Ch223 - Core Disciple

Edited by Zaki

A few days later, the challenge was held as scheduled.

Liu Mufeng received a total of eight challenge letters this year. Since he received less than 10 challenge letters, he had no right to choose. He had to accept all the eight challengers. Five of the eight were fifth-level alchemists under the Ninth Elder’s guidance, including Zhang Hao. The remaining three were fifth-level alchemists under the Eighteenth Elder’s guidance.

It had been ninety-one years since Liu Mufeng joined the sect. Ninety years ago he took part in the 5-yearly challenge. After that, he had gone to the Small Secret Realm for ten years, and then was in seclusion for another seventy years. This was his second time participating in the challenge. Therefore, several fifth-level alchemists who wanted to jump into the competition had their eyes on him, thinking that Liu Mufeng was a newly promoted cultivator of the Spiritual Emperor Realm, and his fifth-level pill refining techniques must not be stable yet, and it would be easy to win against Liu Mufeng.

Of course, Zhang Hao had come to challenge Liu Mufeng, not only because he had just advanced to the Spiritual Emperor Realm, but more than that, it was his hatred for this person. If it wasn’t for Liu Mufeng, he wouldn’t have been expelled from Pill Peak by his own Master. Therefore, he must win against Liu Mufeng this time, and he must let Liu Mufeng know what it means to overestimate one’s strength and hit a stone with an egg.

“Challenge topic— Level 5WanhuaPill. The spiritual plants should be prepared by yourself, and the refined pill would belong to the individual.” Looking at the crowd, the Third Elder announced the topic of the competition.

Zhang Hao turned pale with shock as he heard the topic. Because, although he knew the pill recipe ofWanhuaPill, two of the eighteen spiritual plants needed to refineWanhuaPill had already been extinct. Therefore, this pill recipe had become useless, as the pill could not be formed by the remaining sixteen spiritual plants.

After hearing the topic, Liu Mufeng took out his pill furnace, took out the cleaning tools and began to clean the pill furnace carefully.

Raising his hand, the Third Elder arranged a translucent barrier around Liu Mufeng.

Outside the barrier, everyone could only see Liu Mufeng cleaning his pill furnace and taking out some spiritual plants. However, they couldn’t see what kind of spiritual plants he had taken out.

“Third Elder, why did you use a translucent barrier?” Looking at the Third Elder, the Ninth Elder smiled helplessly.

“Yes, Third Senior Brother, we can’t see through your translucent barrier.” Looking at the Third Elder, the Eighteenth Elder also said helplessly.

“Two of the spiritual plants in Wanhua Pill’s recipe have long been extinct. The recipe my apprentice is using today was developed by himself and cannot be shown to anyone. If you want to see it, you can buy Mufeng’s Pill recipe.” Looking at the two, the Third Elder said proudly.

“Oh, that’s it.” Nodding, the Ninth Elder thought to himself:This Liu Mufeng is really talented. He had already sold twelve fourth-level alchemy pill recipes to the sect before, all of which were completed by himself. At this moment, the Wanhua Pill recipe which had long become useless because of the extinct spiritual plants, even such a pill recipe he had a way to fix. No wonder the Third Elder loved Liu Mufeng so much.

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Glancing at Liu Mufeng in the barrier who was already on the steps of processing the spiritual plants, Zhang Hao was very anxious. He had been thinking about how to refineWanhuaPill by replacing the ingredients, but he couldn’t come up with a method even after thinking for a long time.

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It had to be said that this kind of challenge was actually very unfair to the challengers. Because the person who came up with the topic was the Master of the challenged person, so the question would be something the challenged person would be comfortable with. It was really very difficult for the challenger to win under such circumstances, but then again, if the challenger did not have a more exquisite alchemy skills than the person challenged, then, how could the Third Elder abandon his disciple and choose a newcomer?

When Liu Mufeng had finished processing the spiritual plants and had started to condense the pill, the Third Elder changed the translucent barrier into a transparent barrier. At this time, the Elders and other disciples outside the barrier could clearly see that Liu Mufeng’s pill furnace was emitting white gas, and the fragrance of the refined pills also escaped through the barrier. It floated into everyone’s nostrils.

“En, it’s this smell, that’s the smell, Wanhua Pill, Wanhua Pill, I haven’t seen Wanhua Pill in 20,000 years.” Smelling the scent of the medicinal pill, the Ninth Elder was filled with emotion.

“Nephew Liu is really capable.” Looking at Liu Mufeng who was concentrating on the final steps of refining the pills, the Eighteenth Elder was also full of praise for Liu Mufeng.

Not long after, six reddish-brown pills flew out of the pill furnace. Liu Mufeng collected the pills smoothly, and put them into the jade plate. Walking down the ring slowly, he handed over the medicinal pills he had refined to the Officiating Elder.

Looking at the medicinal pills placed on the table, the Ninth Elder and the Eighteenth Elder immediately picked it up to check. The Third Elder also reached out to pick up a pill and checked it.

The six pills that had been refined were all high-grade pills. Checking them thoroughly, these Elders could determine that there was only 1% of impurities, and the aura was extraordinarily strong. The Third Elder nodded in satisfaction. Looking at his apprentice Liu Mufeng, he always felt that he had reached the end of his era. Although he was less than 30,000 years old, and he was considered very young among the Elders, however, looking at his beloved disciple who has made rapid progress in alchemy, he already felt that he was getting old.

Liu Mufeng’s success in alchemy marked the countdown to the competition. Seeing the hourglass in the Officiating Elder’s hand ticking away, Zhang Hao couldn’t help but clench his fist. Liu Mufeng had already finished refining the pill, but he, he didn’t even know how to make the pill. How, how could this happen, how could this happen?

Even when the hourglass ticked down to its last grain, Zhang Hao had just stood in the challenge area foolishly.

Glancing at Zhang Hao coldly, Liu Mufeng didn’t have many superfluous expressions on his indifferent face. Because he felt that Zhang Hao was already groundless, and there was no need for him to add insult to injury.

“Hmph, defeated!” Jiang Xu gave Zhang Hao a look of displeasure.

At Jiang Xu’s words, Lin Yu and Gong Rui who were sitting by the side couldn’t help but clench their fists. Even they had not expected that Zhang Hao would lose to Liu Mufeng, and even the loss was so embarrassing. He had lost without even taking out his pill furnace.

Looking at Liu Mufeng who was sitting beside him, Lin Yu’s eyes were full of jealousy. She felt that the pill recipe was most likely completed by their Master, and Liu Mufeng was just helping from the side. But even now, the Master had given Liu Mufeng his good reputation by saying it was completed by Liu Mufeng. She didn’t know what her Master was thinking that he actually liked this local turtle very much. She really didn’t know what was so good about this country bumpkin that he was so favoured by the Master.

With his head bowed, the second disciple Qiao Yu had been thinking about the topic as well, that is, if it was him, could he refine theWanhuaPill and defeat Liu Mufeng. However, from the time the Master had announced the topic until now, he still hadn’t thought of the method of refining the pill. This made Qiao Yu a little depressed. Although he didn’t want to, he had to admit that Liu Mufeng was really very talented in modifying the pill recipe.

After the competition, the Third Elder returned to Pill Peak with his six disciples.

“Today, Master has something to announce.” Sitting in his seat, looking at his six disciples, the Third Elder spoke.

“Does Master want to talk about the competition?” Looking at his Master, Qiao Yu asked in a puzzled manner.

“No, this year’s competition is over, so I won’t talk about it anymore. Today, I want to talk about the matter of choosing my core disciples. After repeated consideration, I decided to appoint Qiao Yu and Mufeng as my Pill Peak’s core disciples. Starting today, the rankings of the six of you will also be changed. Qiao Yu will become the First Senior Brother, Liu Mufeng is the Second Junior Brother, Gong Rui is the Third Junior Brother, Lin Yu is the Fourth Junior Sister, Ye Qian is the Fifth Junior Brother, and Helian Xiaoxiao will be the Sixth Junior Sister.” Looking at his six disciples, the Third Elder announced.

Hearing this, Qiao Yu and Liu Mufeng hurriedly bowed their heads in thanks. “This disciple, thanks Master.”

Lin Yu was very upset when she heard that Liu Mufeng had become the Second Senior Brother. “Master, this disciple is not convinced.”

“Oh? Why are you dissatisfied?” Looking at Lin Yu, the Third Elder asked.

“This disciple started earlier than Junior Brother Mufeng. Why did the Master choose Junior Brother Mufeng as a core disciple, but not this disciple?” Looking at the Third Elder, Lin Yu asked aggrievedly.

“When I chose the core disciples, I didn’t look at the time when they started under me, but their alchemy skills and techniques. Currently only Qiao Yu and Mufeng have the alchemy skills on this Pill Peak that can satisfy my expectation and are qualified to be core disciples.” Looking at Lin Yu, The Third Elder said so.

“This, this…” Hearing this, Lin Yu was very depressed.

“If you don’t want to acknowledge Qiao Yu and Mufeng, you can challenge them. If you win the challenge, you can become a core disciple. Of course, if you lose, you have to leave Pill Peak directly.” The Third Elder further added.

At that, Gong Rui frowned. If you lose, you have to directly leave Pill Peak, what’s the difference between this and a challenge?

Hearing what the Master said, Lin Yu was also dumbfounded. She knew that the chances of her winning against Liu Mufeng were slim, and what she was more afraid of was being kicked out of Pill Peak.

“Gong Rui, Lin Yu, Ye Qian, Helian Xiaoxiao, if any of you four wants to challenge the two, you can stand up.” Looking at his four apprentices, the Third Elder commanded.

“Master, Senior Brother is a sixth-level alchemist, and Second Senior Brother is a fifth-level alchemist. The two Senior Brothers are excellent in alchemy, and their level is higher than mine. They are well-deserved to be core disciples. I am sincerely convinced.” Lowering his head, Ye Qian immediately expressed his opinion.

“Yes, the Fifth Senior Brother is right, how can we be the opponent of the two Senior Brothers?” Nodding, Helian Xiaoxiao agreed.

Ninety-one years ago, they had entered the Lingwu Sect together with Liu Mufeng, and went to Pill Peak to learn together. However, ninety-one years had passed, and Liu Mufeng had become a fifth-level alchemist of the Spiritual Emperor Realm cultivator, their Second Senior Brother, and a core disciple. And she and Senior Brother Ye were still at the Spiritual King Realm and were still level four alchemists, what qualifications did they have to challenge others?

“Fifth Junior Brother is right. The two Senior Brothers have extraordinary alchemy skills, and they deserve to be the core disciples of Pill Peak. This disciple has no objections.” Looking at his Master, Gong Rui said so, but his heart had already gone mad with jealousy. He didn’t expect that the Master would actually make Liu Mufeng a core disciple, and also make Liu Mufeng as Second Senior Brother, with a status higher than himself.

“This disciple also has no objection.” Gritting her teeth, Lin Yu said reluctantly.

“En, if that’s the case, then Master will issue the core disciple badges.” With that said, the Third Elder took out two waist badges and gave them to the two people.

“Thank you, Master.” After taking the badge, Qiao Yu and Liu Mufeng smiled and thanked their Master.