Almost at the same moment that Xiao Yan's Nascent Pill condensed in his medicine cauldron, somewhere in the arena, a pale-faced middle-aged man cautiously swept his gloomy gaze across the field. His thin lips curled into a cold, sickle-like arc, and his two withered hands swiftly rose to form hand seals. As he unleashed the hand seals, the grayish-white flames within the medicine cauldron in front of him immediately began to stir, constantly impacting the cauldron's walls and causing the white bone cauldron to creak and groan continuously.
The middle-aged man quickly scanned the area, noticing that many people's attention was drawn to the Nascent Pill in front of Xiao Yan. He swiftly flicked his finger, sending out several streams of light that broke several bones around the White Bone Cauldron in one strike. With a thought, the flames inside the cauldron erupted like a riot, surging out from the broken bones and spreading rapidly throughout the arena.
As the gray-white flames spread rapidly, the alchemists present felt a chill run down their spines. Before they could regain their composure, a despairing scene unfolded before their eyes.
Wherever the flames passed, the flames in everyone's medicine cauldrons were affected, and they began to extinguish one after another in a strange and uncontrollable manner. Those fierce flames that were famous in the outside world seemed to be neutralized the moment they touched the gray-white flames, and were quickly merged and disappeared into nothingness.
The direct result of this bizarre situation was that the Nascent Pill, which had not yet taken shape, immediately lost all external control. The immense medicinal power within it, which had not yet been integrated, suddenly surged out of control and exploded within the cauldron.
Therefore, the crowd in the arena, who had just been surprised by Xiao Yan's formation of an eighth-order Nascent Pill, were immediately blasted by the violent energy spread from the explosion of the pills inside their own cauldrons, causing them to scream in agony.
This even included several Yuan Zun experts who were refining eighth-tier pills.
This scene immediately caused a huge uproar in the venue. The various factions on the stage stood up and looked down at the instigator, Viper, who was wearing a wide black robe and had Fu Kui thin and pale face.
The faces of everyone in the Pill Tower were quite grim. Even the usually composed Chen Xuanling couldn't help but darken his expression, his terrifying cultivation emanating a chilling pressure.
"That bastard, he actually eliminated seven or eight out of ten alchemists on the field with that one move!"
Chen Xuanling's face alternated between pale and flushed, unable to conceal his anger. He almost gritted his teeth and shouted angrily in a deep voice.
The Fu Kui's actions affected more than just the procedures of the Pill Gathering. Among the eliminated alchemists, many came from the reclusive clans of the Central Region. The two sides originally intended to use this opportunity to form an alliance, but unexpectedly, the situation has turned out this way in the blink of an eye, far exceeding everyone's expectations.
Ji Yao's brows furrowed, and a look of disappointment, barely concealed on her beautiful, mature face, made her sigh:
"Not long ago, the Alchemist Alliance of several major states submitted petitions requesting that the sect send people down. Those elders usually accept plenty of benefits, but when it comes to this time, not one of them is willing to go. We had planned to take this opportunity to select a few people from the winners of this year's Pill Gathering, but that also failed."
"Dare to cause trouble in my Pill Tower? This person is most likely from the Ghost Gate. Let's just kill him and let these brats know who's in charge of this continent!"
Wu Changfu twisted his thick wrists forcefully, clenching his fist as surging Origin Qi gathered in his palm. He spoke in a domineering tone, while Yuwen Zong, standing to the side, shook his head with a dark face. He was also full of anger, but spoke with unusual calmness.
"It's useless. Even if we can confirm he's from the Ghost Gate, so what? He didn't commit any violence or injury in this public place. If we kill him, wouldn't we be giving them a handle to use against us? People from the Ghost Gate are always vengeful. Who would dare to openly oppose them? Besides, couldn't you see what happened just now? He can easily shift the blame to the backlash from the flames. As long as he didn't deliberately break the rules, even the rules of the Pill Tower can't restrain him."
Upon hearing this, Wu Changfu's face darkened with anger, and he leaned back, causing the chair he was sitting on to suddenly explode, venting his rage.
Almost at the same moment they were speaking, on the other side of the stage, a tall and muscular middle-aged man in a green robe rolled up his sleeves, and an invisible force shot down towards the Fu Kui with a loud bang. At the same time, his angry shout echoed throughout the entire venue.
"You scoundrel! How dare Pill Gathering competition!"
The gray-white flames just now directly caused the elimination of all three Tier Seven Alchemist sent by the green-robed strongman's clan, which was bound to enrage him.
The Fu Kui merely grinned coldly, flicking its finger as a wisp of grayish-white flame shot out, easily shattering the immense force. Its voice sharp and cunning, it retorted:
"You've already thrown such a heavy accusation at someone else with just a few words; that's truly domineering. I wonder what your position is in the Pill Tower, that you've dared to preempt the guild leaders and make decisions for them?"
Fu Kui seemed to know the man's background. While controlling the fire in the cauldron in front of him, he sneered sarcastically. His voice was not loud, but it still echoed throughout the entire venue, causing many people present to focus their attention on the green-robed strong man. They then frowned and began to whisper among themselves.
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the elders on the Pill Tower changed once again.
The burly man in green robes snorted angrily and shouted without any restraint:
"You scoundrel, you dare to argue!"
" Wu Tian! Let us handle the matters at the Pill Gathering!"
As soon as the burly man in green finished shouting, he was about to make another move when Yuwen Zong suddenly stopped him with a telepathic message. Upon hearing this, the man turned around and saw Yuwen Zong standing in front of the platform with a serious expression. Recalling Fu Kui's words earlier, he immediately realized that the latter was using the situation to force the people of the Pill Tower to stop him. If Wu Tian made another move, it was hard to guarantee that Fu Kui wouldn't use this as an excuse to make the Pill Tower lose face.
If he ignores the advice and insists on taking action at this time, he might offend Pill Tower.
When Wu Tian realized this, Yuwen Zong's next telepathic message made him suddenly turn his head to look at the Fu Kui below, his expression changing drastically from light to dark.
"This guy is actually... a member of the Ghost Gate!"
Noticing the look of horror in Wu Tian's eyes, Fu Kui seemed to understand something. It sneered, then glanced coldly in Yuwen Zong's direction before turning its gaze away, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.
Wu Tian was, after all, Yuan Zun. The Nascent Pill in his cauldron was about to be completed. If this person's momentary anger caused his pill refining to fail and the Pill Gathering unsuccessful, it would be a great loss for Fu Kui. As for this matter, it could be settled another day.
Just as the Fu Kui was refocusing its attention on the medicine cauldron in front of it, it suddenly heard Yuwen Zong's cold voice.
"You did such a big thing in front of all of us here, and you can still calmly refine pills. You really have great composure. Don't you intend to give us an explanation?"
Upon hearing this, Fu Kui's gaze sharpened slightly. Yuwen Zong's seemingly calm voice actually contained a faint trace of Soul Power, causing Viper's mind to surge. He quickly focused his mind, and the black robe he wore immediately began to writhe, tightly wrapping around Fu Kui's body as if it were alive. After settling down, he coldly snorted and laughed:
"I only recently subdued this flame and haven't fully refined it yet. It often backfires. If you don't want to get burned, Guild Master, it's best to stay away."
Yuwen Zong's brows furrowed, and he said in a low voice again:
"Hmph, your tongue is sharp and your words few can match. I hope you can control this flame and Formed Pill as soon as possible. If it's too late, you may regret it!"
By the end, his murderous intent was self-evident.