Chapter 390 – The Real Deal!

''How does this even make sense?!'' All the referees gulped, staring at the Jade Fox like they were about to devour her.

'I even held back...' Mei pursed her lips. She would definitely need some comfort from Aiko, the Moon one especially~.

"Jade Fox won this round." The Peak Elder didn't want to admit, but none of her challengers would be able to meet this.

Just then, the sky darkened.

The referee paused what they were doing and looked towards the person who was causing such an anomaly.

It was an unimpressive youth that was refining the Pill with all his might.

Mei narrowed her eyes. It seemed like she had competition, but guessing from the size of the cloud...

"You can do it Junior Brother!" A beautiful girl shouted from the spectator seats. She was a candidate for Saintess, but couldn't make it because she was too infatuated with that boy.

The Heavenly Clouds gathered, trying to bless the pill.

The youth was focusing so much that his nose bled as the Heavenly Lightning descended.

His Pill was blessed by the heavens and an even more potent medical scent spread through the surroundings.

Mei raised her eyebrow. She didn't expect this.

It was not like she couldn't bless those Pills, but it would be outrageous if she did it with all 11 of them.

The Human Elders were hopeful that this unimpressive youth would be the breaking point where everything would be turned around...

He haughtily observed the Jade Fox. "I'm Lin Fan! And I will make you my Dao Companion!" He proclaimed as the Pill solidified and everyone was hit with an even more potent medical scent.

Lin Fan walked haughtily towards the referee and said. "This disciple hopes that Elders will be impartial in this competition."

The referees' faces twitched. That's what they were intending to do from the start, but this cunning hare was trying to throw them into disarray? Keep dreaming!

"Present your Pill." The Peak Elder was not impressed by his conduct. She favoured the Jade Fox more, even if she was a Fox...

The Jade Fox was quiet and not haughty. She had a good head on her shoulders and knew how to make the best of the situation. Her mind was also incredibly steady, so she would be able to easily earn the right to be the Fox's Saintess and not that scheming vixen!

Lin Fan placed the Pill in front of the Elders and they studied it closely.

He kept his haughty expression, glancing at the Jade Fox from the side. 'What an exquisite body! With that kind of Dao Companion, I will be able to rival the Heavens! Not even the Golden Palace's Empress can match this beauty!' He thought and had quite an insulting expression on his face.

"Disgusting." Mei scoffed at him, making him freeze in place.

"This is the highest-rated Pill one can produce." The Peak Elder couldn't help but say out loud.

"Fairy Jade Fox, don't be like that. Everyone loses once." Lin Fan appeared magnanimous, trying to sway her emotions.

"You are putting the cart before the horse." Moon Aiko was not impressed by his conduct.

Before Lin Fan could refute that, the Peak Elder stepped in.

"Let's vote. Who believes that disciple Lin Fan won this?" The Peak Elder glanced at others.

Only the referee who hated the Vicious Cub raised his hand.

"What are you doing?" He was confused. "His Pill is clearly superior."

"Are you really that stupid?" Aiko asked with wide eyes. She couldn't believe that there was such a dumb Elder.

"What?!" The referee glared at the Vicious Cub.

"The criteria for victory is not the highest grade of Pills, but their sum of Spirit Stones." Moon Aiko rolled her eyes. "And let's be honest, who would take ONE Blessed Pill, over 11 Perfect Pills?!" She shook her head.

Lin Fan's face twitched. He couldn't believe that someone was ridiculing him like that.

"Get a grip." Aiko scoffed at him.

"Who believes that Jade Fox won?" The Peak Elder asked again, ignoring the conflict.

4 Elders raised their hands, making everyone speechless, especially Lin Fan.

"WHY?! My Pill is obviously more precious!" Lin Fan couldn't believe it.

"That is indeed true." The Peak Elder said. "But even if your Pill could increase in price ten times... it would still not be enough. While we are counting the price of the Pills, that also comes with versatility." She gestured to other Elders and they all nodded.

"What the Vicious Cub said has some merit. Nobody in their right mind would go for 1 Pill over 11, especially since all those 11..." The Elder paused. "Are just a step away from being blessed."

This information shocked everyone, since it was more likely that the Pills varied in their perfection, but the Jade Fox reached Perfect Quality in ALL of them?! Impossible! Unbelievable!

Lin Fan's body shook, but he controlled his emotions. "Next round!" He shouted, making the Elders quite upset.

[You have encountered a Main Protagonist: Lin Fan - Heaven's Favourite]

Aiko blinked and rubbed her eyes.

[You have to plunder 100,000 Providence before you can affect his Luck.]

Aiko rubbed her eyes a few times before they almost popped out of her eye sockets.

'1-100,000?!' Aiko's eyes were ridiculously huge as she watched the notification from the System.

She glanced at Lin Fan before staring at her System.

'I only have 100,000!!!' Aiko couldn't believe what she saw.

Aiko licked her lips, such a good fish landed on her lap, how should she butcher him...?

'But I can't fight with Alchemy.' Aiko groaned unhappily.

Only Mei noticed Aiko's vexed expression and wondered what was happening. 'Is she jealous...?' She giggled inside her mind.

'Gosh, I'm jealous! I want to fight against him!' Aiko could not figure out a way to defeat him, so she had to rely on Mei.

Aiko's eyes burned as she stared at Mei without blinking.

Mei blushed. 'I-isn't this a bit too much! He is just Human! You don't have to be so jealous!' She completely misunderstood Aiko's burning passion.

Lin Fan was even more upset since he noticed there was something more between them.

'Tsk. I'm not into petite Beasts.' Lin Fan was upset that his Dao Companion chose such an unimpressive Fox.

"What is the next Pill?" Aiko's passion burned so bright that the Elders believed she wanted to punish that rascal and they were on board with her!

"We can start easy." The Peak Elder chuckled. "How about you do just the 5th Grade Qi Recovery Pill." She smiled like a demon.

"Good idea!" Aiko gave her a thumbs-up, since she knew that Mei could easily go for 6th Grade Pills.

The Peak Elder chuckled again, she started to like this little Foxie.

"You have heard us, return to your position and we will prepare the Herbs in the meantime."

Nobody noticed the distorted expression Lin Fan had. He was heaven's favourite, and just a few days ago he found a special 5th Grade Qi Recovery Pill recipe that was actually 6th Grade!

'I have this round in my pockets!' He chuckled with glee, but he would approach this delicately, since he didn't want to scare the Jade Fox.

...

Mei waited and noticed that his air changed. 'It's better to withdraw this round and crush him in the next one.' She would not lose anything if she lost 1 out of the 3 battles, so it was fine to reserve her strength and go all out later.

She also had this odd feeling that he was observing her too much. 'I'm happy that Aiko is jealous, but he is really getting on my nerves now.' That was one of the reasons Mei hated Humans, they did not have a steady mind and indulged in carnal pleasures too much.

They would be easily controlled by their emotions, ruining everything for everyone!

...

The Herbs were prepared and there were only 11 contestants, Mei included.

They didn't hurry and approached the pile of Herbs. They all took some Herbs from it, but only Lin Fan took 3 out of the 36 Herbs.

The referees were confused, but then he pulled out the rest of the Herbs from his own pocket.

'Is he trying to make up for the Quality of the Herbs?' The Peak Elder found this peculiar, but that didn't mean he would win, and he would even waste his wealth!

'Reckless youth.' The Peak Elder clicked her tongue.

"You can do it, Senior Brother!" Another girl shouted from the spectator seats. She was sitting next to the previous girl and there were two others.

Aiko observed them and watched them from time to time.

Soon after Mei started her Pill Refining process, one of the girls released some kind of thread from her body.

'Am I seeing things?' Moon Aiko tilted her head, but seeing that thread was weaselling its way towards Mei...

'Are they trying to cheat against MY Mei!' Aiko gritted her teeth, bloodlust was oozing from her body startling the Elders near her. 'Who dares to interrupt the harvest season that my Mei and I prepared!?' Her expression distorted as she bared her fangs.

Her fur was quickly changing colour and ominous tails appeared behind her baring their teeth too.

The Elders wanted to protect themselves, but the Vicious Cub suddenly disappeared.

"You little shit." Aiko's voice was suddenly drifting from the spectators' seats.

"KYAAAAAAA!" The girl screamed as the thread she was creating was mercilessly eaten by Aiko.

"You think you can just cheat without anyone noticing, huh?" It was a rare occurrence for Aiko to look like a monster.

[The true form of [Nightmare Fox Incarnate] revealed its fangs.][You have complete control over Nightmares.][You can decide the targets that will experience Nightmares when they enter into shadows.][The targeted being will have to fight with their Will against your Nightmares. The more cowardly they are, the more damage you will deal!][It's possible to drown the target into an endless nightmare! In such a case your Nightmare Essence will decrease per second per person drown!]

Aiko observed the notification from the corner of her eyes.

"What do you think you are doing?!" Lin Fan yelled out throwing a chain-type Treasure at Aiko.

The chains wrapped around her body and she was bound in place.

That kind of bloodlust and power was not fit for someone who had just 4 Tails. Even the Beast Elders were terrified of it. Moreover, those Tails... those were straight up from nightmares.