Chapter 239: Li Fugui – Give Me Face, or Give Me Death!

　　Lin Hailong’s words instantly caused all of the master alchemists to begin panting. Their eyes glowed at the thought of Furnace Lord promotion. This type of good fortune was incredibly amazing!

　　If they could seize such good fortune, it might almost amount to destiny!

　　It was an opportunity, which, if taken advantage of, would allow them to soar to the heavens!

　　The master alchemists rushed forward, even the ones down below at the foot of the mountain. Eternal Mountain had never predicted that Lin Hailong would say what he did. His eyes narrowed.

　　Based on his understanding of Lin Hailong, he knew that the man wouldn’t make such an offer for no reason. There was definitely some deeper meaning within his words. After thinking for a moment, Eternal Mountain’s eyes suddenly began to gleam. “Don’t tell me he’s trying to … flush out Grandmaster Pill Cauldron!?” he thought.

　　It seemed Chu Yuyan and the ten or so other Furnace Lords present were thinking the same thing. Each and every one watched on with glittering eyes. A faint smile could be seen on the face of An Zaihai, and he glanced briefly at Meng Hao. He was well aware of Lin Hailong’s intentions.

　　In the entire East Pill Division, An Zaihai was the only person other than Grandmaster Pill Demon who knew the true identity of Grandmaster Pill Cauldron. He wouldn’t announce it, of course. He wasn’t sure of Grandmaster Pill Demon’s intentions, but he had stated three times in a row that An Zaihai was not to do anything about Grandmaster Pill Cauldron. An Zaihai wouldn’t even mention the name to anyone.

　　One by one, the master alchemists of the East Pill Division arrived. Fatty was growing more and more complacent. He stood there, grinding his teeth with the flying sword. They glinted brightly. His air of complacency began to fill with more and more arrogance.

　　“Come come,” he said haughtily. “My teeth are feeling a bit itchy. If you have the skill, please concoct me a pill that will break them. Anyone who can, I’ll call them grandpa!” One of the master alchemists stepped out from among his hundreds of comrades. He clasped hands in salute to Lin Hailong and An Zaihai, then began to concoct a pill.

　　It wasn’t just him. Seven other master alchemists stepped forward and began to work. Everyone watched as the master alchemists concentrated on their medicinal plants and concoction. It was a dazzling sight. Time passed, and soon one pill after another flew out toward Fatty.

　　These pills had been concocted with utmost care by the handful of master alchemists, all of whom had utmost faith in their handiwork. Fatty yawned, and threw all the pills into his mouth. The crunching sounds which emanated out pierced into the hearts of the eight master alchemists. Their faces fell.

　　“Blech!” said Fatty, spitting the medicinal pills out. “Who else!?” he yelled, looking very pleased. He seemed to feel that his teeth deserved utmost respect in Heaven and Earth.

　　Seeing the defeat of the eight master alchemists, others who had been planning to participate now hesitated. They eyed Fatty’s teeth. In their estimation, it was like he had a mouthful of sharp swords. It seemed any medicinal pill that entered his mouth would be reduced to rubble.

　　“Who else?!?!”

　　No one responded to Fatty, nor did anyone step forward to concoct a pill. Fatty arrogantly pulled another Spirit Stone out, popped it into his mouth, and then crunched it into pieces.

　　The surrounding master alchemists gasped. Moments ago, many of them had found it easy to muster their courage, think of a pill formula, and then attempt to concoct it. Seeing the spectacle in front of their eyes, however, caused them to change their minds.

　　They looked at Fatty angrily. They sighed inwardly as various thoughts ran through their minds:

　　“This guy is inhuman! What pill could possibly stand up to teeth like that…?”

　　“Dammit, this fatso must have been growing these teeth from birth. He’s not a Cultivator, he’s a monster!”

　　“Isn’t he worried he might accidentally bite his tongue off one day…? He actually eats the Spirit Stones? What kind of a stomach does he have? Can he digest them?”

　　All of them seemed to think that there would be no good fortune for them on this day.

　　Fatty swallowed the Spirit Stone and then began loudly grinding his teeth again. From the moment he had joined the Golden Frost Sect, he had been doted upon, and had never been embarrassed. He of course took this opportunity to show off, and was currently glancing around, looking for pretty female alchemists.

　　He ignored Chu Yuyan, of course. In his opinion, Chu Yuyan clearly belonged to his brother Meng Hao, and he wouldn’t interfere. After all, Fatty completely revered Meng Hao.

　　Even as Fatty was in the midst of his arrogant complacency, Meng Hao coughed lightly. He wasn’t stupid, and could tell that Lin and An were trying to use this occasion to determine the identity of Grandmaster Pill Cauldron. This was the main reason why he had been hesitating. However, he’d made up his mind. Coughing lightly, he stepped out from the crowd and began to walk over. This of course, drew the attention of all the master alchemists.

　　Chu Yuyan frowned, then gave a cold harrumph. After a single glance, she ignored him. An imperceptible glimmer appeared in An Zaihai’s eyes, and a faint smile touched his mouth.

　　Lin Hailong’s eyes filled with a deep look. He looked Meng Hao over closely.

　　“Is it him…?” he murmured to himself.

　　Eternal Mountain also looked at Meng Hao, his expression the same as ever.

　　No one could determine any clues whatsoever.

　　Meng Hao clasped hands and bowed to An Zaihai and Lin Hailong. “I am Fang Mu. I would like to take a shot at concocting a pill. Would the two members of the senior generation grant me permission to do so?”

　　An Zaihai said nothing. Lin Hailong gave a light nod, then tossed over a fire crystal, which came to float in front of Meng Hao.

　　“Heyo!” cried Fatty, glancing at Meng Hao out of the corner of his eyes. “Another kid steps forward. Don’t forget to concoct a really hard pill. My teeth are itchy. I want to bite down on something super tough!” His tone of voice made it sound like his whole life was filled with loneliness, and his annoying expression was one that made you want to thrash him.

　　Meng Hao didn’t immediately being the concoction process. He looked at Fatty, and smiled.

　　Fatty wasn’t sure why, but he got a good feeling when he looked at Meng Hao. Patting his stomach, he said, “What are you looking at me like that for? Aiii, I’m such a nice guy. You know what? This time I won’t crush it in one bite, I’ll take three bites.”

　　Meng Hao sighed, and a guilty look appeared on his face. He clasped hands and bowed toward Fatty. In truth, he didn’t want to embarrass Li Fugui, but this opportunity was too rare to pass up.

　　“Eee? What kind of an expression is that? Aiiii, fine, fine. Five bites. I’ll take five bites to crush it. How about that?”

　　Hearing this, Lin Hailong’s face grew even darker, as did the faces of the surrounding master alchemists. Chu Yuyan glared ferociously at Fatty, and then at Meng Hao.

　　“Ah, Fatty,” thought Meng Hao. “Big bro really doesn’t want to trick you like this, but I really don’t have any other option…” With another cough, he waved his hand and produced the Blood Crane pill furnace, sending it to float above the fire crystal.

　　Everyone’s eyes were fixed upon Meng Hao as he concentrated and stoked the pill furnace to a glowing red color. Then, he began to produce medicinal plants. Some he catalyzed, from others, he extracted sap. The entire process took roughly an hour. Finally, Meng Hao produced some gray-colored powder. There didn’t seem to be anything special about. When concocting pills, it isn’t always necessary to use fresh ingredients. There are certain medicinal powders which will turn gray over time, as well as other ingredients, such as Flying Ash Leaf, which are gray to begin with.

　　Only Meng Hao knew that his confidence in being able to produce a pill that Fatty couldn’t crush, was largely because of this gray powder. It was no ordinary item. It was… powder created by the explosion of the meat jelly’s shedding process.

　　Some of the skin had directly turned into powder, which was what Meng Hao had just used as one of the ingredients in his medicinal pill.

　　The meat jelly’s skin was extraordinarily tough. In the past, Meng Hao had tested it on multiple occasions. The meat jelly had a mysterious background, and was virtually indestructible. Meng Hao was sure that there was no way Fatty would be able to destroy the shed skin of the meat jelly. However, his true killing move in this little competition wasn’t the powder, but something else inside the medicinal pill….

　　“Fatty, please forgive me….” he thought. Meng Hao’s eyes gleamed as a black medicinal pill flew out, which he grabbed. The pill furnace slowly returned to its original color.

　　The pill was about the size of a fingernail, and looked ordinary in every aspect. However, it was filled with the meat jelly skin powder. The powder couldn’t be melted; however, Meng Hao had fused it into the medicinal plant ingredients. It was less a concoction than an amalgamation.

　　The pill emitted no medicinal fragrance, and was as black as night. He tossed it over to Fatty with an apologetic look.

　　Fatty grabbed it haughtily. “I’ve taken a liking to you,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll crush it with five bites, no less.” Looking pleased, he popped the pill into his mouth, posing heroically as he glanced at a few of the female alchemists he’d noticed.

　　As soon as the pill entered his mouth, he laughed, then closed his eyes and slowly bit down.

　　“See! One bite!” The words were a bit garbled, but everyone understood what he was saying.

　　The alchemists of the East Pill Division all looked embarrassed. Clearly, they found Li Fugui to be completely repulsive.

　　Continuing to talk, Fatty bit down a second time, secretly using quite a bit of strength. His heart began to tremble. Keeping his expression calm, he laughed a few more times, then continued to blabber incoherently about how he would keep his word and bite down five times.

　　He was starting to get nervous. The first time he had bit down, he’d only used thirty percent of his strength. The second time, he’d used eighty. However, he hadn’t even been able to put a tiny dent in the medicinal pill. It seemed to have some sort of elastic element to it. His teeth actually hurt a bit.

　　“Fatty seems like he’d rather die than lose face. When did he become like this?” thought Meng Hao, looking both sympathetic and apologetic.

　　—–

　　This chapter was sponsored by Nicholas Harkes