Chapter 178: Pill Formation!

Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu

Back in the corner, Mo An did not appear very outstanding. In fact, his hand movements even looked rather choppy and amateurish. At the same time, every time he formed a single mental imprint, his body would shiver slightly as large amounts of sweat rolled off his brows.

From the point of view of the onlookers, this candidate was obviously unconfident and overly nervous.

As for You Lun and Long Jian, the two of them had already entered the final stages of their pill refining. Numerous small balls of crystal clear Green Agrimony Pills had already taken shape!

The two exchanged a brief glance, but their hands did not stop moving as they controlled the tiny pills in the cauldron, matching them up in pairs.

Within each of their cauldrons, there were thirty-six pills. At this moment, the thirty-six pills were merging with each other, turning in sixteen bigger pills!

These sixteen pills looked perfect and flawless. A thick fragrance rose out of each cauldron, creating a green smoke cloud which hovered 20 cm above the cauldron like a canopy!

"That's a pill cloud! It's a phenomenon that will only appear for the best quality Grade 1 pills!"

Someone gasped in a low voice. His words completely exposed his astonishment!

"Is that the true ability of Senior Brother Long and Senior Brother You? They can even cause a pill cloud which will only appear on top tier Grade 1 pills from refining a simple Green Agrimony pill!"

The other contestants were all feeling extremely aggrieved. With the presence of those two perverted geniuses, the rest of them could only stand aside and assume their roles as secondary characters.

'What now? Based purely on my current abilities, there's no way I'll be able to surpass those two fellows! There's no choice... I can only take a risk this time!'

Mo An's face fell as soon as he saw the green cloud above the two cauldrons in the front. In that moment, he steeled his heart and made up his mind immediately!

He absolutely had to leave his mark and amaze the world with a single brilliant feat! The only way to surpass the perverted duo was with that pill refining method!

Mo An bit down ruthlessly on his tongue, drawing out a few drops of essence blood which he spat into the cauldron with the pills which had almost taken form!

"Chi, chi!"

Smoke wafted out of the cauldron as the blood evaporated rapidly within the cauldron, leaving the purest life essence within!

'Using blood to refine pills, using essence to nurture Qi! Congeal!'

Mo An chanted internally as he formed a set of hand seals. At the same time, series of strange-looking imprints appeared on his hands. Large droplets of sweat flowed from his skin, drenching his entire back wet.

Within the cauldron, the pills which were about to take form suddenly crumbled apart, melting again into a crisp green liquid. With Mo An's life essence Qi as the base, the pill liquid began to congeal around it.

"Success! I can be considered as an official alchemist from now on as well!"

An excited cry sounded out as a candidate flung open the lid of his cauldron and reached in to collect the pills he'd refined into a jade bottle. Carrying the jade bottle containing three small pills carefully, he walked up to the judging panel and set it down before the 3 star alchemists.

"The quality of this batch of Green Agrimony Pills has met the required standards. The strength of the pills could be considered as Common Grade."

"Not bad, go to the side and wait. You've passed the exam."

Two 3 star alchemists took out a small knife and carefully scraped off the powder around the pills. Then, they dabbed at the powder using their pinkies and placed it on the tip of their tongues. With the airs of an expert, they each closed their eyes as they allowed the pill powder to melt in their mouths and release the medicinal energy. After three minutes, they finally opened their eyes and nodded.

The candidate appeared a little downcast after hearing the evaluation of his pills by the two alchemists. But shortly after, his countenance was lifted. Wasn't this result something to be expected? As long as he could pass the examination, that was all that mattered.

As they witnessed this scene, the other examinees also begun to feel some urgency as they looked at the unformed pills within their cauldron.

However, such urgency only resulted in more mistakes and failures. In no time, the loud sounds of pills exploding rang out through the exam venue successively.

Half an hour later, the number of people standing behind the 3 star alchemists had increased to nine people. These nine people had all passed the examination. As they stood on the stage overlooking the other examinees, they could hardly contain the wide grins on their faces.

The number of examinees left on the stone platform was scarce. Among them, the most dazzling figures were Long Jian, You Lun, and... Mo An! The cauldrons before these three people all had a layer of pill cloud which had grown to be about 120 cm tall hovering above it! Even the wind could not disperse the pill clouds at all!

"Not bad! This time, three excellent seedlings actually appeared! To think that they've all grasped the technique of pill formation so well!"

The old man with five cauldrons embroidered on his robes said. "Whether these three are able to form their pills successfully or not, we will consider them as having passed the exam!"

As for the crowd at the back, they had begun discussing in hushed voices. "What's the background of that guy? Why does he look like he's an enemy of Senior Brother Long and Senior Brother You?"

"You don't even know this? That guy has a really illustrious name within the sect. He's called Mo An, and he'd been in the sect for ten years already. His skills and talent had always been ranked first from the back. But this time, why does it look like he's not as trashy as the rumors say?"

A man explained. But as he spoke, he too began to feel slightly confused.

"Even so, I gotta say that this Mo An is definitely a dark horse. The only thing left to see is whether he would remain as strong all the way!"

Another person said with some hesitation as he watched Mo An's performance.

"That's impossible. Although Mo An can be considered as a new force rising up unexpectedly, one must still consider the status of Senior Brother Long and Senior Brother You. How could they possibly be defeated by a nameless fellow? Look at how exhausted he is, and look at the energetic manner of both Senior Brother Long and Senior Brother You. That should be enough to answer your question!"

Another person stated matter-of-factly.

At this, everyone looked towards the stone platform again. Indeed, it was exactly as what the man said.

Contrary to the expectations of the crowd, You Lun and Long Jian were actually groaning inwardly as they focused their attention. Their movements were far from their leisurely manner at the start. Their mental power was strained to its limits, and they could not afford to be distracted at all.

As such, the three had no attention to spare and see how their rivals were progressing. Each person was focused intently on their own cauldron.

"Hong!"

The cauldron before You Lun trembled violently. From the looks of it, this was the sign that the pills were about to explode!

Right now, there were merely four pills in his cauldron! The pills were all perfect and flawless, and were radiating a layer of green light around. At this moment, the pills were forcefully clashing against each other in an attempt to join together. But ultimately, they could not be merged.

'I'm going all out!'

You Lun gritted his teeth and resolved himself. Based on the current state of his pills, he did not have the confidence that it would be sufficient to claim the first place. After all, the old rival beside him was not a pushover!

You Lun did not hesitate as he widened his eyes and executed a secret technique which could stimulate his mental power. In an instant, his mental power was expanded by one-fold!

His mental power which was nearly exhausted was restored to its peak in the blink of an eye! Not only that, it even began to rise rapidly, reaching a new level!

Right now, You Lun even felt like he could use his mental power to affect reality! Fortunately, he still understood that this feeling was just an illusion. Without any hesitation, You Lun poured his bountiful mental power into the cauldron, controlling the four pills to clash forcefully together!

The four pills which previously would not merge no matter what finally joined together under the sudden pressure of the vast numbers of mental imprints!

A pill fragrance more than ten times more potent than previously shot out of the cauldron! The pill cloud hovering above the cauldron also rumbled violently, growing twice as big in a short moment!

The mental power obtained through the use of a secret technique came quickly, but also left quickly. As soon as the four pills had merged successfully into two pills, the bountiful mental power also disappeared almost instantly. You Lun staggered and felt his body sway slightly as his vision blurred.

His face was completely pale, and his pupils were unfocused. He felt like there was a veil before his eyes, but You Lun could not stop a radiant smile from appearing on his face. 'The pill has finally been formed! With just these two pills, I've already secured an unshakable position!'