I Can Control Resources

"Watch out!!!" Qin Lei watched as Gao Neng went to lift the lid of the Tripod Cauldron. It was too late to stop him, so all he could do was shout a warning and rapidly deploy an Energy Barrier.

"VMMMM!"

A glass-like barrier, centered on Qin Lei, expanded rapidly, instantly enveloping all the onlookers.

As for Gao Neng...

He was left outside the Energy Barrier.

Gao Neng, who had been ready to bask in the crowd’s adoration, was so startled by the shout that his hand trembled, and he nearly dropped the lid he was lifting.

"Watch out? Watch out for what?! Who would dare to ambush me?" For a moment, Gao Neng didn’t fully understand what Qin Lei meant.

But soon, he understood.

Because the instant he tightened his grip on the lid, a powerful force burst from the Tripod Cauldron. Like a shockwave, it blasted the lid right out of his hands.

And then came a deafening boom.

"BOOM!"

A purple bolt of lightning shot out from the Tripod Cauldron.

This was true Celestial Thunder!

And it was an incredibly ferocious Celestial Thunder at that.

The moment it shot out, it spread in every direction like a vast web of lightning, attacking everything around it indiscriminately.

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

The barrier was relentlessly battered by the Celestial Thunder.

Meanwhile, above the exhibition hall, a black thundercloud was steadily materializing.

"Look, something’s bursting out of the thundercloud!"

"Whoa, what a spectacular sight!"

"A once-in-a-century sight, truly once in a century..."

The members of the surrounding sects and the Noble Young Masters watched this scene not with panic, but with unbridled excitement.

The Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill.

A supreme-grade pill.

When the pill is successfully created, a celestial phenomenon will manifest!

This was common knowledge.

Any Alchemist from a sect or noble family who had ever refined a supreme-grade pill would tell their juniors that the greatest difference between it and other pills lay in its ability to absorb a certain worldly essence. This essence was profoundly mysterious and held infinite power.

"RUMBLE!"

As the sect members and Noble Young Masters cried out, a bolt of lightning shot out from the thundercloud, one that looked completely different from any other.

It was as if it had gained sentience.

It shot straight down.

In an instant, it merged with the Celestial Thunder that had erupted from the Tripod Cauldron.

The two were like yin and yang.

The lightning from the cauldron was yang; the lightning from the cloud was yin.

Yin and yang merged.

The celestial phenomenon in the area finally began to subside.

"Wow, the pill is complete!"

"It’s really complete!"

"Quick, let’s see! What does the Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill look like?!"

"..."

A crowd of people surged forward.

Gao Neng, however, just stood dazedly before the Tripod Cauldron, replaying the image of the Celestial Thunder weaving back and forth in front of his face.

It felt like a pair of ghostly claws waving right in front of your face.

It was a real thrill.

He was so scared he’d broken out in a cold sweat.

’Holy hell, nobody told me there’d be a whole sideshow when a supreme-grade pill is finished!’ Gao Neng was genuinely dumbfounded. After all, celestial phenomena were the kind of thing you only read about in novels.

’And now, he’d actually seen it with his own eyes?’

’Can you believe it?’

"Wow, Gao Neng, you’re so incredible! You really refined the Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill!" Fang Tangtang’s voice rang out beside him.

"But of course. I was a hundred percent certain," Gao Neng said with a smile, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the pill resting quietly inside the Tripod Cauldron.

It was a pill as clear and brilliant as a crystal ball.

It was as large as two fingers put together.

Though it was transparent, it was impossible to see what was inside, as if a thundercloud was swirling within, obscuring the view.

But one thing was certain...

’What a treasure!’

Gao Neng subconsciously reached out to pick up the Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill.

"Wait, don’t touch it with your bare hands!" Qin Lei immediately came over, not giving Gao Neng another chance to act.

Qin Lei was incredibly fast, blocking Gao Neng’s hand with his own.

Then, he pulled out a pair of black gloves.

The gloves appeared to be made of the same material as the Tripod Cauldron Li Tiannan had given him, only the black metal was as fine as silk threads.

’Black metal gloves?’

"This Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill is of an exceedingly high grade. It contains Celestial Thunder within it," Qin Lei explained to Gao Neng after taking the pill from the Tripod Cauldron. "Careless contact could trigger the thunder and injure your fingers. The gain would not be worth the loss."

"So that’s how it is. Thank you for the lesson, Elder Qin." Gao Neng didn’t pretend to know everything about such a common-sense issue, because he truly didn’t understand.

’Not knowing something but pretending you do isn’t being cool, it’s being an idiot.’

’Besides, any fool could tell that the method he’d used to refine the Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill had absolutely nothing to do with actual Alchemy.’

"Heh, not bad." Qin Lei gave Gao Neng a slightly surprised look, then smiled and offered no further explanation on the matter.

He simply held the Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill up, examined it closely, and finally brought it to his nose to sniff it cautiously.

"It is indeed the Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill!" After declaring this, Qin Lei placed the pill back into the Tripod Cauldron and removed his gloves.

"It’s really the Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill!"

"Incredible!"

"This is the first time I’ve ever seen a supreme-grade pill!"

Hearing Qin Lei’s confirmation, the crowd erupted once more.

Meanwhile, Chairman Sheng, who had just regained his confidence, now had an ashen face. He knew that with things having come to this, he could kiss his position as chairman of the association goodbye.

"A one-hundred-percent success rate... Sigh. It must be fate." Chairman Sheng heaved a sigh, then slowly turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Meanwhile, the three directors of the Celestial King Group and Fang Yuan were already grinning from ear to ear.

’The pill is complete!’

’That means the plan is already halfway to success!’

It was only now that they truly understood what Gao Neng had meant by his words at the dinner table three days ago.

’This truly was the opportunity Gao Neng was giving the Celestial King Group.’

’With his abilities, he could have partnered with any of the noble families.’

"Gao Neng... you’ve really made this old man look at you in a new light!" Fang Yuan gazed at Gao Neng in the distance and let out a heartfelt sigh.

As for Li Tiannan, who had been standing just behind Gao Neng, he had already snatched the gloves Qin Lei had just taken off.

"Let me see, hahaha... So this is the Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill? Not bad, not bad... How’s the quality? Elder Qin, swear on your honor and tell me, is it better than the ones you refine?" Li Tiannan said, immediately moving closer to Qin Lei after getting the pill in his hands.

"The quality of a pill depends on its ingredients. Gao Neng used supreme-grade materials of a very high rank, so the quality of this Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill is naturally not going to be low," Qin Lei replied casually, glancing at Li Tiannan.

"Hahaha, I get it! You’re saying this Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill is even better than the ones you make, right? You old coot, if you lost, you lost. No need to be a sore loser about it. Alright, alright, I’ll just hold on to this pill for safekeeping!" Li Tiannan waved his hand dismissively and made to put the Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill away.

"Master, are you trying to rob me in broad daylight?" Gao Neng didn’t stop him, but he couldn’t just let Li Tiannan walk away with the Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill.

"What do you mean, rob you? You brat, didn’t we have a deal? I help you organize this event, you give me high-rank attribute materials. I don’t want the materials anymore. I just want this Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill," Li Tiannan said, his eyes burning with desire as he looked at the pill in his hand.

"Attribute materials and a Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill are not in the same price range!" Gao Neng retorted.

"What? You brat, you’re going to haggle with me? Have you forgotten that I’m your master? As the old saying goes, ’A teacher for a day is a father for life’..."

"Master, if this pill were mine, you could of course take it. But it doesn’t belong to me," Gao Neng said, cutting him off.

"Cut the crap! What do you mean it’s not yours? The ingredients were yours, you refined the pill, so how is it not yours?" Li Tiannan clearly wasn’t falling for it.

"It really isn’t mine. If you don’t believe me, Master, you can take a look at this contract," Gao Neng said, pulling an authorization agreement out from his clothes.

Li Tiannan took it dubiously.

His expression quickly shifted from disbelief to something more complex. Finally, his gaze turned directly toward Fang Yuan and the three directors in the distance.

"Fang Yuan, is this authorization agreement real?" Li Tiannan’s tone was clearly unhappy.

"In response to your question, Elder Li, it is real," Fang Yuan replied respectfully, stepping forward. "We signed this contract with Gao Neng three days ago. Furthermore, the two hundred billion mentioned in the agreement was transferred to Gao Neng’s account three days ago. If you don’t believe me, you can check the Celestial King Group’s transaction records."

"Bullshit! Don’t try to pull that on me! I don’t care, I’m taking this Celestial Thunder Extremity Pill today. Celestial King Group, name your price!" Li Tiannan was getting angry.

"Name a price?"

"Celestial King Group?!

"What in the world was written on that authorization agreement?"

The people in the crowd were confused.

However, Wu Qingjing and Yutian, who had just seen Chairman Sheng leave, paled when they heard the conversation between Li Tiannan and Fang Yuan.

Although they hadn’t seen the contents of the authorization agreement...

...if they carefully recalled the course of this Alchemist exchange event and combined that with the conversation they’d had with Gao Neng three days prior...

If they still couldn’t figure it out...

...then the two of them really didn’t deserve their titles of Speaker and Governor.

"This kid has really made up his mind. He’s planning to make a huge move!" Yutian said to Wu Qingjing, a flash of alarm in his eyes.