The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 398: Brainstorming on the Pill Recipe

Time flew by, and two more days passed.

Today marked the fourth round of the Alchemy Competition, also the semifinals. After this, only the final match remained.

Among the tens of thousands of participating alchemists, only thirty had successfully advanced to the semifinals, demonstrating the brutal nature of the previous rounds.

Creating an original pill recipe required a quiet place, one that shielded against the elements and external disturbances.

Thus, this round of the competition was held inside a massive palace. Due to the limited space, only the most prestigious and high-ranking individuals from various regions were allowed to spectate.

A large number of ordinary Gu cultivators obviously couldn’t attend and could only wait for the final match.

That morning, Long Xuan woke up early, washed up, and left the inn. Under countless respectful gazes, he walked deep into the imperial palace. Eventually, under Long Xiaoyao’s lead, he entered a grand hall.

Despite Long Xuan’s rare early rising, he was still the last to arrive.

The other twenty-nine contestants were already seated in the center of the hall.

There were a total of thirty tables and seats, arranged in six rows and five columns. Each table was labeled with a contestant’s name, and participants were seated according to their total score ranking.

Long Xuan currently had 292 points, placing him first. He was seated in the upper-left corner, with Duan Tianwu and Ancestor Burning Heaven to his right.

After glancing briefly at his neighbors, Long Xuan quietly sat down, closed his eyes, and waited for the fourth round to begin.

At the judges' table, whispers could be heard. Sitting in the front row, Long Xiaoyao turned to Feng Tiancheng and grinned.

“Tiancheng, how about another bet? We’ve wagered on the previous rounds—skipping this one wouldn’t feel right.”

Feng Tiancheng’s face darkened as he shot Long Xiaoyao a glare before turning away, silent. This time, he absolutely refused to bet again.

That Long Xuan was too unpredictable—he no longer had any confidence that a fourth-grade alchemist could secure victory against him.

Ignoring Long Xiaoyao’s provocation, Feng Tiancheng stood up and announced in a deep voice, “Since all contestants are present, the fourth round will now officially begin. Serve the tea!”

As his words fell, five elegantly dressed palace maidens entered, each carrying a tray of tea. They moved to the front of each row, gracefully pouring tea for every contestant.

The moment the tea’s fragrance filled the air, the contestants felt a surge of clarity wash over them. Some even shivered involuntarily, intoxicated by the aroma.

The Enlightenment Tea Tree surpassed the twelfth grade and was the only one of its kind in the world. Calling it tea fit for immortals was no exaggeration.

The scent alone was enough to make people crave it. One could only imagine how extraordinary the taste must be. Many contestants swallowed involuntarily, eager to drink it.

Long Xuan gazed at the steaming cup of tea before him, his interest piqued.

“So this is the legendary Enlightenment Tea, capable of granting insight? It certainly is remarkable. I wonder how it tastes.”

He then recalled that he had a branch of the Enlightenment Tea Tree growing on his wooden island, successfully cultivated with the help of medicinal Gu. In the future, he could drink as much as he wanted.

A faint smile appeared on his lips. There was no need to rush to taste this cup.

Once the three palace maidens had finished serving tea to all the contestants, Feng Tiancheng swept his gaze across the hall, pausing briefly on Long Xuan’s face before finally speaking:

“I won’t waste words. All contestants, drink the tea and begin your enlightenment.”

Apparently in a bad mood, Feng Tiancheng said only this before returning to his seat, remaining silent.

At his command, the contestants raised their cups in unison and downed the tea in one gulp.

No one took the time to savor it. They drank it like one would chug water, some so hastily that they didn’t even register the tea’s taste.

After placing their cups down, the contestants closed their eyes and began to immerse themselves in the tea’s effects.

The judges silently observed, refraining from any interruptions. They were filled with anticipation, eager to see what insights each contestant would gain from the tea.

Most of their attention was focused on Long Xuan, Ancestor Burning Heaven, and Qin Dan.

Long Xiaoyao, in particular, was visibly tense as he watched Long Xuan. His fists clenched tighter under his sleeves, betraying his nervousness.

At this moment, Long Xuan drank the Enlightenment Tea in one gulp. Without taking the time to savor its taste, he immediately closed his eyes to refine and absorb its power. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Like most people, he was afraid that sipping the tea slowly would cause the medicinal effect to be intermittent. So, he chose to drink it all at once. Once the Enlightenment Tea Tree on Wood Island grew new leaves, he could take his time enjoying its flavor again.

After closing his eyes, he directly entered the Soul Library to "cheat." With the combined assistance of the Soul Library, his golden finger, and the Enlightenment Tea, his comprehension speed was significantly faster than just drinking the tea alone.

Compared to the other contestants, he had an overwhelming advantage. Just as Long Xiaoyao had said, the rules of this round were in his favor. Given his superior conditions, he refused to believe that the pill recipe he created could still be inferior to that of Ancestor Burning Heaven and Duan Tianwu.

It didn’t take long before he began to feel his mind becoming sharper and his thoughts flowing much faster. Insights flooded his consciousness uncontrollably, and countless brilliant ideas filled his head, making his mind feel as if it were bursting. For a moment, he was unsure which idea to pursue.

In the end, Long Xuan decided to prioritize self-benefit. No matter how bold his imagination was, if the pill recipe he created was useless to him, it would be nothing more than a waste of time.

By narrowing his focus, his thoughts became significantly clearer, and his mind felt much more at ease.

What kind of pill would be both heaven-defying and beneficial to him?

Long Xuan finally chose the Bone-Regrowing Blood-Mending Pill, a miraculous pill that had appeared in the novels of his previous life.

This was an unparalleled pill capable of remolding a soul body into a physical form.

He added a twist from his own imagination—the reborn body’s appearance, attributes, and potential could be freely selected but would become fixed upon formation, unable to be altered again.

As long as one willed it, they could attain the most heaven-defying talent in this world, without any risk of rejection by their soul.

Of course, such an extraordinary pill was far beyond the capacity of a mere fourth-grade pill. A pill with such effects could only exist at the twelfth grade level.

Since he couldn’t refine such a high-level pill, he had to use an old trick—diluting a Grade-12 pill with a large amount of low-quality ingredients, reducing it to a fourth-grade pill. Naturally, the fourth-grade Bone-Regrowing Blood-Merging Pill would not be as heaven-defying as the original.

The reason he wanted to create this pill was for the Heavenly Water found in the Thunder Swamp.

For a long time, he had been contemplating how to obtain the Heavenly Water from Shui Laoshou’s hands. Should he take the risk of assassinating Shui Wuqing for him? Or should he find a perfectly compatible physical body for him instead?

He had been hesitant to make a decision. But now, he finally had an idea—if he could successfully research the Bone-Regrowing Blood-Merging Pill using the Enlightenment Tea, then there would be no dilemma at all.

With a single Bone-Regrowing Blood-Merging Pill, he could help Shui Laoshou reconstruct a body and, in exchange, obtain the Heavenly Water from him.

A smile appeared at the corner of Long Xuan’s lips.

The Bone-Regrowing Blood-Merging Pill was both useful to him and heaven-defying. It was even likely to attract Heavenly Tribulation. He decided to proceed with refining this pill—he refused to believe that such an extraordinary pill wouldn’t win him the top spot in this round of the competition.

At the same time, beside him, Duan Tianwu sat with his eyes closed, his brows deeply furrowed.

Like Long Xuan, his imagination was too vast, and he had too many innovative ideas. After drinking the Shui Laoshou Tea, a flood of insights overwhelmed him, leaving him momentarily unable to choose.

In the end, he instinctively made the same decision as Long Xuan—prioritizing self-benefit.

Since he was creating a pill recipe, it had to be one that would benefit him directly.

Otherwise, no matter how heaven-defying the recipe was, if it was useless to him, it would be nothing more than a waste of paper. What was the point of creating it?

After narrowing his options, more than half of the clutter in his mind vanished instantly, and he felt much more at ease.