Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

Duan Xu had already finished extracting the essence from the Spirit Medicines and was beginning to solidify the pill.

He would likely be finished in the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

Only then did Jiang Chen begin extracting the medicinal essence, which, in the eyes of the crowd, was nothing more than a desperate, last-ditch struggle...

The Fifth-Grade High-Level Alchemist judge, seated in the position of honor, frowned. His gaze toward Jiang Chen held a trace of disdain and anger. "This young man is treating this like a joke. What does he take Alchemy for? He has only about an incense stick’s worth of time left. Who does he think he is? He thinks he can refine a pill in that amount of time?"

"That’s right. The guy has no respect for us Alchemy Masters. In the time it takes an incense stick to burn, you could refine a First-grade Pill at best."

"When it comes to Martial Dao talent, I’ll give Jiang Chen his due. But when it comes to Alchemy, with an attitude like that, he could never be an outstanding Alchemy Master!"

"An incense stick’s worth of time? If he can even finish extracting the Essence of Spiritual Medicine, I’ll get on my knees right here!"

Everyone shook their heads.

Even Gai Shi couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. "Jiang Chen, what on earth are you up to? Are you really prepared to become Duan Xu’s slave?"

Duan Xu, who was in the middle of solidifying his pill, naturally saw all of this.

The corners of his mouth lifted, curling into a sneer of thick disdain and mockery. ’It seems you do have some self-awareness, knowing you’re no match for me. Is that why you deliberately delayed until now to start your Alchemy? So that when you lose, you can claim it’s because you started late? What a childish notion!’

The thought of defeating Jiang Chen and taking the greatest prodigy in the history of the Eastern Continent as his slave made the smile on Duan Xu’s face grow even more brilliant and smug.

However, the smile on Duan Xu’s face did not last long.

He was stunned to see Jiang Chen produce over five hundred different Spirit Medicines, all of which flew to a stop before him. Jiang Chen hadn’t even taken out a Medicine Cauldron. Instead, he condensed his True Essence into a True Essence Melting Furnace—a completely transparent, three-legged cauldron that stood five zhang tall!

Jiang Chen tossed all five hundred-plus Spirit Medicines directly into the True Essence Melting Furnace.

"He’s not even using a Medicine Cauldron?"

"Wh-what is going on?"

The crowd was baffled. Even the ten worldly-wise judges were staring wide-eyed, looking at one another and shaking their heads in disbelief.

Suddenly, the white-haired and bearded Fifth-Grade High-Level Alchemy Master’s eyes flew wide. He shot up from his seat and stared at Jiang Chen in utter disbelief, his lips trembling. "N-No way... Could he... is he preparing to perform Void Condensing Pill? But... h-how is that possible? Void Condensing Pill is a technique that only a Sixth-Grade Alchemist can master! How could Jiang Chen possibly do it?"

Void Condensing Pill.

It is an incredibly profound and mysterious Alchemy Technique, allowing one to complete the entire Alchemy process in the void, without the aid of a Pill Cauldron!

It was no exaggeration to say that Void Condensing Pill was a Divine Skill coveted by countless Alchemy Masters!

Even some Sixth-Grade Alchemists were not necessarily capable of it.

’I truly can’t imagine that Jiang Chen, not yet twenty years old, could know such a profound Divine Skill!’

And yet... the facts before his very eyes forced him to believe!

「Half an incense stick later.」

A faint medicinal aroma suddenly drifted from the True Essence Melting Furnace in front of Jiang Chen. Inside the transparent furnace, the essence from all five hundred-plus Spirit Medicines had been completely extracted. This Essence of Spiritual Medicine was pure and translucent, without a single trace of impurity—even purer than the essence Duan Xu had refined using his Medicine Cauldron.

"It... it really is Void Condensing Pill!"

At the judges’ table, the ten Alchemy Masters stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with disbelief.

Duan Xu naturally heard the crowd’s gasps, and his concentration wavered for a moment. The Pill Fire within his Medicine Cauldron fluctuated, nearly causing the cauldron to explode.

Duan Xu quickly refocused and stabilized his Pill Fire, silently warning himself, ’Void Condensing Pill? How could he possibly use a Divine Skill like that? This must be Jiang Chen putting on an act to distract me. I can’t let him get to me!’

Duan Xu took a deep breath, and his composure returned.

The Pill Fire surged continuously into the Pill Cauldron.

Under his guidance, the Essence of Spiritual Medicine within the cauldron slowly began to fuse together.

This was the sign of a pill about to be formed!

Completing the refinement of a pill in a single double-hour was an incredibly difficult feat. Under normal circumstances, such a rapid Alchemy speed would have drawn gasps of astonishment.

And yet today... no one at the entire Alchemy Conference was paying any attention to Duan Xu.

All eyes were fixed on Jiang Chen.

Inside the transparent True Essence Melting Furnace, the refinement of the five hundred-plus Spirit Medicines was complete. Under Jiang Chen’s guidance, the pure Essence of Spiritual Medicine formed a swirling, multicolored vortex of Spirit Liquid.

As the vortex spun faster and faster, a speck of light the size of a grain of rice began to glow ever more brightly at its center.

"Flying Spin Condensation Technique!"

A sharp light glinted in Jiang Chen’s eyes. His hands became a blur, weaving in front of him like phantoms as waves of afterimages shot into the True Essence Melting Furnace.

Inside the transparent True Essence Melting Furnace, propelled by Jiang Chen’s guidance, the vortex spun faster and faster. The speck of light at its center, once the size of a grain of rice, gradually grew larger.

From the size of a grain of rice, it grew to the size of a pearl.

Time flowed on.

In the blink of an eye... all the Essence of Spiritual Medicine inside the True Essence Melting Furnace before Jiang Chen had fused together, forming a pill the size of a longan.

SWISH!

The True Essence Melting Furnace shattered, and a pill shot toward the sky.

Rays of auspicious light emanated from the pill, filling the world with brilliant, multicolored hues. The dazzling pill-glow illuminated a patch of the heavens.

ROAR!

CRY!

The resounding cry of a dragon and the clear call of a phoenix rang out across the sky. A dragon and a phoenix shot upward, so vast and lifelike they blotted out the sun. They twined and circled each other in the heavens before merging into one.

In a grand display of auspiciousness, the merged dragon and phoenix plummeted from the sky, diving directly into the pill before Jiang Chen.

HUMMM!

The pill trembled violently, and a rich, fragrant aroma flooded the entire Alchemy Conference venue.

When the phantoms of the dragon and phoenix finally dissipated,

a lifelike Pill Pattern of a spiraling dragon and phoenix could be seen on the surface of the now walnut-sized pill. The very instant it formed, the pill had shot skyward.

It seemed to be laughing with joy, trying to tear through the sky and escape.

Jiang Chen snorted. He was already prepared. With a flash of his Divine Thought, he formed a great net and forcefully trapped the pill inside.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The pill struggled violently, ramming against the net of Divine Thought, but Jiang Chen was unmoved. With a wave of his hand, a Jade Box appeared, and he sealed the pill inside.

The Jade Box shook violently a few times before gradually falling silent.

A corner of Jiang Chen’s mouth lifted as he looked at the dumbstruck judges. His calm voice rang out, "I’m finished."

"What? He’s finished?"

Such a massive commotion naturally drew Duan Xu’s attention. In his moment of distraction, the Pill Fire inside his Pill Cauldron spun out of control, growing incredibly violent.

"Oh no!"

Duan Xu’s expression changed drastically. He executed several Pill Formulas in quick succession, trying to stabilize the rampaging Pill Fire within his Pill Cauldron. Unfortunately, he was a step too slow.

With a loud BOOM, the lid of the Pill Cauldron flew into the air, and a plume of black smoke billowed out.

His cauldron... had exploded!

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