Chapter 391: Crushing Victory!


    At this moment, within Liu Ling’s Crimson Serpent Cauldron, the light red medicinal liquid seemed to sense thepressive force from its surroundings, and it suddenly began to fluctuate violently. With each surge, powerful ripples of energy erupted from it, colliding with the invisible force formed by soul power.


    “Bang!”


    On the stone tform, the cauldron quivered slightly, producing a crisp collision sound from within.


    As the cauldron trembled, Liu Ling’s expression changed subtly. His foot stomped heavily on the ground, and his palm, hovering above the cauldron, clenched fiercely forward as if trying to crush the very air in front of him.


    With the tightening of Liu Ling’s grip, the violently churning liquid in the cauldron suddenly froze. The invisible hand formed by his soul power surged in strength at once. The originallyrge mass of liquid had shrunk to the size of a ping-pong ball, but as it reached this point, it fiercely resisted, refusing to move to the final step.


    “It’s resisting so strongly!” Liu Ling’s face paled as he concentrated on the cauldron.


    This was already Liu Ling’s fourth attempt at refining a fifth-tier pill. With the experience from his previous three tries, he knew that any mistake at this stage would mean all prior efforts would be wasted. This was why he had rested for such a long time after purifying all the ingredients.


    Given that he had only recently advanced to a fifth-tier alchemist, his sess rate for refining a Dragon Force Pill, which was among the higher-grade fifth-tier pills, was not high. However, after refining the Green Lotus Core me, practicing the powerful techniques passed down by Gu He, and achieving a breakthrough in his cultivation, his confidence had surged, pushing him to challenge his limits.


    The changes in Liu Ling’s expression were noticed by the crowd in the square. They had also seen the cauldron''s trembling earlier, and now everyone held their breath, eyes fixed intently on the scene.


    Detecting the disturbanceing from Liu Ling’s cauldron, Fa Ma was now certain that the pill being refined was indeed a fifth-tier pill. After all, a fourth-tier pill could never produce such intense energy ripples.


    “Liu Ling, you must seed!”


    Fa Ma silently prayed. At this moment, Xiao Yan’s pill was alreadyplete, and there was no way it could surpass Xiao Yi Xian’s four-tier pill with colored fragrance. All of Fa Ma’s hopes now rested on Liu Ling.


    “Senior brother, you can do it!”


    On the edge of the square, Xiao Yi Xian, who was nurturing her pill, also noticed themotion. A hint of concern shed in her eyes.


    “Looks like he’s feeling the pressure,” Xiao Yan murmured to himself. This was the first time he’d seen Liu Ling struggle so much during a refinement. If it weren’t for thepetition, he might have even wished for Liu Ling’s sess.


    “I will be a sixth-tier alchemist. I will not be defeated by a fifth-tier pill!”


    As his soul power contended with the energy within the medicinal liquid, a thought shed through Liu Ling’s mind. He took a deep breath of the warm air around him, his face turning red with strain. His right hand, hovering over the cauldron, first opened slowly and then trembled as it gradually clenched into a fist. A low, forcefulmand escaped his throat:


    “Condense for me!”


    With themand, Liu Ling’s hand gripped tightly, and the ping-pong ball-sized liquid in the cauldron shuddered. In an instant, it began to shrink at a visible rate. Within moments, the liquid had vanished, reced by a thumb-sized, light red embryonic pill.


    The most difficult step—forming the pill—had beenpleted. Beads of sweat dripped from Liu Ling’s forehead as he took several deep breaths. The suppressed cyan mes began to release their heat gradually, roasting the rough-shaped pill.


    “Excellent! He’s formed the pill embryo!”


    Seeing this, more than ny percent of the spectators let out a sigh of relief. Forming the pill embryo meant that half of the battle was won.


    Gazing at the pill, rough and enclosed in cyan mes, Liu Ling allowed himself a brief moment of rxation before regaining full concentration.


    Although the pill was rough in form, it already possessed some of the basic effects of a fifth-tier pill, the “Dragon Force Pill.” Judging by its value, the oue of thispetition might already be determined.


    “Just stay steady, and the championship will be yours!”


    On the high tform, Fa Ma silently prayed. As a fifth-tier alchemist himself, he knew that even if a fifth-tier pill reached the embryonic stage, the subsequent process was still full of dangers. A single misstep could destroy the already-formed embryonic pill.


    At this moment, within the Crimson Serpent Cauldron, under the shroud of cyan mes, the dark red pill began to spin rapidly. As its rotation intensified, the searing heat of the cyan mes gathered into thin, invisible strands and continuously infused into it.


    “ng!”


    During the rotation, a wave of dark red energy rippled from the pill, crashing heavily against the inner walls of the cauldron and emitting a crisp, loud sound.


    Noticing the changes in the dark red pill, Liu Ling’s expression grew more serious. He knew this chaotic energy was a result of the pill''s formation—a situation he had faced three times before. However, this time, the energy surge was the most intense.


    “Bang! Bang! Bang!”


    Within the cauldron, the dark red embryonic pill continuously released energy ripples that struck the cauldron walls. If not for the sturdiness of the Crimson Serpent Cauldron, it might have shattered under the repeated impacts.


    Watching Liu Ling control the mes, Xiao Yan and the Little Princess, standing nearby, were so tense they momentarily forgot to breathe.


    “Luckily, I’ve already broken through to Dou Wang; otherwise, suppressing these energy surges would have been difficult!”


    Seeing the dark red pill in the cauldron gradually be smooth and round, Liu Ling’s tense nerves finally began to rx.


    “Boom!”


    Under countless gazes, Liu Ling suddenly lifted his hand and struck the cauldron lid. Instantly, the lid flew up, and with it came a dense fragrance unique to a fifth-tier pill. A bright red pill shot out from the cauldron.


    Liu Ling quickly grabbed a prepared jade bottle and captured the flying fifth-tier pill.


    “Sess!”


    “Gu He has truly found a treasure. Liu Ling’s potential will undoubtedly make him an extraordinary genius in the future, stepping beyond the Jia Ma Empire, reaching the Northwest Continent, and even the Central ins...”


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