Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 62 - Slapping Faces

“That’s true. Look here!” Master Mao flipped to the last page. There were several blurred words, but one could see the word ‘Qin.’ This book didn’t contain any refining techniques, formulas, or herbs. Instead, it recorded many anecdotes and some unique thoughts on alchemy.

The book had been stored in the Thousand Seal Chamber of Commerce for a considerable amount of time, but it remained unpurchased. This was due to the fact that it held no value for the average person, and alchemists found its contents to be nonsensical. It would take a significant amount of time to verify all of the information contained within the book.

“We need time to verify what you said regarding the first question, and we’ll treat it as you’re right for now.” Sang Yan put away his excitement. They had to study the book carefully since Master Qin wrote it. However, there was no doubt this book would greatly benefit their alchemy, causing their attitude towards Liu Wuxie to change. If not for Liu Wuxie, they would not have been able to obtain this book.

Liu Wuxie’s lips curled into a devilish smile when he heard this. The thirty-five pavilion masters perked up their ears when they heard Master Qin mentioned and were shocked. Could it be that this book contained the method for nurturing the Seven Spirit Grass? If so, why didn’t Liu Wuxie purchase such a treasure yesterday?

“Judges, so what if he’s right? Perhaps he happened to read the book by coincidence yesterday and asked the question today. Furthermore, his second question isn’t valid at all.” Yun Lan spoke out, but he received little support this time. The pavilion masters from Ning City, Balance City, and Harvest City said nothing because they were waiting for the three judges’ words.

“Young Master Liu, what do you think?” Sang Yan’s address towards Liu Wuxie changed from Liu Wuxie to Young Master Liu, to him for obtaining a book written by Master Qin.

“I disagree with what Pavilion Master Yun said concerning the second question. The Milletweed should be added first, followed by adjusting the temperature of the fire to 180 degrees Celsius. The other herbs should then be added to the cauldron before finally adding the Cockscomb Grass. As for whether my statement is true, it can be easily verified,” said Liu Wuxie. Since everyone present was an alchemist and likely brought their cauldrons with them, his statement could easily be verified.

“Master Mao, let me verify it,” said Che Jiajun, the pavilion master of Camp City, as he stood up and offered to verify if Liu Wuxie’s instructions could improve the quality of the Energy Condensing Pill.

The three judges nodded in agreement, as refining a cauldron of Energy Condensing Pills wouldn\'t take much time.

Che Jiajun walked to an open area and took out his alchemy cauldron and herbs. Flames burst out when he opened his palm, as every alchemist had condensed their alchemy fire. He then began to follow the steps given by Liu Wuxie strictly.

“Nicely done! The Myriad Flows Unite was executed perfectly!” Compliments came from the surrounding. There were only a few techniques in alchemy that depended on proficiency. The pavilion masters present had long reached a high level of proficiency over the years of accumulation.

Che Jiajun was an expert at refining the Energy Condensing Pill and could do it effortlessly. As he added the herbs to the cauldron, a delightful aroma filled the air when he finally added the Cockscomb Grass. The other thirty-four pavilion masters stood up, eager to get a closer look.

“The fragrance is so rich. We’ve refined the Energy Condensing Pill countless times, but it has never had this scent before,” exclaimed the pavilion master of Wu City. The cauldron was already emitting an intoxicating aroma before the pills were even refined, causing everyone’s anticipation to grow.

“Done!” Che Jiajun struck the cauldron, and as it opened, a cloud of mist rose and hovered above it. As everyone gathered around the cauldron, they peered inside to see the ten Energy Condensing Pill.

“This...” Shangguan Cai was dumbfounded and couldn’t believe what he saw. He wasn’t the only one because the other pavilion masters also felt the same and exclaimed.

“Each of them is mellow at the very least. Look at this one; there are even faint runes on it! The runes might be faint, but a real pill rune might appear if practiced longer!” The Eastern Capital’s pavilion master exclaimed as he picked up a pill from the cauldron with disbelief on his face. Everyone here had refined the Energy Condensing Pill countless times and reached the highest level they could get. But no one expected pill runes to appear on the Energy Condensing Pill.

“We’ve refined pills for our entire lives, and it turns out that we have been wrong all along,” Ke Wen sighed. The improvement of each level required accumulation over the years. They had refined pills for decades but couldn’t even reach the mellow level or rune level.

The events of that day had completely overturned their understanding. Not only had mellow-level Energy Condensing Pills appeared before them, but there was even one that was close to the rune level. So how could they not be shocked? Even Che Jiajun was dumbfounded and couldn’t believe he had refined these pills.

At this moment, the thirty-nine competition participants turned to look at Liu Wuxie with conflicting emotions, including jealousy and doubt. Each person had a different expression, and they were puzzled as to how Liu Wuxie knew how to refine the Energy Condensing Pill so well.

When the ten pills were presented to the three judges, Master Mao picked up one, sniffed it, and then popped it into his mouth. “The pill dissolves in the mouth immediately and releases a delightful fragrance. This is a high-quality Energy Condensing Pill,” he declared.

The effects of high-quality Energy Condensing Pills were ten times greater than those of ordinary Energy Condensing Pills. Despite using the same ingredients, the effects were ten times stronger, which was truly remarkable.

With that, the first question was no longer important because the method of nurturing the Seven Spirit Grass was written in Master Qin’s book. So even if they didn’t want to admit it, they were inferior to a junior like Liu Wuxie. The quality of the Energy Condensing Pills was a resounding slap to everyone’s faces.

Yun Lan’s expression darkened considerably because he had caused this situation and had been greatly humiliated by Liu Wuxie. Furthermore, Liu Wuxie had remained calm throughout the entire process.

This time, when everyone looked at Liu Wuxie again, their gazes had changed. They now looked at him with admiration because who could say that someone like Liu Wuxie, a genius who knew how to nurture the Seven Spirit Grass and had allowed the quality of the Energy Condensing Pills to reach a new level, was ignorant in the path of alchemy? If Liu Wuxie were ignorant, then everyone present would be trash compared to him.

“Judges, can we start the competition now?” Deacon Hua asked after waiting for a long time.

Everyone returned to their seats upon hearing Deacon Hua’s words. As for the remaining nine pills, they had long been snatched up.

“Let’s begin!” Master Mao waved his hand, signaling the start of the competition. This time, no one interrupted the competition. Even the pavilion masters, who had spoken against Liu Wuxie, kept their mouths shut.

“Let the competition begin! I introduced the rules earlier, and you are all on your own!” declared Hua Xingquan as he waved his hand.

Participants broke the seals on their boxes and removed the herbs inside. Paper and brushes had been provided for their convenience, and they simply had to write down the name, effects, and age of each herb according to the grid on the paper. There were forty-five grids for forty-five pills.

“Liu Wuxie, do you dare to bet with me and see who can score the highest in this round? The one who loses will kowtow and admit defeat,” interrupted Xiao Mingyi with a cocky tone as everyone began to open their boxes. This caused all of the alchemists present to stop what they were doing and turn to look at Xiao Mingyi.

Many people were unhappy because Xiao Mingyi’s master, Yun Lan, had already interrupted the competition once. Now that the master was embarrassed, the disciple interrupted the competition. Jeers could be heard from the surrounding, but Yun Lan and Xiao Mingyi acted as if they didn’t hear anything.

“Just how despicable can he be? He’s a three-star alchemist and wants to bully a junior?”

“Wasn’t what happened earlier enough? This is an eye-opening experience for someone to be so shameless.” A commotion could be heard from the surroundings, and they were all heard by Yun Lan. This caused Yun Lan to feel ashamed and grit his teeth with hatred.

“Sure!”

Everyone expected Liu Wuxie to reject Xiao Mingyi’s bet, but to their surprise, he agreed without hesitation. After all, the losing party had to kowtow, which was a humiliating bet.

Xiao Mingyi sneered when he heard Liu Wuxie agreeing to his bet. In preparation for today’s competition, he read various herbal books yesterday, with Yun Lan personally guiding him just to embarrass Liu Wuxie. Their original plan was to embarrass Liu Wuxie with two questions, but it had backfired when Liu Wuxie countered both questions and embarrassed Yun Lan instead.

Everyone else focused on identifying the herbs in front of them and paid no attention to Liu Wuxie and Xiao Mingyi. This competition was crucial in determining whether they could achieve a good result.

Liu Wuxie wasn’t in a hurry and took out a herb, placing it on the table before observing it. He noticed the herbs were further processed to make them look fresh despite the leaves having already withered. This further increased the difficulty of identifying the herb’s age.

Liu Wuxie didn’t even have to use Ghost Eye because these were all common herbs. He simply had to smell them.

“Interesting...these herbs are soaked in water.” This was a small trick to increase the difficulty of the competition.

After two hours, everyone was busy identifying the herbs, setting aside those they didn’t recognize, and continuing with those they did. Liu Wuxie had successfully identified and written down information about twenty herbs without missing any entries. Aside from him, only the alchemists from high-ranking cities were able to identify every herb without missing any entries. Most people would skip over any unfamiliar herbs.

“Master Mao, the participants this year are performing much better than last year. Their speed at identifying the herbs has also increased,” the three judges discussed among themselves quietly, though most of their attention was focused on Liu Wuxie.

The thirty-five pavilion masters were also discussing among themselves. There were some herbs they had never seen before. They were new varieties, which made it tough to identify.

“These people are the hope of the Great Yan Dynasty. We’re all getting old, and the future of the Treasure Pill Pavilion is in their hands,” Master Mao said, stroking his beard.

Many guests craned their necks to get a better view and not miss any details.

“Pavilion Master Shangguan, it seems that your city will take first place if there are no surprises,” said Li An as he leaned over. Zen City had lost to Serene Tomb City last year, but this year’s competition was being held in Zen City, giving them an advantage. If they could take first place, they would receive a fourth-grade pill as a reward. However, Li An’s words were not sincere.

Serene Tomb City had taken first place for three years in a row, while Zen City had come in second for three consecutive years, so the gap between them was small.