Age of Evolution

Chapter 860: Chapter 863: Fire Fighting Technique_1

Zhao Yan was taken aback, “What risk do I need to bear?”

Lin Zhen sneered, “Don’t play dumb with me. Do you think you can just question me and I would just tolerate it? You want to question my ability to control fire? Fine, but what if you lose? Do you think you can just walk away unscathed?”

“So what do you propose?”

“Simple, pay up! If I lose, I’ll close my business. If you lose, you owe me a billion!”

Zhao Yan hesitated at his words.

He was a sixth-grade alchemist and was confident with his control of flames. He dared to challenge Lin Zhen because they all assumed that Lin Zhen was a fake and couldn’t know the profound art of alchemy.

...

But what if they misjudged him? What if Lin Zhen was truly a saint-level alchemist?

Wouldn’t that be humiliating?

Moreover, Lin Zhen’s demand was hefty. If he lost, he had to cough up a billion. Although he was worth tens of billions, bringing out a billion in cash would be a massive strain.

Seeing Zhao Yan faltering, Li Nian spoke: “We will gamble, but if you open this door Lin Zhen, not only will Zhao Yan gamble with you, boss Ma from Xuangu Hall and I, along with my friend, we all want to test your alchemy. You must accept all of us.”

Lin Zhen’s gaze swept over the few of them. Both Zhao Yan and Boss Ma were sixth-grade alchemists, Li Nian was seventh-grade, and then there was another person shrouded in a black robe, his face concealed.

As Lin Zhen scanned with his spiritual power, he felt an eerie aura from the person, a realization dawned in his heart.

He pondered for a bit, “Is it a billion per round?”

Li Nian and the others huddled for a quiet discussion, and it was Li Nian who spoke, “No, the price doubles each round. If you have the guts, accept it. If not, admit that you’re a fraud. A saint-level alchemist couldn’t possibly be scared of our challenge.”

He then told Lin Zhen, “My friend, is also a seventh-grade alchemist like me. None of us are saint-level. Do you dare to accept the challenge? But don’t forget, if you lose even one round, you need to close down your business and leave the Tianfang City Elixir Market forever!”

Before Lin Zhen could speak, Kressman rushed to his side anxiously: “Boss, don’t fall for it! This is clearly a trap. Even a saint-level alchemist cannot master all methods of alchemy. With every bet doubling, they just need to win one to recoup their investments. You, on the other hand, can’t afford a single loss!”

The workers he hired voiced their agreement: “Boss, this is absolutely a scam, don’t fall for it!”

Lin Zhen’s supporters also criticized Li Nian and his group for deliberately ensnaring Lin Zhen with such an unfair proposal.

They believed it would be extensively disadvantageous for one person to face four, each specializing in a different alchemy technique.

However, those who questioned Lin Zhen gleefully retorted: “What do you know? This guy claims to be a saint-level alchemist. Do you understand the difference between a saint-level and sixth or seventh-grade alchemist? It’s like the gap between a teacher and a student. Is a teacher incapable of answering four students’ questions? If he can’t, it simply means the teacher is a fake!”

“Exactly! If he can’t even accept a challenge from sixth and seventh-grade alchemists, what saint-level alchemist is he? He might as well close down!”

A group further stirred the pot, clearly brought by Li Nian with the intent of being disruptive, their voices loud and clear.

Kressman and the others turned pale, they had lost control of the situation and it didn’t seem to be ending well.

When the crowd finally calmed down, Lin Zhen softly spoke, “Since you’ve all decided, let’s make a contract in the dimensional universe. No one can back out!”

Now it was Li Nien and his group’s turn to lose confidence. They hadn’t expected Lin Zhen to agree!

This was slightly deviating from their plans where they had considered Lin Zhen to be a pretender.

At this point, they found it challenging to back out, but they were still certain, they couldn’t possibly lose.

Their plan was meticulous, even if Lin Zhen truly held the power of a saint-level alchemist, the probability of him winning was still extremely low.

Li Nian gritted his teeth, “Heh heh! Since you are so courageous, let’s sign the contract. No one can default.”

Lin Zhen, Li Nian, Zhao Yan, Matthew, and another black-robed man named Lala Ti collectively signed the contract.

Lin Zhen represented one party while the other four represented the other party. Both sides bet on their alchemy abilities. Li Nian’s party set the terms, with the first round costing a billion, doubling with each following round!

The second round, two billion, the third round, four billion, the fourth round, eight billion!

In this process, if Lin Zhen lost even one round, he had to return the won money and close Golden Pill Fang!

All of them quickly signed, solidifying the bet. There was no way anyone could now default on the agreement.

The spectators cleared the middle of the hall, leaving space for them. @@novelbin@@

Much like any major event, a live broadcast of the face-off began, and swiftly captured everyone’s attention.

Countless comments and discussions erupted. One could only imagine that if Lin Zhen won this gamble, his foothold in Tianfang City’s elixir industry would be unshakeable. No one else could contend with him.

Zhao Yan was the first to step forward.

Facing Lin Zhen, Zhao Yan confidently said, “Lin Zhen, I want to compete with you in the technique of controlling fire.”

“How should we compete?” asked Lin Zhen.

“Have you ever heard of the Fire duel technique?”

Lin Zhen’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Oh! So you know the art of Fire Combat?”

This Fire Combat is a flame control skill for alchemists. Each alchemist uses a single Ice Heart Pill, a type of elixir that is highly fire-resistant on the outside but terrified of fire on the inside. If the fire-resistant layer is broken, the elixir would melt.

The alchemist encapsulates the elixir with Spiritual Power, using the Ice Heart Pill as a core, and drives the flame to attack the opponent.

The opponent can also defend with flame and counterattack at the same time. Whoever can quickly break the opponent’s Ice Heart Pill wins the battle.

Moreover, if one party shapes their fire into a particular form to attack, the other party must not form the same shape and should follow the law of mutual promotion and restraint. Whoever repeats the form also loses.

This method not only tests an alchemist’s level of Spiritual Power, flame control, but also tests an alchemist’s imagination.

For example, if one party condenses the flames into a dagger, that might be countered by the opponent’s flame spear.

Thus, an alchemist’s imagination accounts for half of the winning factors, and the other half comes from the levels of Spiritual Power and the intensity of the flame.

Seeing the confident look on Zhao Yan’s face, Lin Zhen knew that this guy must often play this kind of game.

However, Lin Zhen was not afraid of him. Qian Tong had also played Fire Combat before and had done quite well, plus Lin Zhen’s own flame intensity and Spiritual Power, Lin Zhen had the complete capabilities to defeat this Zhao Yan.

“Very well, let’s use Fire Combat then. Let’s get started.”

Zhao Yan clapped his hands, and someone brought over a massive crystal casing. The Fire Combat would take place inside the crystal casing.

Ice Heart Pills are also used to neutralize the side effects of elixirs, so they’re not rare. There were some in Lin Zhen’s Golden Pill Ffang. Lin Zhen took out two, one for each person.

Zhao Yan started his Spiritual Power and wrapped the elixir. Then fierce flames covered it, forming a round fireball.

The flame was shallow cyan and extremely hot.

For an average alchemist, a shallow cyan flame would already be very strong, but of course, Lin Zhen didn’t think much of it.

Above shallow cyan, there were middle cyan, deep cyan, and only then bright cyan. Seeing the level of Zhao Yan’s flame, it might never advance to deep cyan, let alone bright cyan.

Lin Zhen raised his hand and the same shallow cyan flame rose. Since they were doing Fire Combat, it wouldn’t be fun if the intensity of the two side’s flames was too different.

Zhao Yan and others were happy when they saw the intensity of Lin Zhen’s flame. It seems that Lin Zhen does know alchemy indeed, but he is absolutely not a Saint-Level Alchemist!

“Lin Zhen, you can get by fooling around on the surface of the Original World, but not here. Today, let you feel the gap between the surface of the Original World and Tianfang City!”

The flame manipulated by Spiritual Power suddenly twisted into a small sparrow shape and fiercely struck towards Lin Zhen’s fireball!

He concentrated his flame on the sparrows’ beak. As long as it hit the fireball, it might break the Ice Heart Pill’s surface layer, which is very fragile and can’t withstand an attack.

Lin Zhen sneered. Zhao Yan’s Spiritual Power was at the Peak of Dark Gold, an entire realm below him, so he could completely crush him with his power.

But he also had a playful thought at this moment. If he showed too much strength at the beginning, it wouldn’t be beneficial for the bets that followed.

With a thought, the fireball in his hand also changed.

A fireball in the form of a Gray Falcon emerged in the air, spreading its wings, just about to devour the opponent’s sparrow.

The Gray Falcon restrained the sparrow; Zhao Yan had to respond.

This kind of control required precise Spiritual Power control and rich experience. Seeing Lin Zhen could easily shape the flame, Zhao Yan’s face changed, “You have some tricks, but watch this!”

The sparrow turned in mid-air and transformed into a crane.

Its long beak, long claws were about to attack the falcon.

Lin Zhen moved his Spiritual Power again, and the falcon became a Flood Dragon, swallowing clouds and emitting mist, once again attacking the crane.

“A mere Flood Dragon is no match for a real dragon, behold my Golden Dragon!”

His crane transformed into a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon with a shake, striking back at the Flood Dragon again.

A faint smile appeared on Lin Zhen’s face, as the Flood Dragon turned into a giant bird with golden wings.

The giant bird, known to feed on dragons!

By this time, Zhao Yan was already sweating. Lin Zhen’s manipulation and adaptability made him quite uncomfortable, and he gradually began to feel overwhelmed.

But he couldn’t admit defeat, so he exerted his strength once more, and the golden dragon transformed into a Suan Ni.

“Although your giant bird is powerful, it definitely can’t devour my Suan Ni beast!”

Keeping silent, Lin Zhen’s giant bird transformed again into a Jade Kirin.

Seeing this, Zhao Yan looked happy. With a shake, the Suan Ni turned into a Black Hole Beast.

“Hahaha, Lin Zhen, the Black Hole Beast is the king of beasts. Aren’t you a Black Hole Beast? Shouldn’t you know this? What are you going to use to restrain me now? You’ve lost now!”