Death… And Me

Chapter 3974: Again?

How could Kentucky lose that chance, right? Now that he knows about the betting website and the fortune ahead, he and the rest of the twins’ group could genuinely make a huge sum before the selection even started.

The bets were closed a few minutes later, with Roan and Trulerga entering their booths and taking out their equipment, cauldron, etc.

Roan opened the terminal ahead, checking the information about the Temporal Harmonization Pill.

That was a pill made to be used in the Future Realm. It was a pill designed to synchronize the user’s internal flow of energy with accelerated or distorted temporal environments. Any mistake in the concoction causes paradoxical backlash: ingredients age, regress, or phase out of existence mid-concoction.

That’s why they were skeptical about whether Trulerga could even pull this one out. You would usually need at least a Divine Level Alchemist for such a pill, although it wasn’t unheard of that Diamond Level ones could achieve it. Due to the lack of cultivation, Divine Level Alchemists couldn’t be seen before the Space-Time Realm, as laws and even time manipulation were necessary for their pills.

In the Temporal Harmonization Pill’s case, there was no need for laws, and the time control effect could be achieved with the right equipment and inscriptions. Thus, it was actually a Diamond Level Pill, and Diamond Level Alchemists could do it. It’s just that it was truly complex.

Lukis looked over to Roan, who was reading the terminal. Well, pretty much everyone was looking at him, and his terminal wasn’t hidden, so they could see what Roan was reading.

’Let me guess,’ Lukis’ Divine Sense reached Roan. ’You also have never concocted this pill before.’

Roan glanced at him for a moment before returning his attention to the terminal. ’This pill is only useful in the Future Realm, so how could I have ever seen it? It’s fine, though. From the recipe’s description, it isn’t that hard to make.’

Lukis’ mouth twitched. Isn’t that hard? He had no confidence whatsoever that he could concoct that thing at his level. His senior brother, Trulerga, was the best one in the Space-Bending Realm from Rongui, and Lukis knew that Trulerga could only barely achieve success. Not to mention that Trulerga’s pill would be quite a low-quality one.

Roan ignored everything and began concocting the pill in his own way. Before, pretty much no one paid attention to him, so they didn’t see him using both light and dark elements in his concoction methods.

For Roan, that was pretty much always the best method since he had his own Yin and Rean’s Yang to work with to perfection. It was a method that only worked for himself, but it still got a lot of attention now.

"Just what kind of concoction is that?"

"Light, Dark, Yin, and Yang... How can he control these opposites so well?"

"I’m more interested in how he can use that method in a pill made to alleviate the effects of the Future Realm, which is all about space and time."

"Ha! I think he is just shooting himself in the foot! What he is doing has nothing to do with the recipe. It is more like he is joking around and making something completely different."

Some laughed, others were intrigued, and there were those who didn’t seem to care and only wanted to see the results.

However, very few, who were the best alchemists in the area, narrowed their eyes. What Roan was doing seemed to be unrelated to the pill in question in the eyes of most. But for them, they could see under the veil with a lot more clarity.

Roan wasn’t trying to hide anything, so it made sense that those with enough skills understood he wasn’t joking. Well, he didn’t care anyway.

Trulerga was among the alchemists who could see that Roan’s work was incredible. Even though Trulerga was fully concentrated on his own work, he still spent a few seconds now and then using his Divine Sense to check Roan’s work. The more he saw, the more impressed he got.

’To think the heat exchange plate could be used in such a way...’

’So his dark element could be forced into the space power like that... how have I never noticed it. I should be able to use my own affinity, too.’

’Still, the way he makes these opposing forces interact in the cauldron as the ingredients fuse together...’

Trulerga hasn’t given up. At the end of the day, Roan’s methods seemed novel, but there was no guarantee they would give a better result than his own.

This challenge had a time limit of three hours, and over two and a half hours had gone by. At the moment, both Trulerga and Roan reached the phase where they were concentrating the medicinal liquid and creating the pill itself.

Roan just wanted to end this fast, but to not look too ridiculous, he followed Trulerga’s pace. Since time control was a factor, even with his suppressed cultivation, Roan obviously had a gargantuan edge over Trulerga.

But then, Rean, who had come to watch him with Kentucky, contacted Roan. ’Hey, we need more Divine Stones. Can you help out with the funds gathering effort?’

Roan’s expression turned dark. ’Isn’t the monetary side of our relation supposed to be your problem?’

’Exactly,’ Rean smiled. ’That’s why I’m contacting you. I already have a plan, and you just need to follow it. At the end of the day, you won’t be doing much, and we can gain a lot. Come on, are you truly here to bully the kid?’

Roan went silent for a moment. Indeed, he couldn’t care less about winning this thing. ’As long as I receive my alchemy equipment, I don’t care.’

’Great!’ Rean was happy to hear that. ’Give me a minute.’

On the other side, Rean sent a Divine Sense message to Trulerga. ’Well, hello there, my friend. How about we talk a little?’

Trulerga felt a chill on his back. He didn’t have a good feeling about this.

---

Just a few minutes before the time limit was over, both Roan and Trulerga finished converging the cauldron’s medicinal liquid, turning them into two pills. It was quite surprising how they finished at the same time, but even more impressive was that Roan seemed to have made a pill as well. Few believed he could even make one with his lower cultivation.

The operator of the alchemy measurement equipment called them forward. "Well, regardless of who wins, both of you should feel proud that you managed to make a Temporal Harmonization Pill. I wasn’t expecting either of you to succeed at your cultivation level. Still, this is a duel, and only one can win. Bring your pills forward."

Roan and Trulerga passed the pill over, and the operator put them into the compartment.

Everyone waited, excited to see the result, which, as before, would be shown only after both pills were tested.

Finally, a minute later, the holographic project showed the scores.

-Temporal Harmonization Pill x2-

Since the equipment said they were the Temporal Harmonization Pills, there was no doubt that Roan’s pill was one too. It’s just that it looked pretty different from Trulerga’s.

-Roan Larks, 124 points.-

"Roan’s name appeared! The equipment always shows the names from last to first! Trulerga won!"

"No, that isn’t right! The equipment always shows the position of the alchemist before his name. There is no position before Roan’s name."

"Uh?! What does that mean?"

But then, the next result appeared.

-Trulerga Kakade, 124 points.-

"A... draw?"

That’s why there were no positions, because both Roan and Trulerga got the same score. There was no winner!

As everyone looked at that in surprise, Roan glanced at Trulerga, sending him a Divine Sense Message. ’Don’t forget my equipment.’

Trulerga was speechless. It was truly a draw, just like Rean said it would be when he contacted Trulerga with a Divine Sense message. His attention then turned to Lukis, his Divine Sense message a little shaky. ’Lukis, we’d better not mess with this guy...’

Lukis sighed in response. After seeing the ’black sludge,’ he wasn’t really surprised by this outcome. ’Yes, senior brother.’

On the back, Kentucky and Rean smiled ear to ear. Once again, only they bet on this challenge ending in a draw. They won all the Divine Stones!