Chapter 86: The Stars Surrounding the Moon

  ……

  Chen Mo concentrated and focused his will, with one hand grasping, the herbs were lifted into the air and thrown into the alchemy furnace, launching the final general attack.

  Huo Yingfan turned around and sneered in his heart: "What are you, really thinking of yourself as a treasure? At most, you're just a show-off garlic head. I'd like to see how you'll end up."

  "Let you lose clearly!"

  A cold shout, the mysterious energy surged into the cauldron. In an instant, the inscriptions flowed and turned. The thin spiritual energy scattered between heaven and earth seemed to be gathered by some kind of power, pouring in and transforming into a fierce red flame.

  A single blade of grass medicine is sucked into the cauldron, and with a subtle manipulation of the flame by divine intention, it adheres to the cauldron and starts spinning, forming an extremely beautiful and gorgeous flame vortex. Countless sharp threads of flame are connected, engulfing all the medicinal materials.

  White dots fluttering, pure essence flying out of the flames, starry twinkling like a galaxy unfolding, rotating and gathering towards the center of the cauldron, forming a white floating medicine cocoon. And it's getting rounder and bigger, looking extremely dazzling and gorgeous.

  "The stars surround the moon!"

  These essences flew out of the whirlpool, flowing upwards from below to a central place, where that central place shone brightly like a round moon, and when everyone looked, wasn't it like all the stars paying homage to the moon?

  "What does it mean?" A voice rose, a strange name was naturally spoken, and someone was naturally curious.

  "This is also a pill-making technique, but I don't know how many times more profound it is than the first and second moves, ranking third in Changchun Valley."

  "The first and second are..."

  "It's Liufeng Suixue and Bai Liansheng, the latter being the former Gu Zhu's Zhenzhen Jie, Chen Mo as a disciple, not even learning a single trick, empty guarding the treasure mountain without knowing it himself, is this the sorrow of rural turtle...” Ye Lianxiang naturally only criticized Chen Mo.

  "Boom!"

  The silent crucible suddenly burst into flames and exploded with a loud bang.

  Innumerable fragments flew about like knife blades, embedding themselves in the stone structures all around, and the green bricks on the ground were lifted up one after another!

  In an instant, dust and smoke billowed forth, and everyone hastily covered their mouths and noses as they retreated backwards.

  "The game is over."

  Chen Mo was shrouded in smoke and dust, his figure nowhere to be seen. The crowd had complex expressions, some mocking him for being overconfident, others slightly regretful, and still others coldly observing from the sidelines.

  But without exception, they all think Chen Mo has definitely lost this time.

  At this time, Huo Yingfan held a crystal clear and smooth dan medicine in his hand, striding towards the steps, and casually shattered a flying dan furnace fragment with a wave of his hand.

  At the same time, a very strong fragrance spread from his hands.

  "Huh? What's that fragrance? It smells so good...... It's the Spirit Gathering Pill!"

  "Could it be... the Small Extreme Pill of Gathering Spirit?"

  "Awesome! Awesome! As expected of Master Huo, you've actually managed to refine such a wonderfully fragrant and richly textured Gathering Spirit Pill with perfect quality."

  "Only someone with Brother Huo's extraordinary talent can cultivate a minor extreme treasure."

  "It's really a minor elixir of extreme quality, a second-rate alchemist can refine it to this extent, Xiao Yingzi's level is almost at third-rate now."

  Feeling the gaze of admiration from the crowd, Huo Yingfan was even more calm and composed. With his head held high, he confidently handed over the carefully refined Xiao Jiling Dan to Gu Yue Xiao's hand.

  This time he was also infuriated by Chen's silence and played exceptionally, determined to trample him to the ground and never let him turn over again.

  "Elder Gǔ Yuè, would you please make the announcement?" Huò Yīngfán was so excited that even his tone became high-pitched.

  Gu Yuexiang gazed at the mist-shrouded scene where Chen Mo was, with a tinge of regret. Since the cauldron had already exploded, the elixir must have been destroyed in that blast as well.

  "Alright, I hereby declare..." Gu Yuexiao's voice was so stunning that it left everyone speechless.

  "Silent!"

  Just then, someone in the crowd shouted. Everyone looked over and a black figure emerged from the smoke and dust.

  This is certainly at the last moment, Chen Mo's explosion.

  At this moment, his hair was disheveled and his face was ashen. However, he walked steadily onto the stage, looked up at Huo Yingfan, and then flashed a snowy white smile.

  Huo Yingfan hastily pulled his clothes and shifted when he walked over, showing great disdain for people.

  Gu Yuexiang saw Chen Mo, first turning his head to smile at himself, then opening his hand, and a dan medicine quietly lay in his palm, with a faint bloodstain on it.

  Glowing like agate, the size is similar to longan, transparent like a gemstone. Standing in front of Chen Mo, a strong fragrance of medicine permeates the heart and spleen, a cool feeling spreads into the mind, it's very comfortable and pleasant.

  The old country of Guoyue is wide-eyed, rarely revealing an unbelievable expression.

  "Judge, what are you still hesitating about? Hurry up and announce the verdict. I'm still waiting for Chen Shidi to pay his debt." Huo Yingfan said in a low voice without turning his head.

  "Alright! I declare, the winner of this time is——"

  Gu Yue's eyes swept over the figures in front of her, and she saw that Huo Yingfan was proudly facing the crowd with his head held high, as if he had already won. A cold glint flashed at the corner of her mouth, and after a brief pause, she continued to speak loudly.

  "Silent!"

  The whole place fell silent, Chen Mo's name dissipated above the square, echoing in everyone's ears.

  Gu Yu Xiao Guo raised the elixir high. Everyone followed his arm, gazing afar. The scorching sun was dazzling, and the sunlight passing through the elixir made it even more radiant, exceptionally resplendent, making people feel that it wasn't an elixir, but a precious gemstone...

  No! It's starlight!

  "Wow......" The light in everyone's eyes flickered, this was not an extreme-grade elixir - but a super-grade one that surpassed it!

  "The winner is Chen Mo." No one knew who said it, but everyone thought it was true.

  "I, the old man, have been in Danbi Pavilion for many years and have seen all sorts of elixirs. Refining elixirs to produce a dan is the final step. If the essence is only 50%, it's an inferior product. An essence purity of 100% is just ordinary dan medicine. A purity of 150% is a minor extreme product. Once it reaches 200%, it's truly an extreme product."

  "This Chen Mo's Jiling Dan has reached a full twenty-five percent, it... is a Superb Quality item!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, Huo Yingfan suddenly burst out in anger, his eyes wide open with a fierce glare, the whites of his eyes filled with blood vessels, his finger pointing at Chen Mo's nose tip, shouting loudly, spitting saliva everywhere.

  "How...how is this possible? Referee! He's cheating! He must be cheating!"

  "He's already exploded the cauldron, how can there be elixir?! It must be cheating! Expel him, drive him away, break his legs, kill..."

  "Despicable!" Gu Yue shouted angrily, pouring in her Xuan Qi and divine intent, shocking He Yingfan so much that his ears buzzed, momentarily stunned.

  "This is a solemn court, how dare you make such a racket! Are you questioning my judgment?!"

  Huo Yingfan was so anxious that he jumped over the wall and grabbed a handful of medicine.

  The medicine in his hand was hot, but his heart was cool. He felt a chill run down his spine and suddenly fell to the bottom of the valley, shattering into pieces. His heart was filled with anger, yet he felt countless pairs of eyes watching him. Instantly, he felt like there were thorns on his back, and he didn't dare turn around.

  Huo Yingfan finally couldn't hold on, a hundred emotions surged in his heart, a burst of fire shot up, he rolled his eyes and fainted, rolling down the stairs.

  "Xiao Yingzi!" Ye Lianxiang and others were shocked, and they rushed over in a hurry.

  She broke the dan medicine in her hand and threw it at Chen Mo, who caught it with one hand. A cold and sinister voice came from beside his ear: "Chen Mo, you're quite capable, remember that for this princess."

  After finishing speaking, a group of people dragged Huo Yingfan away from Danbi Building quickly.

  Bang, bang, bang.

  It was unclear who started it, but someone brought up the first applause in the scene.

  Then came applause like a tidal wave, one wave higher than the other, lasting for a long time, drowning out Chen Mo's words of thanks.

  As the applause subsided, people around came over to offer congratulations.

  "Master Chen's junior brother, today's Dou Dan truly broadened my horizons. When you have time, please don't hesitate to instruct me with your two hands."

  "Congratulations to Brother Chen Mo for winning in desperate situation..."

  "Brother Chen, come visit me another day and we'll have a couple of drinks together."

  "Silent Master's younger brother, I don't know your age, but my sister was born with a beautiful face and figure, yet no one can enter her eyes, however she has admired you for a long time..."

  "Go, go, go! Your family's one is comparable to Master Mu's!"

  "It's just, it is!"

  They didn't know that Chen Mo had refined such a superior Gathering Spirit Pill, and indeed cheated. Because at the last moment, he infused a hint of the Light God Tree's small green liquid into it.

  The result was surprisingly amazing, and it suddenly became a top-grade Spirit Gathering Pill.

  ……

  Ignoring the flattery of the crowd on one side, Chen Mo and Gu Yue Xiao were quietly talking to each other on the other side.

  "Chen Moxian, my junior, your master and I are of the same generation. From now on, if you have any matters, just come to Dan Yun Pavilion. Without saying more, the materials for alchemy in Dan Yun Pavilion are all available, take whatever you want."

  Then they exchanged a glance and smiled at each other.

  "Then... obedience is better than respect, thank you, Gu Yue."

  Gu Yuexiao nodded, and then ordered someone to settle the winnings with Chen Mo. Some people were still sore about losing and wanted to cause trouble, but with Dan Boge Pavilion around, they didn't dare make a scene.

  Soon, the 200,000 yuan bet was all in Chen Mo's hands.

  The crowd at the Dou Dan scene gradually dispersed, and there were not a few people on the large platform congratulating each other.

  On the surface, they praised him to no end, but in reality, many of them wanted to collect information about Mulan's preferences through him. If they were lucky enough to gain her favor, they might also make a name for themselves like Chen Mo did today.

  "Please go first, Master Chen."

  In front of the Tianxia Wuxing counter, the disciples who were queuing up voluntarily gave way to Chen Mo, speaking in a polite and courteous tone. After repeated modest refusals, he couldn't decline anymore, so he could only nod his head to express gratitude.

  "That's Chen Mo, who just defeated Huo Yingfan."

  "You look quite handsome."

  He listened carefully, and although the voice was not as clear as a mountain spring, the meaning behind the words had already caused Chen Mo's heart to fluctuate. He couldn't help but think to himself: "How things can change in an instant! Before the competition, he was being criticized by everyone, yet now it's completely the opposite."

  It's indeed a world where strength is respected, and only by showing one's skills will they gain respect from others.

  The weak are preyed upon by the strong, but now one move has reversed the situation, and everything around me has triggered a chain reaction.

  The only regret is that for a single Dan of Yi Jing, after buying the hundred-year-old Qing Tian Mu, the prize money was immediately depleted before it even warmed up.

  "True power is the only way." Chen Mo muttered to himself, while responding to the flattering praise that came at him like a flood, quickening his pace as he headed back to the Suspended Void Pavilion. What was on his mind was how he could persuade his beautiful master to help him refine the Yi Jing Dan.

  ……