The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 382: Dragon Emperor

Countless spiritual herbs rained down from the sky. The judges waved their hands, and one by one, pills flew into their grasp.

Long Xiaoyao held a pill in his hand, sensing it with his spiritual power for a moment. His pupils suddenly contracted as he exclaimed, "It's a ten-grade fusion!"

Soon, the excited voices of the other judges followed.

"Mine is also ten-grade fusion."

"Mine too!"

"Could it be that all hundred thousand Spirit Gathering Pills have a ten-grade fusion?"

"Hiss..."

The sound of sharp intakes of breath echoed across the high platform.

Feng Tiancheng looked down at the pill in his hand, his expression grim. He remained silent for a long time.

Each alchemist produces pills with varying levels of fusion. The higher the fusion grade, the harder the pill is to refine, making fusion an important measure of difficulty and a standard for scoring.

Feng Shuang, Long Yuyao, and Wang Wu all refined Ice-fire Polar Pills. If all three successfully completed their pills, their fusion grades would determine the winner.

This individual managed to refine hundred thousand Spirit Gathering Pills in a single furnace, each with a ten-grade fusion. Such a feat was truly heaven-defying.

"Haha! The difficulty of this alchemy method by our clan's genius is self-evident. I doubt any alchemist could accomplish this. Wouldn't it be fair to give a perfect score without being accused of favoritism?" Long Xiaoyao turned to Feng Tiancheng with a broad grin, anticipating the five rare Gu creatures he was about to win. He couldn't hold back his laughter.

Feng Tiancheng's face darkened as he recalled their wager. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

It was evident now: Feng Jiu had avoided refining a fourth-grade spiritual pill. Using this unparalleled alchemy method, the score would undoubtedly be the highest in the competition.

This unexpected turn of events caught him completely off guard. He had assumed the Feng clan had only slipped in a fourth-grade alchemist, guaranteeing a victory. Confident in this, he had even doubled the stakes. Who could have foreseen such an upset?

"This alchemy method is unprecedented in history. Such an original achievement is deserving of a perfect score," Qin Shang said solemnly, holding a pill in his hand.

"I also give a perfect score. To not award full marks for such a high-difficulty alchemy technique would be a violation of justice!" Wang Hu added, placing the Spirit Gathering Pill in his storage ring openly and shamelessly claiming it as his own.

At this moment, the other judges finally regained their senses and began scoring.

The judges, all visibly excited, unanimously awarded perfect scores. With everyone giving full marks, the final average score was naturally a perfect score.

When the perfect score was announced, the crowd below erupted into an uproar.

Feng Jiu's face turned ashen as he glanced at Long Xuan, sighing inwardly. Though he had traversed the Gu world and built a great reputation, this time, he had truly stumbled. To lose to a junior—what a disgrace for the revered Patriarch Burning Heaven Ancestor.

Qin Dan took a deep look at Long Xuan, then slammed his palm on his alchemy furnace. The lid flew off, and three round, red-and-blue dual-colored pills shot into the air.

As the pills fell, Qin Dan caught them in his hand, his expression devoid of joy.

"Clang..."

Another loud slap on an alchemy furnace echoed. A lid flew high into the air, and two round black pills followed, caught by Feng Jiu, whose face was equally joyless.

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

"Clang!"

Three consecutive slaps sounded as Long Yuyao, Feng Shuang, and Wang Wu all completed their pills simultaneously.

None of the three failed; they successfully refined the notoriously difficult Ice-fire Polar Pills.

The trio grabbed their respective pills as they fell, placing them in the pre-prepared pill bottles. Their faces, however, showed no signs of joy. Instead, they cast complex, unwilling gazes at Long Xuan, their eyes filled with frustration.

These five individuals were all extraordinary alchemy prodigies, known for their rapid refinement skills. Once they completed their pills, no further furnace-slapping sounds were heard.

The five participants carefully stored their pills and walked toward the high platform. Once they had left the square, the group of competitors who had fled in fear of being killed by the Ice-Fire Polar Pill finally let out a sigh of relief. They quickly ran back to the square, eager to make the most of the remaining time to refine their pills.

However, as they passed by Long Xuan, they all gave him a peculiar look, as though he were some kind of anomaly.

Long Xuan paid no attention to the gazes directed at him. By this time, he had already used his soul power to collect all the Spirit Gathering Pills in the sky, placing them into two large vats.

According to the rules of the alchemy competition, two-thirds of the spirit pills refined by participants had to be handed over to the organizers, while the remaining one-third was kept by the individual.

After setting aside his portion, Long Xuan left the large vats in the square.

He did not leave immediately. Instead, he decided to stay and see what scores the five participants received before departing—there was no harm in waiting a little longer.

Fortunately, he did not have to wait long. Shortly after the five ascended the platform, their scores were announced.

Long Yuyao, Feng Shuang, and Wang Wu tied once again, each receiving a score of 96 points.

Meanwhile, Feng Jiu and Qin Dan achieved exceptionally high scores of 99 points, leaving a noticeable gap between them and the other three.

The two of them could have achieved perfect scores, but Long Xuan's performance was so unbelievably brilliant that it highlighted the disparity. As a result, they could only settle for 99 points.

Even so, their scores drew gasps of amazement from the crowd. Despite Long Xuan's overwhelming presence, their brilliance was not entirely overshadowed.

After the scores of the five participants were finalized, Long Xuan finally left. The onlookers watched him with reverence, parting to make way for him as though he were a deity.

Although the second round of the competition was not yet over, and many participants had yet to finish refining their pills or receive their scores, Long Xuan had no intention of staying to watch any longer.

What was the point of observing the scores of a group of minor characters? No matter how well they performed, their scores would never surpass his.

It was better to save his time and dedicate it to more meaningful endeavors.

Upon returning to the inn, Long Xuan shut himself in and entered a closed-door cultivation state once more.

He planned to research the method to create the Sea Stabilizing Divine Needle. As for the results of this competition, he no longer cared.

Time flew by, and soon it was afternoon.

At the end of the second round of the competition, Long Xiaoyao, dragging his exhausted body, entered a courtyard. After a moment of hesitation, he finally took out a mirror from his storage ring.

Shortly after, the mirror flashed, and a majestic man clad in a dragon robe appeared within its reflection.

“Why are you contacting me at this hour? Did Yuyao fail to surpass the Feng clan's prodigy in this round?”

Seeing Long Xiaoyao's troubled expression, the Dragon Emperor's tone grew tense.

Long Xiaoyao shook his head and sighed. “Princess Yuyao did not achieve the highest score in this round. She scored 96 points, tying with Feng Shuang.”

“The highest score this round belongs to a mysterious prodigy from our Long clan, who achieved a perfect score.”

“Then why the gloomy face? Even if it wasn’t Yuyao who got the highest score, as long as the person with the highest score bears the surname Long, that should suffice,” the Dragon Emperor said with a smile.

“It’s not that simple,” Long Xiaoyao replied gravely. He took a deep breath and sighed. “I suspect that one of the Feng clan’s participants is a fourth-grade Alchemist!”

“What?!” The Dragon Emperor's shout echoed from the mirror.

Upon hearing this news, his face immediately darkened as he realized the gravity of the situation.

“Are you certain? Did you see this correctly?”

The Dragon Emperor stood up abruptly, his expression grim.

“Although he refined a third-grade spirit pill during the competition, his alchemy techniques were absolutely not those of a third-grade Alchemist. I’m 80% certain he is a fourth-grade Alchemist.”

“If he truly is a fourth-grade Alchemist, then the championship of this alchemy competition is practically in the Feng clan’s hands. What should we do? We must think of a countermeasure in advance.”

Long Xiaoyao frowned deeply, his expression heavy with concern.