Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 621: The Dan Meeting Comes to an End
Under everyone's gaze, Yao Wangui shook his head and gave a soft sneer.

"Heh, a mere eighth-grade alchemist dares to shamelessly accept the title of 'Number One Alchemist on the Continent'... You were once a member of my Medicine Clan, aren't you afraid of becoming a laughingstock of the world?"

"Looking back now, it was definitely the right choice I made to expel you back then."

Such harsh and sarcastic words, like a poisoned blade, pierced Yao Lao's heart with a chilling coldness, instantly turning his face extremely ugly.

"Medicine... Wan... Gui!"

Staring intently at Yao Wangui, Yao Lao clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

But at this moment, he couldn't utter a suitable rebuttal—although Yao Lao had never called himself "the number one alchemist on the continent," he had never refuted the matter either, and sometimes even tacitly accepted the title.

However, his alchemy skills have not yet reached the ninth rank, so he is indeed unworthy of the title of "the number one alchemist on the continent".

But is this really his fault?!
The ninth-rank grand masters are mostly legendary figures who rarely appear in public, and ordinary people rarely see their faces or know their names.

In this situation, many busybodies in Zhongzhou have always liked to pick the most famous master and then grandly bestow upon him the title of "the number one alchemist on the continent".

He Yaochen is not the first person to be "crowned" in this way!
Now, Yao Wangui was publicly mocking him for this matter, and Yao Lao couldn't help but feel a little ashamed, but more than that, he felt an uncontrollable anger.

"That old bastard Yao Wangui is clearly trying to humiliate me!"

Taking a deep breath, Yao Lao tried to calm his agitated mind—the more that old codger tried to provoke him, the less he could fall for it, and the less he could give him an excuse to seize the Bone Spirit Cold Flame.

At the same time, Yao Lao secretly made up his mind to become stronger as soon as possible at all costs... He never wanted to experience such a predicament again.

"Perhaps it's time to relinquish the Bone Spirit Cold Flame!"

Yao Lao was a man of extremely firm resolve. As his thoughts raced, he quickly calmed himself and made a decision.

"Yao Wangui, I cannot control how the world addresses me." He looked coldly at Yao Wangui, his voice steady and powerful, saying each word clearly, "However, is it not unbecoming of the Yao clan to humiliate me in such a way?"

Upon hearing this, Yao Wangui's lips curled into a mocking sneer. He was about to speak when he was interrupted by a voice coming from the high platform.

"Gentlemen, today is a joyous day for our Pill Tower, and also the day when the Pill Gathering comes to a successful conclusion. Let's put aside our personal grudges for the time being."

That familiar voice belonged to Lin Yuan.

He and Yao Lao had a long-standing friendship and their cooperation had always been quite pleasant, so he naturally had no interest in seeing the latter humiliated by Yao Wangui—such trash.

"The Pharmacopoeia nine years from now?" Lin Yuan flipped the invitation away and said indifferently, "Thank you for the invitation, Elder Wan Gui. I will definitely attend in person... As for the title of the continent's number one alchemist, hehe, I am somewhat interested!"

Just as he was getting into the mood of mocking Yao Chen, Yao Wangui was interrupted so rudely and directly. He was quite displeased and immediately sneered, his eyes full of contempt.

"Hehe, ignorant brat, you really don't know the immensity of heaven and earth."

"Boy, do you think that just because you've refined a ninth-grade precious pill, you've reached the pinnacle of alchemy? That's utterly laughable."

"The title of the continent's number one alchemist has been held by my clan for hundreds of years. The only thing that can be taken from my clan is a sufficiently high level of alchemy skills... and you, a mere junior, are far from having that ability!"

"If you dare to compete in the Pharmacopoeia nine years from now, I would not mind personally defeating you."

Looking at Lin Yuan, who seemed unconcerned, Yao Wangui's eyes flashed with a sinister glint, and he sneered inwardly: "Of course, all of this is predicated on you being alive by then."

The invitation he sent to Lin Yuan from the pharmacopoeia wasn't really intended for the latter to attend the meeting.

Like the jade slip containing the Golden Elixir Inheritance, the pharmacopoeia invitation contained his special soul imprint, which could penetrate the barriers of storage rings and space to help him locate Lin Yuan's position.

In this way, the boy in front of them was marked with multiple tracking marks.

As for what he said earlier, it was just a carefully planned trick to lull Lin Yuan into a false sense of security and make him take his own safety lightly.

Yao Wangui had already made up his mind that this operation must succeed in one go, and he could not give Lin Yuan any more time to grow... After all, given the speed of progress the latter had shown, if he were given a few more years to grow, he might not be able to do anything to him!
On the other side, Lin Yuan shrugged upon hearing Yao Wangui's words, saying meaningfully, "Nine years? Heh, perhaps by then, you would no longer be worthy of being my opponent."

"Arrogant!" Yao Wangui shouted angrily upon hearing this.

But he knew in his heart that he could never win in this verbal battle, so he snorted coldly, looked away, and looked down at Xiao Yan, whose eyes were filled with murderous intent, a chilling look appearing in his eyes.

Being stared at like that by a four-star Dou Sheng, Xiao Yan felt a pang of panic, as if an invisible hand had gripped his heart, and his breathing became rapid.

Before Xiao Yan and the others could react, Yao Wangui's figure flickered, appearing in front of Xiao Yan in an instant, like a ghost.

His speed was so fast that it was as if he had always been standing there, leaving no time for anyone to react.

"With such meager strength, you dare to harbor murderous intent towards this old man?" Yao Wangui shook his head. "You lowly brat from a clan with declining bloodlines, just like your abandoned teacher, ignorant of rank and immensity... Hand it over!"

As he spoke, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and his palm pressed down on Xiao Yan's head like lightning, a strange suction force surging out from his palm.

Facing a Dou Sheng, Xiao Yan naturally had no power to resist, and his body and soul were completely immobilized.

"Yao Wangui, what are you trying to do?"

Upon seeing this scene, Yao Lao's eyes turned bloodshot, and his Dou Sheng-level aura surged violently.

Xiao Yan, as a disciple, is considered one of Yao Lao's Achilles' heel.

"Heh, you two seem to have a deep bond as master and disciple." Yao Wangui sneered and said indifferently, "But you're overthinking it. Do you think such ants are worthy of dirtying my hands? I just want to retrieve my spoils. There's no need to make a fuss."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yao Wangui grabbed Xiao Yan's body with a sudden movement, and a ball of flame was forcibly pulled out.

The flame was an earthy yellow color, interwoven with pure wind and fire elements, giving it the appearance of a fiery tornado—the very source of the Wind Fury Dragon Flame. Xiao Yan, whose strange fire had been extracted, instantly weakened, clearly suffering a severe blow.

"The Wind Fury Dragon Flame is somewhat similar to the Nine Nether Wind Flame, quite good... This fire should belong to my clan!" Looking at the blazing flame in his hand, Yao Wangui showed a satisfied smile, and his voice also became more cheerful.

At the same time, a sharp whooshing sound rang out, and a figure pierced the sky like an arrow.

With a cold expression and a resolute look in his eyes, Yao Lao shouted and flew up at lightning speed, leaving a trail of afterimages in the air.

"Give me back my disciple!"

Seeing this, Yao Wangui casually tossed Xiao Yan over like trash.

Yao Lao paused, then quickly caught Xiao Yan, who was thrown at him, with a gentle force. His soul power surged from between his brows, and he swiftly examined the latter's injuries.

"Little Yanzi, how are you feeling?"

"Don't worry, your disciple is not dead." Yao Wangui flicked his finger, and a blood-red pill flew to Yao Lao's front. "I was just too lazy to wait for this kid to detach his strange fire on his own. This Grade 8, Six-Colored Blood Essence Rejuvenation Pill is enough to restore him to his original state."

Old Yao glared angrily, "I don't need your pretense!" He then crushed the Blood Essence Rejuvenation Pill and took out another pill from his storage ring for Xiao Yan to take.

As the medicine took effect, Xiao Yan's breathing quickly stabilized and began to improve.

"My master and I have remembered what happened today."

Old Yao glared hatefully at Yao Wangui, then lifted Xiao Yan up and, in a flash, headed towards the Four Directions Pavilion's base in Saint Pill City.

He needed a quiet place to carefully examine Xiao Yan's condition again.

Yao Wangui watched his retreating figure and smiled calmly. Although a one-star Dou Sheng had some strength, he was nothing compared to Yao Wangui, a four-star Dou Sheng.

After erasing Xiao Yan's soul imprint, he raised his hand, causing the primordial fire to fly to Yao Ziyou's front.

"Ziyou, put away your spoils!"

"Yes!" Looking at the strange fire he had painstakingly obtained, Yao Ziyou could not hide his joy, and his pale face became a little rosy. "I finally got it!" Then, under the watchful eyes of the others, he carefully put away the Wind Fury Dragon Flame.

Noticing the envious looks from the others, he felt quite proud—in this alchemy competition, everyone else in his clan had failed, but he alone had made a great achievement!
Once back in the clan, handing over the Wind Fury Dragon Flame will surely bring an extremely generous reward.

That reward should be enough to make up for the loss of cultivation and bloodline.

Besides, he could sense that because he had defeated Xiao Yan and saved some face for Elder Wan Gui, the latter had a higher opinion of him.

With the support of this elder of punishments, my development within the clan will surely be greatly benefited.

"Now that the meeting is over, let's go!"

Just as Yao Ziyou was feeling excited, Yao Wangui's voice rang in their ears, and he himself had already taken to the air, heading towards the Sky Medicine Clan's warship.

He had no interest in being watched by a bunch of ants when there was no champion to crown the Medicine Clan.

Seeing this, the ten heroes of the Medicine Clan exchanged glances and, having no intention of staying to receive the rewards from the Pill Gathering, they all flashed away and followed Yao Wangui.

For them, the rewards from Dan were really nothing.

After the group entered the warship, the horns blared loudly, and under the watchful eyes of countless people, the warship transformed back into heavy dark clouds, speeding towards the distant horizon with astonishing momentum.

On the high platform, Lin Yuan withdrew his gaze and looked towards the Canaan Academy seating area. He smiled gently at Qing Lin, who was staring at him, and then moved his lips.

"Qing'er, send a message to Ziyan: proceed according to plan."

A subtle whisper of the soul rang precisely in Qinglin's ears.

Upon hearing Lin Yuan's instructions, Qing Lin did not hesitate for a moment and immediately focused her mind on the illusion space. "Zi Yan, the Medicine Clan has left. I'll leave the rest to you... Keep an eye on them, especially the Medicine Spirits and those who possess strange flames."

Upon hearing this, Zi Yan patted her chest and said, "Don't worry, leave it to me!" In the next instant, her consciousness withdrew from this illusionary space.

Meanwhile, outside the arena, with the main players leaving, the Dan tournament is finally drawing to a close.

Although the Medicine Clan collectively chose to forgo the prizes from the Pill Gathering, the Pill Tower did not choose to save them. Instead, it selected ten people to fill the top twenty spots and distributed all the prizes from the Pill Gathering.

This fact excited many of the participants – they never expected that things would take such a turn for the better, and they would actually have a chance to win a prize.

This commotion continued for a while!
After all the awards were presented, Elder Lin, as the host, solemnly made the final announcement: "I hereby declare the Pill Gathering concluded! You may collect the materials for the Dou Qi Continent Foundation Strengthening Project in the city."

Then, he and Lin Yuan exchanged a glance, their bodies trembled, and under the lingering gazes of the crowd, they disappeared directly from the high platform.

With the disappearance of the two, this unprecedented alchemy conference has finally come to a complete end!
But the far-reaching impact of this alchemy gathering has only just begun...
-
The Eastern Region, the Ancient Holy City.

In the center of this premier city in the Eastern Region lies a vast manor, with numerous elegant pavilions standing tall and many powerful figures guarding its perimeter.

In the central pavilion, a beautiful woman in a green dress sat cross-legged on an embroidered bed with her eyes closed.

An ancient token engraved with the words "Xuanji" floated lightly not far in front of her, and a strange fluctuation emanated from the token.

In a fleeting moment, Gu Xun'er's eyelids twitched slightly, and she slowly opened her ethereal eyes.

Recalling the scene she witnessed in the illusion space, the ethereal quality in Gu Xun'er's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a chilling coldness and murderous intent. "Yao Ziyou, Yao Wangui, I've remembered your sins! Just wait, one day..."

Having known each other for so many years, this was the first time she had ever seen Xiao Yan humiliated and severely injured to such an extent. Those two from the Medicine Clan were already courting death!
(End of this chapter)