Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao

“Huh? Why has only one person passed the sixth stage?”

“Exactly, Wu Zixu shouldn’t be much weaker than Alchemist Riyang. Why is he so much slower?”

“Ptui! Wu Zixu is much more talented than Alchemist Riyang! Wu Zixu was definitely the one who passed the sixth stage first!”

“Heh, don’t you know the saying? The older one is, the wiser one is.”

“Well, don’t you know this saying? The pupil outdoes their master.”

Many of the spectators became engaged in this spirited debate. Some of them believed that it was Wu Zixu who had passed the sixth stage just then, while others were adamant that it was Alchemist Riyang. This clearly had nothing to do with them, yet they were all red-faced with emotion as they argued about it.

However, none of them would dare to dream that it was neither Wu Zixu nor Alchemist Riyang who had passed the sixth stage just then. Instead, it was someone who they had all heard of, yet wouldn’t even think of considering.

Who would believe that a freak in cultivation could also be so talented in alchemy?

“Hang on a second… Have you guys noticed? This person… has passed the first six stages quicker than anyone else!” someone suddenly exclaimed in astonishment. Their voice was filled with shock and disbelief.

The others also faltered upon hearing this. Mulling over it carefully, their expressions involuntarily changed.

‘F*ck! That’s truly the case!’

The higher one’s cultivation level, the more sensitive one was to the flow of time. Even though they hadn’t noticed it just then, as long as they thought back slightly, they could easily replay those events.

Just then, Lin Yongchang had been a dark horse who few people had paid attention to. Thus, it was impossible to determine how long he had spent on the first six stages. However, it was a different case for Xie Yuezhang. Everyone had been keeping an eye on him, so they were all aware that it had taken him one day and six hours to pass the first six stages.

Meanwhile, this person had only spent 20 hours!

This was an astonishingly large difference!

“It’s definitely Wu Zixu. He’s a supreme prodigy in alchemy, and it’s because of this that his performance is so impressive.”

“You’re wrong. Alchemist Riyang has spent heaven knows how many years on alchemy. In terms of fundamental knowledge, there’s probably no one who can rival him. So, it’s definitely him!”

“Piss off! It’s Wu Zixu!”

“It’s Alchemist Riyang!”

The two sides immediately started to argue again.

Inside the virtual world, Ling Han rested for a brief moment before starting the seventh stage.

This time, he was again faced with a pile of herb fragments. At a glance, they again appeared to be from the same type of herb. However, upon careful examination, one would realize that these fragments were from three different types of herbs.

Ling Han separated them by type before starting to reassemble them. This was extremely similar to the sixth stage, and it wasn’t long before three complete herbs appeared before him.

Whoosh!

The three herbs dimmed, and another pile of herb fragments immediately appeared before him.

The fragments of four different types of herbs.

Ling Han dealt with them one by one. After reaching the 10th level, not only did different types of herbs appear, but herbs of the same type also appeared. It was just that they had a different age. In fact, even this difference in age was very small.

This greatly increased the difficulty. Thus, it took Ling Han longer and longer to reassemble them.

However, even though he took longer, he was also allowed more time for each level. Thus, he was able to consistently finish with one-third or one-fourth of the allowed time remaining. He was able to pass each level with ease.

After an entire day, Ling Han finally managed to pass the seventh stage. This triggered a huge commotion in the outside world.

“Someone passed the seventh stage!”

“Heavens! It’s only been a single day since he passed the sixth stage!”

“Which of the previous prodigies didn’t spend over a day and a half?”

“He’s more than half a day quicker!”

“What an absolute freak!”

“It’s definitely Wu Zixu! This is a once-in-an-epoch prodigy!”

“No, it’s Alchemist Riyang! He’s finally unleashing his full power after accumulating experience for so long. He’s aiming to soar into the sky!”

The focus remained on Wu Zixu and Alchemist Riyang. Everyone felt like they were the most qualified.

“But have you guys considered? Several hours ago, two people passed the sixth stage in quick succession. This signifies that a dark horse has definitely appeared again. Moreover, they can rival both Wu Zixu and Alchemist Riyang!” someone remarked.

“Is it possible… that this record-breaking person is actually the dark horse?”

Upon hearing this, silence fell over the crowd of spectators. However, it wasn’t long before loud laughter shattered the silence. Almost everyone clutched their stomach in hysterics.

How was this possible?

Even the person who had raised this thought smiled in awkwardness. He couldn’t help but feel like his thoughts were far too ridiculous.

“What I want to know is, is it possible for Wu Zixu or Alchemist Riyang to pass the eighth stage?”

“The eighth stage?”

“This is most likely impossible.”

“Look at the leaderboard on the Stone of Herbology. After heaven knows how many epochs, only seven of the top 10 have passed the eighth stage!”

“That’s right, passing the eighth stage is almost impossible. Otherwise, this person would definitely be the most talented alchemist of this epoch!”

“No, no, no, being skilled in identifying medicinal herbs doesn’t mean that one is also skilled in refining pills. It can only be said that those who are skilled in refining pills also aren’t weak in identifying medicinal herbs.”

“Mm-hm.”

This statement received approval from everyone. Indeed, identifying medicinal herbs and refining alchemical pills were two completely different matters. It was just that alchemist grandmasters were often extremely skilled in identifying medicinal herbs as well. After all, this was a necessary skill.

With an atmosphere of anticipation and curiosity surrounding the Stone of Herbology, Ling Han started to challenge the examination of the eighth stage.

This time, he had to deal with mutated medicinal herbs.

Sudden changes in heaven and earth would naturally lead to changes in the original form of medicinal herbs. In fact, even their shape and color might change. In terms of medicinal effects, these mutated herbs would more so experience extremely large changes.

The Stone of Herbology would explain a change in environment, and Ling Han would need to explain how the medicinal herbs would change and mutate. He also needed to explain how these mutated herbs could be used.

Such knowledge couldn’t be memorized. Instead, it needed alchemists to have an extremely solid grasp of the fundamentals. Through this, they would then need to analyze and deduce. This not only required an exorbitant amount of time, but any slipup, no matter how small, could also lead to a huge deviation in conclusions.

Thus, Ling Han’s speed also slowed down considerably. However, his eyes were burning with passion. Because he had the Reincarnation Tree, what he performed the most was analysis and deductions. In other words, he was extremely skilled in this area.

Time slowly crept by. Before long, three days had already elapsed.

Weng!

Weng!

Seven rings of light lit up on the Stone of Herbology. After a brief moment, the seven rings of light lit up yet again.

“Heavens! Three people have passed the seventh stage this time!”

“This is far too shocking!”

“Who is this dark horse? Even though they can’t rival Wu Zixu or Alchemist Riyang, their performance so far is already extremely impressive.”

The crowd of spectators was buzzing with excitement. Moreover, after reaching this stage, the answer that they sought was already about to reveal itself. It wouldn’t be long before they discovered the truth.

Right at this moment.

Weng!

The Stone of Herbology lit up.

Eight rings of light!

‘F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!’

Everyone was transfixed with shock. Their knees almost buckled, and they almost collapsed to the floor.

‘Heavens! The eighth stage! Someone has passed the eighth stage!’

How many years had it been? It had almost been an entire epoch, right? Perhaps it had been even longer? It was so long ago that everyone almost thought that there were only seven stages in this Stone of Herbology. However, a prodigy had suddenly charged over and told them… that there was actually still an eighth stage.

This was definitely a historical feat!

“Being able to pass the eighth stage… Even if he’s completely useless at refining alchemical pills, the Ancient Alchemy Tower will definitely still break their rules to recruit him!”