Starting as a supporting character in Doupo

Page 435

"Don't let me find out who it is! Otherwise, I'll make them pay!"

Cao Ying said resentfully, then looked at the contestants on the floating stone platform and said, "Thanks to him, I wonder how many contestants in this year's Alchemy Competition will be blocked in the second stage because they cannot collect enough medicinal materials."

Although she said that, Cao Ying's tone showed no sympathy whatsoever.

After all, in her opinion, she could count the number of her opponents in this alchemy competition on one hand, and she didn't take the others seriously; they were just there to make up the numbers.

Cao Ying's gaze swept across the floating stone platform, noticing that there were nearly a third fewer people than in previous alchemy gatherings. Then she spotted Xiao Yan, who was meditating with his eyes closed in a corner, and a hint of fighting spirit flashed in her eyes.

During the assessment of the five major families, she had a brief exchange with Xiao Yan, and his soul strength was in no way inferior to hers. In her opinion, this disciple of Xiao Fan was probably also a worthy opponent to watch out for.

Dan Chen, who had been keeping an eye on Cao Ying, also focused his attention on Xiao Yan. He naturally knew what had happened at the assessment site, and looking at Xiao Yan's youthful appearance, Dan Chen felt a surge of curiosity.

"To be able to go toe-to-toe with Cao Ying, it seems there really are hidden talents among them..."

The people of Dan Tower, looking at the contestants on the floating stone platform, also clearly noticed something strange. However, after reporting it, they received the order that the Dan Conference would proceed as scheduled.

"Boom~~"

As the long bell rang, the second stage of the Pill Gathering assessment came to a complete end. Those participants in the Pill Realm who had not yet successfully gathered all the materials had no chance to continue the competition and were eliminated from the finals.

"Whoosh! Buzz buzz buzz~"

Just then, the array around the floating stone platforms began to glow, and those floating stone platforms without participants slowly sank and then disappeared. Only a little over a hundred floating stone platforms remained in the sky.

Alchemists from all over the continent have gathered here, and now, the most outstanding one hundred or so are competing for the championship!

Hundreds of floating stone platforms slowly rotated and landed on the same plane, maintaining a considerable distance between each other to prevent the alchemists from affecting one another.

"Congratulations everyone, you have successfully passed the first two tests. Those who remain on the field are all alchemy geniuses of the Dou Qi Continent, the pride of heaven. You all have bright futures! However..."

Elder Danta's gaze swept over the crowd on the floating stone platform, and his tone suddenly became impassioned as he declared, "There can only be one champion!"

"Now, let's wait and see who will be the number one genius of this year's competition, and who will be the champion of this year's Dan Tournament!"

"boom!"

Hearing Elder Danta's words, all the contestants seemed to see the glory of the championship in their hearts, and a sense of excitement rose in their hearts. They looked at each other and their eyes burst with strong fighting spirit! Just as Elder Danta said, those who can stand here now are all true alchemy geniuses of the Dou Qi Continent. Each of them is extremely confident and is no less than anyone else.

"In the final stage of the Pill Refining Competition, everyone only needs to use their strongest abilities to refine the most perfect pill. The person who refines the strongest pill will be the champion of this year's Pill Refining Competition! Now, I declare that the third round of the competition has officially begun!"

The atmosphere of the entire Pill Gathering reached its peak as the Pill Tower Elder finished speaking.

The audience around the stone platform were all staring intently at the more than one hundred people in the arena. Each one of them had become a target for their recruitment. At the same time, they were also curious about who would emerge from among these more than one hundred people to crush everyone and win the championship.

As Elder Danta finished speaking, several flames rose up on the floating stone platform, and the alchemists on the platform immediately began their refining process.

Chapter 192 Alchemy (Second Update)

Seeing the flames immediately ignited on the floating stone platform, Xiao Fan shook his head slightly. Zi Yan, who was standing beside him, turned to look at Xiao Fan and said, "Xiao Fan, isn't it wrong for those who started refining first? In a competition like this, shouldn't starting first give them an advantage?"

Although Xiong Zhan, who was standing to the side, did not understand alchemy, he knew that the more than one hundred alchemists here were all extremely rare grandmasters. When he heard Zi Yan asking Xiao Fan, he couldn't help but prick up his ears.

"Of course that's wrong!"

Xiao Fan nodded in agreement with Zi Yan’s words and then said, “The worst thing for an alchemist is to be anxious and impatient. The elder of the Pill Tower just now stirred up the atmosphere in the room to the extreme. Everyone must be extremely excited right now.”

"Starting to refine medicine now, without even reaching their peak physical condition, yet wanting to refine their most perfect pill—their chances of success are far too small..."

Listening to Xiao Fan's explanation, Zi Yan looked at the floating stone platform and found that only about ten people on the platform had started refining immediately. The others were adjusting their state or checking the medicinal materials first, and did not start blindly.

The alchemists who had already lit their flames understood the situation when they saw the reactions of the others. After all, those who had reached this level of alchemy were aware of the taboos. They had just been too excited to control themselves. However, looking at their own flames, they felt a sense of pride. In front of the entire Central Continent, they couldn't afford to lose face and readjust.

Alchemists took out various medicinal herbs from their storage rings, pondering the pills they were making. Then, multicolored flames rose from the floating stone platform.

As time passed, most of the more than one hundred alchemists on the field had already chosen to make their move. After all, although they were supposed to be adjusting their condition, in front of the powerful figures from Zhongzhou and during such a grand event, few could truly suppress their excitement and emotions.

About the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, even Cao Ying and Dan Chen, the other promising contenders, had decided on the pills they wanted to refine and lit their flames.

As a family of alchemists, they naturally understood the importance of flames to alchemists. Therefore, when Cao Ying and Dan Chen's flames appeared, the powerful aura they emitted caused a stir.

However, Dan Chen's flames were just ordinary beast fire, while when Cao Ying's flames appeared, the flames of some alchemists around her fluctuated, which frightened them into carefully controlling their own flames.

"Blood Demon Flame?"

Seeing the flames rising in Cao Ying's hand, everyone was slightly taken aback, and then couldn't help but admire the Cao family's wealth and power.

This Blood Demon Flame is not naturally formed, but artificially created. It requires the blood of thousands of fire-attribute magical beasts to be condensed together, supplemented with hundreds of medicinal herbs containing rich fire attributes, and transformed through a certain secret method. It requires a considerable amount of manpower and resources, but its power should not be underestimated. Although it is still not as powerful as a strange fire, it far exceeds the range of beast fire.

As time passed, a full half hour went by. On the floating stone platform, while most of the alchemists had already begun their work, there was still one person who had not started. He remained on the floating stone platform with his eyes closed, meditating. This person was Xiao Yan.

"Is this guy any good? Or is he just putting on an act?"

"Exactly. Given his young age, making it to the finals is probably a miracle. He likely thinks he won't win, so he's acting mysterious to attract the attention of various powerful forces..."

Seeing that Xiao Yan hadn't made a move after so long, some people around couldn't hold back any longer and started to mock him.

However, seeing how composed Xiao Yan was, Xiao Fan nodded almost imperceptibly, a hint of relief flashing in his eyes.

"It moved! It moved!"

Finally, half an hour passed, and the faster alchemists had already begun to extract the essence of some of the medicinal herbs. Under everyone's watchful eyes, Xiao Yan finally began to work!

"boom!"

As Xiao Yan moved, a large, black medicine cauldron with an ancient and steady aura appeared in front of him. The surface of the cauldron was engraved with lifelike flame totems. As the cauldron rotated, the flames engraved on it seemed to come alive, which was extremely wonderful.

Many alchemists were surprised to see the medicine cauldron that appeared in front of Xiao Yan!

"This...this is the Black Demon Cauldron, ranked seventh on the Heavenly Cauldron Ranking!"

Inside the Pill Tower, Xuan Kongzi and the other two looked at the Black Demon Cauldron in front of Xiao Yan, their faces showing a hint of reminiscence and complex emotions.

"Old man, sigh..."

A faint sigh echoed within the Pill Tower, then silence returned.

"puff!"

The appearance of the Black Demon Cauldron immediately attracted the attention of many forces. After all, there are only thirteen medicine cauldrons on the Heavenly Cauldron Ranking, which is extremely rare. Now that the Black Demon Cauldron has appeared, many people naturally look over with curiosity.

Looking at the Black Demon Cauldron in front of Xiao Yan, Xiao Fan thought of the Myriad Medicine Cauldron that was still in his storage ring. He had taken it from Han Feng's storage ring after killing Han Feng. Since his teacher's Black Demon Cauldron was in Xiao Yan's hands, Xiao Fan had put away the Myriad Medicine Cauldron at that time. However, he had hardly ever used it.

"boom!"

Suddenly, a dazzling light erupted from Xiao Yan's hand, and a violent, scorching aura instantly filled the entire arena. The hundreds of flames that had been rising in the arena now twisted and distorted, collapsing towards Xiao Yan's direction. From a distance, all the flames appeared to be prostrating themselves on the ground, welcoming their king...

"Exotic fire!"

Seeing the flames rising in Xiao Yan's hand, everyone was surprised and became extremely interested in Xiao Yan's identity.

"Not only does he possess the Black Demon Cauldron, ranked seventh on the Heavenly Cauldron Ranking, but he also wields a strange fire. This young man's background is probably extraordinary..."

However, Xiao Yan ignored the exclamations from the outside world and threw the fused, emerald-green flame into the Black Demon Cauldron. Controlling the temperature inside the cauldron, Xiao Yan took out several kinds of medicinal herbs from his storage ring.

"Since we're aiming for the championship, then... it's you!"

Xiao Yan's eyes were firm as he looked out at the arena and exchanged a glance with Xiao Fan in the distance, which reassured him considerably.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, Xiao Yan put several kinds of medicinal herbs into the Black Demon Cauldron, continuously refining them and removing impurities.

As everyone began refining the pills, a long waiting process followed. After all, everyone knew that it was common for an alchemist to spend ten days refining a single pill.

Especially for high-grade pills, if you want to refine them, it can take several days just to remove impurities from some medicinal materials. Each refinement is a considerable challenge for the alchemist.

However, in such an occasion, no matter how long the refining process takes, the excitement of the audience in the stands does not diminish in the slightest. After all, they are here to witness the birth of a new champion of the Alchemy Competition, and this honor is enough to make them wait.

In the blink of an eye, five days had passed. In those five days, some alchemists had successfully refined their pills. However, it was obvious that their pills were far inferior to those of the people on the stage. After all, the higher the grade of the pill, the longer it would take to refine it.

In five days, the pills they refined could only reach the sixth grade at most.

They clearly knew their own level, but reaching the finals of the Pill Refining Tournament was already a considerable honor for them. Naturally, they received invitations from many powerful organizations in this arena...

On the floating stone platform, Xiao Yan and the others continued their refining process.

Of course, with success comes failure. Some alchemists fail to maintain balance or control the heat during the refining process, resulting in an explosion in the furnace. They then leave dejectedly, knowing that on such a stage, once they fail, it is virtually impossible to catch up again. After all, refining a high-level pill takes too long, and once they fail, there is no chance to start over.

Of the original hundred or so alchemists, only fifty or so remained by the twentieth day. Everyone knew that the final champion would be chosen from among the remaining people!

Now, the medicine cauldrons in front of everyone are emitting a rich energy aura, indicating that the pills they have refined are quite extraordinary. However, so far, no one's pills have been able to attract pill lightning.

However, just as the audience was discussing, they suddenly noticed that the atmosphere above the competition venue had become heavy, as if some great terror was brewing.

"laugh!"

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, a silver lightning bolt as thick as an arm suddenly appeared in the sky, emitting a loud bang. On the floating stone platform, a rich medicinal fragrance spread from the medicine cauldron in front of a young man, filling the entire area, and energy fluctuations emanated from the cauldron.

"Danlei!"

"A seventh-grade pill has been successfully refined!"

Seeing the lightning overhead, everyone exclaimed in surprise and looked at the young man who had been the first to refine a seventh-grade pill. Feeling the gaze of the entire audience, the young man puffed out his chest, exuding a sense of pride.

After all, he was the first person in the entire competition to refine a seventh-grade pill. Although he wasn't the champion, this brief moment of glory was enough to excite him.

However, looking at the lightning overhead, the young man's expression became more serious. Only by getting through the lightning could his pill be completely successful!

"Crack! Boom!"

Chapter 193 Three-Colored Pill Lightning

The young man's first seventh-grade pill, which he had finally refined, caused a stir at the entire pill gathering. Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, the young man looked solemnly at the pill lightning above his head.

"Swoosh! Boom!"

A bolt of silver lightning struck straight down towards the medicine cauldron in front of the young man, carrying a destructive aura, intending to destroy the pills created within.

Seeing the lightning descending from above, the young man's expression turned somewhat solemn, but he still had a certain degree of confidence in his elixir.