Chapter 502: Fortunate Not to Fail One’s Expectations
Translated By: Arron
Edited By: Comfortabull
Following the completion of Han Xian’s refinement, some private conversations involuntarily sounded within the stadium.
“Has that fellow successfully refined it?” Wu Hao was extremely familiar with combat, but he totally knew nothing about refining pills. When he saw Han Xian walk away from the stone table, and hand over the medicinal pill in his hand to Elder Hao, his eyebrows were involuntarily knit together.
“I don’t think so. It is rumored that when a tier five medicinal pill takes shape, there would be some unusual phenomenons. However, other than a wave of ordinary medicinal fragrance earlier, not even the slightest unusual phenomenon occurred. Moreover, the expression of that Elder Hao does not appear to be that of someone who has just seen a tier five medicinal pill.” Xun Er mused for a moment before shaking her head slightly as she softly spoke.
Wu Hao and the rest at the side nodded slightly when they heard Xun Er’s analysis. They lifted their gazes, and turned their attention toward Xiao Yan, who was still pouring all his attention into the refinement. They spoke softly, “However, even if Han Xian did not successfully refine it, he does at least have something to hand over. If Xiao Yan’s hands still remain empty like earlier, the victory would still go to Han Xian even if the both of them eventually fail in the refinement.”
“Just pray that Xiao Yan ge-ge can successfully refine it.” Xun Er laughed bitterly. At this moment, she could only speak in such a comforting manner. Xiao Yan appeared to be unaware that he was being attentively watched by all of the gazes in the stadium. His eyes were staring intently into the medicinal cauldron. A large cluster of pale-red medicinal liquid was swiftly rolling above the fiery green flame. Even though Xiao Yan was isolated from it by a thick medicinal cauldron, Xiao Yan was still able to clearly sense the enormous strength contained in this cluster of liquid through the Spiritual Strength which he had extended into the cauldron.
“The refinement is completed. Next… should be the merger…” Xiao Yan’s eyes stared at the rolling pale-red-colored medicinal liquid as he softly muttered in his heart.
The last time, he had failed at this point. Therefore, Xiao Yan, who clearly knew the reason for his failure last time around, split his Spiritual Strength into two and poured all of it into the medicinal cauldron. One of it firmly suppressed the flame while the other wrapped the medicinal liquid in a lightning-like manner. After which, this potion abruptly unleashed an enormous suppressing strength.
Seemingly having sensed the pressure around it, the pale-red-colored liquid began to fluctuate intensely. Each time it fluctuated, there would be an extremely powerful ripple swarming out. Finally, it would collide with the large invisible hand formed by the Spiritual Strength.
“Bang!”
The medicinal cauldron on the stone table abruptly trembled. A clear sound of collision was emitted from within it.
Xiao Yan’s expression also changed slightly as the medicinal cauldron shook. His feet abruptly stomped on the ground. His hand which was some distance away from the medicinal cauldron suddenly moved forward and violently grabbed. That manner was as though it wanted to shatter the air in front of him.
As Xiao Yan’s hand tightened its grip, the intense rolling medicinal liquid in the medicinal cauldron suddenly became sluggish. The invisible large hand that was formed from the surrounding Spiritual Strength had instantly soared. The originally large cluster of medicinal liquid was already the size of a ping pong ball at this moment. However, the moment that it was shrunk to this extent, it descended into an intense resistance. No matter what happened, it refused to proceed to the final step.
A flush redness gradually swarmed onto Xiao Yan’s white face under the unbudging resistance of the medicinal liquid. He did not expect that this ‘Dragon Strength Pill’ was actually this difficult to refine. This degree of resistance was something that even the ‘Three-Lines Green Spirit Pill’ could not be compared with. However, Xiao Yan also clearly knew in his heart that if he could successfully refine this ‘Dragon Strength Pill’ this time around, he would likely be able to advance to the tier five alchemist level.
The change in Xiao Yan’s expression was similarly noticed by everyone in the stadium. The earlier situation of the medicinal cauldron was also seen by them. Immediately, they raised their hearts to their throats and their eyes were unblinking.
“Refining a tier five medicinal pill was already this difficult. I really don’t know just how tough refining an even higher tier medicinal pill would be?” During the time that Xiao Yan’s Spiritual Strength was contending with the strength contained within the medicinal liquid, a thought swiftly flashed across Xiao Yan’s heart. He immediately inhaled a deep breath of hot air. His face was instantly filled with a flush redness. His right hand which was facing the medicinal cauldron from a distant gradually opened. After which, it once again trembled as it was slowly gripped. A low and deep cry was emitted from his throat, “Merge now!”
As his cry fell, Xiao Yan suddenly clenched his hand tightly. Following the tightening of his grip, the ping-pong-sized liquid within the medicinal cauldron suddenly shook. Immediately, it shrunk at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just an instant, the medicinal liquid actually disappeared. Replacing it was a pale-red-colored embryonic medicinal pill the size of a thumb.
With the medicinal pill taking shape, the most difficult step was over. Xiao Yan’s forehead was covered with cold perspiration as he swiftly gulped down a couple of breaths of air. The firmly suppressed green-colored flame also slowly began to release a hot temperature, grilling the irregularly shaped embryonic medicinal pill.
The medicinal pill currently in Xiao Yan’s medicinal cauldron was different from the half finished product that Han Xian had taken out earlier. It was the true initial form of a pill. From the outer appearance of this medicinal pill, its initial formation stage may be similarly irregular but its luster was completely different than Han Xian’s mottled half-finished product. If one were to consume the half-finished product of the Han Xian, no one would know whether one’s strength would surge for a short period of time or whether one’s body would be ravaged by the randomly mixed medicinal ingredients until it exploded and perished. This was because no one would dare to try and eat that thing…
This medicinal pill within Xiao Yan’s cauldron may merely be at its initial form but it already possessed some preliminary medicinal effect of the ‘Dragon Strength Pill.’ If one were to consume it at this moment, the surge in strength that one would experience would definitely be incomparable to a real finished medicinal pill, but it would at the very least not pose a threat to one’s life.
From the looks of these few points, the victor could actually be already determined in this match…
Elder Hao smiled and nodded as he eyed Xiao Yan who was panting in a similarly dehydrated manner. He slowly fondled his beard and turned his head to watch the pale-faced Han Xian. From the looks of Han Xian’s face, Han Xian clearly understood that with just that half-finished product of his, he could not win against this initial form of the medicinal pill that Xiao Yan had refined.
“Ke ke, Han Xian, I am right, aren’t I?” Elder Hao tossed that half-finished product from Han Xian in his hand as he involuntarily laughed.
The corner of Han Xian mouth twitched. His voice was extremely awful as he smiled and said, “Elder, the competition had not reached its end… in the pill refining procedure, condensing a pill is indeed the most difficult step, but there are still quite a number of steps that cause people to have a headache behind. If Xiao Yan were to make even a slightest mistake during those steps, it is likely that he would waste even the final opportunity. At that time… I will at least have a half-finished product.”
“In that case, let’s continue to watch.” Seeing Han Xian, whose mouth was still firm at this moment, Elder Hao smiled. He did not continue to say any nonsense as he turned his body and once again threw his gaze toward Xiao Yan.
The green-colored flame seedling within the medicinal cauldron was repeatedly leaping. The hot temperature caused the medicinal cauldron to be turned into a furnace. The initially formed medicinal pill, whose appearance was a little irregular, was slowly turning into a round shape under this grilling. The luster on the surface of it was also increasingly bright. Looking from afar, it was like a red-colored gem which was emitting a radiant glow within the green-colored flame.
After the initial condensed pill took shape, the remaining steps of grilling, polishing etc. were perfectly finished by Xiao Yan. However, such precise control caused the cold sweat on Xiao Yan’s forehead to become increasingly concentrated. His face also had an additional paleness under his harried breathing. All of this indicated that Xiao Yan was fast reaching his limit.
Han Xian, whose expression was originally become uglier and uglier after Xiao Yan had successfully completed one step after another, revealed a cold smile on his face when he saw Xiao Yan’s expression. His heart repeatedly cursed for Xiao Yan’s Spiritual Strength to be exhausted.
This curse of Han Xian naturally would not always come true. Moreover, he had also underestimated Xiao Yan’s tenacity. Although the breathing of the latter was rapid, those dark-black pupils were still clear and were not the least bit shaken by external factors.
Xiao Yan’s gaze stared into the interior of the medicinal cauldron. A dark red-colored medicinal pill was partially visible under the green-colored flame seedling. At this moment, the medicinal pill had already restrained the earlier dazzle. At a glance, it was an ordinary medicinal pill and did not have even the slightest bit of the prominent outer appearance of a tier five medicinal pill.
Xiao Yan’s eyes was unblinking as he stared at that dark-red medicinal pill. At this moment, the medicinal pill was nearly completely spherical. Xiao Yan clearly knew in his heart that this tier five ‘Dragon Strength Pill’ was about to form a true pill!
The dark-red-colored medicinal pill began to roll and rotate within the flame. Following the increase in its rotating intensity, the high temperature within the green-colored flame was converted into a small distorted energy pillar that was pouring into the medicinal pill unceasingly.
“Clang!”
During the rotation, there was suddenly a circular dark-red-colored energy ripple that surged out from within the dark-red medicinal pill. Finally, it heavily smashed on the inner walls of the medicinal cauldron, emitting a clear sound.
Xiao Yan’s face gradually became solemn as he sensed this change of the dark-red medicinal pill. He clearly knew of the chaotic energy that was created from the formation of a tier five medicinal pill. Back then, when he was flying to the Vast Tager Desert from the Jia Ma Empire, this kind of abnormal phenomenon had also appeared when Yao Lao was refining a tier five medicinal pill on the Flying Beast!
“Crack…”
After the clear sound disappeared, there was suddenly an extremely weak quiet sound which appeared like thunder in Xiao Yan’s ears.
Xiao Yan’s eyes shrunk. His gaze turned toward the surface of the medicinal cauldron, only to realize that a tiny crack line was slowly beginning to spread. Immediately, he involuntarily lamented in his heart. How many times had his cauldron exploded when he was refining a medicinal pill?
“Clang!”
Another energy ripple was emitted from within the medicinal pill. The crack line also swiftly diverged out, and slowly spread to the entire body of the medicinal cauldron.
The crack lines were increasingly dense. At the end, even those people in the stadium came to discover the changes of the medicinal cauldron. As they eyed the faint green-colored flame that seeped out from the cauldron, everyone gently inhaled a breath of cool air. Some of the female students even involuntarily covered their mouths. Who would have expected that at the final moment, there would actually be such misfortune that left one speechless.
Elder Hao’s expression also changed at this moment. He knit his eyebrows tightly while his gaze focused intently at the medicinal cauldron. A moment later, he raised his eyebrows and watched the young man behind the medicinal cauldron. The corner of the latter’s mouth contained a helpless smile.
At this moment, Han Xian’s face was initially stunned before the stunned look quickly changed into a gloating smile. This was especially after he heard the clear cracking sound. That smile of his became much denser after that.
“Cra…”
Under everyone’s gazes, the crack lines that were spreading on the medicinal cauldron suddenly came to a slow stop. Seeing this, everyone had just sighed in relief when they once again heard the dark-red medicinal pill within the medicinal cauldron unleashing an extremely violent energy ripple.
The energy ripple spread out and suddenly made contact with the medicinal cauldron. Finally… everyone heard a low explosion sound. The medicinal cauldron fragments flew and shot all over the sky…
“His effort has fallen short…”
Elder Hao sighed extremely regretfully as he eyed the stone table area where a faint white fog had rose because of the cauldrons explosion. If Xiao Yan’s medicinal cauldron was of a higher tier, he did not doubt that this fellow would be able to successfully refine this ‘Dragon Strength Pill.’
“Ugh…”
Everyone in the stadium let out a long sigh. They felt that the final failure was wasted.
Han Xian was stunned as he watched the sudden explosion of the cauldron. A moment later, the corner of Han Xian’s mouth split with a smile. However, just as he was unable to resist laughing out loud, a coughing sound was emitted from within the white fog. The sound of footsteps immediately sounded, and a black-robed young man with a somewhat miserable appearance slowly walked out.
At this moment, there were some black spots on Xiao Yan’s face. His black robes were also burned until there were curled up areas and charred holes. Blood was repeatedly dripping from his tightly clenched fist. The blood fell onto the ground and splashed into a blood flower.
Everyone maintained silence when they saw Xiao Yan’s current appearance. In their hearts, they felt that he did not deserve this.
Han Xian similarly felt somewhat stunned at Xiao Yan’s outer appearance. However, he quickly recovered. He took a step forward, shrugged his shoulders at Xiao Yan before smiling and saying, “Junior Xiao Yan, failure during the refinement of pills is something common. You should not be bothered about it. Those three medicinal formulas…”
Xiao Yan faintly glanced at the gloating smile filled face of this person. He slowly took a step forward and immediately brushed past him, not paying even the slightest attention to the latter.
Xiao Yan’s disregard caused Han Xian’s expression to sink. He spread his hands and muttered, “People who fail are always like this…” As he thought in this manner within his heart, he turned his body while wearing a smile. Soon after, the smile gradually became fainter until it disappeared.
After brushing passed Han Xian, Xiao Yan stopped in front of Elder Hao. The latter appeared to be still thinking of how to comfort this young fellow with extraordinary potential when Xiao Yan extended his hand that was covered with blood and finally opened it slowly.
As Xiao Yan’s palm opened, a dark-red-colored round medicinal pill, with some blood stains on it, quietly appeared in front of a countless number of shocked gazes!
“Ke ke, Elder Hao. I was fortunate not to fail to meet your expectations.”
Xiao Yan held his chest and gently coughed. His soft slow voice slowly reverberated throughout the stadium, causing respect for the black-robed young man to rise in the hearts of a countless number of people.