Overturning Their Perception
2/14 chapter!
Yan Dongliu was impressed by Jiang Chen. At least, he didn’t look at Jiang Chen with as much disdain as a few minutes before. Regardless of what cultivation base this young man had, the fact that he discerned his condition at first glance amazed him.
“Not bad young man. I don’t think the person recommended by Qingcheng will be any worse than my expectation. But Jiang Chen, Alchemist Dong is a senior who has achieved the true mastery in the field of alchemy. He seldom failed no matter what kind of pills he concocted. You are daunting to challenge this master, but how certain are you in concocting this Ardent Yang Pill?” asked Yan Dongliu with a softer tone.
“I have never failed in my concoction,” replied Jiang Chen plainly.
This single and casual sentence emitted the powerful confidence that he had. Indirectly, people in the hall were influenced by such confidence. They could tell that it was the confidence that came from his bones.
“Hehe. There’s no need to brag, young man. You should know that even the greatest alchemist won’t dare to say that he never failed before.” Yuan Hong said.
Jiang Chen didn’t respond to Yuan Hong’s sarcasm. He never liked to compete with words, but with action.
“City Lord, this kid is getting more and more arrogant. In that case, I’ll show him what real concoction is.”
Dong Linfu stood up from his seat. In order to defend the dignity and status of being the head alchemist, he felt the need to teach this arrogant young man a good lesson, otherwise, he would become a laughing stock.
“Well then, the two of you will compete and I will be your judge. Coincidentally, the Ardent Yang Pill will be of great use to me, so I hope that you two can put more effort to it. Whoever’s pill that can eliminate the cold poison in my body will be handsomely rewarded,” said Yan Dongliu.
Regarding the cold poison in his body, he surely had no other options. The most he could do was to use his own power to suppress the poison, but this wasn’t a long-term solution. Like what Jiang Chen had said, the poison had already gone deep into his marrow. If he didn’t think of ways to remove the poison quick, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Later, Yan Dongliu and Yuan Hong sat at the highest seats located at the center of the hall. The others moved backwards to empty out enough space for Jiang Chen and Dong Linfu. To them, it wasn’t easy to see the head alchemist of the Prefecture concocting a pill. Normally, even the alchemists wouldn’t get to see him often. Therefore, it was an enjoyment when they were given the chance to watch him concoct a pill live.
As for Jiang Chen, most of them didn’t put him in their eyes. First of all, the experts in the hall had higher cultivation base than him. Secondly, he was competing with the formidable Dong Linfu. None of them thought that he could survive this competition. After all, Dong Linfu’s reputation was too great for one to challenge.
Yan Qingcheng flipped her palm, two pale-grey storage pouches appeared and were sent to Jiang Chen and Dong Linfu. She said, “Inside are the ingredients for concocting the Ardent Yang Pill. Due to these herbs being very precious items, all I could get was two portions of the herbs.”
Everyone understood what Yan Qingcheng implied. It was a reminder than the contestants only had one chance. If they failed, they failed. To put it bluntly, this was a competition that allowed no failure, which was an extremely stressful condition for an alchemist. Additionally, this competition would be a test of an alchemist’s skill in concocting.
“Each of them only has one portion of herbs. This is going to put their alchemy skill to the test. I heard that the Ardent Yang Pill is made by using 49 different herbs and it was easy for one to make mistakes.”
“A great alchemist like Alchemist Dong only has a little chance of failure. In my opinion, it is definitely a pleasure to be able to watch his concoction live.”
“How can a puny Human Immortal concoct such a complex pill? I think that Jiang Chen is just digging a pit of humiliation.”
“We’ll see. I think this man has some amazing skills either. As long as he isn’t an idiot, he won’t come to the front of the City Lord and make a fool of himself.”
…………
Sound of discussion stirred. Though the competitors only required to concoct one pill, the atmosphere was tense.
“Jiang Chen, there’s still time if you regret your decision now. These herbs are very precious, I hope that you won’t waste it.” Dong Linfu said sneeringly.
“I’d be glad if master doesn’t waste the pouch of herbs,” said Jiang Chen composedly.
He was incomparably confident in his skills and would never put someone like Dong Linfu in his eyes.
“Boast without shame? Then, let’s begin.”
Dong Linfu let out a cold humph, he immediately circulated his soul energy to prepare concocting. His face now seemed to have a trace of heaviness. After all, the Ardent Yang Pill wasn’t any kind of ordinary pill and its ingredients were limited. This also put his years of expertise to the test. Also, with so many higher ups of the Prefecture watching him and the pill was the key to treat City Lord’s injuries, his reputation would be ruined if anything went wrong.
*Hua La…*
As Dong Linfu was preparing for his concoction, Jiang Chen had clattered out all the herbs from the storage pouch. 49 types of herbs were drifting in front of him, emitting medicinal fragrance that refreshed everyone’s mind.
Furthermore, most of the herbs consisted of the purest Yang Qi. Any expert would benefit just by breathing it in.
*Hu Hu…*
Subsequently, a large flame was released from Jiang Chen, encompassing all the herbs.
“What?”
The scene immediately caused a commotion from the crowd. Except Yan Qingcheng and the alchemists who had witnessed Jiang Chen’s skill yesterday, everyone was gaping at him, including Yan Dongliu and Yuan Hong whose face were filled with disbelief.
Dong Linfu who was on the opposite side was shocked. He was still in the midst of preparing and adjusting his Qi, but Jiang Chen had already started concocting. The other thing that he couldn’t accept was Jiang Chen’s technique was unknown to him.
“What kind of joke is this? Who would concoct in such a way. We all know that the most important thing in concoction is the refinement. The first step is to extract the essence of every herb and this has to be done one after another, different herbs have different melting points. Isn’t it ridiculous to melt all 49 herbs at the same time?”
“Bastard! This is a bastard’s way of concocting. He is destroying the herbs. He’s going to waste all of those precious herbs, even a high rank alchemist wouldn’t dare to do so. I have seen Alchemist Dong melting three kinds of herbs at the same time before which was astonishing. But 49 herbs altogether? This is nonsense.”
“Did he even make preparations before concocting? Concoction is a very taxing process. The harder the concoction process, the greater the effort it will take. Even Alchemist Dong needs a dozen minutes to prepare before concocting. Is this man really an alchemist?”
………..
Everyone was shocked, especially those alchemists who were sitting at the side, they had an urge to cough up blood. A few of them even stood up from their seat due to overwhelming emotions. In their perspective, Jiang Chen’s method was truly a joke. They, as alchemists, knew all too well how difficult and complex concocting was.
“Settle down everybody.”
Yan Dongliu said in a low tone, he was afraid that such uneasiness would affect Jiang Chen’s concoction. Despite the fact that Yan Qingcheng had already told him about Jiang Chen’s concoction technique, he was still shocked by it and started to feel that Jiang Chen was an alchemist after all.
*Crack* *Crack* *Crack*
Crackling sounds were heard continuously from the sea of fire while the herbs were melting down. At this time, everyone’s gaze was focused on that sea of fire and Jiang Chen’s casual-looking face. He made the concoction look so easy, like it was as simple as eating.
As time passed, the scene was getting more and more silent. Many of them didn’t even dare to blink. Even Dong Linfu who was the closest to Jiang Chen was involuntarily fascinated by Jiang Chen’s technique, forgetting that he needed to adjust his conditions for his concoction.
Everyone on the scene was an expert with keen eyesight even if they weren’t experts in alchemy. Adding the fact that Jiang Chen’s method wasn’t concealed, they could see it clearly and this had shocked all of them very much once more.
Forty-nine different herbs were melted gradually in the sea of fire while the essence of the melted herbs were being extracted swiftly. None of the herbs were wasted in the process. It was scary to see that Jiang Chen had already reached such precise control over the flames and refinement.
“My god, how can this be possible?”
“This is truly a shocking event. I’ve never seen such a terrifying means of concoction. All the herbs are melted simultaneously so perfectly, and all the essence are extracted out at the same time. If I didn’t see this with my own eyes, I certainly wouldn’t have believed it.”
“It is an unprecedented concoction method. If he can really concoct the Ardent Yang Pill with such method, it’s going to be a miracle. However, I still don’t believe that he will succeed using such a way, he’s just a puny late Human Immortal.”
“Stop talking guys. Let’s just watch in silence. For me, I wish to see a miracle. If such a terrifying concoction method works, it can greatly reduce the time of concoction.”
…………
Not one of them wasn’t shocked. Such scene had overturned their perception of alchemy.
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Note:
This translation originated from Liberspark.
If a mistake or mistakes were found in this chapter, feel free to comment below.
Certain name of skills will not be capitalized but italicized.
Some terms are subject to change when better suggestions are selected.