263: Top-grade Breakthrough Pill

A suppressed buzz of whispers and undisguised schadenfreude immediately erupted from the audience.

"Look! Miaoling Pavilion really messed up!"

"Only that kid is left? What's the use of one person being good at Alchemy?"

"The scores are added together! His teammate got zero points!"

"Tsk tsk, it seems Miaoling Pavilion is destined to be at the bottom this time!"

"Just concede, you can still save some face, haha!"

"Exactly, exactly. Even if he refines a Yuan Spirit Pill, how can one person's score be higher than two people's combined?"

Feng Xixi, Qin Yue, and the others' hearts instantly sank to a cold abyss. Their faces were pale, their fists clenched, filled with endless despair and unwillingness.

Miaoling Pavilion lost.

This was not just an issue for Miaoling Pavilion of the Southeast Market Town.

It also involved the struggle between the forces behind them.

Miaoling Pavilion's defeat meant that Feng Xixi's faction would have to give up a lot of benefits and resources.

However, amidst the overwhelming waves of pessimism and schadenfreude, Lin Jingyu, at the center of the storm,

seemed to be in another world of absolute tranquility, oblivious to the external commotion, his teammates' failure, and the audience's discussions. He didn't even lift an eyelid.

All his mind and spirit had already merged with the Pill Furnace before him, the leaping earth fire, and the Spiritual Plants exuding a faint precious glow.

The Spirit Refining Art operated to its extreme, and his Divine Sense, like the most precise net, enveloped every subtle change within the Pill Furnace.

After perfectly processing all the main and auxiliary Materials for the Yuan Spirit Pill, his movements did not stop for a moment.

He calmly took out several distinctly different Spiritual Plants from his Storage Pouch again, exuding strange fragrances and possessing even more peculiar forms.

Given Elder Liu's accidental failure and the inevitably extremely low score, merely refining Yuan Spirit Pills was meaningless.

He changed his original plan on the spot!

He intended to refine another Medicinal Pill that was more difficult, of a higher grade, and capable of turning the tide with a single strike.

Lin Jingyu began a new round of even more complex and exquisite Spiritual Plant processing.

His movements remained terrifyingly steady, without the slightest panic, as if all of this had been within his calculations.

Under his exquisite control, the earth fire was sometimes like a docile lamb, gently simmering to extract the purest essence from the Spiritual Plants.

Other times, it was like a roaring Dragon, fiercely urging the fire to perform the most crucial and intense Medicinal Pill Fusion.

The incantations changed unpredictably, dazzling to the eye. The standard green Pill Furnace in his hands seemed to have been imbued with life.

It emitted an even and low hum, and various Medicinal Pill liquid essences within the furnace were slowly blending and sublimating along an incredibly mysterious trajectory... The two-hour time limit was approaching. All other Alchemists had completed their Alchemy, some joyful, some worried.

All eyes in the entire square involuntarily focused on the young man in green, who was still fully concentrating on the final Pill Condensation step.

The sounds of doubt and discussion gradually subsided, replaced by a silence suppressed by some powerful aura.

Everyone held their breath, as if sensing that something incredible was about to happen.

Just a split second before the final bell was about to ring!

Lin Jingyu's Pill Furnace suddenly shook, emitting a clear and melodious hum, like the immortal music of the Nine Heavens or the simultaneous ringing of wind chimes.

The sound was not loud, but it strangely overpowered all other noises in the venue, clearly reaching everyone's ears.

The furnace lid opened automatically, and an indescribably rich, extremely fragrant Medicinal Pill aroma, which invigorated one's spirit and seemed to activate the Spiritual Qi within the body with a single breath,

gushed out like a tangible substance, instantly permeating the entire square, even overpowering the scent of all previous Medicinal Pills.

A Medicinal Pill the size of a longan, perfectly round, emitting a soft milky white glow, with what appeared to be swirling nebulae inside,

slowly rose from the furnace, suspended in the air like a spirit.

On the surface of the Medicinal Pill, naturally formed profound cloud patterns slowly wriggled and flowed like living things. Its precious light was contained within, and its exotic fragrance assailed the nostrils! The Spiritual Qi fluctuations it emitted far surpassed any previous Medicinal Pill.

"High... High Grade Yuan Spirit Pill!"

On the judging panel, a white-haired old Alchemist suddenly stood up, his beard trembling violently from extreme excitement, his voice abruptly rising and sharpening into a changed tone.

The entire hall erupted in an uproar! After a moment of dead silence, earth-shattering exclamations burst forth!

Second-tier Medium Grade! High Grade quality! One hundred percent Pill formation rate! This had completely crushed all other participants.

The Alchemists from Shen Pill Pavilion and Daling Pavilion instantly turned ashen, staring at the Medicinal Pill in disbelief, as if they had seen a ghost.

But they immediately seized it like a life-saving straw, suppressing their shock, and a sneer of sarcasm and disdain appeared on their faces as they loudly questioned:

"So what if it's a High Grade Yuan Spirit Pill? The other person from Miaoling Pavilion scored zero! No matter how high one person's score is, can it be higher than the combined scores of two of us?"

"Exactly! Those are the rules! He still lost!"

The shopkeeper of Daling Pavilion even showed a smile of having everything under control.

The temporary addition of the "score summation" rule to this competition was originally pushed by him in secret, in conjunction with several large Pill Pavilions.

The purpose was to prevent Miaoling Pavilion from inviting external aid and winning by relying on a certain Genius Alchemist's burst of power!

In his opinion, although Lin Jingyu's performance was amazing, he still couldn't escape the chess game he had set!

However, facing this almost fatal rule suppression and the doubts of the crowd, Lin Jingyu gently puffed out his chest and slowly raised his head.

His gaze calmly swept over the judging panel and the people below, and he spoke faintly, his voice clearly spreading throughout the venue:

"Who told you... this was a Yuan Spirit Pill?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the entire hall was stunned! Everyone was dumbfounded.

Lin Jingyu paused, then spoke each word, astonishing everyone:

"This is a Second-tier High Grade—obstacle breaking pill!"

Ob-sta-cle Break-ing Pill?

These three words, like three bolts of Heavenly Thunder from the Nine Heavens, suddenly struck the silent square, shocking everyone out of their wits.

If the Yuan Spirit Pill was a sacred medicine for Foundation Establishment Cultivators to improve their cultivation, then the obstacle breaking pill was an supreme treasure that helped them blast open Bottlenecks and Breakthrough Realms.

Its refining difficulty was more than a notch higher than that of the Yuan Spirit Pill! Especially a High Grade obstacle breaking pill, which was hard to come by even with ten thousand Spirit Stones, enough to drive countless Foundation Establishment Cultivators crazy.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" The Alchemist from Shen Pill Pavilion shouted in a fluster.

"Nonsense! How could a Qi Condensation Cultivator refine an obstacle breaking pill? And a High Grade one at that?" The Alchemist from Daling Pavilion also completely lost his composure.

The audience below went completely wild, and discussions erupted like a tsunami.

All the judges on the judging panel, including the chief referee and law enforcement Elder, all stood up abruptly, their faces filled with unprecedented shock and disbelief.

The president of the Alchemist Association, that gaunt old man with unfathomable aura, swayed.

He appeared before Lin Jingyu's Pill Furnace as if by instantaneous movement, carefully supporting the suspended Medicinal Pill and examining it closely.