"Are you sure you want to challenge me?"
A playful smile touched the corners of Jiang Chen’s mouth.
Hearing Duan Xu’s voice, the surrounding crowd noticed Jiang Chen and turned to look at him.
"Is that Jiang Chen? The one who destroyed the Six Mountains Dynasty?"
"It must be him. Who else in the entire Eastern Continent would be personally received by both Gai Shi and Wei Lihuang at the same time?"
"Jiang Chen is indeed an unparalleled prodigy, one of the greatest in the history of the Eastern Continent. But when it comes to Alchemy... he can’t be that good, can he?"
"I think so too..."
A person’s energy is, after all, limited.
Jiang Chen’s accomplishments and talent in the Martial Dao had already made many envious; he could almost be called the greatest in the history of the Eastern Continent.
Naturally, the crowd didn’t believe he could also possess such formidable talent in Alchemy!
Duan Xu sneered at Jiang Chen, wagging a finger in his face. "No, no, no, you misunderstand," he said, his expression full of arrogance. "I am certainly not challenging you. I just want to see you utterly humiliated! Everyone says you’re the number one genius in the history of the Eastern Continent. Today, I will crush you under my foot and show the world that, at least in Alchemy, I, Duan Xu, am the true number one!"
A man lives and dies by his reputation.
Duan Xu was a man who valued fame and fortune above all else.
He was willing to do anything, to stop at nothing, for their sake.
Otherwise...
He never would have treated Master Gu Dan the way he did.
As the most prominent genius in the Eastern Continent for the past two years, defeating Jiang Chen—even if only in Alchemy—would undoubtedly make Duan Xu’s name famous throughout the entire continent.
Duan Xu tilted his chin up slightly, his eyes narrowing to slits as he sized Jiang Chen up with a provocative gaze. "Jiang Chen, do you dare to compete with me in Alchemy Technique?"
Gai Shi frowned and said in a low voice, "Jiang Chen, this brat is obviously trying to use your reputation to boost his own fame. Don’t fall for his trap!"
Wei Lihuang nodded in agreement. "Even Master Gu Dan was no match for him. You should be careful!"
Faced with their advice,
Jiang Chen just smiled slightly. "It’s fine. I have nothing better to do, so I might as well play along with him."
Jiang Chen rose to his feet and landed gracefully on the stage, his eyes calm. He looked Duan Xu up and down before smiling. "I don’t mind competing with you, but I’m not one to act without incentive. If there’s nothing in it for me, I’m not willing to waste my energy!"
"Don’t worry about that. I’ve already prepared for this!"
A cold, sinister smile spread across Duan Xu’s face, a look of triumph as if his scheme had already succeeded. He flipped his palm, revealing a scroll. With a sneer, he said, "This is a Slave Contract. The two of us will engage in Pill Fighting. Whoever loses must sign their name on this contract, becoming the other’s slave. You will serve the victor as your master, a servant for life, forever obeying their commands and never betraying them. Do. You. Dare?"
BOOM—
The entire Alchemy Conference erupted in an uproar.
"A Slave Contract? Isn’t Duan Xu taking this too far?"
"He’s the number one alchemy genius in the history of the Eastern Continent! Even among all the Fifth-Grade High-Level Alchemists in the entire continent, few are his match. What chance does Jiang Chen have?"
"If I were Jiang Chen, I would never accept such a bet. It’s obviously a trap!"
Amidst the gasps of shock,
Gai Shi flashed in front of Duan Xu, his face dark. "Duan Xu, have you no shame?"
"Gai Shi, this is none of your business!"
Duan Xu snorted, but he didn’t dare to truly offend Gai Shi. He turned back to Jiang Chen and provoked, "Jiang Chen, do you dare or not? If you don’t, then kneel and kowtow to me. Loudly admit that you, Jiang Chen, are inferior to me and that you’ve been defeated by me, Duan Xu. If you do that, I won’t make things difficult for you. How about it?"
As he spoke, Duan Xu tapped his right foot lightly on the ground, his nose in the air, the very picture of confidence.
"Duan Xu, don’t be so arrogant!" Gai Shi said angrily.
But Jiang Chen raised a hand to stop Gai Shi. The smile on his face didn’t change, but his eyes grew colder. He spoke, enunciating each word, "Duan Xu, are you sure you won’t regret this?"
"What is there to regret?" Duan Xu said.
Jiang Chen nodded. "Since you insist on doing this, then I’ll grant your wish! Pill Fighting, is it? You tell me, what are the rules?"
"Jiang Chen..."
Gai Shi said anxiously.
Jiang Chen grinned. "Trust me!"
"This..." Gai Shi’s expression shifted several times before he finally gave a bitter smile and stopped trying to persuade him.
He knew Jiang Chen’s personality; once Jiang Chen made a decision, he wouldn’t change his mind even if Gai Shi talked himself hoarse.
A triumphant smile spread across Duan Xu’s face. "As expected of Jiang Chen. Willing to take a bet you know you’ll lose. Your courage is truly commendable. For this Pill Fighting, let’s follow the same rules as before, shall we?"
"Refine the highest-quality pill we think we can make?"
Jiang Chen paused, then shook his head. "I think everyone is tired of watching that kind of competition. Let’s compete in speed-refining. Whoever can refine the highest-quality pill within their capabilities in the shortest amount of time wins! How about that?"
"Speed-refining?"
"I’ve never heard of this method of Pill Fighting, but it sounds interesting!"
"Jiang Chen is right. Speed-refining is more interesting. Waiting for several double-hours at a time is just too painful..."
Duan Xu’s brow furrowed slightly. He cupped his chin with his hand and pondered for a moment before nodding. "Fine, I’ll compete with you in this speed-refining!"
"Do you need to rest for a bit?" Jiang Chen asked.
Duan Xu waved his hand, his face full of confidence. "No need to rest. Let’s start right away!"
"Alright!"
Jiang Chen nodded and walked straight to one of the stages on the side.
Wei Lihuang spoke up. "Since you both insist on this Pill Fighting, then I shall preside over it. I assume you have no objections?" Seeing neither of them disagreed, Wei Lihuang continued, "In that case, I hereby announce that the Pill Fighting between Jiang Chen and Duan Xu—begins now!"
"Hahaha, Jiang Chen, you’re doomed to lose. I don’t mind telling you, my specialty is speed-refining..."
Duan Xu laughed heartily. With a wave of his hand, he summoned the semi-finished Eight Trigrams Roaming Dragon Cauldron. The triumphant and brilliant smile on his face widened. "My Medicine Cauldron was obtained by my ancestor from a lost Void Realm. It can accelerate the extraction of the Essence of Spiritual Medicine. Jiang Chen, you are bound to lose!"
"Herbs, come!"
Duan Xu roared softly.
The Storage Ring on his finger flashed with a bright light. Streaks of Spirit Medicines flew out and into the Medicine Cauldron before him.
A total of 368 types of Spirit Medicines were being refined to extract their essence.
This drew a chorus of gasps!
"Isn’t that just insane?"
"Even I can only refine about 160 types of Spirit Medicines at once. In terms of extracting the Essence of Spiritual Medicine, Duan Xu has already surpassed this old man," one of the Fifth-Grade High-Level Alchemist judges remarked with admiration.
While Duan Xu’s process was in full swing,
Jiang Chen...
...had his hands clasped behind his back, watching Duan Xu extract the Essence of Spiritual Medicine with great interest.
Time ticked by. In the blink of an eye, half a double-hour had passed. Duan Xu had finished extracting the Essence of Spiritual Medicine and was beginning the final step—Solidifying the Pill!
"Looks like Jiang Chen has given up."
"He still hasn’t started. He must have conceded!"
Everyone shook their heads and sighed, their gazes toward Jiang Chen becoming exceptionally complicated.
However...
Just when everyone was certain that Jiang Chen’s defeat was inevitable, he finally began his own refinement for this Pill Fighting...
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