Chapter 99 – The battle of the top 3

Hua Shao stuck his nose out and coldly snorted, “I don’t really care. It’s actually better for me. This way, the judges can easily tell that I’m way better than them. Now that I think about it, this is a great idea.”
Muyun Old Devil nodded and looked over at Qi Zimo, “Then, how about Zimo?”
“I…..” Qi Zimo’s expression was a bit stern. He knows that Ye Zifeng didn’t do this just so it makes everyone else’s life easier. However, in such a short amount of time, he can’t see through Ye Zifeng’s thinking process at all.
Since it’s like this, he might as well let it pass and see what kind of cards Ye Zifeng has to play.
“I don’t really care. I’m fine with it.”
“Alright. Since you guys don’t have any objections then we’ll do as Ye Zifeng suggests…..”
After obtaining the agreement of the other two, Muyun Old Devil looked over at her guards, signaling them to prepare everything.
Even though she didn’t understand what Ye Zifeng was trying to do, there was one thing that she knew. Having Ye Zifeng on stage with her disciple, Liu Bingqian, was a good thing. His suggestion didn’t break any rules so she’ll allow it.
As a result, Ye Zifeng’s cauldron was moved in between Qi Zimo’s and Hua Shao’s.
The three cauldrons were side by side and had an imposing look to it.
“I will now announce that the second round of the competition will now officially start!”
This round wasn’t the same as the last. One had to concoct their own pill and they can at most concoct three pills. Thus, the most important part of the round was choosing the right ingredients.
“Big brother rough guy, look. There’s Chalcedony Grass, Dragon Leaves, Silver-horn Fruit, and Scarlet Essence Lotus. Why don’t we concoct a Golden Marrow Pill?” Liu Bingqian flipped through all the ingredients and smiled.
“Bingqian, don’t be impatient. Let’s wait and see.” Ye Zifeng smiled back at her.
Liu Bingqian showed a puzzled expression and then looked over at the other two groups.
She saw that the Qi Zimo and Hua Shao were both staring at the ingredients and wasn’t in a rush. They only had three chances so they can’t be careless at all.
Ye Zifeng chuckled, “What we have is time. Don’t be impatient. The most important part of this round is the quality of the pill. A Golden Marrow Pill is a qi refining stage pill. It is not going to be enough.”
“Then….What should we make?” Liu Bingqian was confused once again. She had never been in the second round of the competition. She would sneakily run away and have never seen Qi Zimo or Hua Shao concoct with all their skills.
“Wait a bit more. Don’t worry….. I will personally make a move this round.” Ye Zifeng comforted Liu Bingqian. At the same time, a strange smile appeared on his face.
“Really? That’s great!” Hearing that Ye Zifeng was personally going to make a move, Liu Bingqian was delighted.
During the first round, all Ye Zifeng did was start the fire and then he sat there to observe. Liu Bingqian finished concocting the pill by herself.
However, the existence of Qi Zimo gave Ye Zifeng some sort of pressure. He had to make a move himself.
Of course, the reason why he’s pressured is because of his cultivation. He couldn’t even form a common tier flame right now. Ye Zifeng would definitely beat anyone in alchemy if they were in the same circumstance as he was.
“Look, that Hua Shao couldn’t help it started to concoct already….” Ye Zifeng smiled and looked at Liu Bingqian.
Liu Bingqian quickly looked over at Hua Shao.
As expected, Hua Shao and his servant were starting to concoct. They were both very quick and nimble. From the pile of ingredients, they quickly gathered what they needed and put it to one side.
“From the looks of it, he’s trying to concoct a Spirit Nurturing Pill for Martial Disciples.” Ye Zifeng nodded as if he understood everything Hua Shao was trying to do. He was able to see through Hua Shao with one look.
Liu Bingqian gasped, “Spirit Nurturing Pill? This Hua Shao is indeed very impressive. To be able to think about refining a pill at the Martial Spirit stage.
Ye Zifeng just smiled and didn’t comment at all. Instead, he turned to look at Qi Zimo. However, all he saw was Qi Zimo standing there, not moving at all. Qi Zimo also looked over every so often. It seems like Qi Zimo wants Ye Zifeng to start refining first.
“Big brother rough guy…….how about we start as well.
Liu Bingqian anxiously looked at Ye Zifeng but all she got was a smile in return.
Her heart sank. However, she trusted Ye Zifeng. He must have some sort of plan. The amount of respect that Liu Bingqian has for Ye Zifeng is already at the max so she will follow his words.
In the end, after a while, Qi Zimo couldn’t control himself anymore. He looked over at Ye Zifeng and then went to gather his materials to start concocting.
It looked like he was casually gathering ingredients but he was extremely fast and precise. However, Ye Zifeng still saw through his movements, “Qi Zimo is trying to concoct a Supreme True Yuan Dan.”
“What? A Supreme True Yuan Dan?” Hearing this, Liu Bingqian was shocked. She remember when Wang Tianzhi won a Supreme True Yuan Dan for finishing second during the Heavenly Clan gathering. She would never have thought that she would be able to watch someone refine the same exact pill!
“Alright. Since they’ve made their move, it’s time for us to make our move too.” Ye Zifeng saw that it was about time that they started and became very serious.
Liu Bingqian was fretting, “Big brother rough guy. What are we going to do? They’re both refining such incredible pills. What should we answer with?”
“Bingqian, where did all your confidence go?” Ye Zifeng smiled.
“I was confident because you’re with me……. Now that you mention it, should I be looking forward to the results of the second round?”
Liu Bingqian was staring at Ye Zifeng at this point.
“Well…. I can guarantee that we’ll beat this Hua Shao.” Ye Zifeng deeply nodded.
“Really?” Liu Bingqian was getting excited.
She had always been last during the competition. If she can get an even higher placement, then she would be extremely happy!
“But….Are you sure? Big brother rough guy. What kind of good methods do you have?”
“Bingqian, do you know why I suggested that we should all refine our pills together?”
Obviously, Bingqian didn’t know the answer to this. She looked at him hoping that he would give her an answer.
“You’ll find out after we’re done.”
Seeing how Ye Zifeng was teasing her, Liu Bingqian pouted.
“Alright Bingqian. Use the fastest speed to gather all these ingredients and then put it into the cauldron. Don’t let anyone else see what you took. Alright?”
“Uhh…. Okay.” She didn’t know why he wanted to hide what he was concocting. Could it be that Ye Zifeng was going to concoct some sort of forbidden pill?
However, she didn’t have time to ponder about these trivial matters. She quickly retrieved the ingredients for Ye Zifeng.
“Two strands of Demonic Fog Grass, two Wild Steel Flower, one Golden Thorn Fruit….”
Liu Bingqian was moving so fast that she was confusing herself. She gathered all the ingredients and immediately put it into the cauldron. She can guarantee that no one saw what she took from the pile. Even if someone saw, they probably won’t know what Ye Zifeng was concocting.
On the other side, Ye Zifeng was standing in front of Qi Zimo’s camp and blocked them from seeing anything.
Qi Zimo’s sword servant was suppose to be observing Ye Zifeng’s movement but Ye Zifeng had blocked his view. Liu Bingqian was also very fast so he didn’t get to see anything.
“Master, what do we do? Ye Zifeng was blocking the way so I couldn’t see what they were trying to make.”
Qi Zimo was startled and looked up.
“So it seems like this Ye Zifeng has treated us as the real opponents since the beginning.”
Ye Zifeng blocked Qi Zimo’s view and not Hua Shao’s because in Ye Zifeng’s eyes, Hua Shao wasn’t worth anything.
From what Ye Zifeng can see, even if his whole process was seen by Hua Shao, he would not be able to see what kind of pill Ye Zifeng was making.
“Interesting….I was too impatient and started before him. Let’s see if he can catch anything and challenge me. I really am looking forward to this.”
Qi Zimo’s eyes lit up and he licked his lips. His mouth curved up into a smile. This was the expression of a predator when it found a tasty prey.