For all the alchemists present, this final round was a desperate gamble. They had to commit fully, leaving themselves no retreat, or victory would be impossible.
In any case, it was already the last round. Even if they were eliminated, there would be no further consequences, but if they succeeded in refining, there was still a chance to fight for the top.
“Storm Companion Pill!”
Once Dan Qing’s ingredients were complete, Ji Qing recognised what he intended to refine. “Elder Changle, your Changle Immortal Island is truly generous. The Storm Companion Pill is among the very best of high-grade yellow pills, second only to true yellow-rank pills. For Dan Qing, the success rate in refining a top-tier high-grade yellow pill should be around eighty percent. That’s highly competitive.”
“Heh, our generosity cannot compare to the Pill King’s. The Little Pill King is probably going to refine the ‘Thousand Forgings and Hundred Refinements Pill’, which is similarly one of the strongest among high-grade yellow pills.
If Dan Qing and Ji Luoyu both successfully refine these two pills, deciding the winner between them might truly be difficult.”
The Changle Ancestor smiled as he spoke.
“Without Ling Xiao and Tianhai Pearl, they would have no trouble taking the championship, but now it has become somewhat problematic.”
Pill King Sun Ran’s face showed no joy.
Although both Ji Luoyu and Dan Qing had reached the level of yellow-rank alchemists and could refine true yellow-rank pills.
The issue was that their success rate for true yellow-rank pills was only ten percent!
That was why they had settled for the slightly inferior top-tier high-grade yellow pills. At least their chances of success would increase significantly.
However, relying on top-tier high-grade yellow pills to claim the championship would be quite difficult. Sun Ran believed that Tianhai Pearl and Ling Xiao would at least choose to refine true yellow-rank pills.
Tianhai Pearl began requesting ingredients.
She listed many types in succession, but unfortunately the organisers had none of them.
She could not help cursing, “Changle Immortal Island is nothing special after all. How can such a impoverished and rundown sect deserve to host a Pill Refinement Conference?”
After saying that, she grudgingly selected some ingredients that the organisers did possess.
It was not that Changle Immortal Island was too poor, but rather that Tianhai Pearl’s demands were excessively stringent.
The ingredients she requested were difficult to obtain even for the Heavenly Dragon Trading Company, let alone Changle Immortal Island. Some could only be gathered in locations closest to the Chosen Giant Gate.
“She must be planning to refine the ‘Domain Essence Pill’.”
Pill King Sun Ran frowned as he spoke. “As expected, a true yellow-rank pill, one that only martial artists above the Cave Heaven realm are qualified to use.”
“This little girl is bold enough. Refining the Domain Essence Pill requires not only exquisite pill refinement techniques, but also Cave Heaven realm cultivation to support it. She is merely at the First Cave Heaven realm. Can she really succeed?”
Ji Qing laughed.
“This little girl wouldn’t act recklessly, but this puts Ling Xiao in trouble. True yellow-rank pills generally require Cave Heaven realm cultivation to assist in the process, while he is only a Tenth Direction Heaven realm martial artist in the Celestial Human realm. This will be difficult.”
Pill King Sun Ran remarked faintly.
“Let’s wait and see.”
Ji Qing was actually very curious about what pill Ling Xiao intended to refine.
However, when Ling Xiao asked the assistant alchemist for ingredients, he was stunned.
“What? He’s actually only refining a high-grade yellow pill? What is he doing? Does he think he cannot even surpass Dan Qing and Luoyu?”
Shock, absolute shock.
The Heavenly Essence Body Pill that Ling Xiao was refining belonged to the high-grade yellow category. For ordinary people, it might be extremely valuable.
But for the one hundred and twenty alchemists who had made it to the final round today, it was not necessarily anything particularly precious.
Especially to Pill King Sun Ran, Ji Qing, and the top alchemist from Changle Immortal Island, it was nothing worth mentioning.
None of them had expected Ling Xiao to plan on refining such “trash pills”.
It was simply unacceptable.
But whether they accepted it or not, Ling Xiao hardly cared. His mind was already completely focused on refining the pill.
For him, high-grade yellow pills carried a one hundred percent success rate. Even for Dan Qing and Ji Luoyu, refining pills of this level probably had a ninety-nine percent success rate.
He chose this because the difficulty was low and the required ingredient quality was low, so he did not need to worry about failure.
Even so, he remained extremely careful and serious.
This had become a fundamental quality of an alchemist.
Just five minutes later, Ling Xiao became the first to successfully refine a pill.
However, he did not put the pill away, instead placing it on a tray beside him.
“What on earth is this kid doing? A high-grade yellow pill refined so hastily, even if it is a perfect pill, still cannot compare to others’ true yellow-rank pills. Is he planning to throw the match?”
The Changle Ancestor watched Ling Xiao in complete confusion, utterly unable to understand what this young fellow was thinking.
After finishing the first pill, Ling Xiao walked to the assistant alchemist and requested another set of ingredients.
According to the rules, he was entitled to three sets, so the assistant paused only briefly before quickly preparing them for him.
While waiting for the ingredients, Ling Xiao glanced around.
Among the one hundred and twenty participants, nearly one hundred were refining high-grade yellow pills.
Another fifteen were refining top-tier high-grade yellow pills.
The remaining few were refining true yellow-rank pills, including Dan Qing, Ji Luoyu, and Tianhai Pearl.
The higher the pill quality, the longer the time required.
Thus, at this moment, aside from those who had already failed, Dan Qing, Ji Luoyu, and Tianhai Pearl had only just finished purifying their ingredients.
Purification was a crucial process to remove impurities from the ingredients. Otherwise, it could very likely cause the furnace to explode, which would be troublesome.
“Heh, it seems the final championship contention will come down to those refining true yellow-rank pills. Though I’m afraid all your efforts will end up in vain.”
Ling Xiao smiled. At that moment, the second set of ingredients arrived.
He smiled at the assistant alchemist and began refining again.
“Last time it was the Heavenly Essence Body Pill. This time it is the Heavenly Essence Soul Pill. Both are high-grade yellow pills. Does he think that refining more pills will earn him a higher score?”
The Changle Ancestor’s brows were deeply furrowed.
“Perhaps he has another idea. Let’s watch a bit longer.”
Ji Qing also frowned, but he was considering a different possibility that he could not yet confirm.
If it truly was what he suspected, then this Ling Xiao was a little too mad.
Ling Xiao was not blind to the expressions on the judges’ panel, but he paid them almost no attention.
From the very start of today’s Pill Refinement Conference, he had never been influenced by others, focusing solely on refining according to his own plan.
When Ling Xiao began refining his second pill, Tianhai Pearl, Dan Qing, Ji Luoyu, and the other stronger alchemists had only just started placing their purified ingredients into their furnaces.
