Chapter 179: Perfect Grade

　　Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu

　　‘What a pity, if I could merge the pills one more time, I would win for sure!’

　　You Lun was a little disappointed. But, for something like merging pills, the more pills was merged, the harder it would become. The difficulty level would rise exponentially with each successful merging!

　　Furthermore, the higher the grade of the pills was, the lower the chances of succeeding with the merging process. With You Lun’s age, he could already be considered an undisputed genius!

　　From atop the stage, You Lun took a look round the venue and saw that his old rival was still half a step slower than him. But as he glanced at a figure at the back, he was completely stunned. ‘Who is that person? I’ve actually never heard of him before! Is he trying to stun the world with one feat?’

　　You Lun’s schedule was fully packed everyday, and he only ever had Long Jian, his rival, in his eyes. As for everybody else, he did not put them in his eyes at all.

　　But as he took a closer look, You Lun still broke into a confident smile. ‘Even so, the main character today will still be me!’ after that, he did not hesitate any further. He directly placed the completed pills into a jade bottle and brought it over to the 3 stars alchemists.

　　From thirty-two pills, he’d directly merged them into just two. These two pills contained the medicinal essence of all thirty-two pills. As such, the results was not as simple as just gathering the medical strength of thirty pills together!

　　Rather, it’d achieved a complete fusion! Without any exaggeration, any one of these two pills could be compared to the hundreds of common grade Green Argimony Pills!

　　“Wait a moment, I will personally examine the pills of these three candidates!”

　　Deng Wen Gong suddenly spoke. The 3 star alchemist who was about to examine the two pills paused for a moment before handing the jade bottle respectfully to Deng Wen Gong.

　　‘Yes! The elder himself had noticed me!’

　　Seeing the old alchemist with the 5 small cauldrons on his robes, You Lun’s face was full of agitation. This was a 5 star alchemist!

　　Within the vast area of 100,000 li, there were only three 5 star alchemists! Although he had already grasped the techniques for pill merging, even managing to raise the medicinal efficacy of a Grade 1 pill to rival that of a Grade 2 pill, he was still far from reaching such a level. After all, the time required for an alchemist to raise their grade required more time the higher their grade was!

　　Many geniuses had come and gone throughout the years, but how many of them could actually become an official alchemist? For times like these, having the guidance of a famed master could allow one to avoid more detours on their path.

　　Deng Wen Gong peered into the jade bottle and examined the bright green pills within for a moment. The pills were only emanating a light fragrance, completely unlike the shocking aroma that had spread for hundreds of meters during the refining process.

　　As he looked at the indistinct faint patterns on the pills. Deng Wen Gong felt that it’s somewhat regretful. ‘Just a step more, and he would have produced pill patterns. What a pity that that final step is doubly difficult.’

　　The difference between a patterned pill and a regular pill was a value of tens of times!

　　Deng Wen Gong popped the pill into his mouth directly and closed his eyes, allowing the tyrannical medicinal energy to burst forth in his mouth.

　　“Not bad, this pill has already passed the threshold for Grade 2 pills. It is pretty effective even for Xiantian realm experts.”

　　Deng Wen Gong evaluated lightly. Although the medicinal energy within the pill was bountiful, Deng Wen Gong had a cultivation of a Xiantian expert. Thus, this bit of medicinal energy was not much of a mention for him.

　　“Perfect Grade! With your age, this is already a pretty good result. Come to my side and wait for now.”

　　From the looks of it, Deng Wen Gong was in a pretty mood as he nodded at You Lun and said.

　　“Thank you, Elder!”

　　You Lun looked extremely happy as he clasped his hands behind his back and stood beside Deng Wen Gong.

　　The same type of pill could be classified into different grades based on several factors. The most basic level was the Common Grade, followed by Excellent Grade, Perfect Grade, and Superior Grade!

　　Pills were medicine, while medicine was partly poisonous. The higher the grade of a pill, the less pill poison it contained!

　　The pill poison within a Perfect Grade pill only needed one or two days to be cleansed from the body, and the cultivator could continue consuming more. As for Common and Excellent Grade pills, it would take more time to cleanse the pill poison before more could be consumed.

　　Deng Wen Gong cast his gaze over the examination hall again. More accurately, he was observing the actions of Long Jian and Mo An. His eyes were filled with expectations as he waited, wondering if those two would get through the pill merging stage.

　　At this time, Long Jian’s brow was soaked with sweat, but he did not dare to wipe it off, allowing it to roll down his face. All his attention was focused solely on the pills in his cauldron.

　　The cauldron looked like it was breathing as the air within it rose and shrunk in a rhythmic fashion. The surface of the cauldron was shuddering violently, directly affecting the three pills!

　　Tiny bits of impurities were continuously forced out of the three pills through the vibrations. As the impurities were forced out, the pills started to become small and smaller. In contrast to its size, the medicinal strength within it actually became purer and denser!

　　After some time, the cauldron finally stopped vibrating, and there were

　　no more impurities being expelled from the pills. It was not that the pills did not contain any impurities at this point; rather, this was the best that Long Jian could do with his current abilities!

　　“Hong!”

　　A ray of green light burst out of the cauldron, shooting straight into the pill cloud.

　　With the addition of that ray of light, the pill cloud began rumbling and expanded a few times in size!

　　“Dang!”

　　Long Jian smacked the side of the cauldron with his hands, causing the three pills to shoot out of it and into the jade bottle he had prepared.

　　No matter how stoic Long Jian was normally, he could not hide the delight on his face as he looked at the three pills in the bottle. ‘In the past, I could only refine two pills of this standard. But today, I’ve managed to break through using the pressure of the competition! These three Perfect Grade pills should be enough for me to claim first place!’

　　As for You Lun, his face was extremely unsightly as it alternated between green and white. ‘How could this be possible! He actually made one more pill than me!’

　　Although the difference of a single pill did not seem like a huge difference, in reality, even describing it as the difference between heaven and earth was not enough!

　　With the same set of materials, he’d created an extra pill of the same grade! That meant that his rival was a third more capable than him!

　　Deng Wen Gong placed one of the pills in his mouth and swallowed it. Based on the medicinal strength of the pill, it was similar to You Lun’s pill. However, Long Jian had produced one more pill, making clear the results of the competition between the two.

　　“Do you know why you’ve lost?”

　　Deng Wen Gong looked at You Lun and asked.

　　You Lun’s face was as white as a sheet of paper as he heard Deng Wen Gong’s words. Without question, he knew that he had lost. “Disciple does not know… ” a hint of unwillingness lingered in You Lun’s tone.

　　“Pill refining is a serious and sacred act. As an alchemist, you should place your efforts and attention on perfecting your pills instead of wasting it on superfluous movements just to appear more dazzling.”

　　Deng Wen Gong shook his head lightly. In seeking to show off his techniques, the young disciple had overlooked the essence of alchemy. This was like putting the cart before the horse, reversing the order of his priorities.

　　In his pursuit of flashy movements, he had ultimately lost control over the timing of the steps, resulting in the alchemy process being slightly affected.

　　“Disciple understands!”

　　You Lun’s eyes lit up with realization and he stood with his mouth opened slightly for a moment before hurriedly bowing to the old man.

　　Seeing the swift change in You Lun’s attitude, Deng Wen Gong stroked his beard with satisfaction. ‘The boy is worth teaching!’

　　Now, the only thing remaining was to see if that last little fellow could give him a surprise. Deng Wen Gong looked over at the figure at the back of the examination hall.

　　You Lun looked curiously at the numerous pieces of jade strips, as well as the numerous pill cauldrons beside Deng Wen Gong. These items looked quite familiar to him. But it was a pity that he could only settle for the second place price.

　　Right now, Mo An was completely oblivious to the events that transpired on the stage. All his attention was directed at the pills in his cauldron. Whether or not he could soar to the skies in one fell swoop and gain the recognition of the elder depended on this single pill in his cauldron!

　　A huge pill the size of an adult’s fist lay nested at the center of his cauldron, rotating gently. With every revolution, the pill would become slightly smaller! At the same time, the pill cloud above his cauldron would grow a little bigger!