Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Choosing what flames to use for pill refinement was also a type of skill.
Right now, An Lin had six flames to choose from—Demonic Star Flame, Great Holy Flame, Setting Moon Flame, Heavenly Void Flame, Mutant Blood Phoenix Flame, and Holy Vermilion Bird Flame. If he included the Golden Dragon Flame from the Divine Flame Bead, then he had seven flames to choose from.
The choice of flames would depend on what pill one wanted to refine.
The more control one had over their flames, the lower the chance of making mistakes during pill refinement. Moreover, a high-quality flame could improve the essence of a pill, giving it more spirituality and divinity. The overall rank and quality of the pill would also be given a boost.
An Lin was refining a ninth-rank spirit pill; what would he care about quality? He would thank the heavens if he didn’t make any mistakes. Thus, he was naturally going to pick the flame that he was most familiar with.
In fact, Xu Xiaolan wasn’t using a holy flame either. Rather, she was using a golden-colored divine flame.
Xu Xiaolan’s slender hands danced through the air like butterflies, and herbs flew into her pill refinement cauldron one after another. Her motions were fluid and elegant.
An Lin was in a trance as he gazed at her. As expected, focused beauties are the most enchanting!
After staring for a while, he finally regained his senses and reached a decision in his mind.
Demonic Star Flame, you’re the one!
This was the first divine flame that An Lin had obtained. It was a flame that was fierce yet precise.
Boom!
A purple flame burst to life under the pill refinement cauldron.
An Lin lacked the skills to be as fluid as Xu Xiaolan, and he was extremely careful every time he added an ingredient. As he placed new ingredients in, he also took extreme care to control his flames. This was necessary to prevent his cauldron from exploding.
Pill refinement looked fairly boring on the surface, but it was actually a very stimulating process.
One tiny blunder, and one’s efforts might all go to waste.
An Lin was unable to emulate Xu Xiaolan’s elegance, and he was more so unable to emulate Yi Xi’s habit of dancing as he refined pills. All he could do was to baby his pill with extreme care.
Was it boring?
No!
It was freakin’ fun!
Right now, it was as though An Lin was carefully nurturing a life form. There was no room for error. Once he succeeded, he would be instilled with a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
Boom!
There was an explosion, and a miserable wail suddenly traveled over from nearby.
A being had lost control of its flame and blown up its pill refinement cauldron.
“Eliminated!” A ray of light suddenly descended from the spell formation and destroyed that competitor’s competition card.
The cat beast left the dao plaza dejectedly. As it walked past An Lin, it inadvertently glanced at him. Its pupils contracted in shock. “This flame… It’s actually a divine flame?!”
Divine flames possessed extraordinarily pure flame powers, and they also possessed a sense of divinity.
Right now, An Lin was focused on refining his pill. When he heard this surprised yelp, he replied with an enigmatic smile. Then, he continued to refine his pill.
Heh… So it turns out that divine flames are this rare?
It felt fairly satisfying that he was also able to flex with this.
One hour later.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Waves of exploding energies boomed one after another.
This was the phenomenon that appeared when spirit pills were born into the world.
Of course, the majority of these explosions were a result of failed pill refinement attempts. Following these explosions, numerous competitors were eliminated from the competition.
An Lin didn’t know how many people had been eliminated either. He was completely focused on the task before him.
“Master’s Wife, I know you can do it!” Xiao Ze watched the competition anxiously.
“Why aren’t you cheering Master on?” the Jade Bone Immortal Butterfly asked in confusion as it landed on Xiao Ze’s shoulder.
“Master is there to accompany Xu Xiaolan; what’s the point of cheering for him? He’s not going to place in the top one hundred anyway. He’s just there to experience the competition atmosphere.” Xiao Ze had a look of indifference as he spoke.
“Can’t place in the top one hundred? That’s not a foregone conclusion. I reckon that Master is fairly capable!”
Xiao Ze ignored the blindly worshipping butterfly.
However, Dongfang Zhuangshi also chimed in at this moment, “An Lin is indeed fairly capable. His performance is not outstanding, but it’s solid and steady. If we disregard the freakish talents and compare him to the other competitors, his performance is arguably very impressive ”
Xiao Ze was slightly dazed. Even Dongfang Zhuangshi thought this? He finally turned his attention toward that male. The more he looked, the more surprised he became.
…
Time flew by.
Xu Xiaolan finally completed her pill refinement.
A sparkling and crystal clear spirit pill radiated in mid-air.
She was extremely satisfied with her pill. This pill is enough to place me in the top one hundred, right? Otherwise, the competitors are way too freakish!
She turned her gaze toward An Lin, who was currently manipulating his divine flame. His actions weren’t elegant, yet they were very orderly. His handsome face was a picture of concentration.
She fell into a trance as she stared at him.
As expected… focused males are the most handsome!
An Lin’s pill refinement skills contained some imperfections. Usually, Xu Xiaolan wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to point them out and correct them. However, she wasn’t able to do this right now. Once she did this, both of them would be disqualified.
She could only watch him quietly.
An Lin knew that Xu Xiaolan was watching him, so he put in even more effort.
Humans, right? When they were being watched by someone they liked, they would always want to perform better.
Unexpectedly, he put in too much effort. His flames became too fierce, and he almost incinerated an ingredient.
Xu Xiaolan let out a startled yelp. An Lin shuddered, and he immediately stabilized his flame.
Remedy, I must remedy this situation! At the very least, I need to succeed in refining this spirit pill!
An Lin gave one hundred and twenty percent effort to refine this pill.
Boom!
Finally, the pill left the cauldron. Success!
Sweat trickled down An Lin’s forehead, and he gazed at the pill in his hand in delight. This was a ninth-rank spirit pill! Although it was a ninth-rank spirit pill with a crude appearance, it was still a spirit pill, no?
“An Lin, beautifully done! You’ve improved!” Xu Xiaolan was all smiles as she praised him.
An Lin glanced at the female beside him in satisfaction. “It’s just so-so,” he replied modestly. “It’s just a tad better than ordinary people.”
In all honesty, he really couldn’t flex when it came to pill refinement. Even the piss-weak dragon next to him could ridicule him.
With this in mind, An Lin involuntarily glanced toward Grey.
Upon seeing the pill that Grey was refining, he almost wanted to spit out a mouthful of blood.
“Pfff… You’re this f*cking weak?”
An Lin felt like some image in his mind had crumbled. The black dragon beside him had just reached the pill condensation stage. However, judging by the energy fluctuations of the pill, it was also a f*cking ninth-rank spirit pill!
“A mighty pill refiner like you is actually refining a ninth-rank spirit pill?!
“How are you going to enter the top one hundred with a ninth-rank spirit pill? By relying on your cauldron?”
An Lin’s eyes were wide with disbelief.
Grey’s face twitched. He really wanted to let loose a torrent of abuse. However, he was performing pill condensation right now, and he couldn’t let his concentration slip.
He suddenly opened his jaws. “Puff!” A burst of dragon flames washed over his spirit pill.
Boom!
A ripple of energy exploded outward. Pill condensation successful!
“Hahahaha… I succeeded! I finally refined a spirit pill!” Grey jumped about in joy. He was giggling like a giant child.
An Lin’s expression darkened. You merely refined a ninth-rank spirit pill… Is there any need to be so happy?
To think that he had expected something more from Grey… He was clearly full of hot air!
Duang!
The bell tolled, and the competition came to a sudden end.
Many competitors who were yet to finish sighed.
As for those who had completed their pill refinement, their competition cards and pills were all pulled toward the sky by some mysterious force. Then, they all landed in Meimei’s hands.
A powerful divine sense swept over them.
“Successfully refined pills, one hundred and twenty-five. Unsuccessful pills, thirty-five.
“This time, only ninety competitors have won the right to become disciples of the Pill Tower!
“The rank of Xu Xiaolan’s pill is the highest. It’s a fifth-rank pinnacle stage spirit pill1! After that, we have Rika, Black Sword Lord, Ban Yue, Julia… An Lin, and Grey!
“Congratulations on making it through to the second round!”
The massive crowd of spectators started cheering. Their thunderous shouts reverberated through heaven and earth.
These ninety competitors were the future of the Pill Tower. They would also become the pillars that held the Pill Tower up. Thus, the cheers at this moment were understandably thunderous and unrestrained.
Grey was head over heels with joy. “Haha… My dream has finally become a reality! I can finally enter the Pill Tower to study! This is a supreme honor!”
Amid the boundless cheers, there were two people who were dumbfounded. They felt like they were living in a dream.
An Lin was stupefied. “I made it into the top one hundred?”
Xu Xiaolan was also dazed. “I just refined something casually, yet I came first?”
