Chapter 424 - Xu Xiaoshou: Something Is Wrong With Me!
"The heck, what does this Xu Xiaoshou mean?"
As a famous figure in the first half of the compet.i.tion, even though he had taken out his Tenth Grade alchemist badge, Xu Xiaoshou was still the focus of everyone"s attention.
However, no matter how much they looked forward to it, everyone was stunned when Xu Xiaoshou took out the bathtub and smashed it on the ground.
"Bathtub?"
"Is he going to perform... boiling of water?"
"He"s trying to fight isn"t he? With Xu Xiaoshou"s character, why would he say so much nonsense to senior Long Dan?"
"For this fellow to be able to endure until now to show his hand, I already think highly of him!"
"The irascible Xu Xiaoshou is kicking some a*ses now?"
Everyone knew that among the many old men present, there was basically not a single person who was a match for Xu Xiaoshou.
Even if the Long Dan was a Sixth Grade Alchemist, in terms of combat strength, it was likely that he wouldn"t even be a match for an ordinary Upper Spirit Realm cultivator.
It was impossible for alchemists to fight.
"I don"t have such intentions."
Xu Xiaoshou waved his hand at the crowd and hurriedly explained, "I"m just refining pills. What are you guys thinking?"
"Under suspicion, Pa.s.sive Points, + 886."
"Xu Xiaoshou, are you kidding us? Who the h.e.l.l takes out the bathtub to refine pills? Tell us honestly, are you going to boil Long Dan like a cup of rose tea?"
Xu Xiaoshou was stunned by these words, while Long Dan was so angry that his beard almost flew off.
"Who, who is talking nonsense about this old man? Stand out!"
With a swoosh, everyone withdrew their heads in unison, but they couldn"t stop grinning. They were all enjoying the joke.
Xu Xiaoshou shook his head. These fellows were really too naughty.
Was it because they had been suppressed too ruthlessly by him previously and bounced back because they hit the bottom? Were all of their personalities twisted?
They actually made fun of others. Seriously!
"Whoos.h.!.+"
With a flick of his finger, Xu Xiaoshou didn"t say anything more. He directly shot a compressed fire seed under the pill cauldron. Instantly, the bathtub began to burn red.
"Is it really alchemy?"
"Under suspicion, Pa.s.sive Points, + 885."
Although the way the fire started was different from ordinary people, some traces of alchemists" skills could still be vaguely seen.
Long Dan was stunned.
He was close enough to clearly feel the overbearing power of the flame.
If it was a battle, he might not be sensitive, but with just a glance, he could see all the tricks involved in this high-speed rotating compressed flame seed.
"To use such a thick bath... er, pill cauldron to refine pills, and such an overbearing flame."
"This Xu Xiaoshou, is he really Tenth Grade?"
Long Dan sized Xu Xiaobei up and down, suddenly having an epiphany.
"That"s right, it should be because this flame is too overbearing and there"s no way to control it, so it"s not suitable for refining pills."
A hint of hidden greed flashed through his eyes.
This flame was too good.
If it was him who possessed it, even if it was because of his cultivation that he might not be able to control it very well, he would definitely be better than Xu Xiaoshou.
In addition to his various pill refinement techniques, under the continuous restrictions, he might be able to rely on this flame to push the quality of the pill up another level.
No matter how bad it was, he would still be better than those two old fellows!
Long Dan glanced at Chen Qi and Li Mingji from the corner of its eyes.
As expected, these two old fellows also knew. Looking at the flame under Xu Xiao"s pill cauldron, the heat from the smoldering look in their eyes was almost overflowing.
"Kid, what is the name of this flame of yours?"
Chen Qi couldn"t help but ask.
Xu Xiaoshou glanced at him and saw the Sixth Grade badge at one glance. His gaze froze.
Then, he saw another Sixth Grade badge on the other side.
"This..."
In just the duration it took to come out of the barrier, there were two more Sixth Grade badges on the field?
He suddenly burst into laughter.
Wasn"t the standard of this compet.i.tion a little too high?
Three Sixth Grade badges. Sandwiched between them, wouldn"t he become the dregs that would be crushed?
Sighing, Xu Xiaoshou wasn"t discouraged and replied,
"Seniors, don"t even think about it. You can"t take away this flame."
"First of all, you can"t kill me. Second, this thing can only be barely cultivated through the Innate Level Physique."
"It"s useless even if you"re tempted. The main reason is that your strength doesn"t match up. Even if I gave it to you for free, you wouldn"t be able to handle it."
The corners of the three people"s mouths twitched at the same time.
This..
Everyone wasn"t shameless. How could you tell the truth so plainly.
"Cursed, Pa.s.sive Points, + 3."
"Good guy."
Everyone below the stage was amused.
Everyone could see that Xu Xiaoshou"s flames weren"t simple, but there were some things that they understood without having to be said.
Xu Xiaoshou..
This guy wasn"t afraid at all.
He spoke bluntly! He was a ruthless person!
"It"s different when you have strength. Your words are much tougher than ours."
"However, this ridicule is really good. You can"t handle it even if I gave it to you for free. Ouch."
"Lauded, Pa.s.sive Points, + 464."
The cauldron temperature was high enough.
Xu Xiaoshou suddenly took out a large handful of medicinal herbs and threw them all in.
"Holy s.h.i.+t!"
Everyone was shocked. They saw Xu Xiaoshou split the spiritual herbs in the large bathtub with his mult.i.tasking in that seemingly joking throw.
That smooth and seamless operation stunned everyone.
"Something"s not right. This technique, it"s Tenth Grade?"
"How the h.e.l.l is Xu Xiaoshou mult.i.tasking? More than ten, I think. d.a.m.n, is his mental strength also so abnormal?"
"Is this even letting people live?"
"His combat strength is so strong, his pill refining technique is also..."
Everyone could see that the situation seemed to have gone out of control again.
A second ago, they wanted to condemn Xu Xiaoshou"s wastage, but in the next second, they were mesmerized by this guy"s G.o.dly skill.
There were clearly three Sixth Grade Alchemists on the side.
However, Xu Xiaoshou was like a seductive s.l.u.t who had taken off her clothes. All kinds of flirtatious actions, always making people inadvertently focus their attention on him.
"Attention Received, Pa.s.sive Points, + 677."
"Seniors."
Xu Xiaohe looked at the three Sixth Grade alchemists.
These old fogeys had already been so enthralled by his series of actions and had forgotten to refine pills. He couldn"t help but remind them:
"A round of refining pills only lasts for 15 minutes. Why aren"t you guys doing anything?"
"Brat, I still want to see your performance!"
Performance..
The three of them felt their throats dry up.
Their techniques were just that of an ordinary alchemist"s techniques. At most, the quality of the pills they refined was different. There was no performance skills to speak of.
On the other hand, it was as if Xu Xiaoshou was really here to perform acrobatics.
There was the bathtub, the skillful mult.i.tasking, and such a special flame...
"Impressive!"
Long Dan snorted coldly. With a wave of his hand, a bright white flame began heating the black cauldron.
"Petty tricks."
Chen Qi also turned around and no longer paid attention to Xu Xiaoshou. He began to warm up his own medicinal pills.
"Deliberately mystifying!"
Li Mingji sneered. However, before he turned around, Xu Xiaoshou"s voice had already drifted across the air.
"Ah, what a strong smell of vinegar. What"s going on? Someone took advantage of the gap in the alchemy process to start cooking and knocked over the vinegar jar?"
"..."
The corners of the three people"s mouths twitched at the same time. Their hands trembled, and they almost burned themselves.
"Cursed, Pa.s.sive Points, + 3."
"Hahaha!"
The audience burst into laughter.
The onlookers suddenly realized that if they were not facing Xu Xiaoshou as an opponent, they would have watched Xu Xiaohe"s various matches as an onlooker.
The process was extremely exciting!
"Is this guy crazy? Is there really nothing in the world that he"s afraid of?"
"Three Sixth Grade badge! He offended them all in one go. Does this guy still want to live? I"m afraid he"ll be banned!"
"Banned... it"s not that serious."
"Look at Xu Xiaoshou"s various trump cards. Maybe this guy really has a terrifying background?"
"Didn"t they say that he"s just a mere Outer Yard Disciple of Tiansang Spirit Palace?"
"How can an ordinary disciple have so many secret moves? Speaking of which, don"t you guys think that this flame looks a little familiar?"
"Uh, I don"t recognize it."
"..."
Discussions broke out in the audience.
However, most of the audience present below were young people, while the older alchemists were basically all in the protective barrier on the stage. On the other hand, the remaining leaders of the clans and forces, did not know much about Xu Xiaoshou"s flame.
Even if they had some impression of it, the memory was still blurry.
On the other hand, Elder Night Guardian fell into deep thoughts as he watched Xu Xiaoshou"s compressed flame seed.
This overbearing burning energy made him recall a past.
"Sleeveless Red Scorched Hand?"
Before he become a Red Coat and was still a White Coat, he had partic.i.p.ated in a mission in the central region.
The mission"s was to eliminate the largest branch of a secret organization in the central region.
The mission was indeed successful back then.
However, the leader of the branch that appeared at the end had relied on a pair of shriveled black scorched hands to carve out a b.l.o.o.d.y path through the White Coats. He had escaped from the central region and had yet to be found even till now.
The scorching energy on Xu Xiaoshou"s body was indeed a little similar.
However..
"There are many strange flames in the world, it may not necessarily the case."
"At least, the White Cave is filled with this sort of scorching energy. Perhaps the Tiansang Spirit Palace also has inheritances in this area."
Night Guardian shook his head and didn"t think about it anymore.
He watched Xu Xiaoshou refine pills.
However, this fellow didn"t have any other actions after the big move at the beginning.
It was like a different person after entering the medicinal liquid refining stage.
Xu Xiaoshou began to become bored.
Other than looking left and right, he was too lazy to even bother with the pill cauldron.
The Night Guardian"s eyelids twitched.
To be honest, tonight"s banquet had allowed him to experience the vastness of the world. There were all kinds of strange things.
This was really the first time he had seen a "Talent" like Xu Xiaoshou.
"This brat, what is he trying to do this time?"
The crowd below was also not used to Xu Xiaoshou"s silence. However, the unusual pill refinement techniques of the three Sixth Grade Alchemists soon attracted everyone"s attention.
Xu Xiaoshou was no exception. His eyes were unfocused while his "Perception" was staring intently at the pill refinement steps of these three people.
It was as though he was going to forcefully memorize them.
"Although it is three chances to refine pills, the essence, Qi, and spirit of the pill refinement are extremely important in pill refinement. Hence, if these three want to win against each other, they will definitely have to use their strongest strength at the start."
Xu Xiaoshou pondered.
He had his own plans.
Even if he were to give his "Culinary Proficiency" to a Grandmaster"s level, the highest grade pill formula he had was the "Star Separation Pill".
The Star Separation Pill was a Seventh Grade top grade healing pill.
To the outside world, this was already very precious.
But at this moment, it cannot hold a candle to a Sixth Grade pill..
If Xu Xiaoshou wanted to refine this pill, he would definitely lose in the end.
Then, how could he win this compet.i.tion?
"Gulp Gulp Gulp..."
The medicinal liquid in front of him was boiling.
Other people might not be able to figure out what medicinal pill to refine because they were refining the medicinal ingredients at the same time, but Xu Xiaoshou understood very well that this batch of spirit refining pills was only a temporary transition.
He wanted to waste the time of the first match and use all his attention to memorize the pill formulas!
That"s right, memorize it!
And memorize three portions at once!
If others were to know what Xu Xiaoshou was thinking, they would probably be shocked to death on the spot.
However, with his "Culinary Proficiency", his understanding of almost all the medicinal herbs in the world, as well as his absolute control over the heat of the fire.
In addition to his extremely strong memory from "Perception", as well as the ability to rewind the scenes.
Xu Xiaoshou felt that this was not an extremely difficult task.
He tilted his head and observed the spirit herbs in the hands of the three Sixth Grade Alchemists.
"Fire Separation Flower, innate grade. Looking at the state of its stalk and coa.r.s.e hair, it should be around 18 years and 6 months old. Fire attribute, slightly astringent, has the effect of expelling the cold and dampening the Yin. Together with the "Frost Lotus Seed", it can be used to boil the "Ice Fire Glazed Soup"... Bah Bah."
"I missed it. This old dragon really has something."
Xu Xiaoshou did his best to intercept half of his thoughts and continued to observe.
"This portion should be the "Full Origin Star Leaf", a top-grade innate spiritual herb. Looking at the star pattern, it should be six years old."
"Awesome. If It"s six years, it should be able to overflow with the "Star Origin Saliva". This is a treasure. It"s sweet and nutritious. How could someone pluck this spiritual herb? It"s a waste!"
"And this "Five Leaf Wen", "Yet Ming Seed"..."
The more Xu Xiaoshou watched, the more excited he became.
These were all strange species that only existed in his mind and could not be seen on a normal day.
Today, due to the refinement of Sixth Grade medicinal pills, they appeared one after another.
"What"s this..."
Suddenly, Xu Xiaoshou"s gaze froze.
He finally found the obstacle.
He was indeed able to discern most of the spiritual herbs and medicinal properties, but the level of "Culinary Proficiency" was too low. If some rare Grandmaster spiritual herbs appeared, he really wouldn"t be able to recognize them all.
"This won"t do. I must succeed in this current memorizing!"
Xu Xiaoshou sighed softly, and his eyes revealed a look of interest.
This was a bold attempt.
Copying the pill formula on the spot. Once it was successful, it was destined to be priceless in the future!
"Pa.s.sive value: 228,800."
He glanced at the bottom of the information bar again.
That row of eye-catching numbers almost made Xu Xiaoshou cry out in surprise again.
"Calm down. It"s not like I"ve never seen so many numbers before."
Xu Xiaoshou calmed down and glanced at the skill introduction on the red interface of his Abrogated Origin Residence.
[ Culinary Proficiency (Innate lv. 3)]
This was a combat, alchemy, and fire control type of pa.s.sive skill that was super powerful.
Xu Xiaoshou couldn"t level up in the past, not because he didn"t want to, but because he didn"t have enough pa.s.sive points, so he could only level up the skills he needed then.
But now..
"It"s been hard on you. You haven"t leveled up in so long. Now, it"s time for you to show off your might."
Without hesitation, he casually tossed out his skill points.
Eight Tier 2 skill points, but only 40,000 pa.s.sive points.
It was more than enough!
[ Culinary Proficiency (Innate lv. 4)]
"..."
[ Culinary Proficiency (Grandmaster lv. 1)]
When the last line of numbers jumped out of the information window, Xu Xiaoshou"s entire body was convulsing.
His brain was convulsing. His elbows were pressed against his chest, and he was on the verge of collapsing in front of the bathtub. He was trying his best to resist the waves of knowledge surging through his brain.
"I, I was too careless."
"I have enough money. But I forgot that my brain hasn"t been trained to the point where it can be upgraded eight levels at the same time."
"Keke..."
Xu Xiaoshou"s figure, which was staggering in front of the cauldron with his eyes rolled back, frightened everyone.
"What"s going on?"
"This guy, is he going to use some big move again?"
Everyone shrunk their necks at the same time. For a moment, no matter how wonderful the skills of a Sixth Grade alchemist were, everyone still felt that their little lives were more important.
Looking at Xu Xiaoshou who seemed like he was about to lose control, if he really collapses, and the flame seed under the bathtub explodes, and there might be three Sixth Grade corpses here.
Long Dan was the nearest, and was the first to notice Xu Xiaoshou"s condition. He was so scared that he almost jumped away.
"Wake up!"
"What are you doing, Kid? You are in the midst of refining pills! Control your flame well!"
He subconsciously took out the spirit tablet with the intention of opening the protective barrier.
Chen Qi, who was not far away, glanced at him and said mockingly, "Old Dragon, no way. You"re scared of such a small situation? You"re getting worse and worse."
Long Dan was instantly angered. "Don"t just stand there and talk. Come over and have a look at this kid"s flame."
"Hehe."
Chen Qi was amused. "You must be joking. I"m refining pills. Old Li, go over and take a look at the kid."
Li Mingji glanced at Xu Xiaoshou"s cauldron and silently held the spirit tablet in his hand.
He suddenly regretted not opening the barrier earlier.
There was a ticking time bomb on this side of the pill refining. He was panicking!
s.h.i.+ Ti"s entire body froze.
Ever since Xu Xiaoshou made his move, he had never relaxed.
Now that he saw this kid"s state, he couldn"t help but shout through voice transmission, "Brat, wake up. You"re refining pills. be more serious for this old man!"
s.h.i.+ Ti was ready to strike.
As long as Xu Xiaoshou has the slightest tendency to blow up his furnace, he would immediately protect the Six Grade Alchemists next to him.
These lives were very precious.
"No, it"s not a problem..."
Xu Xiaoshou finally recovered from the ma.s.sive amount of knowledge that had been instilled into him and heaved a sigh of relief.
Then, he took out a jar of red gold liquid and inhaled it.
"Hiss!"
"Ah Ah!"
A comfortable moan echoed in the quiet ruins, and everyone was dumbfounded.
"This Xu Xiaoshou, what is he doing up here? Is he brewing soup?"
"Just now, did he have a cramp on such an important occasion?"
"Also, what kind of medicine was that? For refres.h.i.+ng the mind? Oh my G.o.d, the sound of that... I really want to have a go at it."
"Un? Something is wrong with you!"
"Don"t, don"t misunderstand. I mean, I want to take a sniff as well."
"Un? Take a sniff?"
"..."
"Doubted, Pa.s.sive Points, + 664."
"Despised, Pa.s.sive Points, + 232."
A Grandmaster realm Culinary Proficiency..
Xu Xiaoshou calmed down and browsed through the knowledge in his mind. The more he browsed through it, the stiffer he became.
He s.h.i.+fted his gaze and returned to the field.
"Mo Yuan Separation Liquid, Herb species. Tasteless in nature, it can neutralize "Weir Color Poison"..."
"Vermilion gra.s.s, Red Vine species, ice type. Under high temperatures, it can absorb fire, resulting in a foul stench..."
"There"s also "Luo Variant Flower Jin", "Scarlet Flower Lady"..."
All of them were Grandmaster realm spiritual herbs!
One could recognize all of them!
This was very normal!
However..
Xu Xiaoshou turned her head once more and looked over at Long Dan.
"Humans, human species. They are around 89 years and 7 months old. Their flesh is slightly old, and with the addition of "Li Seed", they can improve their freshness. In addition, "acorns" can remove the smell, and their humerus is smelly and inedible. Tendons and bones can be used to brew medicine..."
"? ? ?"
"Something"s wrong with me!"
Xu Xiaoshou was completely shocked.
He was shocked by himself!
He forcefully suppressed his reflexive thoughts and did not allow it to continue spreading out in a manner that was against humanity. Xu Xiaoshou turned his gaze once again and saw Fu Yinhong in the distance.
"Human, human species. It"s about 21 years and 6 months old. The meat is fresh, tender, and juicy. It"s full of strength, and with the addition of..."
Fu Yinhong blinked her eyes, not understanding why Xu Xiaoshou was refining pills and looking at her.
"What the F * ck!"
Xu Xiaoshou immediately swayed and his eyes almost dimmed, and he fell on the spot.
He had long thought that using "Culinary Proficiency" to refine pills might be a wrong path.
But he never expected that after this thing was upgraded, it could open up such a great path in the wrong direction!
Is this so that I, Xu Xiaoshou, can ride on the great path of the "Meat Pill" and never look back?
Xu Xiaoshou took a deep breath and tried hard to calm down his surging heart.
After upgrading a few levels earlier, he had felt that this "Culinary Proficiency" might no longer be just a vegetarian. However, today, after he had entered the realm of the "Meat and Vegetarian" combination, it was truly an eye-opener for him.
Who would have thought that when he first saw meat, the first message that this knowledge would give him would be "human, human species, meat is slightly old"..
Could I f*cking refine Old Long Dan?
Long Dan suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
He turned his head and saw Xu Xiaoshou"s gaze that seemed like he was about to eat him up. He was shocked.
"Xu Xiaoshou, if you don"t refine pills, what are you doing?"
"Making soup?"
Needless to say, the bathtub that had gone out of control was bubbling with the medicinal soup, as if it was boiling Chinese medicine.
"Human, human species, meat quality is too old..."
The message came out again. Like a pop-up box on a pirated page, Xu Xiaoshou closed his eyes in pain.
"Allow me to be quiet..."
He held his head and squatted down on the spot.
It was too shocking.
This wave was too overwhelming!
Xu Xiaoshou felt his teeth ache.
Now, he was unable to look at anyone directly.
What "Loose meat", "Strong tendons", "Strong bones"..
All kinds of meat and vegetable combinations, whether it was spicy or tomato-flavored, countless possibilities appeared in his mind with just a glance, .
Xu Xiaoshou felt like he was about to break down.
His style of refining pills was a little out of the ordinary, but now that the steering wheel was dead, he was completely unable to go back on track.
"This is too f * cking annoying!"
He recalled the illusion that he had experienced during his "Culinary Proficiency".
At that time, a stalk of "Nine Return G.o.d Mustard" and a "Black G.o.d Crock" formed a picture of "Heaven and earth as a furnace, all things can be refined.".
Now that it had opened up, this illusion was really not exaggerated at all!
Not only can all things be refined, if this situation continued to develop..
All things can be eaten!
"I"m Buddha."
Everyone stared blankly at Xu Xiaoshou squatting on the ground, and their eyes could not help but show pity.
"As expected, Xu Xiaoshou has suffered a blow."
"This fellow, if he isn"t competent enough, then don"t go on stage. Tenth Grade sandwiched between the three great Sixth Grades to refine pills. Now great, he has even forgotten the method of refining pills!"
"Hehe, I think, he has probably even forgotten the pill formula. To think that I still had some expectations when I saw him throwing spiritual herbs all at once just now."
"Ah, he can"t take it anymore. Xu Xiaoshou can"t take it anymore. It"s the end."
"Shut up!" Xu Xiaoshou suddenly rebuked angrily on the stage. As soon as his voice fell, his pill cauldron shook.
Boom!
With an explosion, the entire pot of pill liquid turned into ashes and smoke.
s.h.i.+ Ti stood up, but he was pressed down by the Night Guardian who was watching from the side with s.h.i.+ning eyes.
"Don"t worry, it won"t be a big problem."
"Boom Boom..."
With this delay, the few cauldrons of medicinal liquid closest to Xu Xiaoshou were also affected.
Even Long Dan was no exception. It exploded.
The old fellow"s face turned green, and he was fuming.
"Boom Boom Boom!"
It was like a chain reaction. In the distance, Chen Qi and Li Mingji gritted their teeth, trying to stabilize their state of mind. In the end, they were unable to salvage the situation, and the scene became extremely irritable.
"Boom Boom Boom Boom Boom..."
It was as if a buried land mine had been stepped on by a divine weapon from the heavens and exploded one by one. On the ruins, explosions instantly sounded, rising and falling, and smoke and dust filled the sky.
All those who were careless and did not open their protective barriers were completely wiped out, and all of their medicinal pills were gone.
Everyone below the stage was stunned.
Xu Xiaoshou was also stunned.
G.o.d knows, he was merely too irratated and could not stand the noisy fellows below.
That was all.
"I"m sorry, I"m just a little distracted..."
Long Dan was about to explode.
If you"re freaking distracted, can you go somewhere else to be distracted?
With you here, not only are we distracted, we"re even scared!
He blew his beard and glared at him, shouting angrily, "Xu Xiaoshou, this is pill refining. CAN YOU SHUT UP!"
"Oh."
Xu Xiaoshou blinked innocently.
"Okay, I"ll try my best."
"But if you"re afraid of being disturbed, why suffer for the sake of saving face? Shall we open the Protective Barrier first?"