Although
Because the three pills Jiang Chen had presented in the first round, though none of them were particularly high in grade, their quality and purity were beyond what ordinary people could match.
Moreover, all three pills carried a distinctive personal style — a style that Pill King Yu found familiar, though he could not quite place it.
Whether it was the Burst
The workmanship behind these pills was extraordinary. If not for considerations of competitive fairness, Pill King Yu actually admired the three pills from Taiyuan Pavilion more.
In the end, Taiyuan Tower had won its round purely on the strength of pill grade — in plain terms, bullying the small with the large, bringing Imperial-grade pills to compete against True Saint-grade, even Saint-grade pills.
Though they had won, the victory was far from honorable.
Furthermore, the origin of the Myriad Longevity Pill was common knowledge. Pill King Yu did not for a moment believe that Taiyuan Tower had been able to refine it themselves.
Most likely, some faction that had obtained the Myriad Longevity Pill formula had produced the pill and consigned it to the Royal Court's great clan for sale.
Of course, the rules of the bet did not stipulate that Taiyuan Tower had to refine everything personally, so even an outside consignment did not violate the rules.
Though Pill King Yu admired Taiyuan Pavilion's pills more, he could not in good conscience claim the Myriad Longevity Pill was inferior to the Half-Step Zhixian Pill.
Even if Pill King Yu himself thought so, the other Pill Kings would not be so dishonest.
Now, seeing that the Wei family's Pill King had actually taken the initiative to challenge — and that not a trace of nervousness or stage fright showed on his face — Pill King Yu was somewhat surprised by the man's boldness.
Regardless of the final outcome, Pill King Yu now felt sympathy for the Wei family, along with a measure of genuine admiration.
After all, the Wei family possessed real skill and true substance. For a ninth-rank clan to have fought this far against the oppression of the Royal Court's great clan was no small feat.
As for the grudges between Taiyuan Tower and Taiyuan Pavilion, a man of Pill King Yu's wisdom could see perfectly well that this was nothing but a scheme orchestrated by the Royal Court's great clan to suppress the Wei family.
The invitation from Taiyuan Pavilion had reached Pill King Yu's hands long ago, while the invitation from Taiyuan Tower had arrived only last night.
What did that prove? It proved that Taiyuan Tower had set its sights on Taiyuan Pavilion from the very beginning. In plain terms, the Royal Court's great clan had been targeting the Wei family all along.
Pill King Yu was a man of great renown and virtue. Though he had witnessed plenty of darkness in his time, as a generation's Pill King, his basic sense of right and wrong still held firm.
While he would not openly back the Wei family, the scales of his sympathy tilted firmly in their direction.
He shot Jiang Chen a meaningful glance, then looked over at Pill King Rong from the Royal Court's great clan. Clearing his throat, Pill King Yu spoke again: "The first match of the second round features an ancient formation. I once encountered it in an extremely old text. To be frank, I have studied this ancient formation for several centuries and have never fully cracked it…"
At this point, he held up two scrolls. "These two scrolls contain identical lists of materials that we have prepared. Inside are thirty-six types of spiritual medicine ingredients. Your task is to combine these thirty-six ingredients into as many pill formulas as possible. The side that produces the greater number of formulas wins this match. The time limit is half a shichen. Remember — these ingredients can be used without limit. There is no cap on how many times each one may appear. If you use an ingredient in one formula, you are free to use it in others as well."
With a flick of his sleeve, Pill King Yu sent the two scrolls drifting into the hands of Jiang Chen and Pill King Rong respectively.
Pill King Rong's face lit up with excitement. When it came to combining pill formulas, this was precisely his forte. His lifelong passion had been the study of formula construction and formula deconstruction.
Jiang Chen, on the other hand, remained perfectly composed. After receiving the scroll, his eyes swept across it, and the image of each of the thirty-six spiritual medicine ingredients flashed through his mind one by one.
By the time he had read through twenty or thirty of them, a smile formed in his heart.
He instantly understood what Pill King Yu meant by an "ancient formation."
This was indeed an ancient formation — a very old one. Because this particular formation was something Jiang Chen had already seen during the era of the Myriad Heavens.
The formation was exceedingly old, with a rather elegant name: the Zhenlong Tiangang Pill Formation.
Why was it called the Zhenlong Tiangang Pill Formation?
Because it contained precisely thirty-six spiritual medicine ingredients, corresponding to the thirty-six Tiangang stars. And these thirty-six ingredients could be cycled to produce exactly thirty-six pill formulas. Not one more, not one less.
A thirty-seventh formula was impossible.
With anything fewer, it would not be a perfect Zhenlong Tiangang Pill Formation.
Countless predecessors in the Dao of Alchemy had poured their lifeblood into deducing and refining this formation. It was considered a peerless pill formation, and across the Myriad Heavens, it was one that many alchemical geniuses dreamed of cracking.
Those who did not understand the formation would rack their brains trying to piece together the thirty-six formulas.
Those who did understand it would rack their brains trying to overturn the formation — trying to combine a thirty-seventh formula. Yet despite the efforts of countless alchemical masters who had expended infinite effort, no one had ever produced that thirty-seventh formula. The Zhenlong Tiangang Pill Formation had never been overturned.
Jiang Chen had not expected Pill King Yu to have heard of the Zhenlong Tiangang Pill Formation. But from the way the old man spoke, it seemed he had not yet mastered it?
He knew the name, understood the structure, but had never fully cracked it?
Jiang Chen could not be bothered to dwell on it. He picked up brush and paper, and with swift, sweeping strokes that danced across the page, he began to write.