Martial Peak

Chapter 849, Saint Grade Alchemist Competition

These ancient Spirit Arrays contained an enormous wealth of knowledge and although none of them currently understood what their true purpose was, that could be solved by simply investing enough time studying them.

Having unlocked the hidden secrets of these Spirit Arrays, the gathered Grandmasters were quite pleased.

Du Wan’s eyes flashed as a mischievous grin appeared on his face, “Old friends, being able to decipher the mysteries of this Spirit Array diagram was all thanks to little friend Yang Kai’s strength. If not for him, I’m afraid we would all die of old age before discovering their true purpose. Now that all of us have obtained such positive results, don’t you think showing some expression of sincerity is necessary?”

“Old Du, what are you trying to say?” He Feng’s brow furrowed.

Chang Bao even hurriedly covered his Universe Bag as he stared at Du Wan with great vigilance.

The last time these four had met back in Floating Clouds City, they engaged in a gambling match with Du Wan, resulting in their loss and the pilfering of their Universe Bags by Yang Kai. Now listening to Du Wan’s thinly veiled suggestion, all of them immediately became alert.

Du Wan pretended like he didn’t see this and instead turned to Yang Kai and smiled, “My old friends have always been generous, and you’ve just helped them solve a problem that had been troubling them for quite some time, I think they should offer you some thanks... En, don’t you agree? No need to hold back, feel free to rob- accept their charity.”

Listening to him, the four others in the room wore pained expressions, each of them wishing they could run up and slap the ungrateful wolf surnamed Du.

Kong Ruo Yu soon let out a sigh though and chuckled, “En, what Senior Brother Du said makes some sense, we certain have profited greatly from this trip, it’s fine if we offer a little something to Yang boy. All of us have our own face to consider. After having picked up such a bargain from a Junior, we should really thank him.”

With Kong Ruo Yu having expressed such an opinion, the other three had nothing more they could say.

He Feng grit his teeth and turned to look at Yang Kai, as if preparing himself for a great sacrifice as he boldly stated, “What would you like? Say it, and we will certainly satisfy you!”

Despite He Feng’s bold claim, when Yang Kai’s eyes wandered over to his Universe Bag, he couldn’t help flinching.

Chang Bao and Hong Fang also felt their hearts jump up into their throats, clearly fearing that Yang Kai would once again ransack their Universe Bags.

However, to their surprise, Yang Kai smiled and said, “Since several Grandmasters are willing, this Junior won’t be polite. En... this time though, I don’t want any of the treasures in your Universe Bags.”

The three old male Alchemy Grandmasters heard this and breathed a sigh of relief, each of them turning friendlier looks towards Yang Kai, silently praising him for knowing some discretion.

“Then what do you want?” Du Wan was surprised, “Wealth is the one thing my old friends do not lack. If you pass up this opportunity, it may not appear again anytime soon.”

“Du Wan, you shut up! Let the young lad speak for himself,” Chang Bao shot Du Wan a bitter glance.

“Good good, I won’t say anymore!” Du Wan said helplessly, immediately falling silent.

Yang Kai hesitated for a moment before asking, “Several Grandmasters are all Saint Grade Low-Rank Alchemists, as a reward for unlocking this Spirit Array, how about refining a Saint Pill for me?”

“Refining a Saint Pill?” Chang Bao mouth twitched slightly.

“En, refining a Saint Pill!” Yang Kai nodded sincerely.

“Saint Pills aren’t something that can be casually refined,” He Feng stroked his chin. Although they were indeed all Saint Grade Alchemists, refining Saint Pills was still no easy task for them and was accompanied by great risks of failure.

On top of that, refining a Saint Pill was quite laborious.

It was because of this that every Saint Pill in this world was worth a fortune.

“Why not,” Du Wan suddenly chimed in, sweeping his eyes around at his old friends, “How many years has it been since we had a little competition? Why not take this opportunity to compare notes with one another? We can let Yang Kai and Ye Xiong act as judges to see who among us is better at refining Saint Pills.”

“Du Wan, do you think just because you’re about to promote to Saint Grade Mid-Rank Alchemist, you no longer need to put us in your eyes?” He Feng snorted.

“No no... it’s just that this is such a rare opportunity and now that it’s been brought up, this Du’s hands are feeling a bit itchy.”

“Good, I agree with Senior Brother Du’s proposal, it truly has been a long time since we’ve competed with one another,” Kong Ruo Yu also expressed interest.

“I have no objections,” Hong Fang shrugged his shoulders.

“Haa... very well, I guess these old bones will have to accompany you then...” Chang Bao huffed, his bloated body trembling as he grumbled.

“En, everyone, come with me,” Du Wan laughed, looking quite happy, before standing up and walking out while signaling for the others to accompany him.

Yang Kai asking these five to refine Saint Pills was by no means for the pills themselves.

Currently, if he wanted a Saint Grade pill, he could refine it himself. Although it was not easy to refine one, and the herbs were difficult to acquire, Yang Kai’s Black Book space was currently filled with vast amounts of wealth, so several Saint Pills weren’t really that valuable in his eyes.

What Yang Kai was interested in was the insights of these Alchemy Grandmasters and their Alchemy process, hoping he could observe and learn from them.

The Grandmasters were also aware of this but had not refused, not only agreeing but also secretly deciding to showcase their most exquisite Alchemy techniques for the young Alchemist.

Inside the pill room of the Alchemist Guild, the Grandmasters each found a comfortable spot, sat down, and took out their own pill furnaces and the corresponding herbs they would be using.

Each of these herbs was bursting with spiritual energy and were all clearly Saint Grade materials.

Also inside the pill room, Yang Kai, Ye Xiong, and Mi Na were also present.

This was a wonderful and rare opportunity, so Du Wan had naturally called over Ye Xiong and Mi Na too.

As for the little girl Wu’er, she was still too young and inexperienced, so even if she was allowed to watch, she wouldn’t learn anything.

Mi Na was so excited her cheeks were flushed as she sat beside Yang Kai and anxiously asked, “How come the Grandmasters suddenly decided to have an Alchemy competition? And refining Saint Pills, no less?”

“En, I haven’t witnessed Old Man Du perform Alchemy for quite some time, much less the other four Grandmasters. This is really a big event one doesn’t see every decade!” Ye Xiong was also very excited, staring at the scene in front of him with glowing eyes as he seriously said, “Mi Na, you must pay very close attention without even blinking! This will be incredibly beneficial to your future growth.”

“En, I know that, Master,” Mi Na nodded repeatedly, her expression quite serious.

“Is everyone ready?” Du Wan looked around with a smile and asked.

Everyone nodded lightly, indicating that they were finished with their preparations.

“En, why don’t we first introduce what kind of pill we will be refining,” Du Wan smiled and suggested, “This old man will be refining the Thick Ice Good Fortune Pill... it is an auxiliary cultivation pill for those who practice Ice Attribute Secret Arts and Martial Skill. After taking it, it allows one to create Cold Qi pressure inside one’s body, which helps purify and refine True Qi. En, the required materials are Profound Ice Jade Crystal Flower, Colourless Mineral Essence, Blue Blood Grass, The Monster Core of the Seventh- Order Ice Jade Python...”

Du Wan spoke in a clear voice, explaining the ingredients he would be using to the trio of onlookers, allowing each of them to wear a thoughtful look.

Each Alchemist would have his own unique habits and methods when performing Alchemy. Even their selection of herbs and the order in which they were utilized were of great importance and worth studying, not to mention how these materials would be combined and integrated with one another.

Du Wan clearly wanted Yang Kai and the others to learn these things, thus why he bothered explaining in such detail.

After he finished, Kong Ruo Yu smiled and spoke, “This old lady will be refining the Evading Death Pill, which has the effect of protecting ones Soul. If one receives a heavy or even deadly injury to their Soul, as long as they take this pill, it will provide a certain healing effect. The required materials are Asura Bone, Soulless Ghost Face Flower, Solid Spirit Rock Bamboo, Hundred Tribulation Congealed Jade Nectar...”

The several Grandmasters reported the names, uses, and precious ingredients of the Saint Pills they would be refining one after another.

Mi Na and Ye Xiong were both stunned as they listened to these explanations. Simply being able to gather together so many rare and precious herbs was a sight to behold.

Their expectations were only lifted higher by this as they felt their hearts beating slightly faster.

After they all finished, the five Grandmasters glanced around at each other and Du Wan announced, “Good, let’s begin!”

The other four nodded.

In the next moment, pure True Qi burst out from the five Grandmasters and the temperature in the pill room shot up.

Yang Kai stared intently at the five Grandmasters, observing how they manipulated their True Qi as well as which Spirit Arrays they chose to engrave on their pill furnaces.

As each of the Grandmasters engraved their respective Spirit Arrays, they purposefully slowed down and emphasized certain movements to allow Yang Kai and the others to observe clearly, making sure the marks they left with their True Qi were clearly visible. Yang Kai, Ye Xiong, and Mi Na were all able to glean much information about each of the Spirit Arrays before them during this demonstration.

Picking up one spirit herb after another and feeding them into their pill furnaces, the five Grandmasters moved their hands smoothly and quickly, swiftly extracting the medicinal liquid from each of them before separating them and moving on with the next.

As Mi Na stared at this process, she gasped in appreciation, only to quickly cover her mouth in the next instant, fearing she would disturb the Grandmasters.

Yang Kai was also dazzled by this display. Although his current Alchemy level was comparable to the Grandmasters in front of him, there were still much he could learn from them, especially with regard to their finer Alchemy techniques such as the detail they put into processing their medicinal liquids.

Comprehending these details would lead to great improvements in Yang Kai’s own Alchemy skill.

Each Grandmaster’s hands flew about both rapidly yet fluidly, appearing like an artistic display which contained the crystallization of their Alchemy insights.

Yang Kai became more and more engrossed as his whole consciousness gradually became immersed in this scene, simultaneously observing while pondering to himself what he would do differently at certain junctions compared to these Grandmasters, silently taking note of any place he found his own understanding or technique lacking by comparison.

Soon, Yang Kai forgot everything else around him, as his whole being submerged itself into the world of Alchemy, unable to extricate himself.

The same was true of Mi Na and Ye Xiong, both of them even forgetting the passage of time as they watched.

Amidst the sweltering heat of the pill room, blazing hot True Qi swirled as the Spirit Arrays engraved on each pill furnace was erased and re-drawn again and again. An excellent Alchemist would not use only one Spirit Array during Alchemy, and would instead carefully observe the intensity and temperature of their flames to replace their Spirit Arrays in order to achieve the best results possible.

From this point in particular, Yang Kai gained great inspiration. When he performed Alchemy, he normally used only a single Spirit Array, but now he felt that by using multiple Spirit Arrays at different times, the effects he could obtain would be much better.

The bursts of medicinal fragrance that would leak from each pill furnace now and again filled the pill room with a dream-like mist.

The expressions of the Grandmasters also became extremely solemn as the final moments of the Alchemy process approached, none of them daring to show the slightest carelessness as that may cause all their previous efforts to go to waste.

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