Chapter 00306: A Surprise Within a Surprise
# A Surprise Within a Surprise
Chapter 306
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 306: A Surprise Within a Surprise
"Teng Man'er, from the royal family of the Star Ascension Immortal Court, the eighth daughter of the Star Ascension Immortal King. She crafted a fourth-grade immortal pill, the Tianyun Pill, producing ten pills in total: one low-grade, seven mid-grade, and two high-grade. The pill's effect aids Great Yi Immortals in their cultivation. She scored 301 points, securing fifth place."
Teng Jilou nodded, satisfied with this result.
None of his sons had shown much promise, but his daughter had given him a tremendous surprise.
On the other hand, Teng Man'er stood there with her mouth half-open, seemingly unable to believe it.
How could she only be fifth? In her mind, she was the clear winner of this pill competition.
Though she had never voiced this thought, it had always been her belief.
The audience in the square erupted into enthusiastic applause.
For a woman to secure fifth place in the Mo Xuan Pill Competition was undoubtedly an honor.
The Mo Xuan Pill Competition gathered nearly all the genius immortal pill masters, and making it into the top five was no small feat.
"Wan Pu, from the Void Star Pill Sect of the Luo Yun Immortal Domain. He crafted a fourth-grade immortal pill, the Qing'e Pill, producing ten pills in total: seven mid-grade and three high-grade. The pill's effect helps Great Yi Immortals calm their minds and focus during cultivation, enhancing their cultivation efficiency and even offering a chance to break through to a higher minor realm. He scored 317 points, securing fourth place."
When Teng Man'er saw Wan Pu's Qing'e Pill, her earlier disbelief vanished.
The Qing'e Pill far surpassed her Tianyun Pill in both effect and value.
Moreover, Wan Pu had produced one more high-grade pill than she had, and none of his were low-grade.
Wan Pu, upon seeing his score of 317, remained calm.
He had been able to craft the Qing'e Pill because he knew the pill formula.
Mu Zifeng had mentioned that few knew this formula, but it wasn't entirely unknown.
Knowing the formula had allowed him to produce three high-grade Qing'e Pills, and securing fourth place was already a good result.
He was certain that Fu Yuan'an would score higher, as they had both discovered this formula in an ancient ruin together.
Meanwhile, Mi Youlan from the Jade Toad Immortal Court was pleasantly surprised.
He hadn't expected someone from his court to make it into the top five.
"Fu Yuan'an, from the Pill Alliance of the Luo Yun Immortal Domain. He crafted a fourth-grade immortal pill, the Qing'e Pill, producing twelve pills in total: eight high-grade and four supreme-grade. The pill's effect helps Great Yi Immortals calm their minds and focus during cultivation, enhancing their cultivation efficiency and even offering a chance to break through to a higher minor realm. He scored 365 points, securing third place."
Fu Yuan'an frowned slightly.
He too had known the pill formula, but even after producing a full batch of twelve pills, including four supreme-grade ones, he had only secured third place.
Though he knew Wan Pu also knew the formula, Wan Pu's pill-crafting skills were far inferior to his own.
By now, almost everyone had figured out the answer.
If there were no mistakes, the answer was the Qing'e Pill.
Earlier, Mu Zifeng had said that few knew this formula, but now two people had crafted it.
Without a doubt, the first and second places would also go to those who had crafted the Qing'e Pill.
The large screen displayed the second-place result: "Zhuo Shengyin, from the Mo Xuan Path Immortal City. He crafted a fourth-grade immortal pill, the Qing'e Pill, producing twelve pills, all of supreme-grade. The pill's effect helps Great Yi Immortals calm their minds and focus during cultivation, enhancing their cultivation efficiency and even offering a chance to break through to a higher minor realm. He scored 400 points, securing second place."
As soon as this result was announced, everyone—whether on the competition stage, in the audience, or watching from the square—was stunned.
All the spectators widened their eyes, wondering if there had been a mistake in the ranking system or the evaluation array.
Four hundred points was the maximum score.
How could someone with a perfect score not take first place? Clearly, the answer to this pill competition was the Qing'e Pill.
If someone could craft the Qing'e Pill with all supreme-grade pills, they would score a perfect 400.
Xiao Yueshui clenched his fists in excitement.
He hadn't been wrong.
The first place had to be Lan Xiaobu.
Guang Jie also widened her eyes.
She had believed Lan Xiaobu could make it into the top ten, but since his name hadn't been called yet, the only possibility was that he had taken first place.
In contrast, Liu Ming from the Mo Xuan Path Immortal City turned pale.
The first place had been pre-determined—it was supposed to be Zhuo Shengyin.
But now, Zhuo Shengyin had scored a perfect 400 and still only secured second place.
This meant things had spiraled out of his control, and he had no way to explain this outcome.
Now, he had to figure out what to do next.
Mu Zifeng was equally shocked.
He had known the first place was pre-determined, which was why he had lamented the state of this competition.
But now, the pre-determined first-place winner had only secured second place.
This was impossible.
According to the scoring system, even if someone crafted a fifth-grade immortal pill with half of them being supreme-grade, as long as the pill's value wasn't high enough, it couldn't surpass 400 points.
In other words, even with the same 400 points, since Zhuo Shengyin had crafted the answer pill, he should have taken first place.
Zhuo Shengyin, still sitting in the competition area, was equally dumbfounded.
He had known the answer, and as a sixth-grade immortal pill master, he was practically half a step away from becoming a Pill King.
On top of that, he had been pre-determined to take first place.
Now, he was being told that despite crafting twelve supreme-grade fourth-grade pills, he had only secured second place?
Like everyone else, he wanted to know who had taken first place and what kind of miraculous pill they had crafted.
Was there a mistake in the scoring system? Along with everyone else, he stared at the large screen, eager to find out who this first-place winner was and what they had created.
Finally, the screen displayed the first-place result: "Lan Xiaobu, from the Star Ascension Immortal Court, representing the eleventh prince Teng Mo. He crafted a fifth-grade immortal pill, the Rootless Snow Mist Pill, producing twelve pills, all of supreme-grade. The pill's effect removes pill toxins from cultivators and enhances their cultivation potential. Its value is extremely high. He scored 500 points, securing first place."
This was the first time the scoring system had added the phrase "value is extremely high" in its evaluation.
Regardless of whether Lan Xiaobu's first place was well-deserved, the fact that the Rootless Snow Mist Pill could remove pill toxins and enhance cultivation potential made its value immeasurable, far surpassing the Qing'e Pill.
Every cultivator here, even the Immortal Emperors, had pill toxins in their bodies.
Removing these toxins was no easy task.
But now, a pill had appeared that could do just that.
With this alone, the Rootless Snow Mist Pill's status was unshakable.
Even if this pill were only on par with the Qing'e Pill, or even slightly inferior, many would still support it taking first place.
Liu Ming, his face pale, couldn't understand how the first-place winner had crafted such an extraordinary pill.
In just five days, using a mere hundred immortal herbs, Lan Xiaobu had created the Rootless Snow Mist Pill—a pill that would benefit the entire immortal realm.
Such skill was nothing short of miraculous.
Even though he knew the first place had been pre-determined, he couldn't deny that Lan Xiaobu's victory was truly well-deserved.
Mu Zifeng's hands trembled with excitement, but soon his eyes filled with worry.
He had revealed the competition's theme early, partly because he feared that a top-tier genius might emerge.
If such a genius appeared, they might have chosen to withdraw from the competition after hearing the theme and before entering the competition area.
A top-tier pill-crafting genius would surely be perceptive.
After learning the theme and the rewards, they would likely guess that the first place was pre-determined, and thus, they wouldn't be able to win no matter how well they performed.
If they couldn't win, why bother participating and drawing attention to themselves? In other words, why wade into this muddy water?
A top-tier pill-crafting genius under ten thousand years of age couldn't possibly be foolish.
Now that Lan Xiaobu had taken first place, no matter how you looked at it, he was destined for a tragic fate.
As for the rewards, they would likely only remain in his possession for a few hours at most.
Taking the rewards was one thing, but Lan Xiaobu's talent as a pill master would make him a target for many.
At this moment, everyone in and around the square realized what had happened, and thunderous applause and cheers erupted.
It was clear to everyone what the emergence of the Rootless Snow Mist Pill meant.
The materials used to craft this pill weren't particularly rare, as they had been provided to thousands of participants.
Since the materials weren't rare, this pill should be affordable for everyone.
Teng Mo trembled with excitement.
In fact, when Lan Xiaobu's name hadn't been called by the tenth place, he had already given up.
But now, reality had played a huge joke on him.
The pill master he had sent to compete had taken first place—first place in the Mo Xuan Pill Competition!
"Hahaha..."
Though he didn't laugh out loud, Teng Mo was roaring with laughter inside.
He knew his position as heir was now secure.
Teng Jingsui's expression was as if he had eaten something vile.
The other princes of the Star Ascension Immortal Court were also jealous of Teng Mo's success, but none showed it as blatantly as Teng Jingsui.
The others came forward to congratulate Teng Mo, with some even trying to curry favor with him.
Others regretted not having approached Lan Xiaobu earlier.
Teng Man'er clenched her fists.
If she weren't still in the competition area, she would have gone straight to Teng Mo and demanded that he hand over Lan Xiaobu.
She wanted to take him for herself.
But once the competition ended, she would still take Lan Xiaobu.
Anything good should belong to her, Teng Man'er.
As for the position of Immortal King, she had no intention of letting her brothers have it.
Who said a woman couldn't inherit the throne? Heh, she, Teng Man'er, would be the first.
As for Lan Xiaobu, even if she had to dig a few holes in his brain, she would uncover all his secrets.
Teng Jilou, on the other hand, was genuinely laughing heartily.
If it weren't for Teng Man'er securing fifth place, the Star Ascension Immortal Court would have been thoroughly humiliated in the Mo Xuan Immortal Domain.
Now he realized that Teng Man'er's surprise wasn't the biggest—the biggest surprise came from Teng Mo.
Teng Mo's representative, Lan Xiaobu, had quietly taken first place.
No, the biggest surprise wasn't the first place itself, but the Rootless Snow Mist Pill.
Once this pill was released, the Star Ascension Immortal Court would rise to new heights.
Zhi Sha's face was as dark as if it could drip black water.
He knew that no matter how powerful the Zhi family was, they had no right to take Lan Xiaobu.
Now, everyone's eyes were on Lan Xiaobu.
If the Zhi family dared to make a move, they would be courting death.
(That's all for today's update.
Goodnight, friends!)
(End of Chapter)