Chapter 685: Chapter 682: Didn’t Take It Seriously at All!_1

Seeing Yang Chen so confident, Wei Gang felt an inexplicable anger rising as he clenched his teeth and said, “Yang Chen, what have you got to be proud of? Soon, I’ll let you know the gap between my alchemy and yours.”

After saying this, Wei Gang waved his hand and took out the treasure furnace he had just received from Luo Jin.

Now, holding the treasure furnace in his hand, his eyes were filled with contempt.

Seeing Wei Gang taking out the treasure furnace, Yang Chen did not hesitate anymore and took out his own pill furnace.

When his pill furnace was revealed, Wei Gang’s disciples behind him couldn’t help but show disdain and mockery. Even though Mu Xue and others’ furnaces were inferior to the treasure furnace, they were still presentable. However, the furnace that Yang Chen took out could not even be considered presentable.

“Is Yang Chen an alchemist? A good alchemist must have an excellent furnace, which represents the respect of an alchemist for alchemy!”

“One can judge an alchemist’s skills based on the quality of his pill furnace. If the furnace isn’t great, then the alchemist won’t be exceptional either. An excellent alchemist would never go without an outstanding pill furnace! Take Senior Brother Wei Gang, for example!”

“Is Yang Chen trying to pass himself off as something he’s not?”

“Well, it’s hard to say.”

In an instant, everyone started discussing. When they saw Yang Chen’s furnace, their expressions didn’t change much. It seemed that through his furnace, they had already judged Yang Chen’s skills.

Wei Gang sneered at Yang Chen, “Yang Chen, if I were you, I would just leave now. How dare you take out this furnace for a competition?”

“I’m the kind of person who relies on my abilities, not the furnace. So, any furnace is the same for me. But you are different. You rely on the furnace, so your skills will be significantly reduced without it. Am I right, Brother Wei?” Yang Chen leisurely replied.

Hearing Yang Chen’s words, Wei Gang’s face changed instantly.

He couldn’t deny Yang Chen’s words because they hit the nail on the head!

Indeed, Wei Gang relied heavily on his treasure furnace. Ever since obtaining it, his alchemy had been successful. He could now refine elixirs he couldn’t before, and those that used to be uncertain had become easy for him.

He felt that the treasure furnace was an excellent item and even didn’t want to return it.

That’s why he was more afraid of people talking about it.

“Yang Chen, you!” Wei Gang snapped.

“What about me? If Brother Wei doesn’t think I’m telling the truth, you can exchange your treasure furnace for an ordinary one,” Yang Chen replied with a slight smile.

Wei Gang licked his lips, “Yang Chen, don’t think I don’t know what you mean. All you want to do is to put me on the same level as you, forcing me to swap my treasure furnace for an ordinary one like yours. Hmph, wishful thinking. I have the treasure furnace because I, Wei Gang, deserve it. I was born better off than you, Yang Chen! It’s fate that you don’t have one, and it’s destined you’ll always be inferior to me!”

“And, your pill furnace is too shabby. Heh, Yang Chen, I can somewhat estimate your skills from this.”

Hearing this, Yang Chen raised his eyebrows and silently laughed.

Indeed, the first thing to evaluate an alchemist was the quality of their furnace. It didn’t make sense for an excellent alchemist not to have an excellent furnace because furnaces could increase their alchemy success rate. Likewise, they could also demonstrate their achievements and status.

But these people didn’t know that Yang Chen didn’t need either.

For Yang Chen, it wasn’t that he didn’t need a furnace to increase his alchemy success rate, but that every furnace below the treasure furnace level was the same to him. However, treasure furnaces at that level were not easily obtained.

Just like Wei Gang having the treasure furnace, it was borrowed from someone else.

As for showing off his alchemy skills or achievements through the furnace, Yang Chen didn’t care less. This was also the reason why he hadn’t bothered to change his furnace.

Now, he lazily said, “Brother Wei might have misunderstood my intention of asking you to change your furnace, not because I feel that you are taking advantage of me, but because if you lose with the treasure furnace at hand later, it might be a little more cruel for you. If Brother Wei truly doesn’t understand my kindness, not changing the furnace would work just as well.”

Upon saying this, Yang Chen grinned.

Clearly, Wei Gang had taken Yang Chen’s words as provocation, and he laughed vehemently, “Alright, alright, Yang Chen, if you meant to provoke me, let me tell you, you’ve succeeded. However, provoking me comes at a cost! I’ll soon let you know just how foolish you’ve been to provoke me.”

With that said, Wei Gang then asked, “Referee, can we start now?”

The referee, seeing the two had finished talking, coughed twice before saying, “You can.”

Eager to prove himself and see the despair in Yang Chen’s eyes, Wei Gang showed his true skill right off the bat. Looking at his technique, he was refining a 5th-grade lower-tier pill!

Yang Chen glanced at Wei Gang, understanding his technique, and muttered, “Five-Grade Initial Stage pill, Lin Yu Dan?”

Lin Yu Dan was a pill that could replenish the true qi loss of the True Martial Realm, hence reaching a Five-Grade Initial Stage effect. It was evident that Wei Gang’s understanding of Lin Yu Dan was more than simple; at the very least, the chance of success was relatively high.

Seeing this, Yang Chen calmly took out his pill furnace and threw a batch of ingredients into it.

What he was refining was nothing else but a Five-Grade Initial Stage pill as well.

He was able to get the materials for a pill of the same grade.

Both being Five-Grade Initial Stage pills, the final comparison would naturally be who had the more proficient technique and who produced the most pills.

In fact, in his eyes, he didn’t take Wei Gang seriously at all. Wei Gang, as he said, relied more on the treasure furnace. Without the effects of the treasure furnace, his alchemy skills would be significantly reduced, managing to refine only Fourth-grade High-Level elixirs and barely perfect Fourth-grade pills, let alone Five-Grade Initial Stage pills.

What he was more concerned about was the scarred man among the five sent by Great Elder Zhang Huai. In his opinion, the scarred man was the real tough opponent.

As for Wei Gang, he was still far from that level.

Of course, he wouldn’t voice these thoughts as he focused on refining the elixir, skillfully executing each step without hesitation, making it look effortless.