Chapter 1408: Chapter 1408: The Latecomer Surpasses the Predecessor

The path of alchemy is extremely meticulous. Even a cultivator at the Heavenly Rank level might not dare to defy conventions when it comes to fusing herbal essences.

When these Meridian Refining Masters first enter the path, their instructors teach them that herbal essences must be fused two by two. If a third is introduced, the difficulty in fusion is far more complex than simply one plus one plus one equals three.

It’s a geometric increase, and without sufficient power of soul, it’s impossible to control the volatile repulsion force among the three herbs, leading to ultimate failure.

Yet now, Yun Xiao has swept five whole herbal essences into the medicine tripod, leaving the onlookers and Heavenly Rank Meridian Refining Masters utterly dumbfounded.

They instinctively guessed what Yun Xiao intended, a move that was either a complete "surprise" or already a "shock".

Even the Meridian Refining Master Association’s Chairman, Lu Yanji, likely couldn’t achieve this. Yet this young man named Yun Xiao seemed oblivious to reverence, performing such a world-shocking act at this moment.

"Really reckless!"

A Heavenly Rank Low Level Medical Pulse Master, eliminated in the first round, couldn’t help but mutter in frustration upon seeing Yun Xiao’s actions.

This elderly Heavenly Rank Low Level Meridian Refining Master was known for his meticulousness. His meridian refining techniques were far from low, and earlier, he sought perfection in treating a patient, hence trailing Huang Guan by a step, yet he ultimately healed the patient.

He utterly detested these unorthodox alchemical methods, as they completely contradicted traditional alchemical beliefs. Yun Xiao’s actions appeared to him as utter recklessness.

However, as soon as the elder spoke, several unusual glances were cast his way, bearing a hint of disdain. Internally, they questioned how a failure could judge the methods of a victor.

No matter what, though the elderly Heavenly Rank Low Level Meridian Refining Master was angry, he had no recourse against Yun Xiao. He could only watch helplessly as the youth continued his unconventional ways, pressing on with fusing five herbs simultaneously.

Of course, unlike the ordinary cultivators, every Meridian Refining Master doubted Yun Xiao’s success in this fusion. Many felt that Yun Xiao’s act was merely for show.

Yet these cultivators and Meridian Refining Masters of the Tenglong Continent had no idea what kind of existence they faced. Given Yun Xiao’s current strength, let alone five herbs, even seven or eight could be fused effortlessly.

This wasn’t only due to Yun Xiao’s extraordinary power of soul but also because of a fusion method acquired from the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, a technique unseen on this continent.

Yun Xiao’s confident composure was rooted in the memories of Long Xiao Battle God’s past, and with his rising strength, more and more methods of the Holy Rank Peak Meridian Refining Master could be used.

Coupled with the formidable ancestral vein fire after Yun Xiao’s rebirth, he willed a blood-red flame to roll, forcibly melding the five herbal essences together.

Clang!

The energy of the five Heavenly Rank Low Level medicinal materials was formidable. The mere instant of energy explosion caused a loud sound from the Earth Rank Advanced medicine tripod.

This sound echoed through the silent square, distinct and crisp, leading many to believe the Earth Rank Advanced medicine tripod was on the brink of shattering.

Fortunately, the medicine tripod, though impacted by the herbal essences, didn’t actually explode. Instead, it was restrained by a mysterious, formless power, ceasing to emit such formidable energy.

"He actually controlled it?"

Perceiving the still-violent, yet now contained five herbal essences within the tripod, everyone present was left stunned.

"How powerful is his soul!"

The Meridian Refining Masters of the Tenglong Continent, unaware of Yun Xiao’s special methods, instinctively attributed this to soul power suppression.

But the thought of suppressing the fusion power of five herbs was terrifying to even contemplate. Qian Sanyuan’s and Qingmu Wu’s faces were full of shock.

At the very least, they knew that even Lu Yanji, a Heavenly Rank Intermediate Meridian Refiner, couldn’t fuse five herbal essences at once, and could only barely attempt three, with uncertain success.

If before, despite their astonishment, none truly believed Yun Xiao’s success was possible, now their perception had been forcibly altered.

Because the wild power inside the medicine tripod is becoming more and more moderate with the progression of time, the impact power is no longer as immense as at the beginning, and it’s obvious that Yun Xiao forcibly suppressed it.

Since the power from the fusion of five medicinal essences does not pose a great threat to Yun Xiao, the subsequent process proceeds methodically, and everything returns to calm.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!

After 15 minutes, Yun Xiao once again flicks his right hand, then sweeps the five medicinal essences into the medicine tripod again, starting a new round of fusion.

In this way, Yun Xiao, who was leading in the prior refinement of medicinal materials, undoubtedly pulls even further ahead, especially since the meridian refiners on the Tenglong Continent only fuse two medicinal essences at a time. Yun Xiao is more than twice as fast in this step.

Another day and night pass. When the outline of an elixir seemingly starts to faintly take shape in Yun Xiao’s medicine tripod, only then do people like Gu Huashan Xiao Shijing begin the fusion of medicinal essences.

In comparison, Mo Qing is notably faster, already moving on to the step of merging the medicinal essences beside him, while the weakest elder, Huang Guan, remains at the stage of refining medicinal materials.

This clearly shows how Yun Xiao is in a league of his own in the steps of refining and merging medicinal essences, with the other four having hardly any basis for comparison.

However, what happens next is vastly different from the crowd’s expectations, even completely contrary, thrusting their waiting into a time filled with anticipation and length.

The spectators, who initially believed that Yun Xiao would quickly claim first place in the elixir formation step given his speed in refining and merging essences, did not anticipate that he would spend more time on this final step than the average person.

In the ensuing day and night, the crowd watched as the elixir outline inside Yun Xiao’s medicine tripod continuously rolled but did not trigger the Heavenly Thunder Tribulation, meaning that this Heavenly Rank Low-Level Elixir had not truly formed.

When a Heavenly Rank Elixir comes into being, it is bound to attract a thunder tribulation, the quantity of which can range from one to six, with one being the weakest and six the strongest.

If someone can refine a Heavenly Rank Low-Level Elixir that draws six thunder tribulations, it indicates that this meridian refiner is only half a step away from the Heavenly Rank Intermediate level.

The crowd was previously eagerly anticipating how many thunder tribulations Yun Xiao’s refined elixir would attract, given his brilliance, yet did not foresee that the elixir would fail to form, leaving the thunder tribulations not descending.

It seemed as if Yun Xiao was intentionally waiting for the other Heavenly Rank Low-Level meridian refiners, as, after being extremely quick in the first two steps, he ultimately stalled in the elixir formation step.

As another day and night passed by, the crowd’s attention had shifted away from Yun Xiao because over two days and nights, nothing seemed to change with Yun Xiao himself or the elixir outline inside his medicine tripod, leading to some boredom.

Meanwhile, in Mo Qing and Gu Huashan Xiao Shijing’s medicine tripods, the outline of a pill emitting different auras appeared.

It’s noteworthy that the elder Huang Guan, who previously lagged behind in the medicinal refinement step, now surprisingly had a pill outline inside his medicine tripod, seemingly catching up during the fusion of medicinal essences step by unknown means.

Huff... Huff...

Passing another half-day when the day reached its zenith, suddenly a strong wind arose over the giant square of Lianyun Mountain, and moments later, clouds covered the sun, seemingly as if the apocalypse had arrived.

"A Heavenly Rank Elixir has come into being!"

Seeing the drastic change in the sky, some advanced Earth Rank meridian refiners had a fervent gleam on their faces because that was the Heavenly Dao Pill Tribulation they pursued throughout their lives.

Only those who can truly refine a Heavenly Rank Low-Level Elixir can be considered to have reached the level of a Heavenly Rank meridian refiner—a step that has trapped countless exceptionally talented Earth Rank meridian refiners with no progress their entire life.

No matter how unimpressive Huang Guan might seem before the other four, he is nonetheless a remarkably powerful Heavenly Rank Low-Level meridian refiner, and making it into the final battle of the Meridian Refining Conference is already an incredible achievement.

What’s astonishing is that Huang Guan, who was previously the slowest in refining medicinal materials, is now the first to form an elixir and to attract the Heavenly Thunder Tribulation.

It must be said that in the affairs of the world, one cannot make assertions before the final result appears. At this moment, Huang Guan has managed to summon the Pill Thunder Tribulation Cloud, indicating that his alchemy did not face unexpected outcomes, and at least was successfully refined.

To say something not very pleasant, if Huang Guan were to be exceedingly fortunate and the other four all failed in their refining, then even if he draws only one Heavenly Thunder Tribulation, he could win the champion title of Medical Vein.

Everyone raised their heated gazes to watch as the increasingly dense Alchemy Tribulation Cloud obscured the sky, eventually fully enveloping the location of Huang Guan as if it were the end of the world.