Boom!
The thunderous roars rang in people’s eardrums. It then followed with a resplendent light, so glaring that they couldn’t open their eyes.
Once the light died out and the nine dragons’ roars passed, all the ingredients were gone from the sky.
But under closer attention, one could see that the nine fire dragons had changed. Within their body made of azure flames, a line coursed through them like a blood vessel.
But instead of blood, it was flowing with the ingredients extracts.
Instant refining!
The people watched Zhuo Fan incredulously.
They recalled Zhuo Fan’s Ninth Heaven Roaring Dragon Claw with which he instantly refined 3rd-grade pill ingredients. But he had now achieved the same result with hundreds of 7th-grade pill ingredients.
Such speed raised his refining skill to another level of comprehension.
Even Vicious Pill King had to admit, he could not accomplish such a feat. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken this Bone Tempering brat as his strongest adversary.
This was just the start of everyone’s shock. The greatest awe was how the nine dragons had different colored mixtures flowing through them.
Zhuo Fan just up and separated the ingredients in the instant they were refined.
Speed refining seemed simple, but it touched upon one’s control over the ingredients and his flame. A stronger flame would ruin the ingredient while a weak one wouldn’t refine them.
Regarding the difficulty of control, each successive ingredient grade would be like vaulting heaven. This was the wall that had so many alchemists standing before it, unable to advance.
Zhuo Fan’s instant refining needed absolute control, which was even harder. Not even Vicious Pill King could do it.
Zhuo Fan not only did it but went a level further in his control, separating the hundreds of ingredients into nine types.
This was something Vicious Pill King didn’t think was possible.
Some pills, especially poisons, needed the extracts divided, followed by careful mixing. The Pill King Hall’s poisoned palm was no exception.
It turned refining into a very precise task, with every ingredient refined independently. One blunder would add impurities and ruin the batch.
Yet, Zhuo Fan refined nine types of ingredients in a flash. Such accuracy was something the audience could not even begin to fathom, and this was what got Vicious Pill King so overwhelmed.
How did the world give birth to such a mystical refining skill and such an outstanding genius alchemist?
Hu~
As Vicious Pill King had known, this step was the hardest when making pills. Even Zhuo Fan couldn’t help but let out a breath when this step was completed.
The perceptive Xiao Ya knew Zhuo Fan was at a crucial step and didn’t disturb him. Now that he relaxed, she couldn’t reign in her curiosity any longer, “Grandmaster Song, what was that secret skill, it is no lie to say that it shook the world?”
“Ha-ha-ha, a mere pill array, a simple little array to help in refining.”
Zhuo Fan chuckled and turned to Vicious Pill King. His provocation, however, was loud enough for everyone to hear him, “For a high-grade pill to become a grade surpassing pill, it has to have spirituality. Using blood essence to make the heaven and earth spirit flame’s spirituality instill a spirit into the pill is one way. But that’s too dangerous. If all alchemists did it, nine out of ten would die. Truly idiotic!”
Vicious Pill King’s eyelid twitched, feeling the naked irony within. This brat was teaching him a lesson. Like a senior teaching his juniors. This stung him hard.
But Zhuo Fan’s words were correct. Vicious Pill King would’ve never braved such danger if he was but a greenhorn alchemist.
“Then, did you also instill spirituality into the pill, Grandmaster Song?” Xiao Ya asked in awe while looking at the nine majestic dragons.
Nodding, Zhuo Fan had a cocksure grin, “Spirituality is instilled only by pouring heaven and earth spirituality into the pill. A heaven and earth spirit flame has such a property, albeit incomplete. The soul of a heaven and earth spirit flame is merely formed over millions of years within the earth by accumulating the spirits of the earth. Just take out the spirits and you can instill spirituality.”
“Does that mean those gray shadows were the spirits of the earth?”
“Correct. Spirits are all around us, just that they do not persist for long, nor do they have awareness. The locations of the seven houses were chosen with dense spiritual energy in mind. A place like that gives birth to many spirits, but not just anyone can find them.”
Chuckling, Zhuo Fan pointed at the array, “In the long-forgotten past, alchemy and array were one specialty. But as there were many different sects, alchemy and arrays diverged, to the point many ancient arrays are lost. The array that I set up today is the ancient Dragon Transformation Array. It draws the spirits around and transforms them into dragon spirits. Not a true dragon, mind you, but one containing just a hint of a true dragon spirit’s might. A striking difference from a heaven and earth spirit flame’s spirituality formed over millions of years.”
Despite the shock they were in, Zhuo Fan’s words brought them further amazement. They had endless admiration for him.
This pill array was in no ancient book, moreover, no one had heard of it either. But Grandmaster Song not only had vast and widespread knowledge about all aspects but even grasped the intricacies of a pill refining array.
Considering all the secret refining skills he displayed today, there might not be a second one like him in the entire continent, least of all this empire.
An Exalted of alchemy!
Vicious Pill King couldn’t be clearer on this. However, he still clung onto a thread of hope. He may have lost in terms of refining skills, but he won over Zhuo Fan in terms of cultivation. The possibility of victory was still there.
Zhuo Fan chuckled, as if in response to Vicious Pill King’s thoughts. Zhuo Fan’s eyes flashed and his hand signs changed.
The nine fire dragons roared and whipped their tails in the center of the array.
Boom!
With an earth-shattering noise, the nine tails collided. They broke off from the dragons and crumbled down into flames that ultimately mixed together.
With another roar, the flame burst into nine dragonlings. These dragonlings’ blood vessels were of the same color, flowing azure.
The erudite found it incredulous how Zhuo Fan refined the nine concoctions into a single mix in an instant.
Instant refining again!
A moment of extreme importance, one that required perfect control, was done in a blink. This got even those grandmaster alchemists peeved.
[Grandmaster Song, your refining skill is great and all, but can you please tone it down?]
[Are you doing all the hard steps so casually just so you can rub our faces in it? Would it hurt to take at least a second while doing it?]
They were all in envy and depression over the might of such an exotic refining skill.
Roar!
The nine tailless fire dragons roared and charged to the center of the array. This time, head first.
Boom!
As before, the nine tailless dragons blended into a sea of fire. The next moment, another nine dragonlings emerged from the blaze.
And just as the first nine dragonlings, these had the same azure bloodstream.
Eighteen roaring dragonlings were truly an impressive spectacle.
“Ha-ha-ha, time to wrap it up!”
Squinting, Zhuo Fan’s hand flashed and a small bottle appeared. He opened it, releasing a soothing smell filled with vitality.
Bodhi Jade Sap!
With trembling eyes, the grandmaster alchemists watched Zhuo Fan in shock and puzzlement.
They all knew Bodhi Jade Sap was Drifting Flowers Edifice’s treasure. So how did it end up in Grandmaster Song’s deft hands? Was he Drifting Flowers Edifice’s…
It all started to make sense! But even so, the shock was immense. [Where did Drifting Flowers Edifice find this Exalted Grandmaster Song?]
In today’s alchemy competition, he smacked the face of Pill King Hall for no less than a hundred times.
The structure of Tianyu’s alchemy system was going to change. Pill King Hall was no longer at the top. Such a change had countless implications.
It was a known fact that Pill King Hall was the imperial family’s pill supplier. If they weren’t the best in Tianyu, why would the imperial family buy from them?
People started to draw conclusions.
Drifting Flowers Edifice’s Hundred Pill Meeting was a platform for Pill King Hall, to show off their own skills.
But how could the ordinary masses have known? Behind the scenes, Vicious Pill King alone had almost driven the entire Drifting Flowers Edifice to collapse. Meanwhile, Zhuo Fan was not even specifically invited by the Drifting Flowers Edifice to deal with Pill King Hall’s Vicious Pill King.
If the masses had known, they would most likely have the same expression as those from Drifting Flowers Edifice?
The two overseers were smiling. Zhuo Fan might not have been invited by them, but he was, nonetheless, Drifting Flowers Edifice’s son in law.
With Zhuo Fan at the helm, Pill King Hall would be held in check!
Chu Qingcheng was thinking the same thing. She was rejoicing that her rash action proved to be a choice with incredible implications towards better!
Only Zhuo Fan begged to differ. He was only doing what he had to…