Chapter 840: Who Is the Real Dark Horse?

Grey stared blankly at the scenes unfolding before him as waves of shock surged through his heart.

“What’s going on? Is my eyesight failing me?” He rubbed his eyes before looking in An Lin’s direction again to discover his hands dancing fluently in the air.

It was as if his crimson flames possessed a life of their own and they leaped for joy as they engulfed the ingredients within the pill refinement cauldron while refining the ingredients with great speed and efficiency.

“Why… Why can’t I understand these techniques?” Grey felt as if he were watching a magic show.

The essence from all the ingredients were extracted before fusing to form a whole.

The pill-condensing process had already been set into motion, and the entire process was extremely smooth. It could even be said that An Lin’s operation throughout this process was perfect.

The properties unique to his flames began to act on the spirit pill while slowly improving its quality.

Boom!

At this moment, a powerful vital energy fluctuation erupted from the distance.

Someone had completed their pill!

An exuberant, green pill hovered in the air.

Rika, whose entire body was constructed from blue liquid, laughed heartily as she stroked the pill in her hand. “I’ve finally successfully refined a fourth-grade spirit pill! This is my first one!”

She was extremely elated to be able to refine a fourth-grade spirit pill as a spot in the top five was pretty much in the bag.

She turned her eyes toward her competitors, the Black Sword Lord and Ban Yue, to discover that they had progressed to the pill-condensing stage as well. It looked like it was only a matter of time before they refined fourth-grade spirit pills.

Huh, that blue ice dragon also looked like she knew what she was doing and could be a potential dark horse. Was her name Julia?

A hint of caution welled up in Rika’s heart. There were so many prodigies in this world that it was only normal for strong competitors to pop up. It looked like that blue dragon was a dark horse.

She then turned her eyes toward another direction with a taunting sneer on her face.

It was time to see how that arrogant, foolish human was going.

Had she broken down? Or was she in despair?

Rika turned toward Xu Xiaolan, and her pupils contracted as she stood rooted to the spot upon seeing the flames Xu Xiaolan had unleashed. “Is-is that… a Divine Flame?”

The Divine Flame she had been yearning for was being unleashed by a human she had looked down upon.

Boom!

Xu Xiaolan’s pill was complete!

Rich pill aroma wafted throughout the entire space, seeping into everyone’s hearts.

The green spirit pill had a golden flaming phoenix revolving around it. This was the result of her Divine Flame’s enhancement effect.

Rika’s body swayed slightly, and she felt as if a sword had been stabbed viciously into her heart. “That spirit pill… is most likely at the pinnacle of fourth-grade spirit pills!”

The moment Xu Xiaolan successfully condensed her pill was the moment when the entire audience numbering in the hundreds of thousands fell into a stunned silence again. All the living beings that had hurled abuse and insults shut their mouths as humiliation and shame swept through their hearts.

The ten elders of the Pill Tower were also slightly shocked upon seeing this. They knew that Xu Xiaolan was a strong contender, but her skills had exceeded even their expectations.

“Soul Creation Stage pill refinement technique, Divine Flame level pill refinement flames, combined with an extremely powerful cultivation base… Genius, she really is an exceptional pill refinement genius!” A twisted crimson spider exclaimed.

“The Pill Sage’s daughter has a strong opponent this time…” The four-armed ape stroked its beard as it spoke.

“Hmm, this intermediate-rank immortal tool, the Nine Spirit Cauldron, was a present the Pill Sage had planned to bestow upon her daughter, but now…” A white flaming humanoid shook its head with a worrisome expression.

Boom! Boom!

At this moment, the Black Sword Lord and Ban Yue had also completed their pills in quick succession.

They had already heard the cheers erupting from the crowd, and upon completing their pills, they turned toward the center of all the attention, upon which they faltered upon seeing the sight they were greeted by.

This was a spirit pill with extremely powerful energy fluctuations with the aura of Divine Flames revolving around it…

Xu Xiaolan! It was her again!

There was no need for the elders to act as referees here. Even they could clearly see that Xu Xiaolan’s pill was superior to their own pills.

Thinking back to what they had said in the past, it felt like a slap to the face…

She went full throttle from the start? A spirit pill at the pinnacle of fifth grade was the extent of her abilities? She was an attention-whore?

All their condescending words were thrown straight back at them.

The Black Sword Lord and Ban Yue both completely fell silent and hung their heads in shame.

It was true that she did like attention, but she also had the ability to crush them all the way from the start until the end of the competition! What could they do about that aside from concede?

“Who would have thought… That the title of champion really is going to pass us by this time.” A bitter expression appeared on the Black Sword Lord’s face.

“Xu Xiaolan, is it? Looks like a first-rate pill refinement master is going to appear in the human race soon.” Ban Yue heaved a forlorn sigh.

“She’s most likely going to be the champion. She really is the biggest dark horse here. We can only try to secure top five berths now…” Rika also wore a resigned expression. She had no choice but to yield in the face of such a superior opponent.

Boom!

Another violent energy fluctuation erupted.

Everyone turned toward that direction to discover a woman in a black robe with the corners of her golden eyes slightly crinkled, as if she was smiling. Before her was a green Spirit Rejuvenation Pill with golden threads intertwined on its surface and rich life energy radiating from within.

All the competitors’ expressions shifted drastically. In particular, Rika, the Black Sword Lord, and Ban Yue’s expressions were filled with shock.

This was also an extremely high-quality fourth-grade spirit pill!

Yet another dark horse had appeared!

They had been completely knocked down a notch!

“Who is that? I can’t tell because they’re wearing a black robe…”

“Where did all these prodigies come from? This doesn’t make sense!”

“Sigh, it’s way too difficult to try and become the champion.”

Just as the three of them were discussing among one another, violent tremors suddenly erupted from elsewhere.

A pillar of green light soared straight into the clouds, and a rich pill aroma wafted through the air in a radius of over a kilometer!

Countless people began to turn their attention toward a man who had been forgotten.

There, they discovered a dumbstruck black dragon and a human male in a flowing white robe.

A green spirit pill floated over the man’s hand, from which overwhelming life-force energy erupted forth, seemingly having broken a certain shackle and ascended to a higher level.

In the air above, Meimei’s red lips gaped open as her eyes widened in shock.

Everyone else also had their incredulous eyes fixed firmly on that man.

All the competitors had already been scared sh*tless.

Even the sh*t-talking trio had been completely silenced.

The woman in the black robe turned toward that direction as her smile slowly receded.

Xu Xiaolan’s jade dress danced in the breeze as a vibrant smile blossomed on her face. “An Lin, you really are something… Are you trying to surprise me everywhere we go?”

All ten of the elders stood up, almost in unison, as incredulity appeared on their faces.

One elder exclaimed in shock. “This has already transcended beyond the pinnacle of fourth-grade. The extract was flawless, the fusion was flawless, and the pill-condensing was flawless! All these steps come together to create a flawless fourth-grade spirit pill!”

The white flaming humanoid shook its head. “No… The pill aroma wafted for over a kilometer and the pillar of light indicating grade ascension has already appeared. This can no longer be referred to as a fourth-grade spirit pill, this is… a third-grade spirit pill!”

Gasp… All the elders heaved sharp intakes of breath.

The human man’s pill refinement technique had enhanced the spirit pill to such an extent, that it had elevated what was meant to be a fourth-grade spirit pill into a third-grade spirit pill…

What a terrifying prodigy!

…