Chapter 1114: A God-like Level of Skill
The incense stick had already been reduced by half.
Chu Yang was still motionless, standing as he had been, his eyes staring at the herbs before him. He looked as if he was at a loss of what to do next, as if he was considering his move, as if he...
In any case, just motionless!
The Young Valley Master looked at Chu Yang with a frown.
Chu Yang had provided so many herbs to the Medicine Valley in the end and helped to make up for the Young Valley Master's blunder, so he truly held a very favorable impression of Chu Yang. Seeing Chu Yang as still as a statue right now, he couldn't help but get anxious on his behalf.
"What are you doing?" the Young Valley Master muttered, "Do you want to be kicked out of here?"
The high priest and the second priest were also familiar with this guy who seemed to have an endless supply of legendary herbs in his possession, and so they were filled with bewilderment right now as well.
"What's wrong with that fellow?"
"I don't know."
"Could he have never done this before?"
"Possibly."
"Time is running out..."
"Sigh... Maybe he got scared silly. It's his first time encountering this after all, it's not outside of reason."
The two couldn't help but feel like it was such a shame. Seeing the incense stick down to half, they let out a sigh.
Even if Chu Yang started to act now, unfortunately, he would probably not make it in time at all. Even the two of them would definitely not be able to complete such a task within this amount of time left.
What a shame.
Bam!
In the middle, cracks spread throughout the medicine stove of a pharmacist and exploded.
That pharmacist then sighed dejectedly. He stared at what had become a pile of charred herbs in front of him before silently retreating from the hall.
It was as if this explosion had activated a mysterious curse; an endless stream of explosions filled the hall at once.
Pharmacists retreated from the hall one by one.
The hall immediately felt a little empty...
"It's going to burn down beyond half soon..." The high priest cast a regretful glance at Chu Yang. "He's probably done for. Let's take a look at the rest instead."
The second priest agreed to his suggestion. Just as he was about to turn away, he suddenly let out a soft cry, his eyes widening, "He moved! He moved! To think he started to move only now! My god..."
If Chu Yang had merely started to move, the second priest would not have been this startled. The problem was — at this point where the high priest and the second priest would not be able to finish this task even if they were to join hands, Chu Yang had suddenly made his move!
How could this not befuddle anyone!
Was he intending to make one last desperate struggle?
The high priest said with disinterest, "He's still going to lose even if he moves now..."
He subconsciously turned to take a look and instantly took a sharp intake of breath, leaving him dazed! His wrinkled face went slack and his snowy white beard blew in all directions with his sharp exhalation, words that the second priest had never heard him utter in the several hundred years he knew him coming out of his mouth, "What the actual f*ck! So fast!"
But in this instant, the second priest could not care less about being shocked by the high priest's swearing.
His gaze was fixated on Chu Yang's actions.
Only to see Chu Yang, who was unremarkable if still, but extraordinary the moment he moved!
With a flourish of his hand, 30 types of medicinal herbs were neatly categorized into two with a whoosh. His actions were incomparably nimble, and the medicinal properties of the herbs incomparably conflicting as well!
They were all herbs which conflicted with each other most intensely.
Then, with a strike of his right palm on the cauldron, a trail of blue flames splattered outside of the bottom of the medicine stove at once!
His left hand then naturally picked up two types of medicinal herbs and tossed them into the medicine stove.
"He actually didn't bother to extract the essence..." the second priest groaned.
"Wrong! When his herbs were flung into the medicine stove, the dregs had already flown out by themselves!" The high priest's eyes were sharper.
"To think he possessed such a god-like level of skill..." the second priest murmured, "In this case, he would have saved all the time needed to extract the essence, wouldn't he..."
"Exactly. We'll have to see whether he can create a miracle now, refining all the elixirs in this obviously insufficient amount of time left." the high priest said, musing.
At this moment, Chu Yang, who stood before the medicine stove, struck the medicine stove with his palm again and flames rose dramatically once more. The flames had already turned white-hot now...
"This... This would totally destroy the herbs..." the Young Valley Master was obviously watching Chu Yang too, muttering under his breath to himself.
However, he barely finished what he was saying, before he saw two elixirs whirling and flying out with a strike of the medicine stove by Chu Yang, landing straight onto the tray where the herbs were originally placed.
His hand flipped yet again and another two herbs flew into the medicine stove, the dregs automatically filtered out of the herbs at the point of entering the medicine stove!
Flames rose once more!
"He... He actually refined two elixirs in one go..." The second priest felt like he was dreaming. "When I took part in the Medicine Banquet so many years ago, even I only produced one elixir from every two conflicting herbs during this round..."
"Me too..." The high priest stared at Chu Yang, his eyes wide and fixated.
"So formidable!" the second priest murmured.
"Formidable indeed!" the high priest stroked his white beard, muttering as well.
Practically within seconds, the flames beneath Chu Yang's medicine stove had already changed a few colors, as if like the rainbow. Another strike of his palm on the medicine stove and two elixirs were ejected, landing onto the tray once more.
At the same time the elixirs were ejected, another two legendary herbs went into the medicine stove.
A pair coming out and a pair going in, the transition was seamless...
"Another two elixirs..."
"Another two elixirs..."
"Another two elixirs..."
Twenty elixirs had already been produced continuously. There were only four pairs of herbs left beside Chu Yang's hand.
"This is a god-like level of skill indeed, but... the amount of time he wasted in the beginning was simply too long. At his current speed, he would only be able to refine another two pairs at best; he won't be able to refine the rest. According to the rules of the Medicine Banquet, he would still lose... What a shame, what a shame."
The high priest glanced toward the incense stick, which was almost down to its end, and sighed long and deep. "Such a talent, but so careless... Sigh! What more can I say?"
The second priest also let out a dejected sigh. "It's to the extent that I wish I could just change the rules for him..."
The high priest sighed again. "The rules cannot be changed... but this bastard is truly a shame..."
The seven remaining pharmacists from the Nine Super Clans had already finished refining their elixirs by now. They rose to their feet, all panting breathlessly while sizing up the others. Another seven to eight candidates also stood up, perspiration drenching everyone's backs.
Such a short amount of time yet such a difficult mission, it was simply impossible to set aside any bit of concentration on other matters. Only now did they have the luxury to look at the fruit of the others' labor.
And then, they almost simultaneously cast their glance at Chu Yang.
Chu Yang was the most important enemy in this Medicine Banquet!
This one glance left everyone stunned — the tray in front of Chu Yang actually contained 20 elixirs!
Everyone took in a sharp intake of air.
The most everyone had was no more than 15 elixirs! This guy actually refined 20?
But as they continued looking, their hearts immediately settled.
This guy still had another four pairs of herbs to go, but the incense stick was almost down to its last bit! He still had to retrieve the elixirs currently being refined in the medicine stove before he could go on to the next...
Time was far from being enough!
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Damn it, so what if your technique is impressive? According to the rules, you will still lose!
The mission entrusted to them by their clans would also be completed in this second round at last.
"Boom!" The pharmacist from the North law-enforcement officer was just about to finish, but everyone's attention was on Chu Yang, so he also unwittingly followed suit and glanced at Chu Yang. And this one glance led to his tragedy.
The moment he saw Chu Yang's skillful movements and those 20 elixirs by his side, he got a huge shock. And then when he noticed the four pairs of herbs in front of Chu Yang, his mood was uplifted immediately!
A huge shock followed by a huge surprise led to his agitated emotions and he made an error in his control of the flames. The different medicinal properties contrasted strongly within his medicine stove and with the agitation of the flame, the medicine stove exploded with a resounding boom!
The last elixir and the medicine stove actually exploded... This pharmacist wanted to cry.
How? How could such a thing happen?
At this moment, this pharmacist practically wanted to kill himself...
But the next moment, he felt consoled — Chu Yang was a goner for sure anyway... With him accompanying Chu Yang when they both got eliminated, it wouldn't be embarrassing either.
This thought comforted him and his heart actually became at ease.
Under the intense watchful eye of everyone present, Chu Yang struck the medicine stove and another two gleaming elixirs flew out of the medicine stove into his palm.
The incense stick was left with only the last hint of its body.
Right about to burn down to the last bit!
This amount of time was only enough to refine one medicine stove's worth of elixirs! But Chu Yang still had another four medicine stove's worth of herbs left! At this point, even if an immortal were to descend, it would not be of any use either!
The high priest and the two others all let out a regretful sigh.
Such an amazing talent was ultimately not fated to be number one in the world!
The next moment, however, everyone's eyes bulged out of their sockets!
Only to see that at the same time the two gleaming elixirs landed within Chu Yang's palm, with a strike of his palm on the surface of the smooth counter, four pairs of herbs that had already been pre-arranged flew into the air.
And into the medicine stove at the same time, in the light of everyone's incredulous faces!
Chu Yang then struck the medicine stove and the flames grew dramatically, burning with great intensity!
It turned into a blue-white color, the intense flames emitting a loud hissing sound.
He was actually intending to refine four types of herbs with different medicinal properties that were all in conflict with each other simultaneously!
This... This was not a dream, right?
All the pharmacists, the Young Valley Master and the two well-respected high priests' jaws dropped. They rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
This... was simply unbelievable.
The few pharmacists from the Nine Super Clans snorted in derision.
Just trying to impress the audience with his tricks!
Intentionally throwing out such a fancy high-difficulty move when he already knew that he wasn't going to make it in time — was he trying to give himself a way to retreat gracefully? But, no matter how he tried, his loss would still be a loss!
And this was something no one could change!
The next moment.
Bang bang bang bang!
Chu Yang's right palm gave the medicine stove four quick strikes in succession!
The first strike — the flames turned red, blazing toward the heavens!
The second strike — the flames turned blue instantly, reflecting a sea of blue onto Chu Yang's face.
The third strike — the flames reverted to white after a stream of hissing.
The fourth strike — the flames turned the color of the inky night sky with a whoosh, burning gently, a stark contrast against the sharp intensity just before.
Chu Yang's palm gave it one last strike.
Instantly, the flames became like the rainbow, changing between colors continuously — red, yellow, orange, green, blue, indigo and violet... The colors switched from one to the other non-stop, like a merry-go-round. Within the span of just a few breaths, they had already changed several hundred times!
"Time's almost up!" The Young Valley Master let out a sigh and raised the hammer in his hand, ready to let it fall. The incense stick had already burned to its very end, leaving only the last speck of flame, about to go out the very next instant.
Bam!
Bam!
The sound of Chu Yang's palm striking the medicine stove and the Young Valley Master's hammer landing to indicate the end echoed at the same time! As if they had already reached a prior agreement to do so beforehand!
"Time's up!" The instant that the Young Valley Master bellowed this sentence.
Eight gleaming elixirs of different colors and emanating different fragrances flew out of the medicine stove into Chu Yang's palm!
Not one more, not one less!
Before the Young Valley Master's declaration had landed, Chu Yang was already done!