su Xiaotong!” Suddenly, someone from Yun Country stood out from the crowd and shouted.
Everyone looked over and started laughing. It was Chu He who had lost to Fang Lin in the eye strength competition.
Chu He was currently bottling up severe frustration and needed an outlet, or he’d explode.
Even though he knew it wasn’t wise to be the first one challenging a host, Chu He couldn’t care less. He wanted to gamble. If he could defeat Su Xiaotong, he’d be satisfied even if he couldn’t hold out for five rounds.
Of course, while the thought was beautiful, reality was cruel.
When Su Xiaotong brought out her pill furnace, Chu He was instantly disheartened.
“OMG! What’s going on with this pill furnace?”
“Am I seeing this correctly?”
“It’s the Green Dragon Bone Cauldron!”
Everyone exclaimed in surprise. Su Xiaotong’s pill furnace was indeed made from a Flood Dragon Bone, marked with a dense array, making it one of the rare top-tier pill furnaces.
Although the Flood Dragon is inferior to the True Dragon, it still has dragon lineage and is incredibly strong, making it very difficult to kill.
To take a Flood Dragon Bone to make a pill furnace was nearly suicidal unless a real powerhouse lends a hand.
And yet, Su Xiaotong possesses such a furnace, which is truly unimaginable.
“No, it’s not a complete Flood Dragon Bone but rather a powder made from Flood Dragon Bone fragments mixed in. The main material is actually a python’s backbone.” An elder with sharp vision saw through the disguise and announced.
Upon hearing this, many people sighed in relief upon taking a second look and confirming it was not a pill furnace completely made from Flood Dragon Bone. If it were, it would truly be monstrous and not something a Three Cauldrons Pill Refiner should possess. Such a furnace would be coveted by all.
Even though the furnace was mostly made from a python’s backbone and mixed with Flood Dragon Bone powder, its grade was still very high. It was extremely luxurious for a Three Cauldrons Pill Refiner to use.
Chu He was dumbfounded! How could they continue the competition like this?
Chu He also had a good pill furnace, but compared to Su Xiaotong’s furnace, there was a vast gap. On the aspect of the pill furnace alone, he had lost.
However, since he had already declared a challenge against Su Xiaotong, he couldn’t just simply admit defeat after seeing her showcase her pill furnace, right?
Helpless, Chu He had to climb the platform with a stiff face. Looking at Su Xiaotong innocently standing there, Chu He was lamenting inwardly.
In the end, Chu He lost, as expected. There was no suspense, nor anyone laughing at him.
“I challenge Guo Zhen!” Just when Chu He descended from the platform with embarrassment, another voice echoed.
Everyone turned their heads to see, and it was Fang Lin who stood up.
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