The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 404: This Child Must Not Be Left Alive

The judges no longer paid attention to the two old demons and instead focused entirely on Long Xuan, their eyes filled with anticipation.

The Ten Great Empires had offered a massive array of rewards to attract alchemists from across the Western Region for this grand alchemy competition.

These rewards were meant to recover costs—not just by collecting the pills refined by alchemists, which was a minor aspect, but more importantly, by obtaining the pill recipe created by the genius alchemists in the fourth round.

A heaven-defying pill recipe could elevate the power of a faction by an entire level.

Since the pill recipe of the two old demons were clearly unusable—no one dared to use them—the judges placed all their hopes on Long Xuan.

As expected, Long Xuan did not disappoint. With each word he wrote, the judges' eyes grew brighter.

Even before he finished writing the recipe, they had already deduced its effects through their deep understanding of medicinal properties.

The heaven-defying effects of this recipe caused all the judges to widen their eyes in excitement.

“A spirit pill that can promote the reproduction of spirit insects? It seems to have some effect even on peak-grade spirit insects. Truly heaven-defying!”

“If peak-grade spirit insects can rapidly reproduce by consuming pills, wouldn’t refining peak-grade Gu insects become effortless?”

“This pill is incredibly practical—it can elevate the strength of an entire faction by more than just one level!” one elder among the judges exclaimed excitedly.

“Haha… A spirit pill that enables peak-grade spirit insects to reproduce quickly? This is unheard of! This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a thing!”

“This Western Region Alchemy Competition was truly worthwhile. The profits from this single pill recipe alone will more than make up for the resources consumed to host the event,” a female judge said, breathing heavily with sparkling eyes.

“Tsk, tsk… A mere third-grade alchemist was able to create a fourth-grade pill recipe? Absolutely heaven-defying!”

“The most crucial part is that this pill has no side effects on spirit insects—something that those two demonic pill recipe completely lack. The side effects of those two demonic pill recipe are far too severe, making them unsuitable for repeated use. This alone places this recipe above theirs in value.”

The most respected elder among the judges stroked his beard, his face flushed with excitement.

Long Xiaoyao smirked—since this elder had spoken, the outcome of this round was sealed. Finally, he could let go of the anxiety that had been weighing on him.

Long Yuyao also let out a deep breath, relaxing her small, tense hands as she gazed at Long Xuan with a complicated expression.

On the other hand, Ancestor Burning Heaven’s face turned ashen. He had lost yet again, and to a junior no less! With his arrogance, how could he possibly accept this humiliation?

Hmph! So they look down on demonic pills? They dared to give me low scores for that reason? Fine! I will spread these two demonic pill recipe across the entire city and see how they deal with the consequences!

With a cold snort in his heart, Ancestor Burning Heaven flicked his sleeves angrily and left.

Before the judges could even announce the scores, he had already departed.

His own pill recipe, which had already been written, still lay on the table, untouched by anyone.

Despite being a heaven-defying recipe, it was completely ignored in this place.

Duan Tianwu shook his head. From the judges' discussions and reactions, he knew the outcome was already determined—there was no way his score would surpass Long Xuan’s.

“Your friend is truly remarkable. Until now, no one in the field of alchemy has ever beaten me, yet he has done so multiple times in a row!”

“If he learns my true identity, he will definitely boast about it for a lifetime!” he said to the soul residing in his mind.

“I told you not to underestimate him. You should have brought out the Inheritance Pill recipe earlier. That recipe would definitely trigger a heavenly tribulation—you would have won without a doubt,” the little medicine boy scoffed.

“Hmph! That recipe can summon lightning tribulation! In this world, recipe capable of triggering tribulation are almost extinct. If I reveal such a heaven-defying recipe in a setting like this, it will become worthless—how could I accept that?”

“Submitting the pill recipe is out of the question. But submitting the pill itself? That’s no problem.”

“Next, I will start gathering materials for the Inheritance Pill and refine it in the final round.”

“I refuse to believe that refining a pill capable of summoning heavenly lightning tribulation won’t be enough to defeat that brat!”

Duan Tianwu looked at Long Xuan, his eyes filled with intense battle intent.

"What, are you finally done hiding your strength and planning to refine a fourth-grade pill?" The little medicine boy teased.

"I have no choice but to refine a fourth-grade pill. The total score gap between us is simply too large. If I continue refining third-grade pills, I will undoubtedly lose. He forced me into this!"

Duan Tianwu let out a bitter smile and turned to leave the grand hall. Since he already knew the result, he had no interest in staying any longer.

Shortly after the two left, the judges finally reached a decision.

The final scores were: Long Xuan with 94 points, while Ancestor Burning Heaven and Qin Dan tied at 93 points.

As expected, Long Xuan once again widened the gap in this round. Although it was only by a single point, it was still a lead. Considering the total scores, he had now pulled ahead by four points from the second-place competitor.

A four-point gap—what an overwhelming advantage.

Now, only the final match remained. Catching up by four points in the last round alone would be incredibly difficult.

At this moment, Long Xiaoyao stroked his beard excitedly, feeling that he had firmly secured victory in this gamble against the Feng Clan.

At this instant, he felt as if he had become young again. Unable to contain his delight, he instinctively cast a smug glance at Feng Tiancheng.

As expected, Feng Tiancheng’s face was ashen. His gaze was locked onto Long Xuan, and he sighed inwardly: "Fortunately, I didn’t place another bet with Long Xiaoyao this time. Otherwise, I would have lost again."

"This brat is unbelievably monstrous! Even when being targeted by two fourth-grade alchemists, he still managed to win. How did he do it?"

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Feng Tiancheng felt a lingering fear.

"He’s merely a third-grade alchemist, yet he managed to surpass both Ancestor Burning Heaven and Ancestor Heaven Deceitful by a full four points. This boy is truly defying the heavens!"

"No, he cannot be allowed to remain. With such a monster in the competition, the Feng Clan can no longer guarantee victory in this bet."

Feng Tiancheng seemed to have made up his mind, and his ferocious expression finally returned to normal.

Although the three competitors’ scores had been determined, they had not yet been publicly announced by the judges.

The match was still ongoing, and many contestants were still deep in thought.

Moreover, the effectiveness of the pill formulas still needed to be verified, and the final scores might undergo some adjustments based on the experimental results.

As soon as Long Xuan finished writing down his pill recipe, Long Xiaoyao swiftly snatched it away, treating it like a priceless treasure and carefully tucking it away.

This was the original manuscript of a heaven-defying pill recipe, an item of immense commemorative and collectible value.

Thousands or even tens of thousands of years later, the original manuscript of such a heaven-defying recipe would be worth a fortune.

Long Xuan’s recipe was being cherished as a treasure, but the formulas of Ancestor Burning Heaven and Ancestor Heaven Deceitful met a completely different fate.

Two flames shot out from the judges' seats, instantly incinerating their pill recipe along with the tables they were placed on…