Chapter 23

Shen Xiang took out the thousand-year blood spirit grass and said, "This is the thousand-year blood spirit grass."

Everyone had heard before that Shen Xiang had this thousand-year blood spirit grass, but seeing it in person still left them amazed, after all, it was a rare and famous medicine.

"Of course, if this is the only bet, wouldn't I be looking down on the Yao family? So I'll add half a hell spirit grass!" Another hand of Shen Xiang appeared with half a black spirit grass.

Half of the hell spirit grass had been eaten by Bai Youyou and Su Meiyao, but the remaining half was still extremely precious.

At this moment, several elders jumped onto the stage without hesitation, and Shen Tianhu and several elders of the Shen family also flew up, after all, this was the legendary hell spirit grass!

The entire square suddenly fell into a deathly silence. Everyone saw the grayish hell spirit grass, but they still didn't believe it. They knew that the knowledgeable elders had jumped up to verify it, and even the elders of the Yao family went up to see the hell spirit grass.

"That's right, this is the hell spirit grass!" The head of the Spirit Pill Pavilion exclaimed, his voice filled with an indescribable jealousy and envy. His old eyes looked at the half black spirit grass in Shen Xiang's hand with a fervent gaze.

After the verification, the square erupted in a chorus of exclamations. Everyone was discussing, amazed that Shen Xiang had taken out half a hell spirit grass and a thousand-year blood spirit grass as the bet. This bet was extremely large, not something an ordinary family could afford.

"What is your bet?" Shen Xiang looked at Yao Tianhua and the elder beside him.

Yao Tianhua and the elder's faces were not pleasant. Anyone who knew about alchemy knew what the hell spirit grass meant. It was a mystic-level spirit medicine, and mystic-level spirit medicines were even rarer than spirit-level ones, so they knew its value.

"Thousand-year beast core, Thousand Pattern Fruit! How does that sound?" the elder said.

The thousand-year beast core was a pill formed from the essence of a wild beast that had lived for a thousand years. This beast core was very helpful in alchemy, and the Thousand Pattern Fruit was also a mystic-level spirit medicine. It was said to bear fruit only once every thousand years, and the fruit had a thousand patterns, making it the main ingredient for refining the Foundation Building Pill.

The Yao family's bet was equally astonishing, causing another shock among the crowd. If they won, it would be a huge profit!

"Alright, let's settle it!" Shen Xiang said.

"Then let me explain the rules. The main competition is alchemy. Whoever can refine the best pill the fastest wins. The quality of the pills will be judged by everyone," the elder of the Yao family said.

Shen Xiang had no objections. Shen Tianhu patted his shoulder to encourage him. Shen Xiang and Yao Tianhua took out their alchemy furnaces for some elders to inspect to prevent cheating.

After the inspection, everyone else left the high platform, and the competition officially began.

Shen Xiang quickly put a package of herbs into the alchemy furnace. Yao Tianhua didn't see what herbs Shen Xiang used, which made him somewhat annoyed because he couldn't know what pill Shen Xiang was refining.

Yao Tianhua was very confident in winning because he was from the Yao family, and the materials he used were of the highest quality. In his view, no one could refine a pill better than him in the same level.

Looking at Yao Tianhua's golden alchemy furnace, Shen Xiang felt a bit envious. His crude alchemy furnace was far inferior. Many people who saw Shen Xiang's alchemy furnace thought he was bound to lose.

"Using this alchemy furnace to refine pills, how ridiculous! It's not even as good as the pot I use to cook soup at home!" a young man laughed, and others joined in.

Only those with basic knowledge of alchemy knew that the quality of the alchemy furnace was not the key; it was the alchemist. A master alchemist could successfully refine pills without a pot.

Shen Xiang was refining the Bone Washing Pill. Earlier, he had seen the spirit herbs Yao Tianhua put into the pot. From those herbs, Shen Xiang knew that Yao Tianhua was refining a spirit pill called the "Spirit Core Pill," a common-grade lower-grade pill that helped with cultivation. It was the most expensive of the common-grade lower-grade pills and was very difficult to refine. In many alchemy competitions, many people refined this pill, which tested an alchemist's mastery of the pill.

Shen Xiang had refined this pill before, but the cost was relatively high, only slightly cheaper than the Bone Washing Pill, so he hadn't refined it much.

The process of waiting for the results was very tedious. Everyone ate, drank, and chatted while watching the two young alchemists on the stage.

To successfully refine the Bone Washing Pill, Shen Xiang did not pursue speed but refined it carefully.

It took more than half an hour for Shen Xiang to turn all the herbs into powder, and the alchemy furnace was filled with colorful "medicine qi." Now, he had to blend the different types of medicine qi and then combine them with the powder. This process was the most mentally taxing and critical, and if not done well, it could easily cause the furnace to explode.

In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed. At this moment, Shen Xiang's face was serious, and he was drenched in sweat, while Yao Tianhua was very relaxed. He occasionally glanced at Shen Xiang, feeling secretly pleased when he saw Shen Xiang's tense expression. He could tell that Shen Xiang was at the most critical stage and was likely to make a mistake.

"I've finished! Five Spirit Core Pills!" Yao Tianhua suddenly shouted, causing a stir among the crowd. At this moment, Shen Xiang had not yet completed his task, and everyone could see his tense face, indicating he was facing a challenge.

"The genius of the Yao family lives up to his reputation, refining five Spirit Core Pills in just two hours! This is the best of the common-grade lower-grade pills. It looks like the young man from the Shen family is bound to lose," someone said.

"I heard the Spirit Core Pill is hard to refine. Is the young man from the Shen family refining this pill? If so, he's bound to lose. He's already far behind in time," another person said.

The crowd below was buzzing with speculation about whether Shen Xiang would lose, given the large bet he had placed.

Yao Tianhua was also waiting for Shen Xiang, secretly rejoicing. He believed Shen Xiang was bound to lose and would soon win the thousand-year blood spirit grass and the hell spirit grass, as well as gain fame in the Southern Wu Kingdom.

Shen Xiang didn't keep them waiting long. He took a deep breath and said, "Finally finished!"

Hearing Shen Xiang speak, everyone fell silent. Yao Tianhua sneered, "So what? You still lost!"

Shen Xiang smiled faintly, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "I refined three Bone Washing Pills, please inspect them!"

Three Bone Washing Pills! This left everyone stunned and disbelieving. They suspected they had heard wrong. Shen Xiang had refined a common-grade middle-grade Bone Washing Pill, which was much more valuable than the Spirit Core Pill!

"Impossible, he's only sixteen years old, he can't possibly refine the Bone Washing Pill!" the head of the Spirit Pill Pavilion exclaimed, rushing up to the high platform. Some elders also flew up quickly, and Shen Tianhu had already arrived by Shen Xiang's side.

"Shen Xiang, this isn't the time to joke around," Yao Tianhua couldn't believe Shen Xiang could refine the Bone Washing Pill, and most people present couldn't believe it either.

Shen Xiang smiled and said calmly, "Please inspect them!"

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