Chapter 811: Mad Xu Has Gone Mad

Inside the spiritual array, Young Master Xu paused his movements, turning his head to speak to his alchemy apprentice, completely disregarding the situation outside.

Staff members stepped forward to retrieve the finished pill, handing it over to the eager judging panel for evaluation.

"An Extinguishing Fire Pill!" "It really is an Extinguishing Fire Pill!" Lu Chenghui, who was the first to receive the pill, had trembling hands. He kept shaking his head in disbelief, muttering, "How is this possible? How can this be?"

Dong Ling took the pill, and with just one glance, she knew the answer.

The color was perfect, the quality superb. There wasn't a single flaw!

It was as if a seasoned alchemy grandmaster had spent over a month perfecting this seemingly insignificant yet incredibly complex pill.

The answer Young Master Xu submitted could only be graded as perfect.

"This old man is truly impressed!" a guild master exclaimed with sincere admiration.

The alchemy world frowns upon arrogance, but individuals with genuine talent, even if they appear a bit conceited, can win over everyone by demonstrating their corresponding skill.

"This might not be Young Master Xu's own insight," another guild master suggested. "Perhaps his teacher happened to put him through rigorous training with this pill in the past."

The elders exchanged glances, nodding in agreement.

Indeed, while the Extinguishing Fire Pill has no market and its spiritual herb components are inexpensive, its refining process is remarkably complex for a tenth-grade pill, severely testing an alchemist's skill.

Therefore, it’s still used by some to teach their disciples.

The probability that Young Master Xu had previously practiced the Extinguishing Fire Pill was quite high!

"Everyone, don't lose heart," Lu Chenghui suddenly interjected. "This is only a tenth-grade pill. Even if Young Master Xu succeeded, he certainly won't win the championship if someone later produces a seventh-grade pill."

However, his remark startled not only himself but also the other elder guild masters beside him.

"What do you mean by that, Guild Master Lu? Are you treating Young Master Xu as a rival?" Shi Ti teased.

"Hahaha, Guild Master Lu, your emotional investment is quite strong," another said. "Isn't it good for the alchemy world to produce a genius? Why are you always thinking he'll become your opponent? Is it because of… the Scarlet Gold Liquid?"

The guild masters immediately burst into laughter, and Dong Ling also shook her head with a wry smile.

Lu Chenghui's face flushed. Realizing he had become fixated, he struggled to recover. "Nonsense, the Scarlet Gold Liquid is merely a tenth-grade pill; it's not that significant. I simply can't stand Young Master Xu's arrogant behavior, that's all."

"Yes, yes…" someone quickly offered an out. "Young Master Xu is indeed arrogant; I can't stand it either. However, it seems he genuinely has the capability to be so."

"Hmph, what capability?" Lu Chenghui sneered, waving his sleeve dismissively. "He's just relying on having previously studied the Extinguishing Fire Pill. All of this is merely a coincidence!"

"Haha, perhaps so…" the elders chimed in with smiles.

Nearby, the staff member, after delivering the pill, did not leave. Seeing that the elder guild masters seemed to have finished their assessment, she pulled another piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to them.

"Guild Masters," she said, "these are the spiritual herbs for the second type of pill requested by Spirit Array No. 1. Please approve them."

Lu Chenghui's face instantly froze.

Everyone stumbled back simultaneously, their smiles vanishing as they struggled to process the information.

"A second variation?"

Dong Ling quickly regained her composure, grabbing the paper and scanning its contents.

"Is this a joke?" Shi Ti exclaimed, equally shocked. "He doesn't need to think? He just finished refining the Extinguishing Fire Pill and already has an idea for a second type of pill?"

As he spoke, Shi Ti turned to the staff member for confirmation: "Was this paper handed over by Young Master Xu at the same time he delivered the pill?"

"Yes," the staff member nodded.

The judging panel fell silent.

Lu Chenghui suddenly felt a hot, stinging pain on his old face.

He had just harshly declared Young Master Xu's success with the Extinguishing Fire Pill a mere coincidence, and now he was directly contradicted.

"There's still a chance..." Lu Chenghui quickly looked at Dong Ling. "Guild Master, this new paper?"

Dong Ling took a deep breath. "See for yourselves!"

She handed over the paper. Lu Chenghui hastily took it, scanned it, and then slumped back into his seat with a thud.

"A ninth-grade Great Sun Boiling Blood Pill."

After the elder guild masters passed the paper among themselves, they exchanged bewildered glances, momentarily speechless.

"He got it again!" "Another one of the thirteen variations—he got it right." "Is this also a coincidence?"

The elders were speechless. Only Lu Chenghui remained slumped in his seat, muttering, "This shouldn't be, this shouldn't be..."

"Once could be a coincidence, but with the Great Sun Boiling Blood Pill appearing, it's no longer a coincidence," Shi Ti said, looking at Dong Ling. "This Young Master Xu truly has something."

The other elder guild masters made similar gestures.

Among low-grade spiritual herbs, pills like the Great Sun Boiling Blood Pill, which stimulate bloodline power for a temporary boost in combat strength, are all considered forbidden.

This is because they can somewhat harm the foundation of a spirit refiner.

The Alchemist Association neither advocates for nor publicly provides similar pill formulas.

However, the Great Sun Boiling Blood Pill is an exception.

This pill belongs to the Saint Palace's Jinyang lineage and has been genuinely proven to be effective and harmless, even as a ninth-grade pill, without any side effects.

It is considered the rarest among the thirteen variations.

Had Dong Ling not brought up this possibility, the elder guild masters would have been able to identify a maximum of twelve pill variations.

"How would he know about the Great Sun Boiling Blood Pill?" someone questioned.

Because it's a Saint Palace pill, it generally doesn't circulate outside their direct lineage.

Even major powers in various regions might not be able to obtain this superior-grade pill.

Dong Ling pondered before saying, "Don't forget, he's a Half-Saint Successor."

Realization dawned on everyone.

Everyone had been so astonished by Young Master Xu's alchemy skills that they had indeed forgotten his identity as a Half-Saint Successor.

Just because other major powers can't acquire pills from the Saint Palace doesn't mean Half-Saint powers can't.

To put it another way, while such superior-grade pills don't circulate publicly, they are a common type of pill for Half-Saint powers.

"The levels are simply different…" the elder guild masters sighed, not pondering further.

They were certain that none of the contestants present, even if they could deduce a seventh-grade pill, would ever be able to deduce the ninth-grade Great Sun Boiling Blood Pill.

Because their current level of understanding simply couldn't access such knowledge.

But Young Master Xu was different.

Not only was he a genius, but his background was also on the level of a Half-Saint power.

"Comparisons are odious. Just relax!"

Finally, someone gave up resisting, sighing deeply as he patted Lu Chenghui's shoulder and returned to his seat.

Lu Chenghui remained dazed, muttering, "This shouldn't be, this isn't right, this is too absurd…"

The alchemy competition continued intensely.

Fifteen minutes later, the audience erupted in cheers once more, witnessing history unfolding before them.

"The fourth type! Young Master Xu is attempting the fourth variation!"

"My goodness, while others are still deep in thought, he's already completed three batches of pills and is starting on his fourth!"

"Wait, why is he refining pills so quickly? How can someone complete three furnaces in fifteen minutes? Has this guy practiced these three pills countless times before?"

"Is it a coincidence?"

Thirty minutes later, "Yu Chuchu has begun! She requested spiritual herbs from the judging panel and started refining."

"Zhu Yan has also started, and Qiu Jiangzhi too… It seems those with sixth-grade strength have found their direction and are beginning their alchemy attempts."

"Zhao Tianyin's furnace exploded! He was ranked third with 95 points!"

"Young Master Xu, he... he's already on his sixth furnace, oh my goodness…"

"I see it now: Young Master Xu must be refining low-grade pills; that's the only way he could complete them so quickly. But it's still incredibly mysterious. Has he practiced these six low-grade pills countless times?"

"Is it a coincidence? Is it?"

Forty-five minutes later, "Yu Chuchu's furnace exploded; it seems she went in the wrong direction."

"Zhu Yan as well! Both of them failed at the final pill condensation stage. Did they perhaps all arrive at the same incorrect solution?"

"My goodness, this is so thrilling!"

"Look quickly, Young Master Xu has stopped! Is he also stuck… He didn't complete the pill; he's also stuck at the last step."

"Alright! Young Master Xu, take that! You're too much!"

At the judging panel:

"Hahahahaha, they really are all refining the Small Thunder Pill!"

The elder guild masters seemed to revive, one by one.

The shock Young Master Xu had dealt them had already left them numb. Now, no matter what Spirit Array No. 1 did, as long as they regarded Young Master Xu as a monstrous anomaly, they could remain completely unfazed.

What pleased them was that most of the sixth-grade grandmasters who had started their alchemy attempts had fallen into the trap they had set beforehand.

"We're still formidable."

"Yes, the Small Thunder Pill was a crucial move, otherwise we would have completely lost face."

"Look at Young Master Xu… hahaha, his furnace also exploded! He too failed at the Small Thunder Pill stage!"

Lu Chenghui was ecstatic. Ever since Spirit Array No. 1 had requested the spiritual herbs for the Small Thunder Pill, he felt he had regained his dignity.

This was because the Small Thunder Pill strategy was his initial proposal, later refined by all eighteen judges.

Seeing that even the extraordinary Young Master Xu had been defeated by his design, he finally felt a sense of relief.

"But don't forget, Young Master Xu has already successfully refined seven batches of pills…" Shi Ti interjected abruptly.

"Shut up!" Lu Chenghui immediately snapped. "Old corpse, shut up!" the other elder guild masters echoed.

At the judging panel now, Young Master Xu was a forbidden topic.

That fellow was simply too exceptional.

Seven successful batches of pills had utterly stunned all the guild masters.

Had they not been able to salvage some dignity from the struggles of other contestants, realizing that it wasn't their questions that were too easy, but Young Master Xu who was simply too extraordinary, the judging panel would have been riddled with eighteen new cracks, and staff members wouldn't have found anyone left to request herbs from!

Shi Ti wasn't angry after being scolded; protected by Elder Sang's fourteen-character mantra, how could he easily lose his temper?

"What is he doing?" At that moment, seeing that Spirit Array No. 1's furnace had also exploded, Young Master Xu, unlike the others, wasn't disheartened. Instead, he began giving lengthy instructions to his alchemy apprentice, Xiao Wanfeng.

The apprentice quickly scribbled down numerous notes.

Upon seeing this, the elder guild masters' hearts simultaneously lurched.

The viewing platform and the audience outside also noticed this scene.

"What are they planning to do now?"

Yu Chuchu, being the closest, could vaguely detect slight movements from Spirit Array No. 1.

After her furnace exploded, she realized the Small Thunder Pill was a trap and began to consider other approaches.

But Young Master Xu still seemed intent on pursuing this specific path.

Spirit Array No. 1 signaled and spoke. A staff member immediately came forward, approaching Xiao Wanfeng. She was astonished to receive several pieces of paper and then rushed non-stop to the judging panel to request the herbs.

"What is this?! What is this!!!" The elder guild masters at the judging panel received a total of nine pieces of paper, and one by one, they went wild—truly wild!

"A seventh-grade Revitalization Pill, a seventh-grade Wine Heart Pill, a seventh-grade Great Thunderclap Pill, a sixth-grade Ancestral Dragon Emperor Pill…"

"Heavens! How can he deduce even a sixth-grade Ancestral Dragon Emperor Pill?" "Is he a monster?"

"All at once, he directly wrote down every possible variation of the pill formula? Is he a living compendium of formulas? What exactly is in his mind?"

Dong Ling ignored the other guild masters' frantic reactions, staring blankly at the three pill formulas in her hand that she herself found somewhat incomprehensible.

"What… what kind of pills are these?"

The others simultaneously realized something was amiss. Nine new papers, added to the previous eight, meant Young Master Xu had directly proposed seventeen possibilities.

Excluding the "Small Thunder Pill" trap, he had written out all sixteen possibilities mentioned earlier!

In other words, what Dong Ling held were the three variations that even the eighteen judges had failed to consider.

With trembling hands, Lu Chenghui pulled the papers from Dong Ling's grasp. Inferring from the spiritual herbs, he read out the names of the pill formulas one by one:

"A sixth-grade Great Profound Scorching Pill, a sixth-grade Longrong Confusion Pill…" "A fifth-grade! Yin Mocking Blood Pill… Is he truly insane?!"

Guild Master Lu, recovering from his daze, slammed the table angrily. "How is this possible? The Yin Mocking Blood Pill has been proven effective in the market! While his spiritual herb theory might be plausible in concept, the refining process must contain errors. Such contradictory medicinal properties, things that turn adversity into prosperity, only exist in legends! How could such a junior possibly accomplish this?"

"What if?" Shi Ti asked without turning his head.

"No 'what ifs'!" Lu Chenghui roared like a startled lion.

Dong Ling listened to the heated debate, trying hard to calm her agitated emotions.

As an alchemist, witnessing such unconventional use of herbs, she found it impossible to remain calm.

Once she had composed herself, she pressed a hand down, quieting the two elders. "Let's wait and see for now. Approve all his herbs. Whether he can successfully refine the pill in the end, we'll know from the result. Arguing is pointless."

The other guild masters listened to Lu Chenghui and Shi Ti arguing, simultaneously realizing the gravity of the situation.

A fifth-grade pill was a peak Grandmaster-level concoction.

If a contestant in an alchemy competition could actually improve a fifth-grade pill, then even the word "genius" would be insufficient to describe him.

This was absolutely a monstrous talent destined for special recruitment by the Saint Palace!

"Approve!" "Give him the herbs!" "Yes, this old man truly wants to see how big a hole Young Master Xu can poke in the sky!"

Inside Spirit Array No. 1, Xu Xiaoshou took the spiritual herbs handed to him by Xiao Wanfeng. At this moment, he was completely engrossed in his own alchemy world.

He had even forgotten his original intention of causing a commotion to gain passive points.

"Not much time left…" Only then did he realize the limits of human capability.

He couldn't possibly produce several batches of seventh- and sixth-grade pills in the next fifteen minutes; the difficulty was too immense. Therefore, he had to make a choice.

"A fifth-grade Yin Mocking Blood Pill, perhaps a bold attempt…"

Xu Xiaoshou tapped his fingers on the wooden table.

He had only seen the Yin Mocking Blood Pill formula once, remembering only the general idea and not even the complete pill. Therefore, the subsequent herb usage was truly deduced from his own knowledge.

"But the remaining time is too short. Refining a fifth-grade pill, I might very well exceed the time limit, and it wouldn't be worth the effort…"

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated.

He didn't believe his current skill level would allow him to refine a fifth-grade Yin Mocking Blood Pill flawlessly on his first attempt.

After all, he had rarely even attempted to refine the lowest-grade sixth-grade Grandmaster pills.

"Then, there's still another option."

His gaze finally settled on the cauldron of failed medicine that had just exploded.

"The Small Thunder Pill seems to be a trap; based on normal alchemy experience, it's impossible to successfully refine."

"However, if 'Spirit Returning Flower' is also used to elevate its quality to sixth-grade, it might be possible to successfully bypass this trap."

"And this will surely be something those old foxes won't expect, and it will also lead to a better score…"

Xu Xiaoshou pondered, raising his eyes to look at the judging panel.

Above, many elder guild masters were also staring intently at him.

Without further thought, Xu Xiaoshou gestured to Xiao Wanfeng.

"Wanfeng, write down a few more herbs for me. Make sure to note: Spirit Returning Flower, Great Heavenly Heart Grass, Sunward Sunflower Seed. These three are the main ingredients; for the rest, the spiritual herbs just delivered will be enough!"