Chapter 2401: 2401

The cheering in the plaza, which was even louder than the thunder, was like the caws of millions of crows. However, at this moment, those millions of crows were all killed.

Ye Qian felt like he had been slapped. He turned to look at Long Chen and then at the terrifying pill lightning gathering in the sky.

“Impossible!”

Ye Qian screamed. This pill lightning wasn’t his, but Long Chen’s? He refused to believe it.

Long Chen’s display from the start had been mediocre. How could this pill lightning possibly be his?

“You don’t believe it? Then I’ll explain it. Your pill lightning was already smashed apart by my five-colored lightning. This tribulation now has nothing to do with you. Do you not see that the eye of the tribulation is pointed at me?” Long Chen pointed at the center of the five vortexes of lightning. There was a shape similar to an eye there.

The five types of energy were slowly pouring into that eye. A sharp lightning sword condensed there, pointing at Long Chen.

“How? How is that possible?!”

The Divine Pill Division’s people were filled with disbelief. Only the Pill Doyen had been staring at the tribulation lightning the entire time, seeming to be pondering something.

“If you don’t get out of the way quickly, I won’t care if the lightning splits you apart. I don’t really care about your life or death, but hand over what you wagered first. If not, please write a will,” said Long Chen.

Suddenly, the five-colored lightning sword condensing in the eye of the tribulation shot toward Long Chen.

The world rumbled as that sword screamed through the air. Although it was clearly pointed at Long Chen, everyone felt a sharp pain in their souls.

BOOM!

The lightning sword pierced through Long Chen and his furnace. It exploded, transforming into streams of lightning that spread in every direction.

Just as the lightning sword exploded, Ye Qian finally flew back. However, he was one step too slow, and the lightning brushed against him.

Blood-colored flames covered his body, but they were unable to fully protect him. He was sent flying, his face pale. Blood leaked out of his mouth.

Ye Qian didn’t care about this injury. He was pale because of his defeat.

Pill lightning was the best way to appraise the quality of a pill. It was the fairest, most impartial method with no way to cheat.

His pill lightning had been destroyed by Long Chen’s pill lightning. His pill lightning was like trash that had been kicked aside by Long Chen’s pill lightning.

The division head caught Ye Qian and patted his shoulder, transmitting, “Don’t worry, Long Chen won’t necessarily be able to pass this tribulation. If he fails, you’ll be the winner.”

These words were clearly refusing to accept defeat. If Long Chen’s pill really was destroyed by the pill tribulation, he would be unable to bring out a pill, so he would be defeated. But that would be a mocking victory for Ye Qian’s pride. He was unable to accept such a thing. His expression was extremely ugly.

The Moon and Star Refining Furnace’s stars absorbed the power of the lightning, causing its light to grow stronger.

Another bolt of lightning fell from the sky. This bolt was double the power of the first, causing the expressions of everyone present to change.

This terrifying tribulation was filled with the will of annihilation. Even a third step Netherpassage expert would be killed.

These disciples were unable to say a single word. Ignoring Long Chen’s alchemy arts, the fact that he dared to allow this terrifying lightning to strike him directly was enough to shake them deeply.

This terrifying tribulation, which would kill others in one move, was being ignored by Long Chen as if he didn’t even feel it.

The lightning continued to grow stronger. Every attack contained the power of annihilation that was part of the Heavenly Daos. In front of this power, the power of man felt incredibly miniscule.

However, no matter how powerful the lightning grew, Long Chen continued not to do anything. It seemed that he was waiting for something.

The Moon and Star Refining Furnace was growing brighter and brighter, while the stars were revolving faster and faster. Finally, it felt like something had awoken within the pill furnace. A boundless aura slowly rose.

“This aura…?”

“What is going on?” asked one of the Divine Pill Division’s Elders. This completely toppled their understanding of alchemy. For the aura of the pill to only appear now, didn’t that mean it had only condensed at this moment? But for pill lightning to come, it should have been formed from the start of the tribulation.

Everyone looked at the Pill Doyen. With so many gazes on him, he finally said, “This is another way to refine this pill. The most important part of the Hundred Dao Merger Spirit Pill is the Merger aspect. The Divine Pill Division has seventeen ways to refine it, but there is one that has never managed to succeed, so it was discarded and forgotten. That is why you only know sixteen ways. I coincidentally saw the seventeenth technique in the hidden scripture pavilion in an abandoned storehouse. At that time, I felt that the principles behind it were too ridiculous to be feasible. It seemed to be the crazy raving of some senior who had indulged in fantasy. It could not be used in reality, but today, my eyes have been opened to the world.”

“What is this method?” asked the division head.

“The scripture stated that our current techniques for refining the Hundred Dao Merger Spirit Pill all depend on luck. To absorb the energy of the Heavenly Daos to condense the pill’s spirituality does not depend on the alchemist, but on the mood of the heavens. We cannot absorb more energy than the heavens are willing to give us. As a result, while the final quality of the pill is affected by the skill of the alchemist, it also depends on the mood of the heavens. The top grade pill that Qian-er refined truly is not bad, but a large aspect of that was luck. Who can say when the heavens will be willing to give more energy or less? If they’re lucky, the pill will be good. If they’re unlucky, the pill’s quality will be inferior.”

“But what about the pill that Long Chen is refining?”

“Long Chen’s method is the one mentioned in that scripture. It is to rely on a person’s power instead of luck. He is grasping every part of the Heavenly Daos himself and merging them into the pill,” said the Pill Doyen.

“That’s impossible. No one can control the Heavenly Daos. Not even a god!”

Although there were those such as Heavenly Fate Island capable of reading the ephemeral flow of fate, those sects could only vaguely grasp a few things from the future and calculate probabilities of certain events occurring.

That was not the true Heavenly Daos. No one could truly read the Heavenly Daos. From ancient times to now, no one had ever managed to fully grasp the Heavenly Daos.

“This is a question that perhaps only Long Chen knows the answer to. All I know is that the Hundred Daos that he gathered into his pill were missing one. He merged ninety-nine Daos, leaving the final one to be the Dao of Annihilation within this pill lightning,” said the Pill Doyen.

That explanation was something that would have been scoffed at if said by another. But he was the Pill Doyen, the true number one of the Divine Pill Division.

How was it that the Dao of Annihilation could be merged into a medicinal pill? The Dao of Annihilation within pill lightning was used to destroy medicinal pills. Wasn’t that contrary?

Furthermore, if that was the case, who would possibly consume such a pill? Would it not be poison? There were plenty of ways to kill oneself, so there was no need to make it so complicated, right?

Perhaps the Pill Doyen understood, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood to explain it any further. He was focused on Long Chen, clearly not wanting to be disturbed.

Everyone fell silent once more, simply watching as one giant lightning sword after another fell upon Long Chen. The aura of the pill inside the Moon and Star Refining Furnace continued to grow stronger.

However, after a short while, the division head’s expression changed. The runes on the bricks of the plaza were starting to dim. That meant that the lightning was exhausting their energy.

“No need to worry,” said the Pill Doyen before the division head could give orders.

The lid to the Moon and Star Refining Furnace slowly opened. A strange fluctuation came from within. The experts present sensed their own auras within that fluctuation.

“What is going on?”

Just at that moment, a fist-sized pill flew into the sky. The heavens rumbled. The five vortexes of lightning merged together into a supreme vortex. Following that, a tempest of lightning arrows rained down upon the pill.