Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
‘Six Overarching Heaven Pills?’ Zhou Shu Qiu’s expression changed drastically when she saw how many Overarching Heaven Pills Xiao Gang Yu, the Blissful Sect’s Chief Celestial Alchemist, managed to refine. ‘Xiao Gang Yu is really lucky. He managed to refine six Overarching Heaven Pills today.’
Since Xiao Gang Yu only managed to refine six Overarching Heaven Pills at a go for a few times in the past, Zhou Shu Qiu attributed it to him being lucky. She had expected him to refine five Overarching Heaven Pills today.
‘Since Xiao Gang Yu manages to refine six Overarching Heaven Pills, is it still possible for him to win?’ Zhou Shu Qiu’s eyes shifted to Duan Ling Tian. She felt anxious as though she was the one who was competing with the Blissful Sect instead.
Zhou Shu Qiu had met many remarkable young talents in the Six Southeastern Regions. In fact, her senior sisters had introduced quite a number of them to her, but none of them caught her attention like Duan Ling Tian did. As time passed, she learned more about Duan Ling Tian. His brilliance captured her attention, and she began to fall for him. If Duan Ling Tian was not her best friend’s man, she would not have held back and would have pursued him. Nevertheless, she still could not help worrying about him even though she was trying to restrain her feelings.
Currently, apart from Huan’er and the three Prominent Grade Celestial Alchemists from the Tai Yi Celestial Sect, Murong Bing from the Compassionate Celestial Traveler Sect was the only one who had full confidence in Duan Ling Tian. All the others were certain Duan Ling Tian was going to lose!
Time continued to pass by quietly…
Everyone was silent. They watched with bated breath as Duan Ling Tian approached the end of the pill refinement process. Although none of them thought he would win, they were still curious about the number of pills he was able to refine.
When Duan Ling Tian finally began to refine the pills, many people began to discuss among themselves again.
“He’s refining the pills!”
“Although I’m certain Master Duan is going to lose, I’m still curious about the number of pills he’d be able to refine this time,” a middle-aged man exclaimed excitedly.
“That’s right. He managed to refine three Overarching Heaven Pills about a month ago… Since his heating speed has improved, I wonder if he’ll be able to refine four Overarching Heaven Pills this time.”
“Many people said he’s only lucky that he was able to refine three Overarching Heaven Pills previously. I’m afraid he’ll probably refine less than three Overarching Heaven Pill this time around.”
“Well, that’s possible as well.”
The onlookers continued to gossip among themselves. They only fell silent when Duan Ling Tian was done refining the pills. They watched as Duan Ling Tian raised his hand to collect the pills.
Pa!
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Duan Ling Tian smacked the side of the prominent Celestial Pill Cauldron. A mysterious energy shrouded the cauldron, causing it to buzz slightly.
Whoosh!
A streak of light suddenly shot out of the cauldron like a shooting star shooting across the night sky.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Soon enough, several streaks of light shot out of the cauldron again. The cauldron only stopped buzzing and vibrating when the eighth streak of light shot out of the cauldron.
At this moment, the onlookers wore a dumbfounded expression on their faces. Duan Ling Tian had eight pills in his hand! When they finally regained their senses, an expression of incredulity and shock could still be seen on their faces. After all, apart from a few people, none of them thought he would be able to refine so many Overarching Heaven Pills at once!
“A-am I seeing things? E-eight Overarching Heaven Pills?” one old man said in a trembling voice.
“I must be dreaming…”
“Impossible! The Tai Yi Celestial Sect’s Master Duan managed to refine eight Overarching Heaven Pills?”
“This is unbelievable! Unbelievable!”
Naturally, a lot of people extended their Divine Consciousness to confirm the truth. Indeed, Duan Ling Tian was holding eight Overarching Heaven Pills in his hand.
Meanwhile, Zhong Shang, the supreme Celestial Alchemist from the Alliance of Celestial Masters, also confirmed that Duan Ling Tian truly refined eight Overarching Heaven Pills. An expression of awe could be seen on his face as he looked at the eight Overarching Heaven Pills. Then, he turned to look at Duan Ling Tian in disbelief. ‘Incredible! He took such a long time to heat his cauldron, it would’ve been a miracle even if he manages to only refine one pill…. However, he managed to refine eight pills! It seems like the incident a month ago isn’t exaggerated.’
“Master Zhong?” Duan Ling Tian called.
Zhong Shang snapped back to his senses immediately. He briefly glanced at Li An, the Old Ancestor of the Blissful Sect, before he loudly said, “Master Duan managed to refine eight Overarching Heaven Pills so he’s the winner!”
Li An finally snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Zhong Shang’s announcement. As the expression of disbelief on his face disappeared, it was replaced by a grim one. This was beyond his expectation! How did a Celestial Alchemist who was not even 100 years old manage to refine eight Overarching Heaven Pills? What was wrong with the world?
“How’s this possible? How’s this possible?!” Ji Fan, the Arhat of the Blissful Sect, who was standing next to Li An muttered repeatedly. His face was pale, and his eyes were brimming with disbelief. It was already an incredible feat for a Celestial Alchemist who was not even 100 years old to refine one Overarching Heaven Pill, but he managed to refine eight? If he did not witness this, he would not have believed it. An ominous feeling had already begun to rise in his heart when he saw the eight pills. After all, he was the one who suggested betting with Duan Ling Tian. It was his fault.
“E-eight?” Xiao Gang Yu’s expression was unsightly. Then, he said with a jeer, “Duan Ling Tian, you’re really cunning. You hid your strength outside of the Tai Yi Celestial Sect’s shop a month ago!” As a prominent Celestial Alchemist capable of refining the Overarching Heaven Pill, he should kill himself if he still could not figure out what was going on.
Upon hearing Xiao Gang Yu’s words, the onlookers began to discuss among themselves again.
“He hid his true strength?”
“Based on Master Xiao’s words, it seems like Master Duan deliberately hid his true strength a month ago when he refined the Overarching Heaven Pills?”
“Is that possible? Did he predict this would happen today?”
“Well, I don’t think he’s able to predict today’s event, but it’s possible that he has already planned to bet with others during the Alchemy Conference. It’d explain why he hid his strength.”
“That seems very likely!”
Most of the onlookers agreed with Xiao Gang Yu. They thought it was highly likely that Duan Ling Tian had deliberately downplayed his strength so he could compete with others during the Alchemy Conference.
Indeed, that was Duan Ling Tian’s plan.
After Zhong Shang passed the eight Overarching Heaven Pill to Duan Ling Tian, Duan Ling Tian could not help but think to himself when he heard the conversations in his surroundings, ‘I was wondering earlier how to look for someone to bet with. Who knew the Blissful Sect would offer themselves up? Moreover, they even agreed to use a triple-trait Duke Grade Celestial Method as a stake!” He knew if he were the one to initiate the bet, the stakes would definitely not be as high.
Duan Ling Tian only briefly glanced at Xiao Gang Yu who was sneering before he turned to look at Li An and said indifferently, “Thank you, Senior Li An. I think the Blissful Sect should fulfill their part of the deal now, right?”
Under Zhong Shang and Zhong Qi’s watchful eyes, Li An could only bring out the Blissful Sect’s triple-trait Duke Grade Celestial Method and give it to Duan Ling Tian, regardless of how unwilling he felt.
After confirming that the Memory Celestial Talisman he had received, indeed, contained the triple-trait Duke Grade Celestial Method, Duan Ling Tian looked at Li An and thanked him with a smile. “Thank you very much, Senior Li An!” Then, he looked at Ji Fan and Xiao Gang Yu with a faint smile on his face as he said, “I wonder which of you suggested betting with me? Regardless of who it is, I’d like to thank you as well. After all, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to get my hands on this triple-trait Duke Grade Celestial Method!” As he neared the end of his sentence, he deliberately weighed the Memory Celestial Talisman in his hands, drawing attention to it.