752 Crucible Failure and the Perfect Sneak Attack (1/2)

Alchemy wasn't a skill that could be mastered in a short time, because both the portion of herbs used, and the temperature control, required lots of experience.

Furthermore, the better the grade of the pills, the more the details mattered.

A single tiny error made in the meticulous process could result in failure or low-quality pills, or even the legendary 'crucible failure'.

Of course, Dao Hun would never make such mistakes.

The 7 undeveloped pills in Dao Hun's hand were pure as snow, meaning that he had purified them as much as possible before he was going to put them into the crucible.

All that he had to do now was to control the temperature well.

As the best alchemist in the Holy Region, Dao Hun was familiar with the recipe and temperature requirement for any high-grade pills. He was also capable of maximising their quality.

After he carefully placed the 7 undeveloped pills into the crucible, Dao Hun closed his eye and started moving his hands around in front of his chest. He seemed to be performing a simple ritual.

After all, even the best alchemist couldn't ensure that every pill made would be of high-quality. Hence, many alchemists would perform rituals to improve their luck, including Dao Hun.

He finished the ritual within a few moments.

Dao Hun's eyes opened slowly, and a faint purple flash appeared in his eyes, only to disappear almost instantly.

Dao Hun then carefully removed the crucible's cover from the metal chain and covered the crucible again.

”Rise!”

With that, the crucible started burning fiercely again. Everything was going smoothly.

Although Dao Hun had done this thousands of times before, he still looked satisfied with his work. Then, he was ready to leave the room.

He believed that the shameless fellow who dared to ambush him with a bear trap would be outside the 1000 Herb Hall and waiting for his punishment now.

However, just as he turned around, he felt a sense of crisis. This was an expert's intuitions towards approaching dangers.

”Sneak attack?”

That was the first thought that crossed Dao Hun's mind, following which, he heard a deafening bang.

”Boom!”

With that, he felt a burning sensation as if he was in a volcano. The entire room seemed to be engulfed by flame.

”No, it's not a sneak attack! It's crucible failure?!” As the best alchemist in the Holy Region, Dao Hun could never believe that crucible failure would happen to him, but the intense heat coming toward him told him otherwise.

Given the structure and prohibitions set up in this room, the only possible explanation for such an intense heat was if the fire burst out of the crucible after a crucible failure.

As the best alchemist in the Holy Region, how could he experience crucible failure from making a few high-grade Frosty Dew?

Dao Hun couldn't wrap his head around this, but he still took a few steps forward in order to exit the fire's range.

However… Before he could take the third step, he felt a sharp pain coming from his right foot.

Most importantly, he felt that he lost control over his right foot in an instant.

”Rumble, rumble…”

Five chains of different colours appeared before his eyes. These chains came from underground, and one of them had even penetrated his right foot.

”Hell Near-life Chains?!” Dao Hun was truly speechless. He couldn't understand how the Hell Near-life Chains had appeared in his stone room.

After all, there was hardly anyone who knew how to enter this room.

”It isn't crucible failure, it's a sneak attack!”

”Furthermore, it's Fang Zhengzhi's sneak attack!”

”Wait!”

”Something's off.”

”Did Fang Zhengzhi sneak up on me when the crucible failed?”

These thoughts crossed Dao Hun's mind multiple times, but Dao Hun denied them repeatedly. From the first moment when Dao Hun realised something was wrong and thought that it was a sneak attack, to the moment when he denied that possibility and deduced that it was a crucible failure, till finally when he confirmed that Fang Zhengzhi took advantage of the crucible failure and snuck up on him, very little time had passed.

However, this caused Dao Hun to make a wrong judgement against a sneak attack for the first time.

Of course, the most important reason was that he had never expected Fang Zhengzhi to know about his habit of making pills when the first flash of purple light appeared in the sky.

Furthermore, not only did Fang Zhengzhi find out about his habit, but he also entered the stone room before him, planned an ambush, and took advantage of the exact moment of crucible failure to sneak up on him.

Dao Hun did not see this coming, because there were too many impossibilities involved.

Even by now… Dao Hun still could not understand how Fang Zhengzhi managed to set all these up, enter his stone room, and even foresaw that the crucible would fail.

However, this was not the time for him to think about these questions. Although Dao Hun was puzzled, he immediately defended himself when he saw the Hell Near-life Chains.

He twisted his body sideways and punched behind him.

However, his enemy seemed to have seen it coming. Dao Hun's punch didn't hit a thing.

”Hmm?!” Dao Hun was startled. After a series of misjudgements, he could already foresee what was going to happen.

Just as he had expected, Fang Zhengzhi had never stood up. He was laying on the floor since the beginning and he crawled toward Dao Hun's feet like a lizard.

At this moment, Dao Hun felt an excruciating pain coming from his other foot as well.

A Hell Near-life Chain had penetrated his other foot, and the other chains were coming for his arms and throat.

Dao Hun couldn't help but feel that this was a perfect sneak attack!

Even though he still had yet to figure out how Fang Zhengzhi appeared in the room, he had to compliment his sneak attack, which was incomparable to the bear trap at the doorstep.

”Did he put the bear trap at the doorstep on purpose?”

Dao Hun thought to himself.

In fact, he was right. Fang Zhengzhi did that on purpose.

Was a bear trap enough to trap the mighty Hallmaster of Yin Yang Hall, Dao Hun?

Fang Zhengzhi wasn't that naïve. He did that to find out if Dao Hun was better at handling a sneak attack from above, or from below.