Chapter 567: Fusing Elixir Pills

Chapter 567: Chapter 565: Fusing Elixir Pills

“Without further ado, I’m sure you’ve all seen the vials before you. Feel free to take a look.” A faint smile touched Long Xingyun’s lips.

The crowd of Alchemy Masters opened their vials and sniffed them, quickly identifying the contents. They couldn’t be more familiar with this particular Elixir Pill; it was the Second Grade Red Leaf Pill, used for healing injuries.

A Second Grade Elixir was far less difficult to work with than the Reincarnation Pill. They wondered what Long Xingyun wanted them to do with it.

“The content of this test is very simple. You are to fuse these Elixir Pills! You will re-refine the Red Leaf Pills before you and fuse them together! Your score will be based on how many you can fuse. The maximum limit for a perfect score is four pills. Fusing one pill is a passing grade, but the score will be low! If you can exceed this limit, you will receive bonus points!”

As soon as the test was announced, the entire arena erupted in an uproar. If the second round seemed difficult, this one could only be described as insane. These were already-refined Elixir Pills, and now they had to re-refine and fuse them with others of the same kind. The difficulty had just increased exponentially.

This was equivalent to continuously enhancing and compressing the medicinal properties of the Red Leaf Pills. The difficulty was not just a little bit higher than the second round! This kind of fusion could also enhance the Red Leaf Pill’s properties, improving its healing effects.

This fusion method could be applied to other Elixir Pills as well, but the difficulty would be even more terrifying. Because failure was common, the relatively inexpensive Red Leaf Pills were chosen as materials. If they had used something like the Reincarnation Pill, the failures would not only be more frequent but also extremely wasteful.

Besides, although the Red Leaf Pill was a low Grade, its price wasn’t particularly cheap, and its difficulty was moderate, making it a suitable material for the competition.

This round tested one’s true Alchemy skill. The higher the skill level, the more Red Leaf Pills one could fuse. The test was comprehensive, requiring powerful Fire Control Ability and even stronger Control Power. Balance was crucial.

Fusing Elixir Pills wasn’t as simple as just smashing them flat together. It meant completely merging their medicinal properties to achieve a stacking effect. When consumed, not only would the effects be multiplied, but the absorption rate would also be significantly faster.

If the effects were the same, what would be the point of fusing them? One could just pop a few more pills in their mouth. There would be no need for fusion at all.

The tests set by Long Xingyun were getting progressively more demanding. Only such demanding challenges could truly highlight an Alchemy Master’s abilities. A competition without difficulty would fail to reveal their true skill.

This round was a true test of Alchemy proficiency. Normally, pill fusion was rare; it was more common to just refine them directly. After all, the required skill level was too high, and failure was easy. Success would certainly enhance the pill’s effects, but failure would ruin everything. Pill fusion was generally an exercise for Alchemy Masters to improve their skills.

The sixty-some contestants who remained were all top prodigies among the Medicine King Valley’s disciples. But faced with this round, they couldn’t help but frown. The difficulty was not to be underestimated. Fusing one or two might be manageable, but a perfect score required fusing four. The difficulty was, without a doubt, immense. But it was precisely this high difficulty that made it a worthy challenge.

A considerable number of Red Leaf Pills had been prepared for them—several vials each, totaling dozens of pills.

This wasn’t because they were expected to fuse a huge number—even Long Xingyun himself couldn’t fuse that many. It was to account for their failures. For example, if they failed while fusing the second pill, the first one would be wasted. Similarly, if they failed while fusing the fourth Red Leaf Pill, all of them would be lost.

Never mind the wasted Elixir Pills; the main issue was the wasted time! For example, if someone failed while fusing the third pill, they might only have enough time left to fuse two. What a tragedy that would be.

This tested both their mental fortitude and their Alchemy skills. Should they push for a higher score, or just fuse one to pass and try to score high in the next round?

The competition wouldn’t get easier; it would only get harder. Therefore, no one was counting on luck. Besides, most of them had participated before, so they didn’t expect it to get easier. However, the nature of the questions had certainly changed quite a bit, with a strong emphasis on fundamental skills.

“I hope you all make the most of this opportunity. The time limit is two incense sticks. The competition begins now!”

At Long Xingyun’s command, a thick stick of incense was inserted into a sand tray. Two incense sticks amounted to two days’ time. Fusing Elixir Pills was time-consuming, and failure was frequent, so more time was necessary.

While most were still contemplating how many pills to fuse, some had already begun working on their Red Leaf Pills. These were, naturally, the prodigies among prodigies—Long Bin and Long Fan.

They had done plenty of practice with pill fusion. They were aiming for a perfect score, or even bonus points!

Fusing four was a perfect score, and anything beyond that would earn bonus points. Although they didn’t know how many points one extra pill was worth, they knew that every single point was another step toward the champion’s throne.

They were currently a full three points behind Lin Xuan—a considerable gap. Lin Xuan had earned perfect scores twice, while they had not, which left them feeling quite unconvinced of his superiority.

So this time, they had to show their true abilities. Just as Long Xingyun had said, they had to adopt the right attitude and could not afford to be the least bit careless.

They had underestimated Lin Xuan, thinking they could easily crush him. Who would have thought they would be the ones getting crushed instead? This time, their expressions were grave, and they treated the challenge with caution.

Their entire demeanor changed in an instant, a sight that left Long Xingyun quite satisfied. This was exactly the result he wanted. The disciples of Medicine King Valley were used to being arrogant and had trouble taking things seriously. But now, with Lin Xuan here to stir up the waters, the dynamic was completely different. He had invigorated the atmosphere of the entire event!

Lin Xuan poured out the Red Leaf Pills, glanced at them briefly, and nodded. ‘Fusing Elixir Pills, huh? This is actually interesting…’

His every move was under the watchful eyes of the crowd. Besides the surrounding audience and Elders, even Long Bin and Long Fan couldn’t help but stare in Lin Xuan’s direction. It was safe to say that Lin Xuan’s performance had already exceeded their expectations; his skill level was high enough to threaten them! Their main purpose was to observe Lin Xuan, wondering what kind of tricks he would pull this time.

After the first two rounds, Lin Xuan had become a true dark horse. The first round could have been a fluke, but the second one couldn’t be, right? To be that “lucky” would make him a god-like figure.

While Lin Xuan was still pondering, Long Bin and Long Fan had already begun fusing their Red Leaf Pills. Every second counted. They were unwilling to stop at just four pills, so they had to be fast!

‘Bonus points, huh? Looks like I’ll have to aim for more than four pills. Otherwise, I won’t be able to create a decisive lead.’

Lin Xuan mulled it over for a moment, then crushed two pills and tossed them into his Pill Furnace. The pills gradually melted into a liquid under the Flame, officially beginning the rather difficult third round of the competition.