Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Are you sure that you want to compete with me in the art of refining elixirs?” Lu Jiuhe asked with a disdainful expression.
Fang Lin nodded and answered in all apparent seriousness, “If I win, give me the Century Lingzhi. If I lose, I’ll apologize.”
Lu Jiuhe sneered, “You’re going to kneel in front of Kang Lu and apologize to him.”
Fang Lin nodded since he had no qualms toward that.
Meanwhile, Kang Lu got up with the help of a few people after being seated in the pavilion. There was a bitter look in his eyes when he realized that Fang Lin was so self-conceited that he actually agreed to compete with Lu Jiuhe in refining elixirs. Fang Lin, I’m going to make you kneel before me! I’m going to step onto your head ferociously!
Upon noticing that Fang Lin had a calm expression and was devoid of an ounce of hesitation, Lu Jiuhe could not help feeling doubtful in his heart.
Where does Fang Lin’s confidence come from? He’s only joined the sect for a year. Even if his natural talent is powerful, he hasn’t entered the alchemy academy even once. How dare he compete with me in refining elixirs then? Lu Jiuhe pondered deeply in his heart while his eyes gleamed.
It was inevitable. Fang Lin’s reaction to this competition was extremely calm as if everything was within his control. Lu Jiuhe was no fool, so he was naturally suspicious. However, soon, his suspicions faded because he had absolute confidence in himself. He was set upon the idea that Fang Lin could never possibly defeat him.
“Since this is the case, we might as well make it a bustling show for all. Let’s invite an elder to be our judge and let all the alchemy sect disciples be our witness, shall we?” Fang Lin suggested.
Lu Jiuhe was hesitant once again upon hearing that. If the challenge was carried out as Fang Lin suggested, the matter would be stirred up to an even grander scale. If he were to lose, he would be humiliated immensely.
Therefore, Lu Jiuhe did not have the courage to consent to that idea so easily. Despite having absolute confidence, what if he lost? He could not help shivering in fear as soon as he thought about the consequences of losing the competition. If he were to lose, even if he were to hold on tightly to his backer, Yu Qiufan, the latter would still abandon him and kick him away.
The hesitation was evident on Lu Jiuhe’s face. Upon seeing that, Fang Lin could tell that he was guilty in his heart. However, Fang Lin could only provoke him slightly in order to acquire the Century Lingzhi.
“Senior Brother Disciple Lu, are you too afraid to do so? If you are, then you might as well just give me the Century Lingzhi directly. This way, you can avoid embarrassing yourself in the witness of everyone,” said Fang Lin as a sense of mockery radiated from him.
With an unpleasant expression, Lu Jiuhe was well aware that Fang Lin was goading him into making the competition a larger affair, but he had no other choice than to abide. Although he was a high-grade disciple, this showed that he did not have the courage to compete with a low-grade disciple when it came to refining elixirs. If news of this matter were to travel, he would be greatly embarrassed one way or another.
While he could not consent to the challenge, he could not reject it either. In sorrow, Lu Jiuhe discovered that he did not have any other choice left for now.
Kang Lu and the rest were quite confused as well. “What is Senior Brother Disciple Lu trying to do there? Why is he constantly caught in a daze and why hasn’t he consented to Fang Lin’s proposal?” they murmured to one another.
From Kang Lu’s point of view, Lu Jiuhe had no reason not to consent since Fang Lin was but a low-grade disciple whereas Lu Jiuhe was a high-grade disciple, so he had no reason to fear the former.
Sweat covered Lu Jiuhe’s forehead. At this very moment, he finally understood why a person as popular as Kang Lu would have yielded to Fang Lin on multiple occasions. Fang Lin was definitely no ordinary person as expected. In fact, he was exceedingly nasty.
Fang Lin noticed that Lu Jiuhe had not responded, so he attempted to fan the flames once again. “Don’t worry, Senior Brother Disciple Lu. Even if you were to lose, I won’t make fun of you.”
Lu Jiuhe could not bear this anymore at last. He spoke through clenched teeth, “Since you’re so presumptuous, then as your senior brother disciple, I should teach you a lesson.”
Fang Lin smiled. The man was finally caught in his hook and the Century Lingzhi was halfway in his grasp!
The reason why Fang Lin chose to carry out the competition in the presence of the disciples was to ensure that Lu Jiuhe would not stand a chance to go back on his word shamelessly. If the competition was carried out in private, Lu Jiuhe could still hold on to the Century Lingzhi despite losing. There was nothing Fang Lin could do even if he refused to give it away. After all, Fang Lin could not go ahead and snatch it away, could he?
“Now that the agreement has been reached, let’s set the match to begin in one day,” said Fang Lin and Lu Jiuhe snorted in response.
Lu Jiuhe left the courtyard shortly after Fang Lin’s departure. He was planning to spread the news of the alchemy match between him and Fang Lin. Also, he had to seek an elder’s assistance to become the judge.
Soon, the entire alchemy sect learned about the news of the alchemy match between Lu Jiuhe and Fang Lin. It drew many people’s attention at once.
Whether it was a junior alchemy disciple or an official disciple, anyone who heard this news wondered if Fang Lin was mad. What was on his mind for him to actually want to compete against a high-grade disciple? Was there anything else that was more self-conceited than this?
No one believed that Fang Lin could win and even more of them mocked Fang Lin for being overly wanton. How dare he despise a high-grade disciple just because he was gifted with natural talent?
Even Xu Shangao, who had a rather close relationship with Fang Lin, was startled when he heard with his own ears that his friend was about to compete in refining elixirs with Lu Jiuhe.
“What an insolent boy! Despite his natural talent, he won’t achieve much in his life.”
“He doesn’t know his strengths and weaknesses. Sigh.”
“It has already been a few years since Lu Jiuhe became a high-grade disciple. His alchemy skill is no longer as weak as a real Cauldron-1 alchemist. Fang Lin is simply too reckless.”
“I think he’s more than just being reckless, but he’s a fool! The idiot can’t be saved!”
…
The entire alchemy sect was immersed in a great discussion. Many people were mocking Fang Lin’s foolishness. In fact, there were even people that found Fang Lin overly self-conceited such that he made a vain attempt to challenge a high-grade disciple. He had no respect for hierarchy.
However, not many agreed with these discussions. After all, the alchemy sect was competitive. Duels were carried out frequently. Even though it was extremely rare to see an alchemy match between a low-grade disciple and a high-grade disciple, not many regarded Fang Lin’s behavior as being disrespectful toward the hierarchy.
In fact, even among the alchemy’s four excellencies, Yu Qiufan had spoken, which was an extremely rare occasion. He said, “What a joke!” His comment was a representation of his opinion of Fang Lin. It made even more people in the alchemy sect mock and taunt Fang Lin.
The venue of the match was set in the alchemy altar. The match was supposed to be carried out in the alchemy academy. However, the alchemy altar was chosen as the most suitable place for this match in consideration that the junior alchemy disciples could watch it as well.
On the other hand, the elder judge of this match was chosen as well. It was precisely Old Man Zhou who had hosted the junior alchemy disciples’ examination. Old Man Zhou was an honorable old man that had made a name for himself in the alchemy sect. He was never biased, so he was the most suitable candidate as a judge.
In the early morning the next day, numerous alchemy sect disciples gathered in the alchemy altar. The vast majority of the people were made up of junior alchemy disciples. Because witnessing a match between official disciples was rare, they would not miss it for sure. They came early so that they could occupy a good seat in anticipation of the eye-opening experience.
To the junior alchemy disciples, albeit Fang Lin’s act of challenging Lu Jiuhe being overly rash, a majority of them still supported him in secret.
After all, Fang Lin had just been promoted to official disciple recently. Moreover, he was a rare genius that had passed the examination in a single attempt. These junior alchemy disciples hoped that they could see him create a miracle once again, even if the probability of that was so fine that it was not even tangible.
The official disciples of the alchemy sect arrived in succession. Of course, not all of them were present. Only a small portion of official disciples came to the alchemy altar while many more of them did not bother coming because they were already set on the victor and the loser in their hearts from the start. Therefore, there was no need for them to watch anymore.
On the other hand, some people from the martial arts sect came with the intention to watch the fun.
The enormous alchemy altar was filled with standing spectators. Only the center was left empty. Voices rippled through the scene like waves, and the place sounded especially clamorous that day.
Old Man Zhou arrived at the scene. He stood on the stone altar with a smile and paid no attention to the din surrounding him.
It was already late in the morning when there was a commotion in the crowd. Lu Jiuhe had arrived.