Chapter 363: Chapter 363: Two Competitions

Everyone present could tell that Li Jianlong was annotating the botanical illustration much faster than Fang Lin.

While Fang Lin was only on the second page, Li Jianlong had already reached the third, completely leading ahead of Fang Lin.

Many people looked surprised. Li Jianlong had always been inconspicuous among the group of ten from Qian Country, so not many people had paid him much attention.

But it looked now like he’d been intentionally playing dumb before, failing to show his true abilities.

Fang Lin proceeded at a normal pace, nonchalantly annotating the botanical illustration. He even had the leisure to lift his head and glance at Li Jianlong.

Li Jianlong, however, was completely focused, compelling all his attention onto the picture album with an incredibly concentrated gaze.

Seeing this, Fang Lin curled his mouth and picked up his speed too.

But even with increased speed, Li Jianlong’s progress still led Fang Lin.

“Fang Lin seems to be at a disadvantage.”

“True, he can’t keep up with this progress. It’s a sorry state.”

“Who would expect that Qian Country hides its talents so well.”

Everyone was astounded. Based on the current situation, Fang Lin seemed to be at a disadvantage. The situation was against him.

However, people noticed that Fang Lin’s expression betrayed no sign of worry or panic, but showed calm and composed demeanor, which surprised them.

At this time, another competition drew more attention.

Zhao Shenkong from Yun Country wanted to compete with Guo Zhen from Meng Kingdom.

This was going to be a fierce battle between titans, attracting the attention of more than half of the spectators. Attention to the competition between Fang Lin and Li Jianlong faltered.

After all, Zhao Shenkong and Guo Zhen were the main characters of this Pill refining conference. Their competition would bear significant implications.

Basically, it would determine which country had the most outstanding pill refiner.

It was hard to imagine these two engaging in a competition this early. As a rule, top talents always avoid early confrontations.

Because no one can be certain of winning. If they were to lose now, not only would they lose face, they essentially would have lost the upper hand in the fierce competition of Alchemy Tao.

But for whatever reason, these two ended up competing against each other.

Zhao Shenkong and Guo Zhen stood face to face, one looking haughty, the other cold. Both were intently staring at each other.

“Are you sure you want to battle with me?” Zhao Shenkong addressed, his voice calm, with a slightly superior tone.

Guo Zhen’s lips curled into an eerie smile, “Are you chickening out?”

These words stirred the crowd from Yun Country, all clamoring outrageously.

“Too arrogant!”

“Prince Shenkong, teach him a harsh lesson!”

“Let these country bumpkins from Meng Kingdom see our might!”

People from Meng were also just as assertive, shouting against Yun country, the scene getting heated.

However, people from Qian Country were standing aside, watching the drama unfold, fully aware that they had no dog in this fight.

Zhao Shenkong gave Guo Zhen a deep look, said, “If you insist on overestimating your abilities, then I’ll oblige.”

Guo Zhen laughed loudly: “The victor isn’t yet decided.”

All of a sudden, the aura surrounding both men intensified, one was domineering and aggressive, and the other was chill and eerie.

Between them, two flames appeared out of nowhere.

Soul Commanding Pill Fire!

Many spectators exclaimed in surprise, stepping back a bit to avoid getting affected.

The competition between Zhao Shenkong and Guo Zhen was about controlling fire, showcasing their individual Soul Commanding Pill Fires.

Zhao Shenkong’s Soul Commanding Pill Fire was gold, and within the leaping flames, a bird could vaguely be seen spreading its wings, ready to take flight.

Given the golden bird figure, the fire likely originated from a Demon Beast, though it was particularly potent, beyond usual Demon Beast fire.

Guo Zhen’s fire was an eerie deep purple, almost black from a distance.

This deep purple fire had a cold feel, as if devoid of warmth.

“Why do I feel that Guo Zhen’s fire is so cold?”

“This doesn’t seem like beast fire.”

“A natural Fire in the world!”

Quite a few people exclaimed in surprise, those without Soul Commanding Pill Fire were particularly envious.

Whether Guo Zhen’s deep-purple flame or Zhao Shenkong’s golden flame, both were excellent Soul Commanding Pill Fires, and very rare to find.

The two distinct flames fluttered in front of them. Guo Zhen made his move. The deep-purple flame suddenly turned into a sword, swiftly thrusting towards Zhao Shenkong.

Zhao Shenkong smirked, his golden flame transformed into an impervious shield.

Boom!!!

The two forces collided causing the deep purple flame to scatter, and the golden flame to waver violently.

However, at this moment, the scattered deep-purple flame morphed into purple fire snakes, attacking Zhao Shenkong from all directions.

This scene made many people from Yun country cry out in alarm, while the people from Meng country cheered loudly.

Guo Zhen’s move impressed many people. His control over his Soul Commanding Pill Fire was remarkable and deemed extraordinary.

A hint of surprise appeared in Zhao Shenkong’s eyes, but there wasn’t a trace of panic. The golden flame similarly spread out, transformed into golden birds, and shattered the purple fire snakes one by one.

“How powerful!”

“Both have exceptional control over the flames!”

“This is a rare duel!”

All the genius pill refiners from the three countries, and the pill refiners from Black Cauldron City, were left in awe. This level of duel certainly lived up to their spotlight status in their respective countries.

By comparison, the competition between Fang Lin and Li Jianlong seemed quite dull, both in style and standards, and surely didn’t match that between Zhao Shenkong and Guo Zhen.

However, Fang Lin and Li Jianlong remained unaffected by Zhao Shenkong’s and Guo Zhen’s competition. On the contrary, they became even more absorbed in their own competition amid the tumultuous atmosphere.

Li Jianlong glanced up and was taken aback. He realized that Fang Lin had caught up with him unwittingly.

“Damn it!” Li Jianlong cursed inwardly, speeding up once again, almost reaching his limit.

In this way, he once again overtook Fang Lin.

But after a while, when Li Jianlong checked on Fang Lin again, he was startled to see that Fang Lin had caught up yet again.

“How is this possible?” Li Jianlong became a bit flustered. Moments earlier, he was ahead by two to three pages. How could Fang Lin catch up in such a short time?

“No! I can’t lose! Absolutely not!” Li Jianlong roared inwardly, his face twisted in fury.