Don't Speak Before Your Opponent Is Dead

Refining pills, especially high-level pills, usually takes a considerable amount of time. For alchemists of Xiao Yuan's caliber, it's perfectly normal for them to spend ten days to half a month refining pills. The surrounding alchemists were well aware of this, so they didn't show any impatience. On the contrary, they watched with great interest. As the saying goes, the layman sees the spectacle, while the expert sees the details. These pill-refining competitions might be a bit tedious for others, but to them, they were incredibly exciting.

As time passed, five days went by in the blink of an eye. During these five days, many medicine cauldrons emitted chaotic energy fluctuations, which triggered energy riots and destroyed the essence of many Medicinal Herbs inside. However, no one was discouraged by such failures. Experiencing failure in alchemy was a very common thing for everyone present. No one could guarantee that they would have a 100% success rate.

Even Xiao Yuan wasted some Medicinal Herbs.

However, it wasn't a big problem. After experiencing some minor setbacks, Xiao Yuan's refining speed became even faster.

However, after these five days, everyone clearly began to get on track, and the number of failures gradually decreased. Therefore, after another five days, some people's medicine cauldrons gradually showed the shape of pills, and the fluctuations in the surrounding world became more and more intense!

As time passed, the atmosphere in the square grew increasingly tense. Everyone could sense that the most exciting moment was about to arrive! "Boom!"

Dark clouds suddenly appeared in the sky, and lightning bolts darted through the clouds like silver snakes. After a while, layers of color gradually appeared in the clouds, and only after the seventh color appeared did they slowly stop.

Seven-Colored Pill Tribulation Lightning!

If this were happening in the Central State, it would undoubtedly attract countless astonished gazes. However, here, gazing at the Seven-Colored Pill Tribulation Lightning, many shook their heads. This outcome clearly couldn't lead to final victory, because in these three days, they had already witnessed the Seven-Colored Pill Tribulation Lightning five times. "Another Seven-Colored Pill Tribulation Lightning!"

Xuan Kongzi looked at the crimson lightning in the sky and laughed.

"Elder Lin seems a bit depressed."

The Yao Lao smiled and glanced at the old man who had summoned the Seven-Colored Pill Tribulation Lightning. The latter was shaking his head helplessly, clearly dissatisfied with his performance.

Xuan Yi nodded with a smile, then turned her gaze to Xiao Yuan's direction and said softly:

"Right now, this little guy seems to be the most composed person on the field."

Upon hearing this, the Yao Lao nodded with a wry smile. The others had already summoned pill lightning, and the slower ones were gradually showing the outline of pills. But this guy's medicine cauldron showed no reaction at all, and Xiao Yuan's face did not show any signs of anxiety. He was as calm as if he had come to compete to see who could sit the longest.

"Old Freak Hou should be able to successfully condense the pill within three days. If I'm not mistaken, what he's refining this time should be the ' Flame Demon Qingxuan Pill.' If this pill is successfully refined, it will surely attract Nine-Colored Pill Tribulation Lightning."

Xuan Kongzi said.

"Hmm, this old guy's alchemy skills have improved quite a bit over the years."

The Yao Lao nodded slightly and said.

"If Xiao Yuan wants to defeat him, he really has to refine Rank 9 Pill. However, judging from the amount of Medicinal Herbs just now, it doesn't seem to be the amount needed for an ordinary Rank 8 Pill. It seems that this child has his own ideas."

Xuan Yi had a lot of confidence in Xiao Yuan and said with a smile.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Now, only a handful of people are still refining pills in the square. Most of the others have successfully attracted the pill lightning and retreated.

Most of the people's attention was focused on the two: Old Freak Hou and Xiao Yuan. Everyone had already identified the former's pill. If the pill was successfully produced, it would surely attract Nine-Colored Pill Tribulation Lightning, which was the strongest pill lightning to appear in the selection so far.

As for the latter, he attracted attention entirely with his strange behavior, because from the beginning until now, there has been no nascent pill in his medicine cauldron, only the nine fire dragons constantly circling inside, but they did not feel any fluctuations of pills within these nine fire dragons.

"Boom!"

While everyone was still completely bewildered, a deep, resounding boom suddenly echoed through the heavens and earth, and an extremely powerful energy fluctuation abruptly spread out. Immediately afterward, the clouds above the sky condensed like lightning. "Old Freak Hou Hou's pill about to be successfully refined?"

Upon seeing this, some people exclaimed in surprise.

Under the watchful eyes of many, Old Freak Hou Man Hou stood up triumphantly, a grim smile appearing on his deathly face. He then glanced sneer in the direction of Xiao Yuan, put his hands behind his back, and looked at the thunderclouds in the sky. After several churnings, the thunderclouds finally, unsurprisingly, revealed nine colors. "Indeed, it's the Nine-Colored Pill Tribulation Lightning!"

Upon seeing this, everyone couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"Haha, Yao Chen, it seems that this time, I have won!"

Old Freak Hou stared at the thunderclouds for a moment, then turned to Yao Lao in the crowd and sneered.

Upon hearing this, the Yao Lao frowned and was about to speak when a faint laugh slowly rang out.

"Don't speak before your opponent is about to die. Don't you understand such a simple principle at your age?"

Upon hearing this, Old Freak Hou's face darkened, and he looked in the direction of the voice, only to see that Xiao Yuan, who had been keeping his eyes closed, slowly opened them at that moment.

All eyes turned to Xiao Yuan with surprise, clearly also somewhat unexpected that he would say such a thing.

"Young man, it won't do you any good to win arguments here."

Old Freak Hou looked at Xiao Yuan and sneered. As he spoke, his gaze swept over the fire cauldron in front of Xiao Yuan again, but he still did not feel any fluctuations from the pills. A faint sneer flashed in his eyes.

Faced with Old Freak Hou's sneer, Xiao Yuan smiled back, and then slowly stood up under the watchful eyes of many.

"Buzz!"

As Xiao Yuan slowly stood up, a faint humming sound suddenly emanated from the fire cauldron in front of him.

"This is."

Many people were astonished upon seeing this.

"Within the cauldron, there was a slight fluctuation from the medicinal ingredients."

The Great Elder on the stone platform, dressed in hemp robes, suddenly spoke in a hoarse yet calm voice.

Upon hearing this, the other six elders were also surprised. Even with their abilities, they had not sensed anything. However, they believed the words of the Great Elder without a doubt, and their strange gazes were immediately turned to Xiao Yuan.

"Playing hard to get!"

Old Freak Hou was also slightly startled by this scene, but then he frowned and said.

Xiao Yuan ignored his words, slowly raised his hand, aimed at the fire cauldron, and grasped it down.

"Roar!"

As Xiao Yuan clenched his fist, the nine coiled fire dragons inside the cauldron suddenly let out a loud dragon roar, and then their bodies rapidly expanded under the gaze of many people.

"Bang!"

As the fire dragons expanded, the fire cauldron could not withstand it and exploded with a loud bang. The scorching fire waves did not burst out, but were absorbed by the nine fire dragons. Even so, the temperature of this place had already soared. Some alchemists who were nearby could not withstand it and hurriedly retreated.

"Roar!"

After shattering the fire cauldron, the fire dragon expanded to hundreds of feet in size in just a few breaths. It then hovered in the sky, spreading a terrifying aura. Even the Nine-Colored Pill Tribulation Lightning in the distant sky showed signs of shrinking.

"Young man, what exactly do you want?!"

Seeing that the Nine-Colored Thundercloud were showing signs of shrinking, Old Freak Hou Hou's heart sank, and he immediately shouted.

"Shut up!"

Xiao Yuan's expression turned cold, and his gaze suddenly shot towards Old Freak Hou. A cold shout containing extremely strong pressure exploded in the latter's ears, exceeding the pressure of the Heaven Realm Great Perfection. It directly shocked Old Freak Hou so much that his soul almost left his body, and he staggered back two or three steps. If Xiao Yuan hadn't held back a bit, his pills would probably have been unable to be fully formed because his soul power was suppressed.

Putting aside his alchemy skills, with his soul realm, Xiao Yuan could shatter his soul with a single thought!

"You!"

After being rebuked by Xiao Yuan, Old Freak Hou was also filled with horror. Only now did he realize that Xiao Yuan's soul power had actually reached the Heaven Realm Great Perfection, a level that only the Ancestor of the Danta could achieve! After intimidating Old Freak Hou, Xiao Yuan turned his attention back to the nine extremely large fire dragons in the sky, his hand seals rapidly changing into afterimages.

"Nine Dragons Return to Origin!"

As Xiao Yuan's hand seals changed continuously, the fire dragons in the sky roared out earth-shattering dragon roars. Then, one after another, they merged together and finally transformed into a golden fire dragon that was a thousand feet in size. Its appearance was no different from that of the Ancient Void Dragon!

At the same time, an astonishing energy fluctuation finally emanated from the fire dragon's body.

"Is this... the fluctuations from a medicinal pill?"

Sensing this fluctuation, many alchemists showed a look of shock on their faces. They hadn't noticed this fluctuation at all in the past few days!

"Using fire to condense matter, and storing the elixir within it—this Object-Concealed Pill Method! Yao Lao, even you don't possess such skill, do you? How did Xiao Yuan learn it?"

Xuan Kongzi exclaimed in shock as he gazed at the medicinal fluctuations emanating from the giant golden fire dragon in the sky.

"This"

The Yao Lao his mouth, but could only shake his head with a wry smile. The Object-Concealed Pill Method pills requires an extremely demanding level of Fire Energy control and soul power. Even now, he dares not easily try this method when refining pills. However, he never expected that Xiao Yuan would actually learn it without a teacher!

While Xuan Kongzi and his group were marveling at this scene, other Alchemic Grandmaster also discovered the alchemy technique used by Xiao Yuan. Immediately, exclamations of amazement rose and fell. Among those present, there were probably no more than five people who could refine pills in this way.

"This disciple of Yao Chen is quite remarkable."

On the stone platform, the elders of the Great Elder Council exchanged glances and sighed softly.

"Boom!"

As the fluctuations emanating from the fire dragon grew stronger, a loud bang suddenly rang out in the sky. Immediately, everyone felt that the world seemed to darken instantly, and clouds rapidly gathered from all directions.

The clouds that gathered this time were not black, but an extremely deep and dark color.

Dark clouds filled the sky, and there was no sound of thunder, but when people looked into the dark clouds that were so deep that they could suck in their eyes, it was as if their souls trembled slightly at that moment.

Amidst the billowing dark clouds, the nine-colored thunderclouds above Old Freak Hou's head rapidly contracted, as if they had encountered something terrifying.

"What kind of thundercloud is this? It's so terrifying that even the nine-colored thundercloud is so afraid of it."

Upon seeing this scene, many people's pupils shrank slightly, and a sense of horror welled up in their minds.

In this world, the only pill that can be stronger than Rank 8 Pill that attracts Nine-Colored Pill Tribulation Lightning is obviously the legendary ninth-grade pill, which is of a higher grade.

"Xiao Yuan actually refined Rank 9 Pill?!"

At this moment, even these extremely experienced Alchemic Grandmaster had very interesting expressions.

"Black Demon Lightning hasn't been seen for many years."

The Great Elder, dressed in hemp robes, raised his head and looked at the eerie black clouds in the sky, muttering to himself.

On the plaza, Xiao Yuan smiled as he gazed at the ever-shifting black clouds. From them, he sensed an extremely dense destructive power, a power many times stronger than the Nine-Colored Pill Lightning! During his time in the Heavenly Tomb, he not only cultivated Dou Technique but also his alchemy skills. He hadn't attempted to make Rank 9 Pill because he simply didn't have enough Medicinal Herbs.

In the distant sky, black clouds churned and rolled, and the entire world was utterly silent, without a single rumble of thunder. Yet it was precisely this deathly silence that was terrifying.

As the black clouds continued to undulate, about ten minutes later, a circular hole suddenly and slowly opened up in the center of the clouds. Inside the hole, it was still pitch black, like the deepest black hole.

However, just as this circular hole appeared, Xiao Yuan's hair stood on end. With his physical strength, he couldn't withstand this level of Black Demon Lightning!

"Laugh!"

Just as Xiao Yuan's hair stood on end, a black lightning bolt as thick as an arm suddenly shot out from the pitch-black void, silently tearing through space and hurtling toward the golden fire dragon below.

Staring at the relatively small black lightning bolt, the surrounding Alchemic Grandmaster were horrified and retreated hastily.

If they get their hands on this stuff, they'll die on the spot!