Chapter 00292: The Alchemy Competition Begins
# The Alchemy Competition Begins
Chapter 292
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 292: The Alchemy Competition Begins
The immortal ship heading from the Star Ascension Immortal Court to the Mo Xuan Path Immortal City was enormous.
Standing beneath it, Lan Xiaobu felt that even if an aircraft carrier were placed inside, it would take a while to find.
This was no longer just an immortal ship; it was a moving immortal city.
According to Teng Mo, the ship was divided into five levels.
The bottom level was for casual cultivators and merchants hitching a ride.
The second level was clearly designated for participating disciples and their sects.
The third level housed the royal family of the Immortal Court and the leaders of major sects.
The fourth level was filled with various commercial buildings, high-end inns, and auction houses.
The fifth level was reserved for the Immortal Court King.
Anyone with enough immortal crystals could enjoy themselves on the fourth level.
However, unless you had sufficient immortal crystals to stay there long-term, you couldn’t linger for too long.
Previously, Teng Mo had mentioned that the Mo Xuan Immortal Domain Alchemy Competition would begin in a year and a half.
Lan Xiaobu had thought that the competition would start after a year and a half, but now he realized that Teng Mo meant they would depart in a year and a half.
Although Teng Mo wasn’t favored by the Immortal Court King, he was still a prince, so Lan Xiaobu could stay with him on the third level of the ship.
Lan Xiaobu didn’t see the Immortal Court King, but he did see the most beautiful woman in the Star Ascension Immortal Court.
Her name was Teng Man’er, as told to him by Fu Xun.
He couldn’t understand why she had invited him before, but regardless, Lan Xiaobu didn’t want to see her again.
As soon as he saw Teng Man’er, Lan Xiaobu retreated to his room and told Teng Mo not to disturb him unless necessary.
He had heard that the journey from the Star Ascension Immortal Court to the Mo Xuan Path Immortal City would take nearly a year.
Lan Xiaobu regretted that he couldn’t undergo a tribulation on the ship.
Otherwise, he could have used this time to advance to the Great Perfected Immortal Realm.
However, it didn’t matter much; he could still improve his array skills.
The items he had obtained from the Jiting Chamber of Commerce all required him to remove their divine sense imprints.
Just removing these imprints would be enough to elevate his array skills to the level of an Eighth-Grade Immortal Array Master.
As soon as Lan Xiaobu set up the restrictions in his room, Teng Mo barged in, looking furious.
“Brother Teng, what’s got you so upset?” Lan Xiaobu asked, puzzled.
The ship hadn’t even departed yet.
Teng Mo sat down and sighed. “The first round of the Mo Xuan Immortal Domain Alchemy Competition has started, but we’re definitely not going to advance. If we can’t pass the first round, there’s no point in talking about the later rounds.”
“What do you mean?” Lan Xiaobu asked, confused.
Teng Mo explained, “The first round of the competition was just announced. The location isn’t in the Path Immortal City but starts as soon as we board the ship. The task is to purify a Seventh-Grade Immortal Spirit Herb, the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit, with a purity of at least sixty percent to pass…”
Hearing this, Lan Xiaobu was stunned. “Brother Teng, if it’s about purifying the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit, how many alchemists in the entire Star Ascension Immortal Court can even participate?”
Lan Xiaobu knew all too well what the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit was.
It was the main ingredient for refining the Seventh-Grade Immortal Pill, the Tribulation Intent Pill, which helped Immortal Kings overcome their tribulations by mitigating heavenly thunder.
Its value was immense.
The problem wasn’t the fruit itself but the difficulty in purifying it.
The Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit was one of the hardest Seventh-Grade Immortal Fruits to refine.
Whether it was the only one was unclear, but so far, no Seventh-Grade Immortal Fruit in the immortal world was harder to purify.
For a Sixth-Grade Great Immortal Alchemist, achieving a sixty percent purity was already a significant challenge.
Even reaching that level would take six months to a year, with no room for error.
Switching alchemists midway would ruin the fruit.
Some immortal pills took years to refine, and for good reason.
Considering how many Sixth-Grade Great Immortal Alchemists there were in the Star Ascension Immortal Court, Lan Xiaobu’s statement about not finding many participants was accurate.
Of course, this didn’t include him.
If he used his Primal Eternal Flame, he was confident he could purify the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit to nearly ninety percent purity in just a day.
Teng Mo sighed, “I thought I had misunderstood earlier when I said the competition would start in a year and a half. I thought we would depart in a year and a half. Now I realize that the competition starts as soon as we board the ship. Everyone brought a Great Immortal Alchemist with them. If a Great Immortal Alchemist can purify the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit to sixty percent, they can advance one alchemist to the second round…”
Lan Xiaobu understood and asked in surprise, “Brother Teng, are you saying that the purification of the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit doesn’t require the participating alchemist? Any alchemist, even a million-year-old monster, can participate in the purification? And if they succeed, they can use that result to let another alchemist compete?”
Teng Mo nodded. “Yes, those major alchemy sects participating in the competition all have Sixth-Grade Great Immortal Alchemists, some even have more than one. As long as they purify one Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit, they can let one of their disciples compete. One purified fruit allows one disciple to compete. My brothers all brought Fifth or Sixth-Grade Great Immortal Alchemists with them, some even have Immortal Alchemy Kings. Only we…”
Teng Mo couldn’t finish his sentence.
Only they were foolish enough to bring just Lan Xiaobu, an alchemist, and two Immortal King bodyguards.
“I heard Teng Man’er is close to becoming an Immortal Alchemy King?” Lan Xiaobu asked.
Teng Mo said gloomily, “Teng Man’er and I have never gotten along. Besides, she’s participating herself, so even if she purifies the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit, she won’t give the spot to me. Now it’s too late to find a Sixth-Grade Great Immortal Alchemist, and we can’t find one anyway.”
Lan Xiaobu patted Teng Mo’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, leave this to me. Just help me get a Fifth-Grade or higher immortal flame, and I guarantee I can purify the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit.”
“You can purify the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit?” Teng Mo stared at Lan Xiaobu in disbelief.
Lan Xiaobu laughed. “Of course. Did you think I was just here for a stroll? I came for that top-grade fire-attribute immortal spirit vein.” Lan Xiaobu’s latter comment was ignored by Teng Mo.
However, Lan Xiaobu’s claim that he could purify the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit filled Teng Mo with hope.
Whether it was true or not, Teng Mo wouldn’t miss this opportunity.
Without needing a second word from Lan Xiaobu, he hurried out.
He had to get a Fifth-Grade Immortal Flame for Lan Xiaobu, or else he had no hope at all.
In truth, Lan Xiaobu’s Primal Eternal Flame could already purify the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit.
However, Lan Xiaobu didn’t dare to use it.
With his current strength, using the Primal Eternal Flame would leave traces of its aura in the purified liquid, revealing that he possessed a top-tier flame.
Teng Mo didn’t keep Lan Xiaobu waiting long.
Just a day later, he returned with an Immortal Flame.
It was indeed a Fifth-Grade Immortal Flame, slightly higher in grade than Xiao Yueshui’s.
“Brother Xiaobu, it’s all up to you now,” Teng Mo said sincerely as he handed over two Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruits and the Fifth-Grade Immortal Flame.
He had initially lost hope, but when he learned that Lan Xiaobu was a Great Immortal Alchemist, a glimmer of hope had returned.
Now, this first-round task threatened to shatter that hope once more.
Nothing was more cruel than having hope only to have it crushed.
Although he suspected Lan Xiaobu was at most a Fourth-Grade Great Immortal Alchemist, he had no other choice.
In reality, a Fourth-Grade Great Immortal Alchemist under a hundred thousand years old was already rare.
Unfortunately, plans often changed.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” Lan Xiaobu assured him.
Purifying the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit wasn’t urgent.
For Lan Xiaobu, even without using his Primal Eternal Flame, purifying a Seventh-Grade Immortal Fruit would take at most a few days.
As long as it was purified within a year, it would count.
Lan Xiaobu used void array patterns to create a barrier against divine sense detection.
Inside the void array, he set up a Seventh-Grade Immortal Array to further isolate the area before entering the Cosmic Dimension Matrix.
Anyone whose divine sense touched his void array would immediately alert him, and he would emerge.
His void immortal array was close to a Fourth-Grade Immortal Array.
Unless someone was familiar with void arrays, even a Ninth-Grade Immortal Array Emperor’s divine sense wouldn’t escape Lan Xiaobu’s notice.
Inside the Cosmic Dimension Matrix, Lan Xiaobu began removing the divine sense imprints from the treasures he had obtained from the Jiting Chamber of Commerce.
Half a year passed in a flash.
Apart from leaving one top-grade immortal crystal, Lan Xiaobu successfully removed the divine sense imprints from the remaining ten top-grade immortal crystals, void immortal marrow, fire origin crystal, and a flame seed.
After half a year of continuously removing various imprints, Lan Xiaobu successfully advanced to the Eighth-Grade Immortal Array Master level.
Upon reaching the Eighth-Grade Immortal Array Master level, Lan Xiaobu left the Cosmic Dimension Matrix.
He put away the Seventh-Grade Immortal Array and replaced it with a Fourth-Grade defensive immortal array.
He kept the void array patterns that prevented divine sense detection, as he was about to start purifying the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit.
Since the Fifth-Grade Immortal Flame wasn’t his, Lan Xiaobu didn’t bother refining it.
Refining it would improve its effectiveness, but since it wasn’t his, there was no need to waste time on it.
With the Fifth-Grade Immortal Flame’s divine sense control open, he could use it without refining it.
Lan Xiaobu took out a top-grade immortal artifact cauldron.
After cleaning it with the Immortal Flame, he placed the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit inside.
Even if he failed to purify the first Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit, he had a backup.
With Lan Xiaobu’s alchemy skills, the Fifth-Grade Immortal Flame, and his continuous alchemy techniques, the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit quickly began to decompose in the cauldron.
His liquid-nurturing alchemy technique locked in all the medicinal properties of the fruit.
While others might take a month or two to melt the Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit, Lan Xiaobu’s techniques caused it to decompose in just a day or two.
Despite deliberately slowing down, by the third day, Lan Xiaobu had completed the purification.
Based on his experience, the purity of this Tribulation Gang Immortal Fruit was at least eighty-five percent.
(That’s all for today’s update.
Goodnight, friends!)
(End of Chapter)