Chapter 1129, Accepting the Challenge

Translator: Silavin

 

“Yao Jie, do you dare to duel me in Alchemy?”

 

A light, unhurried voice rang out through the Medicine Market, and beneath it, the previously clamorous market fell utterly silent in an instant.

 

This silence was deeply uncanny. Face after face wore a gaze that could only be described as the look one reserves for a simpleton, all fixed upon Qin Yichen.

 

“Has he lost his mind?”

 

“Duel Yao Jie in Alchemy? Does he have the qualifications?”

 

“He likely cannot bear the humiliation and would rather die at Yao Jie’s hands.”

 

“He has a bit of backbone, I suppose, though he vastly overestimates himself.”

 

After quite a long moment, a stream of hushed whispers began to rise from the crowd.

 

Then, one after another, gazes turned toward Yao Jie, and sure enough, thick disdain was plain upon his face. Moreover, faced with Qin Yichen’s challenge, he refused without a moment’s hesitation.

 

“To duel me in Alchemy, you do not yet have the qualifications.”

 

As the greatest prodigy of the Medicine Race’s younger generation, Yao Jie naturally held himself at an exceptionally lofty altitude.

 

Across the continent, there was no telling how many people wished to challenge him. Even if they were ultimately defeated, simply having crossed blades with Yao Jie in Alchemy was considered a tremendous honour.

 

Naturally, were he to agree every time such a thing arose, Yao Jie would find himself with no rest whatsoever. Besides, someone like Qin Yichen, whom he regarded as nothing more than a swindler, was simply not someone he would ever consider a worthy opponent.

 

After Yao Jie’s refusal, nearly everyone turned their mocking gaze back toward Qin Yichen once more.

 

What they did not expect, however, was that not a trace of shame or embarrassed fury appeared on Qin Yichen’s face.

 

All at once, a vast and surging fluctuation radiated outward from Qin Yichen’s person, and with the release of this fluctuation, the very air of the surrounding world seemed to cease its flow.

 

“This is…”

 

“Heaven Grade Spiritual Energy!?”

 

Under this fluctuation, a tremor stirred in the hearts of the many powerful cultivators present, and face after face became one of profound astonishment.

 

Only at this moment did they recall why, earlier, Yao Jie had seen fit to intervene, and why that Earth Grade Alchemist of the Medicine Race had been left in such a wretched state.

 

Between Heaven Grade Spiritual Energy and Earth Grade Spiritual Energy, though separated by only a single Grade, countless Alchemists spent their entire lives trapped on this side of that chasm, unable to cross it.

 

Moreover, the difference in Spiritual Energy between these two Grades bore no comparison whatsoever.

 

No wonder that Earth Grade Alchemist had been left in such an utterly wretched state earlier. To provoke a Heaven Grade Alchemist while at the Peak of the Earth Grade was simply asking for suffering.

 

“A Heaven Grade Alchemist? How can this be?!”

 

And at this moment, from within a luxurious inn in the inner district of Myriad Beasts City, not far from the Medicine Market, the expressions of powerful experts from various First Tier and Top Tier Forces also tightened.

 

Originally, they had regarded the person making loud claims and selling Pills as nothing more than a mildly entertaining diversion to while away the time. Some Forces had not even bothered to send anyone to the Medicine Market at all.

 

Yet none of them had anticipated that this was not the minor scheme of a few colluding First Tier Forces, as they had imagined.

 

To possess Heaven Grade Spiritual Energy at such a young age, even within the Medicine Race itself, this was a rare sight.

 

A person of this calibre would surely possess a pride of spirit that ordinary people could not fathom. How could someone like that possibly conspire with others in something so contemptible and self-degrading?

 

And yet, Pills effective for every Race with three simultaneous effects were simply too fantastical to believe. It was in fact not strange for them to be unable to accept it in their hearts.

 

“He is actually a Heaven Grade Alchemist?”

 

In the upper floor of that inn, Jin Mi’s expression also shifted, a flash of astonishment visible in his eyes.

 

And across from him, Qing Luan made no attempt whatsoever to conceal his reaction, directly gesturing toward the doorway to signal someone to head to the Medicine Market.

 

Such a young Heaven Grade Alchemist, even a Top Tier Force would wish to recruit with all its might.

 

“Brother Qing Luan, you are still as impetuous as ever.” Jin Mi watched Qing Luan’s movements with clear eyes, though he himself made no move.

 

“I cannot help it. Your Golden Flame Clan is wealthy and influential, having recruited two Alchemists from the Medicine Race. My Race has no such foundations.” Qing Luan let out a light laugh and spoke without the slightest restraint.

 

“You are destined to be disappointed this time. Even if that Junior is a Heaven Grade Alchemist, before your people arrive, he will likely already be a cripple.” Jin Mi let out a cold laugh, watching the two people facing off in the Medicine Market with a smile that was not quite a smile.

 

Hearing this, Qing Luan’s complexion also changed.

 

Only now did he recall that the person he wished to recruit was facing no one other than Yao Jie of the Medicine Race.

 

High in the sky above Myriad Beasts City, a blurred silhouette stood amid swirling clouds and mist, gazing down at the city below. His eyes were full of lingering fondness, as though looking upon his own child.

 

“Hmm?” All at once, as though sensing some unusual fluctuation, his gaze shifted toward a particular spot within Myriad Beasts City.

 

…

 

And at this moment within the Medicine Market, the atmosphere had become rather heavy.

 

No one had anticipated that Qin Yichen would actually possess Heaven Grade Spiritual Energy.

 

Though even now, few believed whether the Pills he had described truly existed. At the very least, however, his challenge to Yao Jie had earned the acknowledgement of the crowd.

 

And at this moment, the expression on Yao Jie’s face had gone entirely dark.

 

In truth, he had already sensed the formidable nature of Qin Yichen’s Spiritual Energy earlier. However, he had not wished to expose the full extent of his own strength here.

 

And so he had relied solely on verbal threats to humiliate Qin Yichen, hoping to use the Medicine Race’s name to make him retreat in the face of difficulties. Yet he had clearly not anticipated that Qin Yichen would be so rash, having the slightest regards to his threats.

 

Now, in full view of everyone, challenged to an Alchemy Duel by a Heaven Grade Alchemist of equal standing, this was no longer something that could be easily resolved.

 

To be challenged to an Alchemy Duel by an Alchemist of equal Grade, even in the long history of the Medicine Race, instances of refusal had been extremely rare.

 

After all, the pride inherent in being a member of the Medicine Race simply did not permit refusal. This was also a matter that concerned the Medicine Race’s reputation.

 

And Yao Jie was the foremost prodigy of the Medicine Race’s younger generation, someone who could, in a certain sense, represent the Medicine Race itself.

 

Faced with the Alchemy Duel that Qin Yichen had proposed, he simply had no way to refuse.

 

“Junior, you are truly set upon seeking death!” Yao Jie drew a deep breath, fixing his gaze upon Qin Yichen, cold light flickering in his eyes.

 

“The fellow just now said something rather similar.” Qin Yichen gave a wholly indifferent shrug of his shoulders and replied mildly.

 

Upon hearing these words, Yao Jie felt as though his chest were blocked by a stone. When it came to the art of slapping someone’s face with one’s tongue, how could he possibly compare to this fellow who had been nurtured under Ye Liangchen?

 

Accordingly, Yao Jie drew a deep breath, spoke no further, and stepped up onto the platform where Qin Yichen stood.

 

Upon witnessing this scene, the great masses of onlookers immediately erupted into a frenzy, and in an instant, the atmosphere throughout the Medicine Market was driven to its very peak.