About a quarter of an hour later, Yan Zhen finally awoke from his cultivation and exhaled a mouthful of turbid qi.
The people around him all breathed a sigh of relief. They figured that as long as Yan Zhen could perform at his usual level, he should be able to hold his own against Wolf Poison.
As for who would win or lose, that was up to the heavens. Yan Zhen’s performance had already done much to salvage the Garo Kingdom’s dignity to some extent.
However, in the very next moment, they completely changed their minds.
That was because the flame igniting in Yan Zhen’s hand was not the metallic blaze shimmering with gold and silver hues. Instead, it was a roaring inferno as crimson as fresh blood!
Such a Scarlet Flame was clearly no ordinary fire.
Could this… could this be a second extreme flame?
Had Yan Zhen somehow mastered two kinds of extreme flames?
Impossible!
Mastering even one extreme flame was the absolute limit. Controlling two was nothing short of a pipe dream!
Exclamations erupted all around the venue. The Garo Crown Prince, Qing Shan, Shangguan Jinghong, and even Yun Xiu were utterly dumbfounded.
Just what kind of freak was this Yan Zhen?
Feng Xiao stared at the blood-like Scarlet Flame and suddenly reacted. “How is the Great Crimson Heaven Flame in Little Friend Yan Zhen’s hands? Does he have ties to the Myriad Snake Queen? Wait—this old man remembers now. The young man who was sitting beside the Myriad Snake Queen back then… that was Little Friend Yan Zhen!”
He was not the only one. Everyone from the Three Great Families and the Garo Crown Prince who had seen Yan Zhen back in the royal palace of the City of Water began dredging up their memories of him.
—It was him! Him! The Myriad Snake Queen’s little boy toy, and he seemed awfully close to the National Advisor!
Huangfu Third Uncle and Huangfu Fourth Uncle both let out strange yelps.
“I knew this kid looked familiar! So we ran into him in the City of Water!”
“Nephew Yan Zhen seems to be one of the Myriad Snake Queen’s people. I remember the National Advisor was there too, wasn’t she?”
Huangfu Wenqing turned to look at her own master.
Yun Xiu hadn’t expected their connection to be exposed here. Her expression grew a touch unnatural as she replied, “I do have some recollection of him. But he wasn’t going by Yan Zhen back then—he was using the name Chen Zhen. Plus, he was pretty tanned, so I didn’t recognize him right away.”
Huangfu Wenqing blinked her eyes. She found her master’s slightly tense demeanor rather endearing.
—Master’s lying for sure. She must harbor secret feelings for Yan Zhen. They’ve probably even been intimate, which is why she’s feeling guilty.
“Master, you already knew Yan Zhen? How did the two of you meet?”
Yun Xiu coughed lightly. “I’ll explain everything later. For now, let’s watch the competition.” She put on a serious face. “It looks like Wolf Poison is refining Tier 5 Pills. The power of heaven and earth around us is already starting to gather toward him…”
Pills were ranked from one to nine tiers. The first three tiers were utterly commonplace, but starting from the fourth, they began to exhibit distinct characteristics.
Tier 4 Pills produced energy fluctuations. Tier 5 Pills drew in the power of heaven and earth. Tier 6 Pills triggered heaven-and-earth phenomena. Tier 7 Pills summoned pill tribulations. Tier 8 Pills birthed pill spirits. And Tier 9 Pills could even take on physical forms—becoming plants, beasts, or even humanlike entities, as lifelike as the real thing!
Yun Xiu’s words caused everyone’s faces to tighten. Their attention snapped back to the competition.
Tier 5 Pills? But weren’t both of them only fourth-tier Pill Refiners? Had Wolf Poison been hiding his true strength?
“Wolf Poison is actually refining Tier 5 Pills… He’s a fifth-rank Pill Refiner with a Nether Realm Divine Soul. We’re in trouble now!”
“No, look at Yan Zhen. It seems like he’s refining Tier 5 Pills too.”
“But his divine soul cultivation hasn’t reached the Nether Realm yet. How could he possibly succeed?”
“Don’t forget—he’s wielding the Great Crimson Heaven Flame!”
More and more spectators took notice. At this moment, both competitors on stage were refining Tier 5 Pills!
The sky had fully brightened, and the power of heaven and earth fluctuated wildly. Winds whipped up clouds and hurled sand everywhere in howling gusts. The atmosphere grew oppressively heavy once more.
Finally, at a certain moment, both contestants slapped their pill furnaces at almost the exact same time. Two radiant treasure pills shot out from the furnaces, forming twin vortices high in the air. The vortices tugged at each other before descending slowly and evenly into the hands of their respective creators.
Wolf Poison had refined his specialty: a poison pill designed to destroy vitality.
Yan Zhen, on the other hand, had created an improved version of the Revival Spirit Pill called the Rebirth Dragon Pill. He had added a drop of Dragon Blood to it, allowing the pill not only to restore vitality but also to domineeringly strengthen the consumer’s body with draconic power.
Pills like this would not only cure stubborn ailments for sickly elders like Yan Lie and Huangfu Xiong but also leave them bursting with vigor.
The two contestants placed their pills into bottles and presented them to the judges’ dais.
The tension reached its absolute peak. Although most of the judges were from the Garo Kingdom, teams from the other nations were watching closely. They couldn’t possibly hand down a verdict that blatantly favored Yan Zhen.
It all came down to real skill.
“Wolf Poison has refined a vitality-destroying poison pill of the fifth tier, medium grade quality.”
“Yan Zhen has refined an orthodox vitality pill of the fifth tier, quality… also medium grade.”
The announcements sent the crowd into an uproar.
“A tie?”
“No way! Wolf Poison made a poison pill, but Yan Zhen created a true vitality pill. He’s more on-topic—he should win!”
“But according to official pill classifications, there’s no such thing as ‘poisonous’ or ‘non-poisonous’ pills.”
The audience buzzed with heated debate.
Yan Zhen spoke up. “Esteemed judge, would you please take another look? My pill is far more than just medium grade.”
He blew a breath infused with mystic power onto the Rebirth Dragon Pill.
The mystic power activated the pill’s medicinal properties. A Dragon Mark emerged on its surface, accompanied by resounding draconic roars that shook the air!
Once activated, the pill’s quality soared dramatically.
“This… this is superior grade!”
Yan Zhen smiled faintly. “That’s right. This pill requires fire-type mystic power as a catalyst to unlock its full effects. It must be consumed promptly after activation, or the potency will dissipate after a day.”
“I see! Truly marvelous. Excellent, excellent!”
The judges heaped on the praise.
Yan Zhen felt a surge of joy upon hearing it. After all, this was the very first pill formula created by his Beautiful Female Master.
Even if it was only Tier 5, its significance was immeasurable!
“A superior-grade pill versus medium grade! We hereby declare Yan Zhen the winner of the ninth round!”
“The nation claiming the championship of this Grand Dan Fighting Competition is the Garo Kingdom, with four points!”
“And taking first place in the individual rankings is Yan Zhen—four battles, four victories!”
Boom!
The entire venue erupted. Cheers rose like tidal waves, and applause thundered like an avalanche!
Yan Zhen felt a massive weight lift from his shoulders. His body went limp with exhaustion; he could barely stand and had to lean against the furnace stand for support.
Although the breast pill had restored his strength, the effect had only lasted a short time and hadn’t fully replenished him. Then came the over-rank challenge of refining Tier 5 Pills, which had nearly squeezed him completely dry.
Wolf Poison’s face twisted with rage. He snarled at Yan Zhen, “You damn brat, you dared to cheat!”
Yan Zhen gave a faint smile. “Cheat? How? I simply used mystic power to activate the pill’s properties and elevate its quality—perfectly within the rules. You’re the one who faked your age and hid your cultivation level. What were you really after?”
The bastard was already thirty-three years old and had no business competing. If not for the need to stick to the plot, Yan Zhen would have exposed him outright.
“Since you’ve seen through me, This Seat won’t bother pretending anymore!”
With that, Wolf Poison leaped into the air and landed right beside the competition’s grand prize: the Fifth-Tier Volcano Cauldron.
“This treasure cauldron is mine!”
“How bold!”
The guards protecting the cauldron charged at him with a punch, only for Wolf Poison to send one flying with a single kick.
The aura of a Mystic Lord powerhouse exploded from him without restraint.
The sudden turn of events threw the venue into chaos. The Garo Country Lord rose to his feet and barked an order. “Guards! Seize him!”
A group of experts shot into the air and surrounded Wolf Poison.
According to the script, Wolf Poison was supposed to break out of the encirclement and flee toward the Cloud Heaven Palace.
But this time, the moment he burst free, Yun Xiu was already waiting—as if she had known exactly where he would appear. She thrust out with her sword, unleashing a rain of myriad sword qi that enveloped him completely. It was the Thousand Winds Annihilation Sword!
Yun Xiu had quietly advanced to the Mystic Ancestor realm some time ago. Even holding back slightly, her strike was far beyond what an ordinary Mystic Lord powerhouse could withstand.
Wolf Poison crashed to the ground, drenched in blood and utterly deprived of any fighting strength.
