The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 375: Long Xiaoyao

Looking at the ten Water Ganoderma on the table, Long Xuan sighed inwardly. Indeed, luck was on their side. Among the third-grade spiritual herbs, the hardest to refine was none other than Water Ganoderma. Who would have thought they would draw it?

Water Ganoderma is extremely fire-sensitive and easily reduced to ash when exposed to flames. This makes it notoriously challenging to refine.

When alchemists refine Water Ganoderma, even the slightest mistake can instantly incinerate the herb into nothingness.

This assessment was essentially at a hellish difficulty level.

For the first group of participants to draw Water Ganoderma as their test material was akin to the unluckiest draw imaginable.

Most alchemists participating in this round wouldn’t even be able to achieve a passing score. Many likely lacked the ability to refine Water Ganoderma at all, ending up wasting all their herbs and receiving zero points.

The examination hall was probably filled with groans and complaints right now. Long Xuan silently cursed the terrible luck of this fire clone—of all things, it had to draw from the death pool.

Since the competition had a time limit, with faster completion earning higher scores, Long Xuan stopped wasting time. He summoned a deep crimson flame in his palm and began the formal refinement process.

This time, the Pill Fire he used wasn’t the Divine Ice Flame, but the Pure Lotus Demon Flame from Firefloat Island.

Though the Divine Ice Flame and the Pure Lotus Demon Flame were of equal rank, the latter was clearly superior for alchemy. Thus, Long Xuan decided to use it to refine the Water Ganoderma.He carefully picked up one of the Water Ganoderma on the table and tossed it into the deep crimson flames. With his powerful soul control, he meticulously extracted the impurities from the herb, leaving only its essence.

The difficulty of refining Water Ganoderma was immense, so Long Xuan had to stay completely focused, allowing no room for error. For this reason, he didn’t rely on his split soul to refine the remaining nine herbs.

The split soul lacked the main body’s soul power, which would result in a high failure rate. To ensure success, Long Xuan had to personally refine all ten Water Ganoderma.

Time ticked by second by second...

Meanwhile, in the quiet first-floor hall, over a hundred judges sat calmly in their chairs with their eyes closed, waiting for the first person to emerge from the examination hall.

The ten most prominent seats were occupied by the chief alchemists of the ten participating empires, each a fourth-grade alchemist and a peak-level Gu King. These were influential figures who could shake their entire nations with a single stomp.

The grandeur of this alchemy event was reflected in the selection of its esteemed panel of judges.

These ten fourth-grade alchemists were renowned throughout the Gu Realm for their high status and impeccable reputations, making them almost impossible to bribe.

Dragon Soaring Empire’s chief alchemist, Long Xiaoyao, stroked his gray beard and smiled, saying, “This year’s Western Region Alchemy Tournament is filled with talent. Both the quantity and quality of geniuses surpass those of the previous tournament.”

“However, the geniuses in this first round of the assessment are quite unlucky to have drawn the hardest material, Water Ganoderma. It’s extremely fire-averse, and less than one in ten can refine it successfully.”

“I wonder how many unlucky participants will pass this round and which genius will be the first to emerge.”

Wang Hu, the chief alchemist of the Radiant Moon Empire, was the tallest among the judges. The burly man turned his head and laughed, “My clan’s geniuses got lucky and weren’t part of this first round.”

“In that case, the strongest participants in this round would be Long Yuyao and Feng Shuang. I think the first person to finish will likely be one of them.”

The chief alchemist of the Phoenix Heaven Empire, Feng Tiancheng, wore an expression of disdain as he glanced over and said, "Nonsense! You and I both know the difficulty of refining Water Ganoderma. It’s absolutely impossible for anyone to refine ten Water Ganoderma in such a short time, no matter how talented they are."

"The first person to finish couldn’t possibly be these two. The first round of the test is special—the first ones to emerge are usually the ones with the worst alchemy skills."

"If someone were to toss a Water Ganoderma into their alchemy flame and burn it up instantly, they’d go through all ten pieces very quickly. Of course, their speed in leaving would be unmatched; it wouldn’t even take a few breaths."

"No matter how talented Feng Shuang and Long Yuyao are, they can’t be faster than this group of people."

After he spoke, several judges in the back chuckled lightly.

"Brother Tiancheng, you’re absolutely right. That’s exactly how it is! Hahaha!" Qin Shang, the chief alchemist of the Flaming Court Empire, a chubby man, slapped his large belly and laughed loudly.

Feng Tiancheng then shifted his gaze to his rival, Long Xiaoyao, and smirked, "It’s impossible to predict who will come out first, but I think Feng Shuang will emerge slightly before Long Yuyao."

"Oh?" Long Xiaoyao turned his head toward him, teasingly saying, "You mean that clumsy fat guy who just tripped and fell flat on his face? Are you sure he’s up to the task?"

His words triggered another round of stifled laughter from the judges. Feng Tiancheng’s face darkened, clearly upset. He retorted, "Even the best horses stumble occasionally. Everyone makes mistakes."

"If you doubt his alchemy skills, how about we make a bet? Let’s wager on which of our clans’ prodigies comes out first. The stakes will be a fourth-grade pill recipe, one that the other party doesn’t already have."

Hearing this, Long Xiaoyao laughed and replied with a sly grin, "You only started talking to me because you wanted to make a bet, didn’t you? I’ve never been afraid to gamble, but only if the terms are absolutely fair."

"Feng Shuang is on the second floor, and Long Yuyao is on the fifth. Coming down the stairs takes time. If both finish refining the Water Ganoderma at the same time, Feng Shuang would obviously come down first. Do you think I’m stupid enough to bet under such conditions?"

"If we’re going to bet, let’s wager on which clan—Long or Feng—gets the highest score overall. That’s completely fair. Do you dare?"

"Who’s afraid of whom? I’ll take the bet!" Feng Tiancheng slapped the table. Though he displayed unwavering confidence, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

He had hoped to exploit the difference in floors to gain an advantage, but Long Xiaoyao wasn’t foolish and refused to yield an inch. This reduced his chances of winning.

Still, his odds were above fifty percent. Coincidentally, Feng Shuang had practiced refining Water Ganoderma two days ago, essentially "predicting" the test topic.

Thanks to extensive practice, Feng Shuang had become skilled and efficient, giving him a higher chance of success. That was the real reason Feng Tiancheng dared to propose the bet.

The other alchemists exchanged odd glances at the two rivals, sighing inwardly:

"Whenever these two clans meet, no matter what they’re doing, they always end up gambling against each other."

"This time, the stakes are even bigger. They’re wagering their clans’ reputations in this alchemy competition. It’s pure madness."

Time ticked by, and soon participants began descending the stairs one after another.

Just as Feng Tiancheng had anticipated, the first ones to emerge weren’t prodigies but the alchemists with the weakest skills.

They had burned through each Water Ganoderma as they attempted to refine it, quickly exhausting their supply. Naturally, they finished the fastest.

The earliest ones to descend the stairs looked dejected. Most of them left the arena outright, having ruined all their ingredients and unable to produce a single presentable pill.

A small number managed to succeed once or twice, but their products were riddled with impurities or had lost too much of their essence, leaving little usable material.

The judges didn’t bother scoring these participants and simply announced their elimination.

For those doomed to fail, there was no point in wasting time on evaluations.