Chapter 460: Chapter 460: A Slap In The Face
Translator: GE_Team
“What?! This is!”
All eyes gravitated towards the jade platform. On the center of the platform, a bald old monk who was as thin as a twig was standing below the Pill Stele.
He stood silently in the wind and snow by his lonesome. His presence giving off the natural demeanor of a grandmaster.
He sighed heavily. That sigh felt quite aged, bringing out heavy feelings like the vicissitudes of life that he experienced.
He placed his hands on the Pill Stele. The upright stone slab then began to give out light of four different colors. The light continued to intensify and rose as high as it could. When it reached the highest scale of the fourth color which represented the Peak Fourth Revolution, it came to a sudden halt. It was already at the maximum limit the Pill Stele could test.
At this moment, the Pill Tablet lightly trembled. Above the snowy sky, five-colored clouds suddenly emerged.
All of a sudden, countless exclamations resounded across the atmosphere.
“The five-colored clouds! The Pill Stele from the Pill Island could only test up to the Fourth Revolution of pill refinement mastery. If a Fifth Revolution Pill Master takes the test, five-colored clouds will appear. It’s because the Pill Stele could not measure Fifth Revolution pill refinement mastery! This man is no doubt a Fifth Revolution Pill Master!”
“What?! A Fifth Revolution Pill Master?! In the Rain World’s eight hundred cultivation countries, there are only several Fifth Revolution Pill Masters. All of them are famous individuals who are known far and wide. Who is this man? Why does he look so unfamiliar…?”
“It’s him! The former sect master of the Heavenly Jade Sect, Yi Yunzi! He has High Grade Fifth Revolution pill refinement mastery. This man had gone missing for many years. Unexpectedly, he came to partic.i.p.ate in the Pill Ceremony!”
“Huh? Are you saying that this man is Yi Yunzi? But I saw him when I was visiting the Zhou Clan as a guest several hundred years ago.”
“The Zhou Clan? Could this person have already joined the Zhou Clan?”
Countless cultivators were guessing and discussing among themselves. After Yi Yunzi revealed his ident.i.ty, the experts of the Giant Devil Clan immediately welcomed him and led him to the seats for honored guests. Many pill refinement masters also rose from their seats and greeted him.
Yi Yunzi’s eyes were as calm as the old leaves of an ancient vine. None of the pill refinement masters in the area could draw his attention.
Only when his eyes scanned past the great elder of the Pill Island and the sect master of the Scarlet Heaven Palace did his expression look slightly different.
His eyes suddenly became as bright as a torch. The pill refinement mastery of the great elder of the Pill Island, Huang Tingzi, should be almost on par with his.
As for the palace lord of the Scarlet Heaven Palace, Mo Xiu, his pill refinement mastery was slightly above Yi Yunzi’s level!
When Yi Yunzi took his seat on the seatings designated for honored guests, Mo Xiu’s expression turned stern all of a sudden. He sent a message to Yi Yunzi through telepathy.
“Yi Yunzi, you weren’t better than me in the past. Even though you have become a feudal ranking elder of the Zhou Clan, you still won’t surpa.s.s me!”
“Perhaps… Even though you are stronger than me, you are just a tiny bit better.”
No one knew that Mo Xiu had taunted Yi Yunzi.
The uproar gradually dissipated. The first round continued to proceed in good order.
Each of the Third Revolution Pill Masters pa.s.sed the first round.
There were also many Fourth Revolution Pill Masters who managed to cut a conspicuous figure in front of countless cultivators.
Six pill refinement masters from the Scarlet Heaven Palace were joining the Pill Ceremony. Other than their palace lord, Mo Xiu who was already a well-known High Grade Fifth Revolution Pill Master, the remaining five of them had yet to attain the Fifth Revolution and were all required to take the test.
The five pill refinement masters of the Scarlet Heaven Palace had once encountered Ning Fan before this. All of them had an egg on their faces and were almost killed by Ning Fan’s claw attack.
Although their combat power was weak, their pill refinement techniques were quite the opposite.
Four of them had achieved High Grade Fourth Revolution pill refinement mastery while the other had attained the Peak Fourth Revolution!
Five Fourth Revolution Pill Masters appeared on the platform at the same time which instantly stirred up a commotion among the crowd.
“These five individuals truly deserve to be the special pill refinement masters of the Scarlet Heaven Palace. Each of their pill refinement mastery is enough to be universally shocking.”
“Being a Fourth Revolution Pill Master is enough to make you a person of importance to a country. The pill refinement mastery of these five individuals are at least of the High Grade Fourth Revolution and one of them is even just a hair’s breadth away from the Fifth Revolution. The Scarlet Heaven Palace really has a well-deserved reputation of being one of the ‘Nine Palaces’ of the Rain Palace. It successively gave birth to geniuses. Not only does the palace lord have an extremely profound pill refinement mastery, but his subordinates also have outstanding pill refinement realms!”
The cheers and exclamations from the crowd were obviously extremely pleasing to the five pill refinement masters of the Scarlet Heaven Palace.
Of the five, the elderly man with the highest pill refinement realm was Chi Lao. He felt extremely pleased with the flattering response of the crowd in particular.
The pent-up frustration he had bottled up after being embarra.s.sed by Ning Fan in the past was completely swept away at this moment.
His old eyes looked at the surroundings, deliberately questioning Elder Fu Bai who was hosting the test.
“I’ve heard that Revered Ming is also partic.i.p.ating in the Pill Ceremony. Why hasn’t he arrived yet?”
“Perhaps something has delayed him while he was on his way. He will probably arrive in a short while.” Fu Bai politely answered. Even though he was the great elder of the Giant Devil Clan, he still had to be courteous when dealing with a Peak Grade Fourth Revolution Pill Refinement Master.
“Is that so…? Hehe. I really look forward to what kind of result Revered Ming will get. The recent hot rumors said that Revered Ming has become the half disciple of the Pill Sovereign. With that kind of ident.i.ty, he would have to at least be a Fourth Revolution Pill Master, right? However, I think Revered Ming is a cultivator who goes through grueling cultivation. He is incredibly strong and even has powerful techniques. His pill refinement mastery, however, might not necessarily be strong. It is known to all that pill refinement mastery can only be gained through refining pills. It isn’t something that one can obtain from killing people.”
Chi Lao’s words fell into the ears of countless cultivators under the enhancement of his magic power.
Every one of those cultivators had no idea about the grudges Chi Lao had against Ning Fan. Hence, they found what he said rather reasonable.
Well, it was true that the Pill Sovereign had personally acknowledged that Ning Fan was half a disciple to him. Ning Fan had to at least have Fourth Revolution pill refinement realm so that he would not tarnish the Pill Sovereign’s name.
However, Ning Fan was a notorious devil lord who slaughters everywhere all day. How could he have the time and peace to research pill refinement.
Most of the people agreed with Chi Lao’s perspective, thinking that there was no way Ning Fan could have profound pill refinement mastery. They even thought that it was possible for him not to have achieved the Fourth Revolution.
In addition to that, when they saw that Ning Fan had yet to arrive after the Pill Ceremony had started for some time already, they began to wonder whether or not he was afraid of embarra.s.sing himself as he would be disqualified without Third Revolution pill refinement mastery.
Each of the old monsters seemed to have understood what Chi Lao was hinting at. More and more people began to have this kind of thoughts.
Chi Lao’s eyes flashed with a hint of pleasure.
He could not win against Ning Fan in a real fight but it was rather fun to tarnish his reputation and hara.s.s the Great Heaven Palace behind their backs.
When it comes to killing, Chi Lao and the other four pill refinement masters together would still be unable to rival one Ning Fan.
In terms of pill refinement, however, Chi Lao was very confident that he could completely overwhelm him.
The fact that Ning Fan had heaven-defying strength while being only five hundred years old was already unacceptable to him.
If Ning Fan was also well-versed in pill refinement, it would be too unreasonable.
“It’s naturally impossible for that Zhou Ming to have Fourth Revolution pill refinement mastery. He probably isn’t even at the Third Revolution. I really don’t understand why a significant figure like the Pill Sovereign would keep someone with such a weak pill refinement mastery as a disciple… It really makes me jealous!”
Chi Lao’s heart was filled with envy and disdain towards Ning Fan.
When he was about to go down from the platform with the other four pill refinement masters after completing the test, they were suddenly stopped by two shadows.
One of them was the divine son of the Profound Heaven Palace, Yun Niansu.
The other person was the feudal ranking elder of Pill Island, Yang Gu.
Yun Niansu was a refined gentleman. The way he looked at Chi Lao was filled with mild contempt.
He had previously met Ning Fan on Gusu Island and was aware of his terrifying strength.
He was a member of the Profound Heaven Palace and the foster son of the Third Prince of the Rain Palace, Yun Bushu. The Profound Heaven Palace was the only palace of the Nine Palaces that was on friendly terms with the Great Heaven Palace.
Even though he did not know what Ning Fan’s current pill refinement mastery was, he still had some admiration for him. Be it for the sake of their palaces or his friends.h.i.+p with him, he was willing to say something good on his behalf.
“The members of the Scarlet Heaven Palace always like defaming others behind their backs. What a shameful act. Since the honorable Pill Sovereign has chosen him, it naturally meant that he has something special going for him. Whether Revered Ming’s current pill refinement mastery has reached the Third Revolution or not, he isn’t someone whom the likes of you could besmirch.”
If Yun Niansu’s tone was considered modest and polite, then Yang Gu’s tone sounded like he had flown into a rage.
Yang Gu was very angry and discontented.
Why? Because Chi Lao was mocking Ning Fan who was the master that Yang Gu had recognized not long ago!
To outsiders, Chi Lao’s words seemed to be very reasonable. However, to Yang Gu, it was pure bulls.h.i.+t.
Did he actually say that Ning Fan’s pill refinement mastery might not necessarily be at the Third Revolution, let alone the Fourth Revolution…? Bulls.h.i.+t!
Yang Gu had seen with his own eyes when Ning Fan’s pill refinement realm broke through to the Mid Grade Fifth Revolution. In terms of pill refinement realms, he could completely overwhelm a small fry like Chi Lao.
How could this small fry be bold enough to ridicule his master? Is he tired of living?!
“Your pill refinement mastery can’t even match a fragment of Revered Ming’s. You don’t even deserve to polish his shoes!” Yang Gu’s voice was loud. It sounded as if he was shouting those words.
*Shua*
At this moment, the animated discussions among the crowd quieted down.
Chi Lao’s face turned ghastly pale. He did not expect for the words he randomly said to defame Ning Fan would draw forth two pill refinement masters to stand up for him.
Besides, these two individuals were famous pill refinement masters. Chi Lao recognized them both.
Yun Niansu was a well-known pill refinement genius of the Rain Palace. He was also the foster son of the Third Prince. Before coming to the Endless Sea, his pill refinement realm was already close to breaking through to the Fifth Revolution. His pill refinement mastery was also slightly higher than Chi Lao’s. Usually, Chi Lao would not dare to offend Yun Niansu.
As for Yang Gu, he was also a pill refinement master who was a hair’s breadth away from attaining the Fifth Revolution according to some rumors. Moreover, he was born in Pill Island. On a typical day, Chi Lao would have also given Yang Gu some face due to his ident.i.ty.
Today, however, Chi Lao was prepared to not show them some respect.
His face became grim. Yun Niansu said he was a shameful man while Yang Gu said he was not even deserving of polis.h.i.+ng Ning Fan’s shoes. As a Peak Grade Fourth Revolution pill refinement master, he, of course, had his own pride. How could he allow himself to be humiliated just like that?
“Yun Niansu! Yang Gu! Both of you are only pill refinement masters at the same level as me. I will show some respect to you two because of your achievements in pill refinement. However, the words you guys used to talk about me seemed to be extremely impolite!”
“Did you just say we are on the same level?” Yun Niansu’s eyes flickered with a hint of disdain. He already could not bear to see the arrogant faces of the members of the Scarlet Heaven Palace. Thus, he did not mind giving Chi Lao’s face a slap right now.
With elegant steps, he walked towards the Pill Stele like a refined young master who remained pure and refined even if he was born in a turbid world. He placed one of his palms on the stone slab.
All of a sudden, a vigorous rush of medicine qi was released from his body. At this moment, the Pill Stele glowed with a dazzling four-colored light. On top of that, five-colored clouds suddenly emerged in the snowy sky!
Countless people sucked in a cold breath.
Young Master Niansu of the Profound Heaven Palace truly deserves to be called a prodigy in pill refinement. At such a young age, he has already become a Fifth Revolution Pill Master!
“How is this possible?! You are so young. How is it possible for you to achieve the Fifth Revolution?!” Chi Lao’s expression turned hideous. A strong sense of frustration filled his heart.
All this time, he had been thinking that his pill refinement mastery was slightly better than Yun Niansu’s. However, he did not expect that Yun Niansu had already secretly broken through to the Fifth Revolution and became a person whom he could not match!
While he was still in a trance, Yang Gu also walked towards the Pill Stele with a cold smirk and placed his palm on the Pill Stele.
A few moments later, five-colored clouds emerged in the snowy sky once again. Without a doubt, Yang Gu was also a bonafide Fifth Revolution Pill Master!
“What?!”
It was not only Chi Lao who was surprised by Yang Gu’s result, but also the great elder of Pill Island who was sitting in the hosts’ seats, also revealing a look of surprise.
He also did not know when Yang Gu attained Fifth Revolution pill refinement mastery!
Countless experts in the arena suddenly rose to their feet. Their eyes were blazing with enthusiasm as they looked at Yun Niansu and Yang Gu.
These two individuals were both Fifth Revolution Pill Masters. A Fourth Revolution Pill Master might become famous within a country, but a Fifth Revolution Pill Master was sought after by hundreds of countries!
“I have told you. You don’t even deserve to polish Revered Ming’s shoes. Do you know why?”
Yang Gu looked at Chi Lao with a cold smirk, as if he wanted to establish Ning Fan’s reputation satisfactorily.
“It’s because Revered Ming is my master. His pill refinement mastery is far beyond my reach. The reason why my pill refinement mastery could break through to the Fifth Revolution is all because of my master’s guidance! You are just a lowly Fourth Revolution Pill Master who can’t even compare to me. How could you put yourself on par with my master?!”
*Hua*
A huge commotion resounded across the arena.
Countless cultivators could not believe that Yang Gu, a reputable Fifth Revolution Pill Master, would recognize Ning Fan as his master in pill refinement!
Just as the crowd was still digesting Yang Gu’s words, a powerful medicine soul that was enormous like a gigantic dragon descended on the jade platform.
Countless pill refinement masters felt their minds go blank while their bodies uncontrollably s.h.i.+vered. Even Fourth Revolution Pill Masters could not resist the power of this medicine soul.
They were well aware that a medicine soul was a method only Fifth Revolution Pill Masters would have. However, ordinary Fifth Revolution Pill Masters would not be able to terrorize Fourth Revolution Pill Masters!
Only pill refinement grandmasters who are on the same level with Yi Yunzi and Mo Xiu could possess such frightening medicine soul power!
*Shush*
The shadow of a white-robed individual suddenly descended before the Pill Stele. He casually placed a single palm on the stone slab.
Moments later, the vast sky in the vicinity of one hundred thousand li* (500m per li) was fully occupied with five-colored clouds.
Moreover, among the five-colored clouds, there was a trace of a sixth color.
“What?! Six colors?! A Sixth Revolution Pill Master?! No. It isn’t the true sixth color. But…”
Yi Yunzi, Mo Xiu and Huang Tingzi stood up in surprise. They looked at Ning Fan’s direction full of doubts and shock.
“You know what they say, don’t do anything more than three times. If you dare to gossip behind my back again, you will die for sure!”
Cold light flickered in Ning Fan’s eyes. With just a stare, Chi Lao felt like his soul was about to freeze!
An unprecedented feeling of frustration filled Chi Lao’s heart… A young man of five hundred years actually surpa.s.sed him in both cultivation level and pill refinement mastery.
How could this be even possible?! How could…?!
How could such a monstrous talent exist in the world?!
Chi Lao felt his face go hot. The eyes of countless cultivators who were laughing at him made him so ashamed that he could not show his face.
Just a moment ago, he was still thinking that Ning Fan’s pill refinement mastery was weak and insignificant. Now, it really slapped him in the face…
“A useless sc.u.mbag!” Mo Xiu’s eyes turned gloomy. This time, Chi Lao had really brought shame to his Scarlet Heaven Palace.