The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron

Chapter 373: 9 Superior Dew Pills

“Guo Zhen’s face changed dramatically when his Pill Furnace began to shake uncontrollably, signifying an impending problem.

“Shaking Three Mountains, I didn’t expect it to be so powerful!” Guo Zhen gritted his teeth secretly and his face darkened.

Seeing that the third palm strike from Fang Lin was about to fall, Guo Zhen hastily made a move as a surge of purple flame rose, transforming into a whirlpool that protected the Five Mountain Cauldron heavily.

Boom!

Under the gaze of everyone, the third palm strike fell, and Fang Lin’s Shenlong Cauldron landed on the stage, returning to calm.

However, Guo Zhen’s Five Mountain Cauldron, under the protection of the Soul Commanding Pill Flame, finally managed to avoid any impact from the third strike.

Still, a slight curve played at the corners of Fang Lin’s mouth, indicating that Guo Zhen’s reliance on the Soul Commanding Pill Flame seemed to have spared him from the third strike of Shaking Three Mountains.

But the Shaking Three Mountains still affected Guo Zhen’s pill refining progress.

As expected, even though the Soul Commanding Pill Flame minimized the impact, Guo Zhen still found that the speed at which the Pills formed inside the Five Mountain Cauldron had significantly slowed down.

“Damn! Was I still affected by Shaking Three Mountains?” Guo Zhen cursed in his heart and came up with a countermeasure.

Guo Zhen’s hands began to give off a black aura which intertwined with the purple flames and gradually permeated the Five Mountain Cauldron.

“What is he doing?”

“Such a bizarre aura!”

“I’m not sure, it might be a method of the Poison Pill Master!”

Everyone looked over at Guo Zhen’s side with surprise. Many wore faces of disgust as the black aura seeped into the Pill Furnace, giving off a chilling aura.

Fang Lin watched Guo Zhen’s actions, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Guo Zhen’s face was cold, a fierce determination flashed across his eyes, and a strand of black aura imperceptibly extended from the ground towards Fang Lin’s place.

Just as the black aura was about to touch Fang Lin’s Pill Furnace, a large hand formed from scarlet flames directly grabbed the black aura and burnt it to ashes.

Guo Zhen’s face changed slightly and he grunted.

Fang Lin looked at Guo Zhen with a smile that wasn’t a smile. This guy was quite treacherous, even attempting to secretly attack him.

However, Fang Lin was utterly familiar with the tricks of a Poison Pill Master and was prepared. With Guo Zhen’s abilities, trying to deal with Fang Lin was simply laughable.

Time passed little by little. Fang Lin sat cross-legged in front of the Pill Furnace, waiting silently for the final nourishment of the Pills. After all, by using the Shaking Three Mountains, the Pills could quickly form, thus saving a lot of time.

As for Guo Zhen, his pill refining process was affected by Fang Lin’s Shaking Three Mountains. Although he later used the unique methods of a Poison Pill Master to compensate, he was still far behind Fang Lin in terms of time and was still at the stage of forming the Pills.

In the midst of Guo Zhen’s and Fang Lin’s duel, challenges were also launched on the other two stages.

A genius from the Meng Kingdom chose to challenge Su Xiaotong.

However, most people’s attention was still on Fang Lin and Guo Zhen. After all, this was the real fierce battle.

As for Zhao Shenkong, no one challenged him yet. He stood on the stage with a calm expression, his eyes fixed on Fang Lin and Guo Zhen. He had been closely monitoring the situation of the two.

As dusk fell, none of the Pill Refiners gathered in the square left.

All of Black Cauldron City was brightly lit, illuminating the entire square as if it were daytime. The crowd’s mood remained high, unaffected by the night.

“How fragrant! It’s the scent of the Pills!”

“It’s coming from Fang Lin’s side.”

“It looks like his Pills are done.”

Some of the people near the competition platform smelled the refreshing, elegant fragrance of the Pills and couldn’t help but comment.

The Pill Alliance Steward on the stage, in charge of supervision and judgment, also noticed. He was surprised and glanced at Fang Lin. Judging from the fragrance, this batch of Dew Pills seemed to be of quite a high grade.

Guo Zhen naturally smelled it as well, and his face turned black. He felt a sinking feeling in his heart. All he could do now was try to tell himself not to think too much about it and focus on refining his own Pills.

But with victory, honor, and face at stake, how could Guo Zhen not think about it?

The more he thought, the more nervous he got. He was now at the step of nourishing the Pills and couldn’t do much else. He had to leave it up to fate.

Fang Lin stood up, glanced at the nervous Guo Zhen, and smiled slightly. Then, he withdrew his flames.

After a while, under everyone’s gazes, Fang Lin opened his Pill Furnace.

The moment the Pill Furnace was opened, a wisp of white smoke rose and the fragrance of the Pills became even stronger, causing people to take in a deep breath.

When the white smoke fully dissipated, Fang Lin looked inside his Pill Furnace and smiled even more.

“Steward, my Pills are finished,” said Fang Lin to the Pill Alliance Steward.

The Pill Alliance Steward, hearing this, immediately came over. He peered inside the Pill Furnace and saw nine well-rounded, white Pills lying at the bottom. Each one was smooth and full in color; even just by appearance, the Pills were a feast for the eyes.

“Excellent!” The Pill Alliance Steward couldn’t help but praise. Then, he carefully picked up the nine Dew Pills from the Pill Furnace.

Seeing the Pills in the hands of the Pill Alliance Steward, Guo Zhen’s heart sank.

The Pill Alliance Steward carefully examined the quality of each Pill, and the shock on his face grew deeper.

After checking all nine Dew Pills, the Steward called two other Stewards to perform a more meticulous appraisal.

This was absolutely necessary, for one person may make an oversight. When more people appraised them, the results were much more reliable.

“What are the results?”

“Yeah, stop stalling.”

“I estimate that all nine can achieve a medium grade.”

“At least two or three should achieve a high grade.”

“Could be even more.”

While waiting, Fang Lin didn’t feel nervous at all. He was absolutely confident in his Pills. No matter how many people were watching, the results would be the same.

But for Guo Zhen, it was unbearably nerve-wracking. His heart was in turmoil, and the suspense was killing him.

Finally, after meticulous appraisal by the three Pill Alliance Stewards, the results were finally out.

“Fang Lin, all nine of the Dew Pills have reached a high-grade level!” The Pill Alliance Steward announced loudly to the crowd.

As soon as these words were spoken, the venue erupted in exclamations.

“My God, nine high-grade Dew Pills!”

“How can Fang Lin be so incredible?”

“Its over, Guo Zhen is doomed!”

“How on earth did he refine nine high-grade Pills?”

Exclamations rang out, one after another. For Fang Lin, these voices were full of praise. As for Guo Zhen, these voicing sounded like a death knell, nearing his breaking point.

At this point, the flame in Guo Zhen’s Five Mountain Cauldron extinguished, and the fragrance of the Pills began to drift from the Pill Furnace.

Guo Zhen had finished refining his Dew Pills. However, his expression was worse than if he had been crying.