LGHTNOVELBOOK 54: Family Legacy
Sixth Senior Brother’s spiritual sense would easily overwhelm this group. If it came to a real fight, none of them would stand a chance of survival.
During the years the Mu family head was in seclusion, the family elders led by the grand elder had been restless, unwilling to let the family head’s faction dominate. They were always looking to share some power.
Mu Chihuai was rarely at home, and due to Bai Heng’s limited status, most of the Mu family members were quite exclusionary. This led to the elders acting more recklessly in recent years, amassing power on a large scale. Now they didn’t even bother to keep up appearances.
However, they hadn’t expected to encounter such a tough opponent today.
Chu Sang left them speechless. In the end, the grand elder, with a cold face, modified the competition rules—The use of spiritual sense to interfere with others during the grand competition was prohibited. Violators would be considered cheating and disqualified from the competition.
A flash of unwillingness passed through Mu Tu’s eyes, but he could only endure it.
Fortunately, this farce didn’t waste much time. New furnaces were provided to the disciples whose furnaces had exploded, and the grand competition continued.
Bai Heng looked at Chu Sang, who had sat down again not far away, and shook his head with a light smile. This little girl was quite interesting, daring to be so forceful right from the start.
He still remembered how Xiao Huai had hurriedly left home half a year ago, saying that a new junior sister had joined the sect and he wanted to give her an unforgettable gift.
It seemed that Xiao Huai’s life in the sect was more interesting than he had imagined.
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Without external interference, Mu Chihuai advanced to the next round without any suspense.
The second round of the competition used a point system. Among the 100 disciples who had successfully qualified, participants were randomly drawn for one-on-one battles.
The top ten disciples in the point ranking would enter the third round, which was also the final round.
Without false modesty, Mu Chihuai completely dominated these disciples, progressing smoothly. By the later matches, some disciples would directly concede upon seeing him as their opponent.
The only one who could pose a challenge to him was Mu Tu.
Fortunately, the two didn’t face each other in the second round, both advancing to the third round with equal points.
After a month-long battle in the second round, these Mu family disciples were now exhausted.
It’s worth noting that pill refining is extremely taxing on one’s spiritual sense. Continuous pill refining without rest can potentially deplete one’s spiritual sense, leading to subpar performance.
Eventually, the Mu family higher-ups discussed and decided to mercifully give them a seven-day break before starting the third round of the grand competition.
The intention was for them to rest and adjust their condition, but Mu Chihuai directly locked himself in a room with his pill furnace, entering a short period of seclusion.
For seven whole days, without sleep or rest.
He did nothing but refine pills.
As the future head of the Mu family, he must secure first place in the grand competition.
Mu Chihuai was confident but not complacent. He lowered his eyes and said seriously, “……Mu Tu is a formidable opponent.”
He couldn’t guarantee that he would win if he faced him.
“Sixth Senior Brother, I believe in you.” Chu Sang cheered enthusiastically!
Mu Chihuai felt comforted and couldn’t help but curve his lips slightly, but he didn’t let his guard down because of this.
Mu Tu’s strength was not inferior to his. Strictly speaking, the other party had started on the path of pill refining two years earlier than him.
If he wanted to defeat him in one strike, he needed to find another shortcut.
The young man’s index finger curled against his lips as he pondered for a moment, then said softly, “I plan to refine an earth-grade pill.”
The last round was purely a test of skill—whoever produced the highest quality pill would be the final winner.
Pill quality was divided into five grades: low-grade, medium-grade, high-grade, earth-grade, and heaven-grade.
Pills above high-grade were extremely precious, and pill refiners capable of producing them were few and far between.
Heaven-grade pills were of the highest quality. Ordinary pill refiners wouldn’t even dare to think about refining them, let alone attempt it.
Earth-grade pills were superior to high-grade pills. Under normal circumstances, cultivators capable of refining earth-grade pills were at least at the Nascent Soul stage.
Chu Sang sat cross-legged beside him, thought for a moment, then took out a large stack of books from her storage bag. “Sixth Senior Brother, take a look at these.”
They were all books related to pill refining.
Chu Sang had always been eclectic in her reading. As long as she was interested, she would read anything, never worrying about mixing things up thanks to her good memory.
She had borrowed many books from Lingqing Sect’s library. Besides books on talismans, there were many on pill refining. Mu Chihuai felt dazzled looking at them all.
Mu Chihuai had cultivated using the Mu family’s pill refining texts. He hadn’t even finished reading the vast collection of pill books in the main family, let alone books from other pill refining traditions.
He had barely looked at any of Lingqing Sect’s pill books.
“The art of pill refining, though varied, always returns to its roots. Reading from multiple schools and integrating the knowledge will surely be of great help to you, Sixth Senior Brother!”
Mu Chihuai was successfully persuaded by her. Thus, the two studied diligently day and night.
As the saying goes, sharpening the axe will not delay the work of cutting wood. Although they only had a short seven days, the two managed to memorize dozens of pill books.
The third round of the competition arrived as scheduled.
The atmosphere was much more solemn than in the previous two rounds.
The first two rounds were mainly to eliminate subpar disciples and didn’t hold much significance beyond that. Those in high positions hadn’t really taken them seriously.
If the first two rounds were just small skirmishes, the third round was where the real show began.
After layers of fierce competition, the ten disciples who remained were undoubtedly the cream of the crop of this generation of the Mu family. It was time for them to truly demonstrate their abilities.
Many forces were closely watching the developments here. Several elders from the Pill Transformation Sect had even come, intending to select outstanding disciples.
There were ten pill refining rooms, one assigned to each person.
The herbs and equipment inside each room were identical.
After the ten entered their rooms, ten large screens appeared in the spectator area, live-streaming the progress of each disciple in their room.
—Selecting spirit plants, grinding, refining, controlling fire, condensing the pill, and adjusting the fragrance.
These were the standard steps in refining ordinary pills.
The first step of selecting spirit plants, while seemingly the most basic and simple, actually determined the quality of the entire batch of pills.
If a mistake was made in the first step, no matter how well the subsequent steps were performed, the quality of the batch of pills wouldn’t be very high.
“……” Mu Chihuai casually picked up a few herbs from the shelf, rubbed them between his thumb and finger, his lips tightly pressed, his gaze slightly cold.
Several commonly used herbs had been switched with inferior ones.
Although those outside couldn’t tell, he could sense with just a touch of spiritual energy that the quality of this pile of herbs was extremely low.
The family wouldn’t use such inferior products to pad numbers. Without thinking, he knew who was behind this.
At this point, requesting a change of herbs would waste a lot of time.
Although the allotted time was a month long, for pill refiners, every minute and second was precious.
The third round was of utmost importance, the time for them to showcase their highest level of pill refining skills. The ten family disciples selected naturally had extraordinary talents. They were basically all refining high-grade pills, and the refining time for high-grade pills was measured in months, so one can imagine how tight the time was.
Mu Chihuai pursed his lips, his gaze sweeping over a few herbs in the corner of the shelf, his eyes lighting up.
Those miscellaneous pill books his little junior sister had found actually included quite a few pills made with unorthodox materials.
Perhaps he could give it a try.
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A month’s time was neither long nor short, but none of the onlookers showed any signs of drowsiness. All eyes were fixated on the situations in the ten pill refining rooms.
As the foremost of the four great pill refining families, the Mu family’s disciples stood out like outstanding trees in a forest. The final ten selected were truly outstanding individuals.
In a few years, most of them would become renowned great pill refiners.
Some wanted to establish connections with promising talents early on, while some pill refiners and powerful figures came with the intention of taking disciples…… In short, there were all kinds of thoughts, and the spectator area was bustling with discussions.
“This disciple called Mu Zhe looks quite good. His sensitivity to herbs is strong. He was the first among the ten to select all the herbs needed for pill refining.”
“The disciple on the left is not bad either. His fire control skills are very proficient, not like a newcomer at all. He’s comparable to those pill refiners who have been practicing for decades.”
“In my opinion, that female cultivator in green robes is the most impressive. Although her pill refining speed isn’t the fastest, she’s extremely cautious with every step, without a single mistake.” An elder from the Pill Transformation Sect stroked his beard and smiled. “The most important quality for a pill refiner is caution. For this young woman to be so steady and composed at such a young age, haha, the Mu family’s disciples of this generation are truly outstanding across the board.”
“Indeed, indeed.”
The ten disciples who had fought their way through from hundreds each had their own merits, but the most eye-catching were still Mu Tu and Mu Chihuai, who had already reached the Golden Core stage. Most people’s gazes were fixed on these two rooms.
Especially Mu Chihuai’s.
Several cultivators’ brows furrowed deeper and deeper, unable to understand his actions.
“Purple Mist Leaf, Tiger Tail Ginseng…… These are all very unorthodox herbs. Their medicinal properties are too strong and fierce. Ordinary pill refiners would never use these herbs in their pills.”
“And if I remember correctly, these aren’t the herbs used in the formula for refining the Flame Spirit Pill, right?” Someone muttered softly. “What is he doing? Did he mix up the formulas?”
“Mu Chihuai is the direct descendant of the Mu family. He should be stronger than others, not weaker. How could he possibly mix up such basic knowledge?”
“That’s not necessarily true. You should know that the Pill Transformation Sect is the greatest academy for pill refiners. If he was really that impressive, why wasn’t he able to enter the Pill Transformation Sect to study?” There were always voices of cold mockery in the crowd. “In my opinion, he’s probably just hanging onto the title of direct descendant. His actual ability might not compare to Mu Tu’s.”
The cultivators discussed animatedly, with all sorts of opinions.
However, a few experienced pill refiners noticed something and their hearts sank slightly. “The commonly circulated pill formulas have indeed been selected and refined over generations. They are easier for people to accept, the methods are simple, and the success rate is comparatively higher.”
“But that doesn’t mean there’s only one way to refine pills.”
“Many herbs with similar medicinal properties can be substituted for each other.”
“Some unorthodox materials might even produce better medicinal effects, with more unexpected results. It’s just that the refining difficulty is also higher, so ordinary pill refiners wouldn’t easily attempt it.”
“……”
Looking at Mu Tu’s side, he was refining a high-grade pill, the Spirit Refining Pill.
This type of pill was considered one of the most difficult to refine even among high-grade pills. Even many experienced pill refiners might not be able to guarantee a high success rate.
Many people’s eyes were filled with surprise.
To dare to challenge such a difficult pill, he must be confident in his victory. His strength was truly extraordinary.
Some people had already placed bets on who would win the top position.
Originally, all eyes were on Mu Chihuai, the future family head, but his actions were really puzzling. Many people had never seen the unorthodox materials he was using for pill refining. Moreover, it was almost the deadline, but his pill still hadn’t taken shape.
In comparison, Mu Tu’s side was much smoother.
His pill had already taken shape, only needing the final step of fragrance adjustment.
Most people had placed their bets on him.
The competition could be lost, but the momentum couldn’t be lost!
Chu Sang waved her hand grandly, betting two spirit stones on her Sixth Senior Brother. She couldn’t bet more than that.
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Most of the disciples were still at the pill condensation step.
A door opened.
Everyone craned their necks, wanting to see who would be the first to leave the competition arena.
Mu Tu’s figure appeared in everyone’s view, full of smugness. The grand elder and several others also smiled with satisfaction.
Not only had he finished several days early, but the success rate of his Spirit Refining Pills was also over 50%, which was already considered astonishing.
Many experienced pill refiners couldn’t achieve this success rate.
He undoubtedly deserved the top position.
Before the smile could fully form on Mu Tu’s face, another door opened behind him.
He turned around, looking at the approaching Mu Chihuai with disdain and provocation, “You’re one step too late.”
Mu Chihuai wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth, unfazed, “Oh, is that so?”
Seeing his high and mighty attitude, Mu Tu felt inexplicably insecure. But it shouldn’t be, right? This time he had specifically chosen the Spirit Refining Pill, which was already considered one of the most difficult high-grade pills to refine, and he had achieved an astonishing success rate of 50%.
It wouldn’t be easy for Mu Chihuai to beat him, unless…… unless his success rate was even higher!
Mu Tu’s expression suddenly sank, alert, “How many pills did you refine?”
Mu Chihuai, “Not many, just one.”
Mu Tu breathed a sigh of relief, then sneered, “What are you playing at, Mu Chihuai? It seems I overestimated you before. Only able to refine one high-grade pill, heh, a waste is indeed a waste!”
The venue erupted in a commotion, with many people in disbelief.
Although the difficulty of refining high-grade pills was indeed high, and for an ordinary disciple, successfully refining one high-grade pill would be considered bringing glory to the ancestors, Mu Chihuai was after all the direct descendant of the Mu family, with a high possibility of being the future family head. His starting point was not just a little higher than others. To only successfully refine one high-grade pill in a batch, wasn’t this a bit…… disappointing?
“You lost.” Mu Tu raised his chin, coldly sneering.
“I won.” The young man’s beautiful phoenix eyes curved, his lips turning up in a handsome smile. Several light exclamations suddenly erupted from the spectator seats.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, his right palm opened, indeed revealing only a single, lonely pill floating above his palm. However, the pill was enveloped by a golden pill pattern.
A pill mark!
It was a pill mark!!
The spectator area erupted in excitement. They hadn’t seen wrong, had they? It was actually a pill mark!
Ordinary pills couldn’t receive the blessing of a pill mark. This was clearly an earth-grade pill.
So what if Mu Tu’s success rate for high-grade pills reached 50%? The emergence of one earth-grade pill was worth more than ten batches of his high-grade pills.
They had never heard of anyone being able to refine an earth-grade pill at the Golden Core stage.
Undoubtedly a once-in-a-generation genius.
Mu Chihuai deserved the top position, and no one dared to voice any objection.
Some were happy, some were worried. The grand elder’s group looked as if they had swallowed flies, their expressions extremely ugly.
There were even elders from the Pill Transformation Sect who wanted to come over and poach him.