Chapter 115: A Thunder Tribulation?

　　Rumble!

　　A thunderous sound rang out of the cauldron like the mighty roar of heaven and earth. Everyone’s eyes widened as they watched thunderbolts crackle and dart out of the blue cauldron, rushing up over the nascent pill and instantly shattering its violent essence. Then, a blue thunderbolt wrapped the pill and began to temper it.

　　“Eight spins!”

　　Sensing the waves of pill aura spreading out of the nascent pill, Yuan Hao let out a faint sigh and said, “Li Yunxiao is about to lose the match. The Bodhi pill has entered the eighth spin. Moreover, it is being refined by the thunderbolt. Even if it can’t spin the ninth time and reach the fourth-tier, it will not be too far from it.”

　　Wang Chen said lightly, “It will be a glorious defeat though. It’s just that the bets are too damaging.” With a wry smile, he shook his head.

　　Yuan Hao seemed to think otherwise, and he said, “Young people are inevitably short-tempered and always feel arrogant and proud of themselves with a little achievement. It is a good thing for him to be lessoned.”

　　“Haha! The pill is taking its final shape now!” Sun Zhengzong’s eyes burned with wild joy as his hands flashed with incantation gestures. Surrounded by thunderbolts, the Bodhi pill over the blue cauldron emanated a shocking medicinal strength as it reached the peak-level of eight spins.

　　Rumble!

　　Suddenly, the third-tier blue cauldron was blown apart in the instant the pill took shape, as if it could no longer withstand the tremendous pressure. The vessel shattered into pieces and shot into all directions. Many warriors jumped out of the crowd and stopped the shreds from hurting people.

　　Sun Zhengzong’s face was covered in pity and pain, but when he looked at the final product in his palm, an eight-spins Bodhi pill, his gloomy mood vanished instantly. Exulted, he roared with laughter. “Haha! An eight-spins Bodhi pill! Boy, unless you can refine a fourth-tier Bodhi pill that has spun nine times, you have lost the match!”

　　There was a hint of a smile on Yuan Hao’s face as he said approvingly, “Zhengzong, it seems your strength will improve a lot after this refinement. Although you’ve destroyed a third-tier blue cauldron, it paid off when you refined a peak third-tier medicinal pill. Take your time to study the process again, perhaps you will make a breakthrough soon.”

　　Sun Zhengzong smiled wryly. “It will not be so easy for me to break through, but I did learn something new during the refinement.” He turned and stared coldly at Yunxiao. Although his opponent’s skillful techniques surprised him, he felt completely relieved. Unless Yunxiao could step into the fourth-tier, he had lost the match.

　　Zhang Qingfan and Xu Han exchanged a glance in silence; their faces looked worried. Even fresh fourth-tier alchemists like them might not be able to refine an eight-spins Bodhi pill so smoothly.

　　But, Yunxiao still wore the same calm expression as he continued to refine the medicinal pill in mid-air with his Primordial Qi. Soon, it was at the stage of the seventh spin, and his face began to turn pale. Clearly, the consumption of his soul power had grown greater as well.

　　A deep look of sympathy appeared on Yuan Hao’s face as he sighed and said, “I can’t believe he managed to refine the Bodhi pill to the seventh spin without using a cauldron, and his age… He is such a freakish genius! What a pity…”

　　Upon hearing that comment, Sun Zhengzong’s face flickered, and there was a killing intent in his eyes that could not be concealed. Yunxiao’s innate talent did strike fear deep into his heart. ‘He is still very young… Although I can defeat him now, what about five years later? Ten years?’ At the thought that he had offended such a terrifying existence, Sun Zhengzong began to feel nervous.

　　“Master Yuan Hao, do you think his pill can enter the eighth spin?” asked Wang Chen lightly.

　　Yuan Hao carefully observed for a moment, and only then did he answer, “The flames in the formation beneath have begun to gradually weaken, showing signs of dying off completely. Moreover, his soul power needs to shape the pill and control the flames at the same time. I don’t think there’s much hope. If he had accepted Master Zhang Qingfan’s third-tier purple cauldron, I think he would have no problem in making the pill spin eight times. Unfortunately, this young man is just too arrogant.”

　　Wang Chen fell silent; it was plain that he agreed with that view.

　　As the few men were talking, Yunxiao’s pupils suddenly grew larger, and then a stream of soul power ejected out of them, sweeping up the flames of Primordial Qi that were about to die off from the ground and pouring them into the Bodhi pill.

　　“What! Is he trying to forcibly increase the Bodhi pill’s tier with the flames of Primordial Qi?”

　　Shocked, Yuan Hao cried out in terror, “In that case, it is possible for him to make the pill spin the eighth time. But, with the flames dying off completely, how is he going to condense the pill in the end? All his hard work will be in vain if he fails to condense the pill. And even if he manages to do it, without powerful elemental energy, it will still be extremely difficult for him to maintain the pill in its eight-spins form!”

　　Wang Chen’s eyes flickered. “He must have sensed Master Sun’s eight-spins Bodhi pill. Therefore, he is making a desperate attempt! By doing this, the worst result he can get is the explosion of the pill, and since he is losing anyway, perhaps he can fight himself a slim chance of success.”

　　“A slim chance of success?” Sun Zhengzong scoffed. “Can a desperate attempt make one break through the fourth-tier?”

　　That gave Wang Chen a pause, and then his beaming face dimmed. He felt what he said was indeed somewhat far-fetched. But, he was puzzled at the same time, ‘What is he thinking in the face of this inevitable defeat? Is it all about doing meaningless things?’

　　“Eight spins!”

　　A burst of violent aura exuded from Yunxiao’s Bodhi pill. Sure enough, it had entered the state of the eighth spin, becoming more unstable and harder to control.

　　“I can’t believe he just forcibly made the pill enter the state of the eighth spin with bare hands! This kid is indeed a monster!” Yuan Hao was utterly stunned, and his eyelids twitched violently. “What is he doing now? Refining the pill with his Primordial Qi instead of Primordial flame? Isn’t he going to condense the pill yet? Is he really making a desperate attempt?”

　　There was a serious tone in his voice as he said deeply, “Su Xiang, get ready to act!”

　　If an eight-spins Bodhi pill exploded, its power would be far beyond that of a seven-spins one. He had attached great importance to Yunxiao because of his outstanding talent, so he did not want the other to get hurt. As for the others on the platform, he did not care if they were all killed.

　　“Yes, Master Yuan Hao!” Su Xiang narrowed his eyes slightly, his heart filled with towering waves as well. He had been following Yuan Hao for a long time, and he knew very well about some techniques used by alchemists. From what he saw, ‘monster’ was indeed the only word that could be used to describe Yunxiao!

　　Yunxiao breathed a long breath as he felt half of the Primordial Qi in him disappear in an instant. ‘The Primordial Qi of a three-stars Martial Master can only bring me to this stage,’ he thought to himself. ‘The only step left now is pill condensation. If I have to defeat that eight-spins Bodhi pill, I’ll have to try that thing.’

　　He did not expect Sun Zhengzong to have a Primordial Thunder Talisman. Initially, he was confident that he could push his medicinal pill directly to the peak of eight-spins, but that would only end up in a draw now.

　　‘A draw? Hmph! How dare a mere third-tier alchemist act so arrogantly in front of me! I’ll teach you a hard lesson today!’

　　He flicked open his eyes, and a mark of a flaming cloud gradually emerged on his forehead. It looked like a birthmark, but also seemed to be burning slowly as if it were alive.

　　Sun Zhengzong and Yuan Hao were startled at the same time. Both of them owned demon flames, and just when Yunxiao’s mark of a flaming cloud appeared, they found that the demon flames in their bodies suddenly began to twitch and jump while giving off a sense of fear, as if they were trying to escape.

　　“What is that flame!” Both of them stared in terror at the dot of almost invisible flame in front of Yunxiao.

　　Yunxiao’s expression was extremely serious. This was the first time he was using the Phoenix True Flame. With his current strength, there was no way he could control it, and he could only slightly touch the thread of the flame’s apparition, which was the projection of the divine flame that fell on the void now.

　　But, the temperature of the whole platform soared instantly just because of the projection. Everyone was drenched in sweat, their faces pale with fright as they watched the tiny, almost invisible flame fall lightly on the Bodhi pill.

　　“Condense now!”

　　Yunxiao’s hands flashed with incantation gestures. It was so fast that all eyes were dazzled, and the void was filled with numerous afterimages. Many of the incantation gestures were so strange that even Yuan Hao had not seen them before, so he stared at them with wide eyes, unblinking.

　　“Condense!”

　　When he had done all that, Yunxiao finally gave a shout. With that, the scorching heat suddenly dropped as all the true flames were sucked into the pill while a dark cloud began to gather in the sky, in which thunderbolts were flashing and flickering, as if it were about to rain.

　　Yuan Hao looked up abruptly at the sky and cried out in shock, “A natural phenomenon! A third-tier medicinal pill has triggered a natural phenomenon!”

　　At this moment, not only he, but all the alchemists present felt their common sense just crumble into pieces!

　　Rumble!

　　A thunderbolt as thick as a thumb fell from the sky, striking directly at the Bodhi pill. A great amount of thunder force immediately spread out of the pill while crackling. The dark cloud in the sky vanished immediately after the thunderbolt fell while the Bodhi pill in the air had finally condensed and taken its shape, falling into Yunxiao’s palm.

　　In fact, Yunxiao was also extremely surprised. Supposedly, it was impossible for a medicinal pill of this tier to trigger the force of nature. Although the thunderbolt was countless times weaker than the normal thunder tribulation, it was really caused by the condensation of the pill. ‘Could the thunderbolt be attracted by the Phoenix True Flame?’ he thought to himself.

　　At the moment, everyone was stupefied and their eyes were all fixed on the medicinal pill in Yunxiao’s palm. The round pill was giving off a pleasant, refreshing aroma.

　　Wang Chen swallowed hard, and he felt he could not think properly. “What is the tier of that medicinal pill? Even if it is a fourth-tier medicinal pill, there is no way it can attract a thunderbolt.”

　　For a moment, Sun Zhengzong was petrified, but then he shuddered and recovered from his shock. Meanwhile, he felt extremely nervous.

　　Yuan Hao had a serious look on his face and his body trembled slightly. He knew even he could not refine and condense a pill like this. Moreover, all he needed to become a fifth-tier alchemist now was to condense a pill with a thunderbolt, but he had explored for years to no avail. And yet, it was accomplished by a young man today.

　　His eyes were full of enthusiasm as he began to show the same reverence as Zhang Qingfan and Xu Han. With a very polite tone, he said, “Master Yunxiao, can I have a look at your Bodhi pill?”