Free Web NovelChapter 1776 - Betting Life
This time, the seals blooming in midair far surpassed the number Diao Jiuzhi had inscribed, multiplying until they covered the sky like a vast curtain.
Just yesterday, Zhang Dashan had stepped into the first-level True Immortal Realm, and that breakthrough allowed his speed in inscribing seals to reach a shocking level.
In the blink of an eye, the gathered seals condensed into a hammer and began forging on their own. Zhang Dashan no longer needed to strike the mold personally; the seals alone could complete the entire process.
Zhang Dashan instantly captured everyone's attention in the arena, and almost no one was interested in Wu Ke anymore. After all, Wu Ke's blacksmithing technique could only be called average at best, with nothing particularly outstanding about it. Zhang Dashan's blacksmithing technique, however, was entirely different. It carried a uniqueness none of them had ever seen before, and when paired with the seals that blotted out the sky, it left the crowd even more enthralled.
Ye Linghan turned to the man beside her, her eyes carrying emotions far too complicated to put into words.
As Zhang Dashan's forging process accelerated, his movements appeared even more skilled and natural than Diao Jiuzhi's.
Many blacksmithing students crowded forward, desperate to see more clearly. "What an exquisite blacksmithing technique!"
Their true aim was to imitate Zhang Dashan's technique.
Even the blacksmithing mentors present could no longer restrain their curiosity, and they began forming seals with their hands. Yet, they soon discovered, to their frustration, that they could only inscribe runes and not seals.
"What the hell is wrong here? My movements are clearly identical to Zhang Dashan's," the mentors who tried to imitate him said, their expressions sinking in defeat. They could not accept that dignified mentors like themselves would be inferior to a mere student. That crushing blow left many of them with the impulse to leave the Azure Flame Dao Hall altogether.
Since even the mentors could not replicate Zhang Dashan's technique, the students had even less hope. No matter how long they copied his movements, none of them managed to grasp anything useful.
Zhang Dashan forged at an astonishing speed, and in just fifteen minutes, the mold had already begun to take shape. What came next would be polishing and tempering until the sword took its final form.
Discussions rose and fell around the arena, each voice increasing the pressure on Wu Ke. Under that mounting pressure, he even made several mistakes during his forging process, which meant that even if he completed the artifact, its quality would only be ordinary at best.
As time passed, a crisp sword cry rang through the horizon after an hour. Even Zuo Yang could not help feeling shocked that Zhang Dashan had forged his longsword in such a short time.
The sword cry transformed into a sound wave that struck Wu Ke's mind, and the sword he had forged shattered on the spot. With that, this battle already had a clear outcome. It ended in a way no one had expected.
Wu Ke was too embarrassed to remain in the arena and left in dejection, leaving Zhang Dashan standing alone in the field. Zhang Dashan held his sword and strolled around the arena before returning with his head held high.
Meanwhile, Nangong Shan felt as though he had plunged from heaven straight into hell. Victory had clearly seemed within reach, yet he could not comprehend how he had lost this battle. Reluctantly, he threw the sword he had recently forged to Liu Wuxie. Yet he could not hide the rage burning in his eyes, nor the fierce urge to twist Liu Wuxie's head off personally.
Ye Linghan was seated right beside him, and if anyone dared to attack Liu Wuxie, she would not hesitate to act.
Liu Wuxie caught the longsword and tossed it into his interspatial ring without sparing it even a glance. He planned to find an opportunity later to sell it for resources.
The blacksmithing assessment continued, but no one dared to challenge Liu Wuxie again.
By dusk, competitions had begun in several other regions, covering poison art, mind reading, charm art, and occasionally even magic. However, these were minor categories in the Azure Flame Dao Hall and barely drew much attention.
The final segment was the alchemy assessment, and Wen Qi's gaze landed on Liu Wuxie. As a second-grade mentor, he had many students in his class, and quite a few among them were prodigies.
However, on Liu Wuxie's side, only Ren Fanfan and Xiao Qian had yet to compete.
Wen Yi stepped forward with the clear intention of defeating Liu Wuxie through this exchange and said, "Elder, let me fight!"
Wen Qi nodded, agreeing to let Wen Yi take the field. He had personally nurtured Wen Yi, who possessed exceptional talent in alchemy. He had already surpassed ordinary alchemy mentors by far. With him present, their chance of victory was extremely high.
"Liu Wuxie, send your people over!" Wen Yi shouted as he strode toward the alchemy arena.
Many people had personally witnessed the conflict between Wen Qi and Liu Wuxie the other day.
"Can your Wen Clan be any more shameless? Can't you see that I don't have any students left to send?" Liu Wuxie asked, deliberately looking angry.
This reaction only further confirmed everyone's speculation that Liu Wuxie had already sent all his students to compete.
Only Xiao Qian remained puzzled. She could not understand why Liu Wuxie still had not sent her into the arena.
"If you have no one left, admit defeat and acknowledge that your alchemy techniques are inferior to ours," Wen Yi said and laughed wildly.
"If you want me to accept defeat, that is fine. But I'm afraid your Wen Clan won't be able to afford the loss," Liu Wuxie replied, remaining calm and composed despite Wen Yi's repeated provocation. That temperament alone drew admiration from countless people.
"Speak. What will it take for you to accept my challenge?" Wen Yi asked. This was no longer a simple alchemy contest.
"Then let's wager your life," Liu Wuxie said, murderous intent flashing through his eyes.
After all, if Lao Kaiyu had not appeared the other day, he and Ye Linghan couldn't have left unharmed.
The moment his words fell, the surrounding crowd immediately stirred. After all, never in the history of the assessments had anyone wagered their life.
Even Zuo Yang wore a grave expression, uncertain whether he should step in and stop this farce.
Panic flashed across Wen Yi's eyes the instant he heard Liu Wuxie's condition. He had not expected Liu Wuxie to make such a demand, and he instinctively looked toward Wen Qi.
Wen Qi pondered briefly before finally nodding.
"Very well, I'll wager with you," Wen Yi said, turning back to Liu Wuxie.
"Don't agree to it!" Ye Linghan replied, suddenly grabbing Liu Wuxie's arm.
Everyone in the Azure Flame Dao Hall knew of Wen Yi's alchemy skills, and even ordinary alchemy mentors would not have full confidence in defeating him. If Liu Wuxie sent a student to compete against him, defeat seemed inevitable. No one in the surroundings spoke, and everyone watched in silence to see how the matter would unfold.
When Liu Wuxie turned to look at Xiao Qian, she slowly rose to her feet and stepped out from Ye Linghan's class.
The surrounding mentors and students shot to their feet in disbelief when they saw Xiao Qian step forward.
"What?!"
"He's a complete madman! He actually sent such a little girl to her death?!"
Many mentors pounded their chests in frustration, finding Liu Wuxie far too cruel.
After all, Xiao Qian was only fourteen or fifteen at most. Even if she had started learning alchemy in the womb, how could she possibly compare to Wen Yi?
Even the surrounding students could no longer bear to watch. "Liu Wuxie, how can you be so heartless to send your own student to her death?!" However, Liu Wuxie remained unmoved beneath the surrounding condemnation and simply closed his eyes.
"We have to stop this! We can't just watch her die like that!"
Many students tried to step forward and interfere, but several disciples of the Wen Clan immediately moved out to block them. Xiao Qian stood beside an alchemy cauldron that was not even as tall as she was, making the scene look utterly absurd.
Curses poured in from all directions. "Liu Wuxie, you demon! How could you bear to send such an adorable girl to her death?!" If Ye Linghan had not released her aura, the crowd's spit might already have drowned Liu Wuxie.
Under everyone's gaze, the alchemy competition began. Identical materials lay before the two cauldrons, and the quality of the final product would decide the winner.
Wen Yi had reached the True Immortal Realm. With a wave of his hand, he summoned terrifying flames that wrapped around the cauldron, revealing his mastery over the technique.
Gasps erupted from the surroundings the moment Wen Yi displayed his skill. "This is the Wen Clan's exclusive technique, the Lightning Alchemy Art. It uses the power of lightning to temper the pills, and pills refined through this method are of extremely high quality."
Faint strands of lightning coiled around Wen Yi and poured into the cauldron.
After the herbs entered the cauldron and lightning tempered them, the process rapidly extracted their impurities. With the assistance of lightning, the refinement speed increased tremendously, and in just a few breaths, the impurities vanished from the herbs.
In comparison, Xiao Qian was far slower, and her purification technique looked somewhat clumsy. After all, this was the first time she was refining pills before such a loud crowd, so feeling pressure was only natural. She was not afraid of losing; what she feared was bringing shame to Liu Wuxie.
"What terrifying purification speed! It looks like Wen Yi is certain to win this match." Many alchemy students cheered inwardly and began applauding Wen Yi.
"What a pity for that little girl. She'll die if she loses. Let's see how Liu Wuxie explains this to everyone later."
No one held any optimism for Xiao Qian in this match.
While Xiao Qian was still extracting impurities from her herbs, Wen Yi had already begun the second step of refinement. This meant he was already an entire phase ahead of Xiao Qian.
As the sun sank in the west and dusk settled over the sky, the class assessment finally neared its end.
Xiang Rulong and the others rose to their feet to cheer for Xiao Qian. "Xiao Qian, go for it!"
On Wen Yi's side, many students also stood and cheered for Wen Yi while putting pressure on Xiao Qian. However, the unified shouts from Liu Wuxie's side drowned them out.
With everyone's encouragement reaching her, Xiao Qian immediately increased her refinement speed. It had taken her roughly an hour to become familiar with alchemy.
Several alchemy mentors besides Lao Kaiyu spoke out in disbelief. "Why do I feel like this little girl is refining pills for the first time?" Many mentors were clearly displeased with Liu Wuxie's actions. "Liu Wuxie sent a little girl who has never refined pills before into a life-and-death challenge? What the hell is going through his mind?" They all wanted to confront him, only to be stopped by Lao Kaiyu.
After all, the battle had yet to end, and it was still too early to conclude the results. A medicinal fragrance slowly rose from Wen Yi's side, and he would complete the refinement in another fifteen minutes at most.
Meanwhile, Xiao Qian had finally finished the purification phase and entered the refinement phase. She was already nearly halfway behind Wen Yi in terms of time, making it extremely difficult to catch up at her current pace. Then again, alchemy battles were not decided by speed, but by the quality of the pills produced.
With a loud buzz, terrifying flames swept out from Xiao Qian's right arm.
Everyone's breathing quickened.
"That's an innate flame!" they exclaimed.
Innate flame was extraordinarily rare. While most people possessed innate energy at birth, it would gradually dissipate over time. As for innate flame, it was almost unheard of.
If a child were born with innate flame, the flames would instantly reduce the infant to ashes. But Xiao Qian's innate flame was different. A seal had confined it within her right arm since birth, and only after she met Liu Wuxie had her Heavenly Sacred Blood awakened and released the seal on that innate flame.
