Seeing his opponent's behavior, Alchemist Yu felt a secret surge of delight. He had also laid down several layers of poison in his formation. Though hastily arranged and far from thorough, the blend of various toxins contained one that could directly seal the divine sense. Once it invaded the consciousness, it would cause the sea of consciousness to collapse, turning the victim into a living corpse!
Judging from his opponent's state, could it be that this consciousness-attacking poison had gone completely undetected?
Alchemist Yu couldn't help but secretly rejoice. Poisons that attacked divine sense were generally easier to spot, since alchemists typically possessed extremely sharp spiritual awareness.
But looking at his opponent across the way, it was clear the man hadn't noticed this particular toxin at all. His consciousness appeared to be sealed—he had become a living corpse!
With this realization, Alchemist Yu was practically bursting with triumph. And at that very moment, the quarter-hour was nearly up!
Just as Alchemist Yu was swelling with smug satisfaction, a sudden warning flashed through his divine sense.
What was going on?
Alchemist Yu's heart lurched. Why was his divine sense sending out a warning of its own accord? He hurriedly probed, and nearly leapt from his seat.
Around his sea of consciousness, a dark cloud had materialized at some unknown point—dense black clouds gathering before a storm!
The shock nearly tore Alchemist Yu's soul apart.
A moment ago he had been preening with pride, thinking his opponent was too weak to even detect a consciousness-attacking poison. The next moment, he discovered that his own sea of consciousness had been unknowingly enveloped by a sinister cloud!
Moreover, the encirclement was terrifying—as if it were about to devour his sea of consciousness at any moment, causing it to collapse entirely!
No good!
A sliver of genuine terror finally flashed through Alchemist Yu's heart.
At that moment, Elder Feng issued his command: the quarter-hour was up.
Alchemist Yu leapt from the formation as though a great burden had been lifted.
Alchemist Yu shot back irritably, "Conceding? That only applies if he's still alive!"
Everyone froze. What did that mean? Was Alchemist Yu saying his opponent was already dead?
Alchemist Yu offered no explanation. He sat cross-legged and began furiously deploying techniques, attempting to seal off the area around his consciousness to block the cloud's invasion.
But no matter what he did, the dark cloud's advance was merely slowed—it still crept forward with agonizing persistence.
Alchemist Yu sprang to his feet and strode toward his own formation.
Wei Jie bellowed, "Alchemist Yu, you're breaking the rules!"
Alchemist Yu ignored him entirely, making straight for
But just as Alchemist Yu approached, Jiang Chen suddenly opened his eyes within the formation. He stretched languidly, rose to his feet with deliberate slowness, and let out an exaggerated yawn. With a face full of apology, he said, "Sorry about that—how long has it been? I accidentally took a nap. Quite comfortable, actually."
Then he smiled and nodded toward Alchemist Yu. "Alchemist Yu, what kind of formation was that? I didn't feel any threat at all. It actually helped me get a nice little nap."
The crowd nearly collapsed on the spot.
No one was stupid. Everyone could see that Jiang Chen was clearly putting on an act. This was a deliberate slap to Alchemist Yu's face!
You set up a formation, didn't you? You were trying to kill your opponent, weren't you?
The other guy was completely fine—not a single hair harmed—and he'd even taken a nap!
Alchemist Yu's body swayed, nearly passing out from rage.
Just moments ago, the father and son had been calling the other side "fraud" and "charlatan."
In the end, it was Alchemist Yu who looked far more like the fraud—the real charlatan!
Wei Tiantong was also deeply shocked. Seeing Alchemist Yu charge toward Jiang Chen, his heart sank. Surely the man wouldn't lose his composure like this?
Losing one round was no reason to fly into such a rage!
"Alchemist Yu, stop!" Wei Tiantong called out urgently.
The bigger picture mattered. Though Wei Tiantong desperately wanted to crush this so-called Pill King Zhen who had appeared out of nowhere, reason told him that now was not the time to fall out with
"Alchemist Yu, think of the bigger picture!" shouted one of Wei Tiantong's trusted clan elders. "Even if we fall behind this round, we can bet on a few more. Surely a Fourth-Rank Pill King wouldn't lose to a Second-Rank Pill King?"
Under normal circumstances, Alchemist Yu would never have been this irrational. But now, he knew his very life hung in the balance!
If he couldn't get the antidote, once that dark cloud penetrated his sea of consciousness, it would be the end of him. At the thought, how could he possibly stay calm? How could he care about the bigger picture?
No "bigger picture" mattered more than his own life!
When Jiang Chen saw Alchemist Yu charging toward him, he felt no fear at all. Judging by the man's cultivation, he was merely at the Earth Saint Realm.
Though Jiang Chen had not yet broken through to the Earth Saint Realm himself, he had confronted numerous Heaven Saint Realm experts. Why would he fear a mere Earth Saint?