At the scene, aside from Yunfeng himself, only one other person was pleased.
That was Yunfeng’s master, standing among the crowd with a sinister grin, finding the expressions of the Lanlan Empire’s people utterly delightful.
Seeing the crowd’s reactions, Yunfeng felt deeply satisfied and proud. He swept his gaze over Lin Xiao and the others, laughing loudly, “Hahaha, so, do any of you still think you’re qualified to compete with me for the championship?”
The young contestants’ expressions tightened, but they had no words to retort. Yunfeng was insufferably arrogant, yet his strength left them without the confidence to challenge him. Frustration gripped dozens of them, their fists clenched tight.
“Hmph, you’re not the only one who can refine third-grade advanced elixirs. Don’t get too full of yourself, it’s still uncertain who’ll come out on top!” Ye Yu shot a cold snort at Yunfeng. He was preparing to refine a third-grade advanced elixir across grades, one of considerable difficulty and quality.
“Oh, is that so? I’m looking forward to it. I hope you don’t disappoint me, or it’ll be too dull, hahaha!” Yunfeng replied with a mocking tone.
“Then just wait and see!” Ye Yu glared at him coldly.
“Enough, who wins or loses will be clear after the competition!” Ye Fenghua’s voice cut through at that moment.
His expression wasn’t much better. As the leader of the Lanlan Empire’s spirit controllers, if Yunfeng claimed the championship, he’d face ridicule from rival empires’ spirit controllers in the future.
But he was powerless to change it now. He couldn’t just eject Yunfeng at this point, leaving the outcome to depend on whether a miracle or upset occurred in the arena.
Glancing at Lin Xiao, he’d initially hoped Lin Xiao could refine the Yellow Heaven Elixir and take the crown, but now, even a successful refinement seemed unlikely to beat Yunfeng.
Ye Fenghua’s gaze shifted to Ye Yu, pinning his last shred of hope on him.
“I hope this kid Ye Yu can pull through!” With a long sigh, Ye Fenghua waved his hand and declared, “Now, let the competition begin!”
All eyes turned to the youths in the arena.
Most of them landed on Yunfeng first.
Ignoring the stares, Yunfeng’s face brimmed with arrogance. It was his time to shine. Before starting, he couldn’t resist taunting Lin Xiao, who’d overshadowed him in the first three rounds, “Heh, Heimu, was it? You got lucky with first place in the first three rounds. Let’s see how you compare to me in this final one!”
Lin Xiao’s face showed no trace of anger, responding calmly, “You don’t need to worry about how I’ll compete. I’ll just ask you this: in the first three rounds, didn’t you think you’d easily take first, just like you do now?”
Yunfeng had indeed been stifled by Lin Xiao in those rounds, and he’d thought the same back then. Lin Xiao’s sudden remark made his expression falter, though he quickly regained his composure.
“Heh, so what if you’ve got talent? This final round is about elixir grade. You’re just a third-grade elementary spirit controller at best, maybe capable of refining a third-grade intermediate elixir across one grade. You can’t even produce a third-grade advanced elixir, so what are you going to use to challenge me?” Yunfeng sneered at Lin Xiao.
“You don’t need to concern yourself with that. But honestly, your mindset now is just like it was in the first three rounds. I really can refine a third-grade advanced elixir,” Lin Xiao replied evenly.
“You… can refine across two grades?” Yunfeng was momentarily stunned by Lin Xiao’s words, surprised and a bit humiliated after mocking whether Lin Xiao could manage a third-grade advanced elixir.
But thinking of his own edge, he quickly reverted to his lofty arrogance, sneering at Lin Xiao, “Talk is cheap, anyone can do that. Let’s see you refine it first. And even if you all manage third-grade advanced elixirs, so what?”
He then glanced at Ye Yu, “Competing with me in third-grade advanced elixirs? Heh, you’re still too green… No point in talking more. Today, I’ll show you what a real third-grade advanced elixir looks like!”
With that, Yunfeng waved his hand, and a large pile of herbs appeared, floating before him.
“That’s Thunder Channel Wood, it can draw lightning, an extremely rare herb!”
“And that’s Blazing Sun Mysterious Stone, formed only in the hottest volcanic regions!”
“Thunder Channel Wood and Blazing Sun Mysterious Stone are precious, but they don’t seem like main ingredients for any elixir. Could the primary herbs be something else we can’t identify? What elixir is Yunfeng refining?”
The crowd buzzed with speculation. No one could discern Yunfeng’s intended elixir. Apart from some basic auxiliary herbs, many ingredients were unrecognizable.
Only Thunder Channel Wood and Blazing Sun Mysterious Stone were identified by a few seasoned spirit controllers.
Both were rare herbs, hard to find even in an entire nation.
With these two in play, he was surely crafting something extraordinary.
“Competing with herbs, eh? Heh, I’ve got some too!” Seeing Yunfeng’s materials, Ye Yu let out a slight breath of relief, smirked, and waved his hand. A crescent-shaped, moonlight-hued fruit floated up, exuding a chill.
“Deep Lake Cold Moon Fruit!”
Lin Xiao’s eyes widened at the sight of this peculiar fruit.
The Deep Lake Cold Moon Fruit grew in vast lakes, absorbing the essence of the moon over time to form a rare fruit imbued with cold yin energy. It could be used to refine the Cold Moon Elixir.
The specimen in Ye Yu’s hand was roughly a hundred years old, sufficient to craft a third-grade advanced Cold Moon Elixir.
Consuming it would infuse one’s power with a cold yin attribute, amplifying destructive force—an exceptionally rare and special attribute elixir.
If a ninth-layer Heavenly Martial warrior took the Cold Moon Elixir, they could hold their own against an early Martial King without falling behind. It was a life-saving trump card with immense killing power, capable of turning the tables against foes several times stronger in critical moments.
“Ye Yu’s actually got materials for an elixir with special attributes!”
“Worthy of being Ye Fenghua’s nephew, securing something as rare as a Deep Lake Cold Moon Fruit!”
“The Deep Lake Cold Moon Fruit is the core ingredient for the Cold Moon Elixir, a third-grade advanced elixir of above-average quality!”
“Now this is worth watching. Hopefully, Ye Yu can turn the tide and beat Yunfeng!”
The crowd erupted in excited chatter, seeing a glimmer of hope in Ye Yu.
“Deep Lake Cold Moon Fruit, a material for a special attribute elixir! I can’t believe you’d part with something like that!” On the jade platform, Le Zheng Hongmao gasped in surprise.
Special attribute elixir materials were incredibly rare and coveted, even by him. He didn’t believe Ye Yu could have acquired it on his own—it must have been provided by Ye Fenghua.
