Chapter 230: Chapter 230: The Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster Strikes, Blood Dragon’s Heavenly Descent

Yang Chan watched the Pharmacists refine their Elixirs intently. Suddenly, his eyes flashed with doubt as he noticed the Earth Fire fluctuating again.

While he was watching Xu Gaocen refine the Three Revolutions Nourishing Viscera Pill, the Earth Fire suddenly began to flicker erratically. Then, the Earth Fire of the Pharmacist next to him did the same, erupting as if a drop of water had landed in a sizzling pan of oil.

The fluctuation in the Earth Fire was even more severe than when Yang Chan had been refining his own Elixirs the day before. It made him suspect that someone had blocked the fire vents.

The change in the Earth Fire also caught the attention of Elder Yan and the other Advanced Pharmacists, causing them all to frown slightly. What was particularly surprising was that the two Top Level Pharmacists from the Pharmacist Alliance had not yet made an appearance.

After all, in the past, both the Pharmacist Alliance’s Leader, Lu Qianfan, and its Vice Alliance Leader, Xu Chuan, had always appeared to preside over the Pharmacist Exchange Conference. They would even offer critiques to the participating Pharmacists and point out issues in their Alchemy process, allowing those nearby to learn a great deal.

Yang Chan had heard several Pharmacists mention this and had been hoping to listen to the insights of these two Top Level Pharmacists to further improve his own skills.

Since the start of the Pharmacist Exchange Conference, his skill as a Pharmacist had improved rapidly—a benefit reaped from all the useful knowledge he had absorbed. He knew, of course, that this was the fruit of his own hard work.

Potential Points were potent, but hard work was just as crucial. He was living proof of that.

"How dare you, thief! You’re not getting away from me!"

A thunderous roar erupted from beneath the ground. Then, from under the courtyard where the Pharmacists were working, two figures shot out, one chasing the other.

The deafening noise caused everyone present to frown.

Then, the aura of a Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster erupted, bearing down on everyone present. The pressure was immense and tyrannical, laced with an inexplicable Spiritual Power that made everyone deeply uncomfortable.

Yang Chan was also caught in the aura’s wake. Seeing several External Alchemists beside him collapse, he followed their lead and dropped to the ground, feigning that he couldn’t withstand the pressure.

’This was the first time he had ever witnessed such a powerful aura; he was finally seeing the might of a Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster firsthand. The erupted aura alone was infused with Essence, Will, and Spirit. When this power was restrained, one couldn’t feel it, but once unleashed, it was utterly terrifying.’

His eyes flashed like lightning piercing the void, instantly locking onto the enemy before him.

"Scoundrel! After ruining my work, you think you can leave here alive?"

Lu Qianfan glared furiously at the black-robed man before him. While he had been in the middle of Alchemy, this man had used a Secret Technique to make the Earth Fire fluctuate before extinguishing it completely.

This caused his attempt to refine the Earth Element Supreme Pill to fail.

Lu Qianfan and Xu Chuan had been paying close attention to the shifting political situation in White Jade City; in fact, they knew more than most. That was why they hadn’t waited for the final day of the Pharmacist Exchange Conference to begin refining the Elixir. They knew that if they had waited, someone would have surely intervened to stop them.

The deadline had been set by Emperor Yang Yu, so they couldn’t delay any further. Although the Pharmacist Alliance was powerful, they had no desire to make an enemy of the Imperial Family and thus had no intention of disobeying the Emperor’s command.

Since they couldn’t postpone it, the two conferred and decided to begin the refining ahead of schedule. However, the outcome was clear: someone had discovered their plan and struck at the most critical moment, causing the refinement of the Earth Element Supreme Pill to fail.

The ingredients for an Elixir of this Level are not easy to gather. After one failure, it would take a considerable amount of time to collect them all again for another attempt.

Now, Lu Qianfan had to capture the person who had ruined his work and hand them over to Emperor Yang Yu.

The refining of the Earth Element Supreme Pill was crucial; it could even impact the relationship between the Pharmacist Alliance and the Imperial Family. This was especially true concerning Emperor Yang Yu. The Old Emperor was a deeply sinister man, and Lu Qianfan had no desire to offend him, as he had no idea how many hidden cards the monarch truly held.

Even with two Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmasters who were also Top Level Pharmacists—a rarity in the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty—the Pharmacist Alliance still acted with extreme caution when facing the might of the throne.

"Blood Dragon’s Descent! Break!"

The black-robed man felt the aura lock onto him. He unleashed his own powerful aura as a scarlet Blood Dragon Martial Seal manifested and empowered his body, making his presence even more profound.

He used the Blood Dragon Martial Seal to shatter Lu Qianfan’s Spiritual Power suppression and simultaneously break free from the lock on his aura.

With a leap, he tried to escape once more.

Seeing this, the Martial Arts Experts within the Pharmacist Alliance sprang into action. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

This was the moment to capture the intruder who had infiltrated the Pharmacist Alliance.

’Inner Refining of the Five Viscera Cultivation... Truly formidable.’

Once Lu Qianfan’s spiritual suppression was broken, Yang Chan, who had been lying on the ground, got to his feet with the others. A sharp glint, however, flashed through his eyes.

’The Combat Power of both fighters is immense.’

’The fused power of Essence, Will, and Spirit from the Bone Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster was terrifying enough even when scattered; he could only imagine what it felt like for the person being directly targeted.’

’And the black-robed man... he had unleashed the Cultivation of Inner Refining of the Five Viscera and empowered himself with some kind of sinister Blood Dragon, instantly raising his Combat Power by several levels. The surge was shocking, even to Yang Chan; the instantaneous burst of power was horrifying.’

’To be capable of such a feat, this black-robed man was clearly no ordinary figure.’

However, Yang Chan was currently positioned behind Elder Yan and the others. As a ’low-strength’ External Cultivation Disciple, he couldn’t possibly interfere in a battle of this Level. All he could do was watch from the sidelines and worry about being caught in the aftershocks.

"He extinguished the Earth Fire just to make Alliance Leader Lu fail in refining the Earth Element Supreme Pill?"

"Most likely. Otherwise, Alliance Leader Lu wouldn’t be this furious."

"That’s the Elixir the Emperor requested. Now that the Pharmacist Alliance has failed to refine it, won’t the Emperor come looking for trouble?"

"That’s a real possibility. Looks like this year’s Pharmacist Exchange Conference is going to end early."

"I doubt it. The Pharmacist Alliance holds a pivotal position in the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty. Besides, failure is a normal part of Alchemy. Refining the Earth Element Supreme Pill is incredibly difficult, and the failure rate is high. Otherwise, Alliance Leader Lu would have produced a stockpile of them by now."

"But gathering the ingredients for the Earth Element Supreme Pill is extremely difficult. Who knows how long it will take to get a complete set for the next attempt."

"..."

Once Lu Qianfan spoke, many people guessed the real reason the Earth Fire had gone out. No one would have specifically targeted this Alchemy competition, as the stakes weren’t that high. Even if everyone failed, it would at most affect the distribution of some Cultivation Resources—not a major consequence.

But the refining of the Earth Element Supreme Pill was another matter entirely. That could potentially disrupt the grand strategies of the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty and even affect neighboring imperial dynasties and kingdoms. The ripple effects would be enormous, so it was only natural that many would try to sabotage it.