BTTH: DISCIPLE CASHBACK SYSTEM

Chapter 388: Liu Ling’s Usual Risky Moves!

Chapter 388: Liu Ling's Usual Risky Moves!

While the crowd was captivated by the power of Liu Ling’s heavenly flame, Xiao Yan’s gaze remained fixed on the pile of ingredients on Liu Ling’s platform. It was clear that the quantity of materials Liu Ling had prepared far exceeded the twenty herbs required for refining a Three-Patterned Green Spirit Pill.

Suddenly, an old, familiar voice echoed in Xiao Yan’s mind.

“Xiao Yan, stop staring. That boy’s ingredients are clearly meant for refining a fifth-grade pill!”

“A fifth-grade pill? Does that mean he’s already achieved the level of a fifth-grade alchemist?” Xiao Yan’s face was filled with disbelief at Yao Lao’s words.

“Xiao Yan, don’t get so worked up. Liu Ling is about two years older than you. If he can reach the level of a fifth-grade alchemist now, you could achieve the same in two years. Besides, his current skills would hardly impress the elite alchemist clans in the Dan Region. Back in my day…”

Seeing Xiao Yan’s reaction, Yao Lao began to boast about some of his past experiences.

“Xiao Yan, focus on refining the Three-Patterned Green Spirit Pill as we practiced. Don’t get distracted by all this. If Liu Ling succeeds in refining that fifth-grade pill, you won’t stand a chance to win. But if he happens to slip up or faces a problem during the fusion process, you might still have an opportunity.”

“Yes, teacher, I understand!”

Hearing Yao Lao’s guidance, Xiao Yan realized he couldn’t let external distractions affect him as they had in the first round.

He held a small hope in the back of his mind—that Liu Ling might encounter a failure during the refining process. After all, even the best alchemists can’t guarantee a hundred percent success. Refining a fifth-grade pill also takes much longer than a fourth-grade pill, so if Liu Ling made a mistake during the fusion stage, he would have no time to prepare a second set of materials.

…

As the unusual scene caused by Liu Ling’s heavenly flame dissipated, the contestants gradually refocused on the challenge ahead. They directed their flames into their cauldrons, retrieved their materials from their storage rings, and began the first step in alchemy: extraction!

Xiao Yan kept his eyes locked on his cauldron, occasionally tossing one or two herbs from his platform inside. Carefully controlling the flame temperature, he followed the instructions from the formula, meticulously extracting the essence needed for the pill.

Even though the instructions were precise in his mind, Xiao Yan couldn’t afford any carelessness. Fa Ma had only given him two sets of ingredients last night, so any mistake that led to the loss of even one herb would significantly increase his chances of failure. This was something Xiao Yan couldn’t tolerate.

As a result, he didn’t rush, throwing in four or five herbs at once. Instead, he chose a more cautious approach, refining one or two herbs at a time.

At this moment, most contestants were as careful as Xiao Yan. However, there were exceptions.

On Liu Ling’s side, he boldly grabbed four herbs and tossed them all into the Crimson Serpent Cauldron at once, beginning the refining process.

“Sigh, that boy… reckless as ever, with no caution!”

Seeing Liu Ling’s actions, Fa Ma let out a heavy sigh. His worst fear had come to pass.

Based on Liu Ling’s previous performances, his skill level was undoubtedly the highest among the contestants. Yet, Liu Ling’s refining approach was always exceedingly risky—something that could prove disastrous in a competition.

Recognizing this flaw in Liu Ling, Fa Ma had met with Xiao Yan late last night to prepare a backup plan.

In the VIP section, Nalan Jie withdrew his gaze from the contestants and turned to Nalan Yanran. “Yanran, you’ve been hiding up on Yunlan Mountain these past two years. Were you afraid of facing your grandfather’s reprimand?”

“Reprimand? Why would you scold me, Grandfather?”

Hearing his words, Nalan Yanran looked puzzled.

“You ended the engagement with the Xiao family without consulting us. Do you think you were entirely justified? Regardless of the outcome of your three-year challenge, it would be best if you apologized to the Xiao family afterward,” Nalan Jie said with a slightly reproachful tone.

After Gu He cured Nalan Jie of his poison, he learned about the broken engagement. Taking time to visit the Xiao family as a friend of the family elder, Xiao Lin, he discovered that Xiao Yan’s cultivation talent had returned. This knowledge influenced his current advice.

“I did nothing wrong! When I went to break the engagement, I even offered compensation, but he not only rejected it but insulted me, saying he’d divorce me!” Nalan Yanran replied stubbornly.

“You could have gone privately to the Xiao family and spoken to Xiao Zhan kindly about annulling the engagement. Perhaps it wouldn’t have caused such an incident. Instead, you chose to wield the authority of Yunlan Sect to force the engagement's dissolution, disregarding the damage it would do to the Xiao family’s reputation. That engagement was arranged by your grandfather and Xiao Zhan’s father. How does this put me, your grandfather, in a respectable position?” Nalan Jie looked at his granddaughter, his tone calm but firm.

Hearing her grandfather’s words, Nalan Yanran’s expression grew complex. After a moment, she spoke evenly, “Grandfather, I won’t go through with a marriage I don’t want, no matter what. No one can force me. Besides, I won’t lose in the three-year challenge. When Xiao Yan is defeated, I’ll offer him some compensation.”

“You’re that confident? The boy from the Xiao family is not lacking in talent. After three years, he may well have reached the rank of Dou Grandmaster.”

“There’s no need for you to worry about that. Just focus on watching the match,” Nalan Yanran responded, sidestepping her grandfather’s probing and using her Dou Qi to temporarily block her hearing, tuning out his chatter.

Though Nalan Jie was irritated by her attitude, he couldn’t do much about it. After all, they were in a public setting, and he had no desire for the Nalan family to become the subject of ridicule.

By this point, the final round had progressed for some time. Nalan Jie noticed that during his conversation with Nalan Yanran, the most dazzling contestant, Liu Ling, had already used up two-thirds of his ingredients, while most others had barely finished extracting three or four herbs.

“This speed is simply astounding!”

While others were refining third-grade pills, Liu Ling was working on a fifth-grade pill. Yet his pace in extracting thirty to forty herbs nearly matched others’ speed with only seven or eight. It was enough to leave everyone astonished.

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