Chapter 113: Pill Explosion

　　“You… What are you doing there!” Fuming, Sun Zhengzong jerked a finger at Yunxiao. “I thought we are having a match now!”

　　At some point, Yunxiao had found himself a fruit and was gnawing at it with his back leaning against the railing, smiling and nodding from time to time.

　　Sun Zhengzong almost coughed out a mouthful of blood when he saw that. He was trembling all over as he bellowed, “Master Yuan Hao, please throw him out of the match and declare him a loser!”

　　Yunxiao threw the pit off the platform and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then said disdainfully, “Are you a fool? We have two hours. How long has it been? Can’t I even eat some fruit to replenish my strength?”

　　Yuan Hao was somewhat speechless, but he waved and said, “Zhengzong, just focus on your own refining. Before the time runs up, he hasn’t lost the match!”

　　Sun Zhengzong snorted coldly. “Keep making a fool of yourself. I will make you kneel and weep in front of me later!”

　　“Nuts!”

　　“You!”

　　Sun Zhengzong suddenly found that he was inviting humiliation again. Hurriedly, he turned around with a livid face and stopped talking, focusing all his attention on refining.

　　After some time, the cauldron was fully activated by the demon flame. Runes constantly flashed across its surface and flew out into the air at times. Sun Zhengzong quickly took out the prepared ingredients from the containers and poured them into the cauldron, then began to carefully control the flame, sending a few incantation seals into the cauldron from time to time.

　　Soon, a rumbling sound could be heard from inside the cauldron while jets of air shot out of the few holes on the lid. It was the signs that the pill was about to take shape.

　　Sun Zhengzong slapped the cauldron hard with a palm, causing the lid to fly up. A beam of blue light immediately shot out from inside as he sneered, “Trying to run away from me?” Without hesitation, he threw out a few incantation seals, trapping the light with them. A glittering pill could be seen jumping up and down within the seals as plumes of blue smoke rose from within the cauldron, pouring into the pill.

　　He was extremely tensed at this moment, because this was the last step for the pill to take shape. The nascent pill spun at high speed over the cauldron, absorbing plumes of blue medicinal strength. As its color grew brighter, its grade rose as well.

　　“Three spins, first-grade…”

　　“Five spins, second-grade…”

　　The waves of aura exuded from the nascent pill kept rising. All alchemy products of third-grade or above would possess a certain degree of sentience, and the risk when forming the pill would increase as well, So, it required a great external force to temper the pill.

　　“Six spins… it only takes one last spin!”

　　With a serious face, Sun Zhengzong’s fingers grabbed toward the nascent pill like an eagle’s claw. Attracted by him, the Bluewolf Demon Flame in the cauldron rose, sending tendrils of flame toward the nascent pill. Meanwhile, the waves of aura exuded from the pill grew more violent.

　　“Seven spins, take your final shape!”

　　Just as he was about to lose control of it, Sun Zhengzong’s pupils constricted and his face turned pale instantly as he focused his soul power on one point and crazily stabilized the medicinal pill, placing it into the blue flame to temper and shape it!

　　As a result, the violent fluctuation began to be slowly suppressed. There was a look of joy on Sun Zhengzong’s face, and his eyes gleamed excitedly. He knew he was just one step away from succeeding. ‘The refining process is rather smooth today,’ he thought, ‘I didn’t expect to make it the first time.’

　　Yunxiao watched coldly from the side and suddenly narrowed his eyes. A hint of evil-looking crimson color flashed across his pupils, and then a faint fluctuation spread across the void.

　　Yuan Hao was watching the refining attentively and nodding from time to time. Suddenly, he frowned, then looked over toward Yunxiao in surprise. He just had a weird feeling, but he did not find anything unusual. He gave Yunxiao a suspicious look, then turned his gaze back to Sun Zhengzong’s refining, waiting for the last step to be completed.

　　“What is going on?”

　　Sun Zhengzong was startled. His soul power wrapping around the nascent pill seemed to be pulled by something, and it suddenly broke apart and faded away. In that instant, the violent pill essence, which he had suppressed, lost control, and an extremely dangerous aura spread out of the pill into the surroundings.

　　“Not good!” Shocked, he hurriedly mustered his soul power and pressed it down onto the nascent pill. However, as soon as he touched it, his soul power was knocked back.

　　It was too late! With his cultivation base, he could no longer make the pill spin one last time.

　　“How did this happen?” Sun Zhengzong stood with a blank face, staring at the pill as it began to emanate waves of frightening aura.

　　Yuan Hao’s eyes narrowed as he gave Yunxiao another suspicious look. He had a vague feeling that the strange fluctuation he sensed just now was related to this boy, but he did not find anything that could trace back to him. Could it be a delusion? He did not believe Yunxiao had the ability to play tricks under his nose. Knowing that the refining of the pill was on the verge of failing, he sighed and cried out, “Su Xiang!”

　　“Understand, Master Yuan!”

　　Su Xiang answered; he knew what Yuan Hao meant. He walked out lightly, and with just a step, he was in front of the cauldron, throwing a fist at the nascent pill. The jarring noise caused by the fist piercing through the air filled all courtiers’ ears with sharp pain, causing them to cover their ears and squat.

　　Bam!

　　The punch hit the nascent pill and knocked it flying away, leaving a long straight blue line in the air. When it went about a hundred meters away from the platform, the pill exploded.

　　Rumble!

　　The explosion produced a large cloud of blue energy over the eight hundred thousand soldiers before gradually fading away. The force was so powerful that all the soldiers looked frightened and horrified.

　　The explosive force was at least at the level of a Great Martial Master. If the pill were to explode on the platform, at least half of the courtiers would die on the spot.

　　Everyone’s forehead was covered with cold sweats. Only now did they realize that it was not a pleasant thing to watch an alchemist refining, but extremely dangerous.

　　Throughout the history, there was no shortage of tales about alchemists who blew themselves up during the process of refinement. So, most of the alchemists had a certain degree of cultivation in martial arts, and only then could they survive all the explosions.

　　After a moment of trance, Sun Zhengzong rested his gaze on Yunxiao, his eyes filled with strong hatred. Although he did not know it was caused by Yunxiao, and he thought he had not controlled it properly, he needed a place to vent the emotions in his heart. Therefore, he turned his depression into hatred against Yunxiao.

　　“What are you looking at? What an idiot! You thought you are better than me by refining faster? Now you have to start all over again just like me!” Yunxiao mocked in a cold voice.

　　“You!” Sun Zhengzong was so angry that his beard twitched and his face turned livid.

　　“Please hurry up, both of you! You have less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn.” Yuan Hao’s voice rang out. Sun Zhengzong was shocked, and he quickly gathered up the ingredients and began the second round of refinement.

　　Yuan Hao gave Yunxiao an indifferent look and said coldly, “Master Yunxiao, are you planning to watch like this from the beginning to the end?” His voice had a rich sarcastic tone.

　　“Hah! Of course not.” Yunxiao gave him a faint smile. Then, he jumped lightly twice and spread out his arms as he began to exercise.

　　“Bend your arms, one, two, three. Ha! Ha!”

　　“Press your legs, one, two, three. Ha! Ha!”

　　“Twist your waist, one, two, three. Ha! Ha!”

　　“Exercise your wrists, one, two, three. Ha! Ha!”

　　“Turn to your left, then to your right. Ha! Ha!”

　　Everyone watched with wide eyes and dropped jaws as he began to exercise. It was a set of most basic exercises that built one’s body, a warm-up exercise for the soldiers before training. Almost every soldier in Tianshui knew it. However, Yunxiao did it in such a funny way that everyone who looked at him felt their eyeballs about to drop.

　　Li Chunyang was about to bellow at him and ask him to stop being a disgrace, but then he thought it would be better for him to shut his mouth and watch quietly from the side.

　　“Alright, I’m done with the warm-up exercise. Time to start the refininement.”

　　Yunxiao walked over to an empty space beside Sun Zhengzong. He seemed to be pondering something and kept tapping at his own head with a finger. All eyes were upon him, eager to watch how he was going to end this.

　　Suddenly, Zhang Qingfan stepped forward and said, “Master Yunxiao, please use my pill cauldron!” He clapped his hands, and with the gesture, a simple-looking cauldron dropped out of the void. It was purple all over, which meant it was a third-grade purple cauldron.

　　Sun Zhengzong’s heart skipped a beat, and he was slightly tensed up. Although an alchemist’s level mainly relied on his or her own strength, instruments could also provide great help. At least, his opponent’s purple cauldron was several grades higher than his blue cauldron.

　　“Keep it, I don’t need it.” Yunxiao gently slapped the purple cauldron, causing it to instantly shrink and then fly back into Zhang Qingfan’s hand. Zhang Qingfan was taken aback, but then he calmed down and retreated. Since Yunxiao rejected his cauldron, he believed he must have a better cauldron.

　　Although a third-grade purple cauldron was already the strongest cauldron among all third-grade instruments, as he already developed a reverence toward Yunxiao, he would never doubt the latter’s strength.

　　Sun Zhengzong felt his heart fall back into his chest, and he breathed a sigh of relief. But at the same time, he was a little surprised. ‘Why is this boy refusing a third-grade purple cauldron? Does he have a fourth-grade cauldron? No, that cannot be! Even if he does have one, there is no way he can control it!’

　　With a smile, Yunxiao said to Yuan Hao, “Master Yuan, please lend me ten pieces of superior-grade Primordial Stones. All my wealth is with you now.”

　　Yuan Hao frowned. When Yunxiao rejected the purple cauldron, he already confirmed his judgment of this boy. ‘He is just messing around and playing dumb. When he loses the match later, he will definitely come out with all the tricks to reject the result. Hmph! As long as I am the judge, I will not allow him to do that!’

　　“Take it!” Yuan Hao grudgingly threw ten pieces of superior-grade Primordial Stones into Yunxiao’s hand as he stared coldly at him.

　　Yunxiao held the ten stones in his palm. Suddenly, a jet of Primordial Qi ejected from his palm and shattered them, and for a moment, the sky was veiled by the stone powder. Meanwhile, he threw out his palm, from which came spewing out a force that gathered all the powder into a line, waving gracefully like a white silk ribbon with the movements of his arm.

　　“What is he doing…” Yuan Hao’s eyes looked puzzled, but then he snorted angrily and said, “Is he playing a trick again?”

　　Wang Chen was standing beside Yuan Hao and had not been talking, but as soon as he saw Yunxiao’s movements, his eyes widened in disbelief.

　　Yunxiao began to wave the ribbon, using it to draw all kinds of patterns on the ground. Bit by bit, the Primordial Stone powder fell on the ground, forming into one formation after another that were interconnected.