Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 607 - No Escape

A burnt odor permeated the Heavenly Pill Pavilion, causing many to cover their noses. Only a failed pill would emit such an unpleasant smell.

The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion faced the looming threat of a new crisis if the Demon Purging Pill were successfully refined. Many among the crowd sighed inwardly, lamenting how the Azure Crimson Gate had appeared just as the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion seemed to be recovering from their previous troubles.

Elder He slowly loosened his fists, and the murderous intent gradually faded from his face.

Li Hongda shivered and felt that something wasn’t right. He had come today with a firm belief in a victory since what had happened in Serene Sea City. If he lost again, the sect master wouldn’t show him any more mercy, and he wouldn’t have the cheek to return to the sect.

The sect had taken the risk of sending Yan Shan over to strike the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion down in one swoop. Wan Xingwen’s group of three were nearby, and their faces turned pale.

The Demon Purging Pill was the simplest of the four, but Yan Shan failed to refine it. Wouldn’t that mean that it would be even tougher for him to refine the other three pills?

“Grandmaster Yan, that was an impressive feat to refine foul pills. I believe this should be the innovation of your Azure Crimson Gate, right?” Liu Wuxie asked with a mocking smile.

Yan Shan’s face flushed, stung by Liu Wuxie’s taunts. He wasn’t a person with many words and had been focused on alchemy back in Azure Crimson Gate. This was why he didn’t expect to be humiliated here.

Liu Wuxie’s comment sparked an outburst of laughter from the surroundings, entertained by his words. Then again, there was no need for Liu Wuxie to be polite with them since they were enemies. He wouldn’t let this opportunity slip by and didn’t mind kicking them while they were down.

“Liu Wuxie, stop spouting nonsense! It’s normal to fail in alchemy!” Li Hongda roared, preventing the situation from escalating by cutting off Liu Wuxie.

“Since our Elder Li here insists, I’ll give you another chance to refine it again,” Liu Wuxie said, his murderous intent growing stronger.

Today was the opening of the Heavenly Pill Pavilion, and he didn’t mind using their lives as sacrifices to the heavens.

Many in the crowd were baffled why Liu Wuxie would give them another chance when this was such a perfect opportunity to strike a blow to the Azure Crimson Gate.

Even Elder He didn’t interfere, and they were in no position to speak.

Upon hearing Liu Wuxie’s words, a glimmer of hope rose on Li Hongda’s face again. He walked over to Yan Shan and communicated. “Elder Yan, what’s going on here? Why did the cauldron explode? Is there something wrong with the formula?”

Li Hongda communicated through his divine sense, ensuring that only the two could hear.

“There’s no issue with the formula, and the issue lies in the refinement technique. It’s nearly impossible to refine such a pill in the Southern Province,” Yan Shan replied. He was truly worthy of being a nine-star alchemist to pinpoint the problem quickly.

The issue wasn’t in the formula but in the refinement technique.

“What should we do now? None of us can leave this place alive if we fail again,” Li Hongda asked with anxiety on his face. He had accused Liu Wuxie of stealing their formulas, and they would be exposed as frauds if they couldn’t refine the pills.

Failure wasn’t an option, and they had to succeed. It would be convincing even if they could refine just one of the four pills.

Yan Shan felt the same dread; another failure would doom them both.

“Let me give it one last try,” Yan Shan said as he steeled himself to refine the Soul Condensing Pill, an even higher challenge than the Demon Purging Pill.

He had already failed the Demon Purging Pill once, and they wouldn’t be able to explain themselves if he failed again. But if he failed to refine the Soul Condensing Pill, they could still have room for argument.

Yan Shan tossed the ingredients into the cauldron once more. Despite the earlier explosion, the cauldron remained intact—an indication of its extraordinary quality. This was no ordinary vessel; it had been tempered with a heavenly flame for eighty-one days and polished with Earthen Gold Sand, making it resilient enough to withstand the explosions of even ordinary pills.

The Soul Condensing Pill required hundreds of ingredients. The ingredients were meticulously arranged in the surroundings, and Yan Shan was cautious in his refinement this time. He first sorted through the ingredients before closing his eyes to analyze the refining method for the Soul Condensing Pill.

“Hurry up and start already! Since you claim the pills to originate from the Azure Crimson Gate, it should be a breeze for you to refine it!” urged a disciple of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion with more chiming in, demanding them not to waste any more time.

After five minutes of careful thought, Yan Shan finally opened his eyes and ignited his Scarlet-Blue Flame. He was more careful this time, ensuring each step reached perfection.

Even Liu Wuxie couldn’t help but feel a sliver of admiration for Yan Shan. For most pills, Yan Shan’s skill and expertise would have been more than sufficient. However, the four pills introduced today were in a league of their own—no one in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, or perhaps even the Azure Crimson Gate, could refine them successfully.

Fifteen minutes passed, and the Soul Condensing Pill had reached the merging phase. At this stage, the ingredients began to combine, and with proper tempering, the pill would soon form. Yan Shan’s mastery as a nine-star alchemist was evident in his flawless technique during this crucial step.

“What a rich fragrance! Just inhaling it feels rejuvenating!” The Soul Condensing Pill’s primary function was to treat the soul sea, and everyone felt comfortable taking a whiff of it.

Nearly an hour had passed, and Yan Shan finally reached the pill-forming phase.

Just as the pill was about to complete, another explosion occurred in the cauldron. This time, the entire cauldron flew into the air, nearly sending the roof flying away.

In the critical moment, Yan Shan leaped into the sky to stabilize the cauldron before crashing onto the ground: a charred smell permeated the hall once more, overwhelming everyone’s senses.

“Another failure!” Yan Shan looked weary with a hint of defeat. He had never failed to refine a pill in all his years as an alchemist. Failing not once but twice in a single day was an unprecedented blow to his pride and reputation.

Li Hongda’s face looked visibly distressed. He hadn’t expected Yan Shan to fail twice in a row, and a bad feeling loomed over him.

Even Wan Xingwen’s group of three looked nervous in the distance.

“Elder Li, what do you have to say for yourself now? You claim the pills originate from the Azure Crimson Gate, but why can’t you refine them?” Liu Wuxie taunted. His tone was sharper than before, and each word was filled with confidence.

“Elder Yan only failed because he’s exhausted,” Li Hongda argued, his voice lacking conviction. “We’ve just arrived, and he hasn’t had time to rest. That’s why he failed,” Li Hongda tried to argue, but his excuse was unconvincing, and no one in the room believed in him.

Many people already had an answer that these pills had nothing to do with the Azure Crimson Gate.

The Heavenly Pill Pavilion’s establishment had threatened the Azure Crimson Gate’s foundation, and they were here to cause trouble. No one was stupid, and they naturally figured out the Azure Crimson Gate’s scheme.

“Your Azure Crimson Gate barged in with no reason to cause trouble. Since you can’t refine them, don’t blame us for being ruthless,” Liu Wuxie roared as Elder He and the other elder lunged at Li Hongda and Yan Shan.

Everyone in the surroundings quickly scattered out, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire.

“Liu Wuxie, what nonsense are you spouting? Just because we failed, it doesn’t mean that the pills didn’t originate from the Azure Crimson Gate. You can’t prove they belong to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion unless you can refine one yourself!” Li Hongda yelled as he stepped back, clearly out of options.

All the schemes the Azure Crimson Gate had crafted crumbled to nothing before Liu Wuxie.

“Fine. I’ll ensure you’re fully convinced of your loss,” Liu Wuxie said calmly, his words carrying an undeniable confidence.

Hearing this, Elder He halted his charge, understanding that killing the Azure Crimson Gate members now wouldn’t dispel the crowd’s lingering doubts.

Liu Wuxie leaped down from the stage and landed not far away from Yan Shan.

“Let me borrow your cauldron!” Liu Wuxie said. He wanted to use Yan Shan’s cauldron to make it convincing to everyone. This was to ensure that they wouldn’t try to argue that there was an issue with the cauldron if they lost.

Demonic flame surged from Liu Wuxie’s finger and enveloped the cauldron. The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion echoed with a low rumble as the black flame enveloped the cauldron.

But strangely enough, the demonic flames didn’t have any demonic aura. The purity was also high and much stronger than the Scarlet-Blue Flame.

“What kind of flame is that? It looks terrifying!” the surroundings exclaimed because they had never seen such a bizarre flame before.

“This Liu Wuxie isn’t simple—to be capable of subduing such a flame,” the crowd murmured, awe and confusion evident in their voices. They marveled at the mysterious flame, unable to identify its origins or nature.

Even Liu Wuxie couldn't fully explain it himself. Though it resembled a demonic flame, its power was comparable to the True Samadhi Fire.

Terrifying black flames enveloped the cauldron, and Liu Wuxie took out a handful of ingredients from his interspatial ring. He was refining the Demonic Purging Pill, and he used the same ingredients as Yan Shan, including their age.

A rich fragrance began to permeate the air in mere moments, and this refining speed was unbelievable.

“What refinement speed!” The Soul Condensing Pill was an eighth-grade pill, and Liu Wuxie didn’t want to shock everyone. He was only in the eighth level of the Heavenly Phase Realm, and it was heaven-defying that he could refine a seventh-grade pill.

The pill had already reached the forming phase in less than a minute.

Yan Shan’s heart began to tremble as he watched because he had failed on this step twice. The pills had exploded when they were about to form, but there was no sign of an explosion even after he waited for a few minutes.

“Look at Liu Wuxie’s technique! It’s different from ours, but I can’t quite put it into words,” whispered one of the nearby alchemists. The problem should lie in the refinement method.

The formulas and ingredients were genuine because Liu Wuxie had used ingredients identical to those of Yan Shan. Or rather, Yan Shan had mimicked the formula listed on the walls.

“Done!” Rich fragrance permeated the air as three Demon Purging Pills fell into Liu Wuxie’s hand. The quality of the pills was much higher than the ones given out, and there were even pill runes on them.

Li Hongda staggered because he knew their cause was lost.

Seeing how Liu Wuxie refined the Demon Purging Pills effortlessly, this was enough to conclude that the formulas belonged to Liu Wuxie.

Yan Shan sighed, feeling the weight of his life’s work crumble in his hands. His downfall reminded the fate of Grandmaster Hai, who had suffered a similar fate at Liu Wuxie’s hands.

Yan Shan wasn’t afraid of losing, but losing in the field he excelled at was humiliating.

“Those who are unrelated to this matter leave at once!” Elder He declared as he was prepared to start a massacre, looking at the five from the Azure Crimson Gate coldly.

In a matter of moments, thousands of people fled the Heavenly Pill Pavilion, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire.

The Heavenly Pill Pavilion became empty with only a handful remaining—they were all in the pinnacle of the Astral River Realm, and there were even cultivators in the Nascent Transformation Realm among them.

They weren’t afraid of battles and wanted to learn from a rare exchange between experts in the Nascent Transformation Realm.

“Activate the defensive barrier!” Elder He ordered, his voice echoing throughout the hall.

A layer of invisible barrier rose from the ground and enveloped Heavenly Pill Pavilion, protecting the shop and preventing the Azure Crimson Gate’s group from escaping.

The barrier was a large-scale spiritual array that trapped the five within.

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