400: Finals begin

Zi Chen said softly, "I heard about what happened in the Spirit Herb Space from the participants, and Miss Peng Yu also helped me retrieve the Spirit Medicine. I truly must thank you. Without you, I wouldn't even have made it to the finals."

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "You don't need to thank me. I only did it for Miss Peng Yu's soul refining pill Pill Formula. There are so many people here. Did you specifically come to find me just to say thank you?"

Zi Chen shook his head, a trace of sharpness appearing in his eyes.

"No, I came to declare war on you!"

Hearing this, Lu Xingchen raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Oh, you dare to declare war on me? Haven't I beaten you enough yet?"

Zi Chen stared intently at Lu Xingchen, his gaze burning like a torch.

"In terms of fighting strength, I am indeed inferior to you. But don't forget, the theme of this convention is Alchemy. In terms of Alchemy, the two of us can still compete."

"I have prepared for this Convention for three years. Even Miss Peng Yu, one of the eight prodigies, may not be stronger than me. Lu Dazhuang, I already consider you a true opponent. Let's have a proper contest at this Convention!"

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "Alright, I will let you understand what true despair is. If your fighting strength is inferior to mine, there won't be any surprise in your Alchemy either. But competing just like this is too boring. How about we add a wager?"

Hearing this, Zuoqiu Qingluo rolled her eyes at Lu Xingchen.

Xu Qing also covered her mouth and chuckled.

This guy, who plucks feathers from passing geese, was about to scam someone again.

Zi Chen paused slightly, and immediately, Battle Intent appeared in his eyes.

"Alright, how do you want to gamble?"

Lu Xingchen chuckled, smiling as he said, "Let's wager on which of us two can obtain the title of Pill King. If you succeed, I will give you the Pill Formula for the soul refining pill. If I succeed, you must join our Lingyun Sect and become an Elder of the Lingyun Sect. How does that sound?"

Zi Chen's expression darkened, and he gave a wry smile, "Lu Dazhuang, you truly are black-hearted! You have already seen the Pill Formula for the soul refining pill, so giving it back to me won't result in any loss for you. But if I were to join the Lingyun Sect, that would be a major event affecting the relationship between two powers!"

Lu Xingchen raised an eyebrow slightly, "So you don't intend to agree?"

Zi Chen chuckled, "The wager must continue, but the stakes should be set by me. If I become the Pill King, I want all the Spirit Medicine you obtained in the Spirit Herb Space!"

Hearing this, Lu Xingchen hadn't reacted yet, but Xu Qing was the first to become displeased.

She tugged on Lu Xingchen's sleeve and said softly, "Junior Brother, don't bet with him! We haven't even warmed up those Spirit Medicine ourselves yet, how can we just hand them over to someone else?"

Zuoqiu Qingluo, on the other hand, enjoyed watching the excitement and didn't mind if the matter grew larger.

After all, she was just out having fun, and it didn't matter to her which party won the wager.

When watching the excitement, naturally the bigger the stakes, the more fun it was!

But she was also a clever girl; she did not speak up to take sides, merely watching the two parties engage in their game.

In this way, she wouldn't offend either side.

Although Xu Qing's voice was soft, since she was right in front of him, Zi Chen could still hear it.

He chuckled softly and said, "If Big Strong One doesn't have confidence in himself, then let's forget about this wager!"

Lu Xingchen also let out a light laugh.

"That's a pretty good provocation, but Senior Brother Zi Chen, as the number one Prodigy of the Qingyang Kingdom, is worthy of the Spirit Medicine from those three Peaks. I accept this wager!"

"Hahaha! Big Strong One, you truly think highly of me! In that case, let us meet at the summit!"

"Good!"

Not long after Zi Chen left, Peng Yue appeared before everyone, accompanied by ten Elders.

His loud voice resonated throughout the entire venue.

"Welcome, all Prodigies of the Nine Provinces, to our Medicine King Valley. The finals of the Alchemist Convention will commence now."

"Now I will announce the rules of the competition. Since everyone here is an Alchemist, the factor determining strength is naturally Alchemy. The rules for the finals are very simple: each of you will refine one Medicinal Pill, and the winner will be determined based on the intensity of the pill thunder."

"As is widely known, when a Medicinal Pill reaches Eighth-Grade or above, it triggers the jealousy of the Heavenly Dao, which sends down pill thunder upon the Pill's formation, attempting to destroy the Medicinal Pill. The strength of the pill thunder is related to the quality of the Medicinal Pill."

"I believe letting the Heavenly Dao judge the outcome is much fairer than having this old man make an arbitrary decision, wouldn't you agree?"

"Furthermore, since you were able to enter the finals, everyone present should be an Eighth-Grade Alchemist, correct?"

That's right, this Convention hosted by the Medicine King Valley attracted over a hundred Eighth-Grade Alchemists to participate.

And none of these Eighth-Grade Alchemists were over 30 years old. They were the foundation of the Nine Provinces and the future of the Human Race!

After finishing his speech, Peng Yue flicked his sleeve, and the enormous stone pillar in the center of the Plaza began to change.

The original thousand-plus stone platforms began to shatter and reorganize, transforming into one hundred and three massive stone platforms. The distance between them was much greater, and their structure was more refined.

Lu Xingchen was startled, his eyebrow twitching slightly.

Valley Master Peng Yue's mastery of spatial power was quite proficient; the stone platforms, thousands of meters high, were like toys in his hands.

This was also greatly related to his Heaven Realm Mid-stage Soul Power. Only with sufficiently strong Soul Power could he precisely control so many stone platforms.

Lu Xingchen admitted to himself that, with his current strength, he could not achieve this step.

Once the platforms were reformed, Peng Yue announced loudly, "The venue is ready! Please, all Alchemists, take your positions! I announce that the Alchemist Convention finals officially begin!"

As Peng Yue's voice fell silent, more than a hundred young Alchemists spread their Dou Qi Wings and flew onto the stone platforms.

Xu Qing and Lu Xingchen exchanged glances. She then reached out her hand to him and said softly, "Junior Brother, good luck! Strive to seize the title of Pill King!"

Lu Xingchen lightly high-fived her and said with a smile, "That goes without saying!"

Immediately, the two of them also flew onto the stone pillar, selecting two platforms near the bottom.

The numerous participants below the stage also began discussing the competition.

"Holy cow, one hundred and three of them, all Eighth-Grade Alchemists, and none of them are over 30 years old! Is the foundation of our Human Race's Nine Provinces truly this deep?"

"Why wouldn't it be? This Convention hosted by the Medicine King Valley is the most authoritative competition in the Alchemy world. It's estimated that most of the young Alchemists in the entire Nine Provinces have come here. The population of our Human Race's Nine Provinces is measured in the hundreds of millions. If we couldn't even gather this many Prodigies, that would be truly ridiculous!"

"That's not how you calculate it. Haven't you noticed? In the past decade, the Human Race has seen an abundance of Geniuses emerging. The younger generation has produced many experts; this can be considered the Peak moment for our Human Race. If this were a century ago, it would have been absolutely impossible to gather this many Eighth-Grade Alchemists."

"That's not important. What I care about more is, to which family will the Pill King title of this Alchemist Convention belong? That title is something you can boast about for a lifetime!"