Chapter 1330: The Alchemy Duel

"You ignorant brat!"

A ferocious grin spread across Ye Xiong's face as his bronze bell eyes locked onto Ling Feng. The moment Ling Feng made the slightest mistake, he would seize the excuse to teach him a brutal lesson.

Within Ye Xiong's alchemy room, every disciple existed for one purpose only, which was absolute obedience!

Here, he was the tyrant who ruled the alchemy room and decided the fate of every disciple inside.

Yet at the instant Ling Feng reached out to handle the ingredients, Ye Xiong suddenly froze.

That movement looked far too practiced.

Indeed, Ling Feng's technique was mature and refined. It was even simpler and faster than the simplified extraction method taught here, and the purification rate rose dramatically as well.

One breath!

Two breaths!

Ten breaths!

Twenty breaths!

...

In less than thirty breaths, Ling Feng had finished processing enough materials to refine two hundred portions of Divine Formation Pills!

"Master Ye, are you daydreaming?"

Ling Feng raised his eyes to look at Ye Xiong and spoke calmly. "The time you have wasted staring seems to be far more than thirty breaths already."

The surrounding outer sect disciples stood dumbfounded. That speed was terrifying!

"How is that... possible?"

Ye Xiong's mind went blank for a brief moment. That technique and that speed were beyond belief.

Even if he did it himself, he would not reach even one tenth of Ling Feng's efficiency!

Ling Feng's words snapped Ye Xiong back to his senses. His face darkened as he stared at the processed ingredients and said coldly, "Speed alone is useless. If the purification rate is low..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ling Feng picked up one of the herbs and said evenly, "Every single ingredient has a purification rate above ninety percent. Master Ye, with your experience, you should be able to see that clearly."

Ye Xiong's lips twitched. He had been so shocked earlier that he had forgotten to examine the purification results!

"Even if your speed is high and the purification passes, you still..."

Ye Xiong fixed his gaze on Ling Feng as a mountain like aura erupted from his body. He swung his palm down violently and shouted, "Who gave you the nerve to alter my extraction technique?"

An ordinary disciple would have been terrified into paralysis. Ling Feng merely shifted his body and easily avoided the strike, then replied calmly, "Replacing an outdated and inefficient method with one that is faster and more effective should be the goal every alchemist strives for."

"You dare dodge?"

Ye Xiong was truly enraged now. Veins bulged across his body like writhing earthworms as he roared, "I do not need you to lecture me!"

"How pitiful."

Ling Feng shook his head lightly. "As an alchemist, you cling stubbornly to old ways and refuse to accept even the slightest improvement. An alchemist like that is nothing more than a joke!"

"Bastard!"

Ye Xiong was like an enraged lion, fury surging in his eyes. "You think you are worthy of improving my alchemy?"

"If I am better than you, then I am."

Ling Feng smiled faintly. His expression remained calm and steady, like still water in an ancient well.

"Better than me?"

The muscles on Ye Xiong's face spasmed wildly before he burst into loud laughter. "Brat, you say you are stronger than me?"

"Whether I am or not, we will know after a contest."

Ling Feng shrugged and said casually, "We will compete using what you are best at. We refine two hundred portions of Divine Formation Pills. Whoever is faster and produces better quality wins."

"Compete with me?"

Ye Xiong laughed loudly as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world. "You want to compete with me in refining Divine Formation Pills?"

He had refined pills in the Dan Ding Grand Hall for nearly thirty years. From an unknown apprentice, he had risen to become one of the foremost pill refining great grandmasters here. Never once had anyone dared to challenge him.

Especially not in refining Divine Formation Pills, which he produced by the thousands every day.

He could refine high-grade Divine Formation Pills even with his eyes closed. Yet Ling Feng dared to challenge him in the very field where he excelled most.

This was nothing short of courting death!

"What, are you afraid?"

Ling Feng crossed his arms and smiled faintly.

"Brat, I am starting to pity your ignorance!"

Ye Xiong stood there without moving, yet his massive body exuded an invisible pressure. He reined in his violent aura and sneered, "You may compete if you wish. However, a mere outer sect disciple challenging an elder must pay a price."

"What do you have in mind?"

Ling Feng glanced at Ye Xiong and asked calmly.

A cold glint flashed in Ye Xiong's eyes. "If you lose, you go beneath the Black Abyss and stay there for half a year. Trash like you belongs in that place."

"Half... Half a year? That... That will kill someone!"

The nearby outer sect disciples were horrified. Lu Yu cursed inwardly.

This newcomer is too foolish!

This was a contest with no chance of victory at all.

"Fine. Half a year it is."

Ling Feng lifted his brows and replied calmly. "If you lose, I have no other demands. As long as I complete my daily tasks in the future, you are not allowed to interfere or deliberately make things difficult. The same goes for everyone else."

"Junior Brother Ling..."

Lu Yu and the other outer sect disciples felt warmth surge in their hearts. Even at that moment, Ling Feng was still thinking of them.

Yet when they saw the savage look in Ye Xiong's eyes, despair returned.

Winning was impossible. Within the Dan Ding Grand Hall, no one could defeat Master Ye. Not an outer sect disciple, not even an outer sect elder.

"

Hmph.

You lowly ant. Today I will let you experience what true despair is!"

Ye Xiong sneered. He removed a long cloth strip from his wrist and tied back his loose hair, a trace of seriousness appearing on his face.

Once he focused fully on alchemy, Ye Xiong's entire presence seemed to change completely!

"Lu Yu, prepare the materials!"

"Wang Zhen, prepare the alchemy furnaces!"

Sharp light flickered in Ye Xiong's eyes. That massive body held far more than brute strength alone!

Before long, the disciples prepared two identical alchemy furnaces and two sets of two hundred portions of materials for refining Divine Formation Pills.

"I will not say that I am bullying the weak. You may choose the materials and furnace first."

Ye Xiong looked at Ling Feng with a cold smile and spoke calmly.

"For Divine Formation Pills, reliance on the furnace and materials is minimal. What truly decides the outcome is fire control during the final pill collection."

Ling Feng casually chose the furnace on the right and said evenly, "Shall we begin?"

"Eager to suffer beneath the Black Abyss already? Fine. Let us begin."

Ye Xiong flashed to the left furnace and sneered. "Then let me show you the unbridgeable gap between you and me!"