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Chapter 136 - Alchemy Competition 24
🕑 Added 2024-10-03 07:00:07 +0000 UTCCore Replication Pill.
An alchemy product that was used not for healing purposes, not for cultivation purposes, but for battle.
It was a product specifically made to be used by a Core Formation cultivator where the user consumed the pill and it would replicate the core in the dantian by absorbing all Qi the core has.
When the absorption was complete, the pill, which had the power of a core, could be used as a terrifying bomb, similar to how a Core Formation cultivator detonated their core as a last resort to take out their enemies along with them.
However, this pill allowed the user the option of not sacrificing themselves, while having the same firepower to eliminate the enemy.
The only problem with the pill was the user might get caught up in the explosion and still die if used without a proper plan. After all, the detonation of a core has the power to severely injury a Nascent Soul expert or even kill them.
Additionally, the user will also pass out from Qi depletion after using this pill. In hindsight, although the pill gives the user a way to avoid certain death, it is still extremely dangerous to use without additional planning.
The Core Replication Pill formula was publicly available in the market, but no alchemist in the Core Formation realm and below dared to make this product because of the high difficulty. The process was extremely reactive and any mistake might lead to an explosion.
It might be very dangerous to other alchemists, but not Anda. With the help of Alchemy Vision, the alchemy process for this pill became much safer.
When an Elder behind the scenes saw Anda's ingredients request, he was shocked.
"This! President! Look at these ingredients. Should we allow it?"
"Hahaha! Allow it! We are not here to police what they make. Just give them what they need. Don't be such a chicken."
"President! This contestant wanted to make a poison bomb! Is this fine?"
"This girl is going to make that scary aphrodisiac, a week of being in heat, is this fine, too?" Another elder asked.
"Dammit, I said, just let them do whatever they want! Are you guys deaf? Cowards! They are just tier-3 products and you are already this scared. No wonder you can't progress. Ptui ptui!"
Not long later, Anda received the ingredients required to make the Core Replication Pill. Two sets of ten ingredients.
As an alchemist at the Foundation Building realm, normally she wouldn't be able to make tier-3 products because most tier-3 ingredients require a longer time and higher temperatures to operate.
She needed the Special Fire to buff her fire-controlling technique so she could produce bigger heat continuously without exhausting her Qi. Throughout the competition, she didn't need it because only tier-2 products were involved, but now, she had to use it.
"Yay! Master finally needs my assistance! It's been a while!" Little Fiery was happy. Its happy thought could only be heard by Anda, which she ignored as usual. Anda's resentment for the sentient special fire still hasn't dissipated completely.
It wasn't just Anda. All the contestants who planned to make a tier-3 product brought out their own Special Fires.
Unfortunately, not everyone could afford to have a Special Fire due to their background and the rarity of it.
"Wow! So many Special Fires!" Leyvi exclaimed. After all, Little Fiery and the one he saw from the auction recently were the only Special Fires he had seen before. Seeing so many of them at once was amazing. Some had different colors, some had bigger sizes, but most of them looked similar.
Similar reactions occurred throughout the Grand Stadium. Many among the audience had never seen Special Fire before.
"What are those?" Leyvi asked when he saw the contestants without a special fire brought out something.
"Those are alchemy furnaces. It's an alternative for alchemists without Special Fire to provide high heat. It's not expensive compared to Special Fire, but the spirit stones consumption is just too much. The amount of spirit stones used to operate the furnace will exceed the cost of buying a special fire in the long run." Selene explained.
Even in the Goldstone Family, not every alchemist has a Special Fire, so they had to use the alchemy furnace.
"Oh. I see." Leyvi nodded. No wonder Anda didn't care much, even if she didn't get the Special Fire. There's an alternative to it. However, it was obvious that using Special Fire was far better.
"Wow wow! There's so many delicious fires around. Can I devour them, master?" Little Fiery sensed the other Special Fires around and instinctively wanted to devour them to raise its level.
"Oh, you harmed my Leyvi in the past and now you want to bring trouble to me by eating their Special Fires? Maybe I should have thrown you away." Anda brought up the past grudge.
"Master, I'm sorry. I said it without thinking."
"Hmph, my husband is too nice. I should have named you Dumbfire instead of Little Fiery. From now on, make sure you think first. Don't be stupid. Understand?" Anda knew Little Fiery was very powerful. If it acted without thinking, who knows how many people it could kill?
"Yes Master! Little Fiery will learn to be smarter!" It didn't want to be called Dumbfire.
"If you understand, that's good. Now get ready. I'm going to do the same thing as the last time. Let me control you again," Anda ordered.
"Here we go, Master!"
With a thought, Anda controlled Little Fiery as she wished, swirling around her hands from left to right and vice versa until she was comfortable with it.
If any other contestants tried to control Little Fiery, they would find it very hard because it was a high-level sentient fire.
The reason why Anda had no problem controlling it as she wished was due to the fact that she had comprehended the Fire Concept.
It was the main reason why it instinctively chose Anda in the first place. As a lifeform made of fire, it could sense the Fire Dao aura emanated from Anda, which was extremely beneficial to itself. So, it recognized Anda as the master without hesitation.
After the right feeling was back, Anda performed the Azure Flame Technique using Little Fiery as the source instead of her Qi.
However, she didn't immediately start the alchemy right away because she needed to practice the Azure Flame Technique using Little Fiery first due to some unfamiliarity.
15 minutes later, she got used to it and began to heat her cauldron.
Every contestant had started their alchemy, and it was evident that they had practiced a lot for this, judging by how smooth and skillful their alchemy was compared to the previous rounds.
"Hmm?" Luna, who was lazily lying on Caterina's thigh, suddenly looked up and stared at the sky.
"What's wrong?" Caterina asked.
"The air... feels somewhat sinister."
"Why? Because I'm a ghost right now?"
"Hmph, there's nothing sinister about you, only horny. Even if you die, you'd still become a horny ghost!"
"You know, that actually sounds fun! It's better than living with a lazy cat. Haha."
"Hmph, forget it. I don't care anymore. I'm sleeping again."
"Hooo....the lazy cat can't beat the lazy allegation." Caterina continued teasing.
After not getting the response that she wanted from Luna, she stopped the teasing.
"Is there someone trying to cause trouble?" Caterina spread her spiritual sense as far as possible. Although she couldn't feel anything sinister, she didn't doubt her lazy cat. Her intuition was always spot on.
"Hmm.... nothing unusual around here, only a few couples having sex in the dark. I wonder what it is that Luna sensed."
"Is it the people who have been causing trouble outside lately? Hmph, if they dare come near my city, I'll exterminate them! They can bring whatever they want!" She wasn't that worried.
When a General-level Demonic Tiger brought an army to attack in the past, the city's grand formation had not gotten damaged in the slightest. Only the outside area around the city got badly destroyed.
Even during the chaotic period a thousand years ago, all sorts of wicked methods and vile creatures were deployed by the evil cultivators, but her city remained safe.
After all, she had hired the best formation expert in the Cloud Continent of that period to set up the formation for the Holy Cat City. So far, all the grand formations erected by the formation expert had never failed.
Three days passed.
Some contestants who picked an easier alchemy product had already completed their alchemy and sent the products to be scored. However, they couldn't leave just yet and had to stay in the isolation room.
At this moment, Anda was in the final phase of alchemy. Usually, the Forming step of alchemy was the easiest step, but for the Core Replication Pill specifically, she had to be careful when compressing the mixed compound because over-compressing might cause it to explode.
Although she had another set of ingredients to use. She preferred for it to be over sooner.
Half an hour later, she collected a yellow-colored pill from the ordinary black cauldron and kept it in a small bottle. It obtained the yellow color from a high-level demonic beast core, the main ingredient for the pill.
As soon as she finished, an aura that she was familiar with erupted near her.
"This aura......someone is receiving a Dao Enlightenment!"
