Chapter 00303: Striving for First Place is Difficult
# Striving for First Place is Difficult
Chapter 303
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 303: Striving for First Place is Difficult
The rewards for first place in the Mo Xuan Alchemy Competition, as Mu Zifeng had described, were undoubtedly rich.
However, Lan Xiaobu was determined to secure the top spot.
While it was unlikely that the rewards would truly be given to the winner, one thing was certain: the prizes would be publicly awarded to the winner at the end of the competition.
This was a form of "fake giving," meaning he would receive the rewards.
As for what happened to the rewards afterward, the audience wouldn't care.
At most, they might hear that the unfortunate winner had met with some mishap and sigh in passing.
Since he intended to claim first place, ordinary methods wouldn't suffice.
Lan Xiaobu first considered the possibility that the competition's top spot was prearranged.
If that were the case, the rewards would be given to the winner and then taken back.
If his assumption was correct, the prearranged winner would already know the pill formula and be capable of refining twelve top-grade fourth-grade immortal pills.
Even if Lan Xiaobu also refined twelve top-grade fourth-grade pills, he might not secure first place because his pill formula might not match the original fourth-grade pill.
Therefore, he needed to refine a pill that surpassed the fourth grade to have a chance at winning.
Moreover, even if he refined a fifth-grade pill, it had to be of top quality, leaving no room for excuses.
Additionally, the fifth-grade pill formula he devised had to be more valuable than the original fourth-grade pill.
With his goal clear, Lan Xiaobu began inspecting the immortal herbs before him.
He focused on the fifth-grade herbs, of which there were only fourteen.
Combined with the eighty to ninety fourth- and third-grade herbs, this was enough to formulate a fifth-grade pill recipe.
To refine a fifth-grade pill, he needed to carefully examine these fourteen fifth-grade herbs.
Lan Xiaobu went through them one by one, hoping he wouldn't encounter any unfamiliar herbs.
His alchemy skills were decent, but his knowledge of immortal herbs came from jade slips sold in various alchemy halls and notes left by previous alchemists.
These materials, though they cost him nearly a hundred million high-grade immortal crystals, were still considered common knowledge.
While such knowledge was foundational for any alchemist, those aiming to reach higher levels needed to go beyond the ordinary.
Lan Xiaobu didn't believe he could personally catalog all the immortal herbs in the vast universe.
There were countless unknown herbs out there, and only by learning more about them could one surpass the average alchemist.
This was why he was so interested in the pharmacopeia Mu Zifeng had mentioned.
To his relief, he recognized most of the herbs.
It seemed the Mo Xuan Alchemy Competition hadn't gone out of its way to use obscure herbs to trip up the participants.
The first fifth-grade herb was the Moon Snow Flower, which reduced or even eliminated pill toxicity.
It was likely the most valuable herb among those provided.
However, without proper integration into a pill, less than one ten-thousandth of its medicinal properties could be absorbed.
Seeing this herb, Lan Xiaobu had an idea.
If he could refine a fifth-grade pill that eliminated pill toxicity, its value would be immeasurable.
All cultivators, regardless of talent, relied on pills for assistance.
However, all pills carried some degree of toxicity.
Many cultivators found their progress stalled later in life due to accumulated pill toxicity, which became impossible to reconcile.
Yet, the herbs capable of eliminating pill toxicity were rare treasures, prohibitively expensive even for top-tier factions.
The Moon Snow Flower, however, had a significant drawback: its medicinal properties dissipated at high temperatures, making it impossible to integrate into a pill.
Lan Xiaobu sighed.
If it were possible to integrate the Moon Snow Flower into a pill, someone would have done it by now.
He only had five days, after all.
The second herb, Purple Rain Golden Phoenix, had a beautiful name but was essentially useless, only adding a purple-gold hue to the pill.
The third herb, Twin Kun Night Orchid, had properties that directly conflicted with the Moon Snow Flower.
Even if the Moon Snow Flower could be integrated, the Twin Kun Night Orchid couldn't serve as a supporting herb.
The fourth herb, Renhui Bamboo... the fifth, Deep Rock Ginseng... the sixth, the seventh...
By the time Lan Xiaobu reached the thirteenth herb, he was increasingly disappointed.
Some of these herbs were useless, while others had minor benefits, but all clashed with the Moon Snow Flower's properties.
This wasn't surprising, as alchemy required compatible attributes.
The Moon Snow Flower was water-attribute, while most of the other herbs were fire- or metal-attribute.
It was clear that the competition organizers knew the Moon Snow Flower was the most valuable herb.
Even though it couldn't be integrated into a pill, they included it along with a dozen other fifth-grade herbs that were incompatible with it.
These herbs not only clashed with the Moon Snow Flower but also with each other.
Perhaps the organizers were worried about someone like Lan Xiaobu and had prepared accordingly.
Lan Xiaobu frowned.
If he couldn't refine a fifth-grade pill, his chances of winning with a fourth-grade pill were slim.
This challenge didn't highlight the advantages of being a Pill King, so his status as a Pill King wouldn't give him an edge.
Shaking his head, Lan Xiaobu turned his attention to the final herb: the Rootless True Glazed Fruit.
This was a peculiar herb.
It grew like a bamboo stalk, with a single Rootless True Glazed Fruit at the top.
The stalk had no roots, yet it stood upright due to a faint spatial aura surrounding it, which ensured its stability.
The stalk of the Rootless True Glazed Fruit was more valuable than the fruit itself, as it was a material used in artifact refining.
The spatial aura it emitted made it a unique resource.
Holding the Rootless True Glazed Fruit, Lan Xiaobu was struck by a thought.
The saying went, "A tree cannot grow without roots, and a person cannot stand without ambition."
Yet, the Rootless True Glazed Fruit grew without roots.
It didn't need roots because it was supported by spatial rules.
Similarly, the Moon Snow Flower couldn't be integrated into a pill not because of its properties, but because it couldn't withstand high temperatures.
Any attempt to refine it would cause its medicinal properties to dissipate.
This was similar to the Rootless True Glazed Fruit's lack of roots—both were unique in their own ways.
If the Rootless True Glazed Fruit could grow without roots, why couldn't he find a way to integrate the Moon Snow Flower into a pill? Throughout history, many herbs that were once thought impossible to integrate had been successfully incorporated by alchemists, who then became legends in their field.
If he followed conventional thinking, how was he any different from ordinary alchemists? How could he claim first place?
If he could prevent the Moon Snow Flower's properties from dissipating at high temperatures and instead retain them within the pill, perhaps he could solve the integration problem.
Others might not be able to do it, but he could—he had touched upon spatial laws.
However, this would mean revealing his understanding of spatial laws, which was dangerous.
Lan Xiaobu sighed.
Even if he were willing to expose his knowledge of spatial laws, he still couldn't refine such a pill.
The Rootless True Glazed Fruit could grow without roots, but he wasn't as capable.
He turned his attention to the fourth-grade herbs, scanning them one by one.
When his eyes fell on the Mystic Mist True Silk, he nearly cursed.
The competition organizers were truly devious to include this herb.
As a fourth-grade herb, Mystic Mist True Silk was common and practically worthless.
Adding it to a pill only made the refining process more difficult.
If there was any advantage to using Mystic Mist True Silk, it was that it added a certain elegance to the pill and made it taste fresher.
But what kind of alchemist would bother adding such a herb to their pill?
As a seventh-grade Pill King, Lan Xiaobu couldn't use these herbs to formulate a highly valuable fifth-grade pill.
He decided to let the Cosmic Dimension Matrix analyze the herbs' properties while he continued to ponder.
If he couldn't secure first place, any other ranking would be meaningless to him.
He was after the rewards, not just a chance to enter the Chaos Secret Realm.
...
In the competition area, all the participating alchemists were racking their brains, trying to devise the perfect pill formula.
Outside, the large square was still crowded with people waiting for the results.
Over a thousand alchemists had entered the competition, and even those who didn't win were skilled enough to be worth befriending.
In a corner of the square sat three individuals.
The one in the middle had a pale complexion, as if asleep.
Beside him were two others—one with dark skin and average build, and the other pale and thin.
"Qianshan, if Lan Xiaobu is so young, how did he reach the Great Yi Immortal realm and become a fourth-grade Pill King?" asked the pale man in the middle.
Clearly, these three were from the Zhi family, and their sole purpose here was to wait for Lan Xiaobu.
Once the competition ended, they would take him away.
(End of Chapter)