The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron

Chapter 1628: Chapter 1725: There’s Still One Life Left!

Xu Yanbing took a deep breath, his eyes firmly fixed on the incoming mighty flames, yet he made no move to react.

“What is he trying to do?” The crowd was puzzled; could it be that Xu Yanbing didn’t plan to defend against Long Zhixin’s offensive, letting it come at him?

But if so, wouldn’t that mean his Pill Furnace would be completely destroyed?

The Pill Refiners from the Alchemy Tao noble families secretly cheered inside, all waiting to see the scene of Xu Yanbing’s Pill Furnace being damaged.

However, Huang Hanqing standing on the stage noticed that Xu Yanbing was displaying an unimaginably intense focus, to the point where even his breathing seemed to have disappeared in an instant.

The moment the flames arrived, Xu Yanbing placed both palms on the Pill Furnace in front of him, and all the flames within the damaged Pill Furnace were absorbed into Xu Yanbing’s body.

The flames released by Long Zhixin rushed into the damaged Pill Furnace in an instant.

But in the next moment, the scene many had anticipated did not occur; the Pill Furnace did not break. Instead, Long Zhixin’s Pill Flame entered the Pill Furnace, replacing Xu Yanbing’s flame, and continued to forge the medicinal ingredients.

Xu Yanbing let out a sigh of relief, a smile reappeared on his face, giving off a sensation of a great burden being lifted.

Everyone was stunned; many were unable to grasp what had just happened, completely confused as to what was going on.

“How come? Why didn’t Xu Yanbing’s Pill Furnace get completely ruined?”

“What’s happening here? I can’t understand at all.”

“It seems… Long Zhixin’s Soul Commanding Pill Fire entered Xu Yanbing’s Pill Furnace?”

“Why would this happen?”

····

Many were completely bewildered, but after some thought, a few began to understand.

“This Xu Yanbing is quite remarkable. In the instant that Long Zhixin’s Soul Commanding Pill Fire attacked, he withdrew the Pill Flame from his own Pill Furnace, allowing Long Zhixin’s Soul Commanding Pill Fire to enter and take the place of his own flame. This didn’t disrupt the pill refining process or damage the Pill Furnace,” said a veteran Pill Refiner with a lifetime of experience, his face full of shock.

“Elder, are you exaggerating a bit too much?” someone beside him clearly doubted the old Pill Refiner’s words.

The old Pill Refiner let out a snort of contempt, not even glancing at the person, and continued: “I’m not exaggerating at all. That’s exactly what Xu Yanbing did.”

“But that’s too incredible, right? Withdraw your own flame and use your opponent’s flame to continue Pill Refining? I’ve never heard of such a thing,” someone still felt it was too far-fetched and unimaginable.

“The mastery of controlling flames, the grasp of timing, and the confidence of a Pill Refiner are all indispensable. Should there be even the slightest misstep, it would lead to failure, yet Xu Yanbing performed flawlessly, his actions can only be described as perfect,” the old Pill Refiner said with a grave voice, his tone carrying utmost admiration for Xu Yanbing.

“Just for this alone, Xu Yanbing truly deserves the title of a genius,” Huang Hanqing silently praised in his heart. Although he was aware that Xu Yanbing had a Fire Devouring Beast inside him, that scene was not due to the Fire Devouring Beast, rather it was Xu Yanbing’s extraordinary Alchemy Tao proficiency.

At this moment, Long Zhixin felt quite awkward; his own Soul Commanding Pill Fire had been borrowed by Xu Yanbing. Not only did he fail to destroy Xu Yanbing’s Pill Furnace, but he also gave Xu Yanbing the opportunity to show off his skills.

Nonetheless, Long Zhixin truly admired Xu Yanbing; the way he dealt with the situation at that instant, Long Zhixin felt that he wouldn’t have been capable of the same.

This shows that Xu Yanbing’s mastery of controlling fire is indeed superior to my own.

However, Pill Refining is not just about controlling fire—the ability to control fire is only one part of the strength in Alchemy Tao. Long Zhixin is more confident in his own strength.

At this moment, as Xu Yanbing is devouring Long Zhixin’s Soul Commanding Pill Fire, he continuously releases his own Soul Commanding Pill Fire, replacing the flames inside the Pill Furnace.

This process is also extremely precise, and no accidents can occur because there are two entirely different types of flames inside the Pill Furnace—one is the opponent’s Soul Commanding Pill Fire, which Xu Yanbing must control perfectly to prevent any damage to the materials.

Xu Yanbing’s expression is calm, and his eyes do not show any sign of worry, clearly confident in his fire control ability and unafraid of making any mistakes.

Right after Long Zhixin’s flame had been completely replaced by Xu Yanbing, he did something that nobody had expected.

Xu Yanbing slammed his palm onto the Pill Furnace, and the already pushed-to-the-limits, nearly ruined Pill Furnace shattered completely, with all its remaining Cauldron Qi being absorbed by Xu Yanbing’s flame.

Xu Yanbing’s flame then took on the appearance of a Pill Furnace, continuing to refine the various materials without the Pill Refining process being affected in the slightest.

Using fire as the cauldron!

This move was clearly to prevent Long Zhixin from attacking him further; therefore, Xu Yanbing simply destroyed his own Pill Furnace, squeezed out the remaining Cauldron Qi, and then used his fire as the cauldron to continue Pill Refining.

In this way, Long Zhixin would no longer be able to interfere with Xu Yanbing’s Pill Furnace.

Of course, this move is extremely dangerous; without the Pill Furnace, Pill Refining will become many times more difficult.

Originally, it was already difficult to refine the Heavenly Human Pill, and without a Pill Furnace, Xu Yanbing was basically forcing himself into a dead end.

“If the competition continues like this, Long Zhixin is likely to win,” said the Tang Emperor from atop Tang Tower.

Many people nodded in agreement. Although Xu Yanbing’s fire control ability was indeed strong, and he could continue Pill Refining by condensing flames into a cauldron, compared to Long Zhixin who had a Top-tier Pill Furnace, he was undeniably at an innate disadvantage.

“Indeed, without a Pill Furnace, Xu Yanbing is mostly unlikely to defeat Long Zhixin,” sighed the Family Heads of the Alchemy Tao noble families with relief, while also secretly mocking the Heaven King of the East Pole.

Although Xu Yanbing was very impressive, his fire control ability was astonishing, and he had a Fire Devouring Beast within him, yet he regrettably didn’t have a good Pill Furnace to use.

What quality of Pills could he refine with such a damaged, nearly useless Pill Furnace? Besides, now that Xu Yanbing didn’t even have a Pill Furnace anymore, the result was even more predictable.

“Even if Xu Yanbing wanted to rely on nature’s spiritual energy to enhance the quality of the Pills, it’s no longer possible,” stated a great figure from the Upper Three Countries.

Indeed, in the previous competition, Su Xiaotong, with the power of the White Dragon Tripod, had fully absorbed the spiritual energy in Tang Capital, leaving it severely depleted. If not for the luck of Tang Country anchoring it, the land might have already turned barren miles around.

Without a Pill Furnace and without nature’s spiritual energy, even if Xu Yanbing successfully refined a Heavenly Human Pill, how could the quality be assured?

It seemed that everything was extremely unfavorable for Xu Yanbing.

“Xu Yanbing still has a life to spend,” Fang Lin said lightly with a breath.

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