CH 94

Chapter 94.1: Competition Pt. 1

Fairy Kushui still paid attention to Jing Yue before, but since Jing Yue started to drift off while refining, she didn’t regard the other party as a threat. So what if the movements looked good? It was just for display.

She watched with a half-smile as the disciple took the pills from the furnace. As Jing Yue used the standard furnace issued by Tianshui Palace, the mouth of the furnace was too small, so the disciple reached out and found two pills.

“Heh…” Fairy Kushui smiled slightly. Both pills were of low grade. Although she was a little surprised that the leader of Mini Frostcloud Sect could do alchemy, it was nothing to fear. She was still wondering how could there be anyone proficient in both alchemy Dao and talisman Dao at the same time.

She deliberately raised her voice and said, “Sect Leader Jing is really extraordinary. Not only is he good at refining talismans, but also good at making pills, producing two low-grade pills in one go.”

Many onlookers heard it, and those further away from Mini Frostcloud Sect even booed. As for those who stood close to them... Of course, no one dared to speak.

The disciples of Mini Frostcloud Sect looked as if they couldn't hear the sarcasm at all. With joy on their faces, they felt they could start bragging and said, “Sect leader is really invincible. He’s really a jack of all trades, an all-rounded talent indeed!”

Daoist Tian Luo hid his face with his hands, deeply embarrassed. Qin Yanzhi was as expressionless as always, and no one could figure out his thoughts.

However, the disciple who opened the furnace looked rather odd and whispered, “Sect leader, there are more in the furnace.”

The smile on Fairy Kushui froze before she pretended to be apologetic, “I seem to be mistaken.” After saying that, she glared at the disciple. “Hurry up and take the pills out for Sect Leader Jing.”

The disciple’s heart trembled as he fished out another two pills.

Fairy Kushui smiled again, and before she could say anything, the disciple fished out two more.

As the plot progressed to this point, Fairy Kushui could no longer hang on to her smile. Although the six were all low-grade pills, wasn’t the preliminary competition about the completion rate? Jing Yue actually passed?! What shocked her even more was that the disciple was still fumbling around…

She said angrily: "Are you finished yet? Can't you take them out at once? Sect Leader Jing is anxiously waiting!”

Jing Yue said leisurely, “No hurry, take your time.”

Fairy Kushui, “…”

The disciple was so aggrieved that he wanted to cry, so he grabbed a handful of them haphazardly in a hurry, and there were four of them.

At first, Fairy Kushui thought that four was not too bad, but then again, if the four were added to the previous six, that would be ten! Wasn’t this the same number as Xu Fenglan? One must know that Xu Fenglan was a genius that had not appeared in Tianshui Palace in the last century! And she had received focused training!

Fairy Kushui, the other contestants, and the crowd were all dumbfounded. They even had all kinds of ridiculous thoughts, such as—could it be that talisman Dao and alchemy were actually connected? Could it be that the person on the stage was not the leader of Mini Frostcloud Sect, but an alchemy expert invited by Jing Yue to take his place?

Even Wu Changzi, who had been chattering incessantly, felt his throat go dry and his eyes went straight. Daoist Tianluo was even more creeped out. He subconsciously looked at Qin Yanzhi and… still couldn’t discern anything.

However, it was not over yet. The disciple of Tianshui Palace put his hand into the pill furnace gloomily. Fairy Kushui couldn't help it anymore and was furious. “Aren’t you done yet?”

The disciple trembled slightly and fished out two pills again. “No, no more. Only these two left.”

‘Only’? Fairy Kushui was going crazy!

12 pills!

12 pills in one furnace?

No one had been able to do that since the founding of Tianshui Palace, no, since the emergence of alchemy in Haotian Realm! Everyone thought that ten was the ultimate number!

At this time, everyone looked at Jing Yue oddly. It was as if everyone thought there were only men and women in the world, but one day, a third gender was discovered, and it completely subverted common sense!

Daoist Tian Luo's mouth dropped open so widely that one Ji-ji could be stuffed into it, but the disciples of Mini Frostcloud Sect innocently didn’t understand what the 12 pills meant. They only thought that the sect leader was really amazing and started praising him to the skies and back again.

Qin Yanzhi still looked uninterested, but blue phoenix on his head was changing patterns while turning in circles, making his stoic appearance a little questionable.

“You…” There was a fire burning in Fairy Kushui’s heart, and not only one but two! One was for not being able to slap face but being slapped viciously instead, while the other was the excitement at another major breakthrough in alchemy. She even felt that her long-stagnant cultivation had also loosened a little. All of this came from the change of perception, which expanded her view and thinking. In that case, did she owe Jing Yue a debt of gratitude now?

“Thank you for giving way.”

When would be a better time to act pretentious? Jing Yue smiled blandly, brushed his clothes, and walked calmly in the direction where his sect’s disciples were.

Whether the participants, judges or the audience, all wanted to ask Jing Yue if it was his real ability or just a lucky break. But it was too embarrassing to ask him to refine another furnace, so they could only wait until the next day to verify it.

The results of the preliminary competition were soon announced. Around 90% of the contestants were eliminated, and only more than 300 people passed this round. It also proved how shocking the number of twelve pills in one furnace was.

As for the semi-finals, in the past, Tianshui Palace would select a kind of pill and prepare all the materials. Participants would pass as long as they could refine a top-grade pill.

However, it was different this time. Tianshui Palace had prepared more than 300 medicinal materials with different combinations, packaged them separately, and required the contestants to choose one randomly. No matter which combination was chosen, the participant would pass if they refined a high-grade pill.

Most of the participants were dissatisfied with the sudden change in rules. It was commonly known that everyone had limited pill recipes. What if the materials they drew didn’t match the recipes they knew? Even if it did, it might not be the kind they were good at making, so how could they produce a high-grade pill?

The elders who accompanied the various factions were not too happy either. Tianshui Palace didn’t notify them at all before this. They had reason to suspect that Tianshui Palace deliberately increased the difficulty of the semi-finals to help pave the way for Xu Fenglan, and might even have informed Xu Fenglan which combination to select.

They didn’t mind if Tianshui Palace wanted to groom Xu Fenglan, but they shouldn’t deceive others in the process. Now that they were using the other competitors to make her stand out, anyone would complain about this treatment.

Fairy Kushui was also a little embarrassed and said with a dry laugh, “Please don’t worry. Every set of materials is based on the recipe and will not involve a particularly unpopular recipe. For the sake of fairness, Xu Fenglan can be the last to draw.”

Since she had put it this way, it wasn’t appropriate to say anything else. But privately, they believed that Xu Fenglan must be proficient at the hundreds of combinations they had prepared.

When the semi-finals officially began, many of the participants were in a dilemma, not knowing which one to choose, but some didn't care, and Jing Yue was certainly one of them.

He went up and just grabbed the nearest one. Most of the audience was surprised and disagreed, but no one turned on the spewing mode. After all, the memory of yesterday’s face-slapping was too deeply engraved.

Someone whispered, “Isn’t Sect Leader Jing a little too reckless?”

Another said, “Perhaps he’s quite confident?”

“But even Zhang Liancheng didn’t choose as quickly as him.”

Suddenly, a cold voice sounded from behind, “Zhang Liancheng can't produce a furnace of twelve pills.”

The crowd looked around. Wasn’t that the cold-faced jinx of Mini Frostcloud Sect? Everyone immediately tensed. How did they end up with him?

Everyone suddenly went silent as if their throats were sealed, which made Qin Yanzhi a little surprised. He didn’t expect his deeds to spread in just one day, but he was satisfied with the status quo, so he coldly swept a glance at the crowd, turned back, and continued to focus on his brother.

At this time, Jing Yue had already opened his package. These packages were sealed with a spell to prevent the detection from divine consciousness, but the level was really not very good. At least, Jing Yue could easily break it open.  But he was too familiar with pill-refining, so there was no need to cheat at all.

There were ten kinds of medicinal materials in his hand, two types of skin and flesh from ferocious beasts, one metal ore, and the remaining were seven different types of herbs. He knew at one glance that these materials were for beauty-enhancing pills.

Beauty enhancing pills, as the name implied, could make people look youthful and ageless. The refining process was somewhat troublesome and time-consuming, taking 16 hours to complete.

Although they were given two days for the semi-finals, Jing Yue really didn't want to go through that much trouble.

If he removed two items from these materials, he could refine a pill that didn’t exist in Haotian Realm yet—Erasure Pill.

This was a kind of poisonous pill, and its effect was to erase the cultivation base, but it was a low-level pill that would only work for cultivators in the Qi Refining stage. The difficulty for refining this pill was correspondingly much lower, requiring only seven hours.

Jing Yue’s thoughts shifted and asked, “Do we have to use every single material?”

His voice was not loud, and he intended to ask the disciples of Tianshui Palace nearby, but Fairy Kushui, who had listed him as a key target, was instantly alert. But after thinking about it, each package was prepared according to the pill recipe, and couldn’t be simplified. If he didn’t use all of them, what pill could be made?

Could it be that Jing Yue was clueless about the materials he had chosen and wanted to try his luck in another way? Thus, her mood became better and she said with a smile, “That's not necessary, as long as you can refine a high-grade pill.”

Jing Yue nodded. “Thank you.”

He looked so confident that Fairy Kushui was a little uncertain now, and inexplicably wanted to take back her words. But at this time, a disciple of Tianshui Palace said, “Based on Sect Leader Jing’s capability, it won’t be surprising even if he only used one herb to make a pill.”

The disciple spoke respectfully, her smile was warm, but her tone of voice was uncanny. It was obvious she didn't have good intentions, which made many people laugh.

Jing Yue raised his eyes and saw a woman in her 20s with a somewhat mean face.

Well, he had never seen her before, so he couldn’t be bothered.

Jing Yue’s nonchalant attitude of ignoring her made the woman mad. Her mother’s family had some connections with Tiangang Sect while one of her cousins was an inner gates disciple there. Moreover, she had a betrothal arrangement with this cousin, just waiting for both of them to reach the Foundation Establishment stage before they could become Dao partners.

She was proud of being betrothed to a young talent from one of the five immortal sects and often bragged about it. For a long time, many of her fellow disciples envied her.

However, Tiangang Sect was severely taught a lesson by Mini Frostcloud Sect some years ago, and the process was extremely humiliating!

She usually had a bad temper and had offended some people, and they deliberately came to embarrass her, making her unable to lift her head for a while, so her hatred for Mini Frostcloud Sect grew in her heart.

Jing Yue wasn’t aware of the woman’s internal struggles because he was already handling the medicinal materials seriously.

At this time, everyone had chosen a package, and there was a mix of reactions.

Zhang Liancheng was lucky. The recipe he drew happened to be one he was good at, so a smile could be seen on his face.

Xu Fenglan had already started up the furnace and tossed a handful of herbs into it without hesitation, tweaking the hand seals and started the refining. She was clearly very confident.

More people looked at Jing Yue and saw his leisurely stance, weighing each material with his hand before separating it and set aside.

Daoist Tian Luo smiled cordially at his ‘old friend’ Wu Changzi who had squeezed next to him again. “Do you know what my sect leader is doing?”

Wu Changzi said hesitantly, “He seems to be weighing the herbs.”

Daoist Tian Luo was stunned. “Just by using his hands?” He clearly saw that when Jing Yue was refining cinnabar, he often couldn't determine the weight of the ingredients and had to rely on the scale!

Wu Changzi, “If he was very familiar with the recipe, maybe he can do it.”

Daoist Tian Luo suffered a blow to his heart. He just couldn't understand how a person who became famous for refining talismans seemed to be more familiar with pills instead.

He turned his head and asked Qin Yanzhi, “Do you know that your brother is so awesome?”

Qin Yanzhi didn’t say anything, only raised his chin in sync with the chicken on his head.

Daoist Tian Luo, “…”

Jing Yue was indeed weighing the herbs by hand. After all, the amount of each material was a bit too much for the Erasure Pill. When everything was ready, he tossed a blade of Qiming grass into the furnace and refined it over a slow fire. A moment later, he used his spiritual power to mince a fierce beast's meat, sprinkled it with bitter grass powder, and shaped it into a ball before throwing it into the furnace.

Then, Jing Yue chose the most suitable spell and began to refine the pill. Now, he was more familiar with the furnace issued by Tianshui Palace. It was no longer as difficult to control as yesterday and he was more comfortable with refining pills.

As the participants entered the state one after another, the audience could not help their mouths.

Someone said, “What pill do you think Zhang Liancheng is going to make?”

“He only used four ingredients so far so I can’t be sure yet, but I guess it's most likely a Qi replenishing pill or similar.”

“I guess so too. He's really lucky.”

Qi Replenishing Pill was one of the most common pills to be found on the streets, and practically everyone knew how to make it. For Zhang Lian Cheng, who was good at alchemy, it posed no difficulty at all.

Another person said, “What about Xu Fenglan? She was the last one to draw the herbs.”

“Although she has only used seven herbs so far, from the way she handled them and the order in which she put them in, it can be inferred that it’s a Qi Gathering Pill. This pill refining technique is very unique and makes it quite easy to guess.”

“This Daoist friend has good eyesight. In that case, can you guess what pill the leader of Mini Frostcloud Sect is making? Why am I clueless?”

At these words, the scene was quiet again for a good while. No one could tell!

Suddenly, someone said, “Have you ever thought that it’s not any pill at all, and he’s just blindly making it up?”

“It can’t be. This is a pill-making competition. Besides, Sect Leader Jing seems quite well-versed in alchemy. Not to mention the twelve pills in one furnace yesterday, just the hand seals he has used in the past two days are as many as three to five types.”

“But after we’ve learned so many pill recipes, have we ever seen the one he’s making?”

“You haven't seen it because of your ignorance.”

An indifferent voice interrupted forcefully. The crowd turned around and saw that Qin Yanzhi, who was supposed to be far away from them, had stood behind them at some point.

D*mn it! He’s such a stalker!

Although the alchemy process was boring, most of the onlookers were interested in it, and the competition was also a way of learning for them. Especially those who could perform hand seals beautifully, in their view, it was like enjoying a dance by celestial fairies, and many people's expressions were enraptured.

However, Daoist Tian Luo practiced talismans and was a layman in alchemy. He endured for almost ten hours and didn’t see any big movements, not even the excitement of an exploding furnace. Jing Yue also kept repeating the same actions.

Gradually, he got bored and simply sat down on the ground cross-legged and started to meditate.

Under his influence, several disciples of Mini Frostcloud Sect also followed his cue. Although they were happy to see the leader show his power, it was not time yet, right? Even a golden core being like Daoist Tian Luo worked so hard, so they couldn’t lag behind!

Another hour passed, and even the self-proclaimed most loyal to Jing Yue’s blue phoenix couldn't help but yawned. Water mist appeared in its beady eyes and its head kept nodding, obviously extremely sleepy.

Only Qin Yanzhi stared at Jing Yue intently from the beginning to the end, unwilling to miss even a second.

14 hours later, many participants had just entered the middle stage of alchemy when they heard someone say, “Please open the furnace.”

Those not steadfast enough couldn't help but look for the source of the voice and found that it was Jing Yue who had produced 12 pills yesterday.

Everyone was dumbfounded. The pill recipes that appeared in the semi-finals had a certain degree of difficulty and had to be refined for at least 20 hours. What kind of pill did Jing Yue produce in this short time?

Some people noticed Jing Yue's remaining materials and speculated that he got the Beauty Enhancing Pill, but it couldn’t be this fast, right? Besides, two of the materials seemed untouched. How could it form a pill?

Fairy Kushui was also full of doubts. In order not to disturb the other participants, she grabbed Jing Yue's pill furnace with one hand and placed it in front of her.

The one who opened the furnace was an elder of Tianshui Palace. Unlike the dawdling disciple from yesterday, she skillfully took out the pills all at once. Instantly, the fragrance of the pills overflowed.

Only six?

Fairy Kushui’s first reaction was to rejoice. She knew he was just lucky in the last round! But shortly after, she stared in astonishment at the elder's hand that held a few perfect round pills. Her eyeballs almost popped out of the sockets! Jing Yue actually succeeded in refining a pill?

And this pill…

Fairy Kushui picked one up and examined it repeatedly, smelling it again and again, couldn't wait to take one on the spot to try the effect, but how could one consume a pill so casually? In the end, she shook her head and said, “Forgive my lack of knowledge. I can't tell what kind of pill this is. Can any of you?”

If even she couldn't tell, how could the other elders recognize it? Other judges knew less than Tianshui Palace so no one came forward, but they were inwardly unimpressed. If even Tianshui Palace didn’t recognize it, it was likely something that looked like a pill but was actually a useless fake item.

The earlier mean woman's face was ugly after Jing Yue called out to open the furnace, but seeing that everyone was at a loss now, she instantly looked forward to it. If it was really a fake pill, Sect Leader Jing would be greatly humiliated!

Unfortunately, she was destined to be disappointed.

Fairy Kushui, “Sect Leader Jing, none of us recognize this pill. Can you tell us about it?”

She didn't think it was a fake pill. As the head of Tianshui Palace, she still had this foresight. This pill had good color, strong fragrance, and even glowed faintly, high quality at first glance. Perhaps it was an obscure recipe? After all, even Tianshui Palace dared not say they had all the recipes of the world.

Jing Yue stepped forward, took a pill, and said, “This is an Erasure Pill.”

Fairy Kushui, “Indeed, I’ve never heard of it.”

Jing Yue, “It’s normal that you’ve never heard of it because this is the first Erasure Pill in Haotian Realm.”

After he finished speaking, the scene immediately fell into a strange silence. Not only the judges heard it clearly, but many onlookers also had a change of expressions.

Chapter 94.2: Competition Pt. 2

A new pill? A new recipe had not appeared in Haotian Realm for hundreds of years! Was he bragging?

“This, is it true?” After a long time, Fairy Kushui finally found her voice. Her voice was hoarse, her expression was excited yet apprehensive, agitated yet expectant, and looked a bit comical.

“Why would I lie to you?” Jing Yue looked at her stoically. “If you don’t believe me, you can find someone to try it out.”

Fairy Kushui was really a bit moved and asked, “What is the effect of this pill?”

“To remove cultivation, only effective for Qi Refining cultivators.”

Fairy Kushui, “…”

Jing Yue added, “I can give you this pill, or I can sell you the recipe. Sect Leader Kushui, why don’t we talk about it in detail after the competition?”

“Yes, sure!” Now, Fairy Kushui felt that Jing Yue looked pleasing to the eye from every angle. Intimidating him? It didn’t exist.

Not to mention her, but even the other elders of Tianshui Palace also looked happy, and the older ones even smiled like a blooming flower. They were truly fond of alchemy. In front of a new pill recipe that had not appeared for hundreds of years, so what if the immortal gates were at odds with each other? Besides, Mini Frostcloud Sect didn’t stand in the way of Tianshui Palace.

Moreover, now they already know that Jing Yue was indeed proficient in alchemy, but Mini Frostcloud Sect had chosen to make a name for itself with talismans. It was clear that Jing Yue didn’t intend to compete with Tianshui Palace for profits, so why should they rush to the forefront?

Tianshui Palace’s group of silly lotuses suddenly emerged from the clouds and saw the light. Once they saw through it, they looked at Jing Yue with only love and appreciation of a fellow genius.

Jing Yue keenly perceived their subtle changes and his heart went mwahahah…

The two parties were in harmony. Fairy Kushui couldn’t keep her hands off the pill and asked, “What grade is this pill?” Since there was no similar pill to compare, she couldn’t judge.

Jing Yue, “Premium-grade, of course.”

Fairy Kushui raised her head abruptly and saw a half-smile on Jing Yue’s face, making her momentarily unable to distinguish the truth of the other party's words.

In fact, she didn’t quite believe it. The premium-grade pill was not easy to get, and even she had only refined two of them. But for some reason, another voice in her heart told her that what Jing Yue said was true

“Sect Leader Kushui, can I have the furnace back?”

Before Fairy Kushui returned to her senses, she subconsciously responded. Jing Yue grabbed one leg of the furnace and returned to the original position.

What was he doing? The crowd was curious, only to see Jing Yue put another herb into the furnace, controlled the fire, and performed the hand seals.

Daoist Tian Luo had ended his meditation when Jing Yue displayed his prowess. Now, he nudged Qin Yanzhi and said, “What’s the sect leader doing?”

Qin Yanzhi was as concise as always. “Refining pills.”

On the side, Wu Changzi pursed his lips when he heard that. Refining pills? What could be done with the insufficient remaining materials? He should be trying to utilize the furnace more, right? The more the furnace was used, the easier it was to refine pills.

Most people shared the same thought. Although they were shocked at Jing Yue's ability, since the other party had completed the pill for the semi-finals, they no longer paid any attention to him.

Six to ten hours later, some people completed their pill-making process one after another and requested for the furnaces to be opened. Unfortunately, most of them were of low and medium grade, only a few high-grade. Besides, with Jing Yue’s excellent performance just now, even if Zhang Liancheng and Xu Fenglan both made four high-grade pills, it didn’t arouse much discussion.

Xu Fenglan was quite disappointed and felt quite bad for the Qi Gathering Pill that she had drawn. In the past, it was amazing if she could even get two high-grade pills in one furnace, but she didn’t expect to get so lucky today and got four high-grade pills. Unfortunately, the limelight had been robbed by Jing Yue.

But then again, compared to the birth of a new pill recipe, a high-grade pill was really not worth mentioning. She tried to find comfort in her despondence. At least she had surpassed herself, right?

Two days passed in a flash. When the morning glow filled the sky, Fairy Kushui announced the end of the session again.

Regardless of whether the refining was successful, the furnace must be opened at this time. Fairy Kushui walked up to Jing Yue again and smiled at him in a friendly manner. Just as she was about to walk past him, Jing Yue said, “Sect Leader Kushui, why don’t you open the furnace?”

Fairy Kushui was stunned. “What do you mean?”

Jing Yue, “There are pills in the furnace.”

Are you kidding me?! Fairy Kushui roared inwardly, but after sizing him up, Jing Yue didn’t seem like he was joking.

Fairy Kushui opened the pill furnace skeptically, stretched out her hand, and really fished out a pill. At that moment, she felt weak all over.

“Silencing Pill?” Someone in the crowd recognized this venomous pill, which resulted in people not making a sound for ten days. Although it was the inferior of all inferior pills, this…

“He really only used one material!”

Although the silencing pill was not highly sought-after, refining it also required three materials. He only used one to refine it? How was that possible?

Fairy Kushui stared at the pill in her hand so hard that she almost went cock-eyed. After a while, she hesitantly asked, “Is this a premium-grade silencing pill?”

Jing Yue, “Of course.”

The crowd clamored again. Many people were shocked while looking at the mean woman. What did this woman just say? So, Jing Yue really made a pill with only one material? And it was premium-grade?

After being scrutinized by all sorts of gazes, the mean woman almost collapsed. She believed that Jing Yue did this on purpose. As a sect leader, the other party was too spiteful, right?

Jing Yue wasn’t one to hold grudges, but he couldn’t leave even after making the first pill, and it was boring to wait heedlessly. Since he could make a pill from the remaining materials, he simply went ahead.

Besides, he was here purely to show off in front of others, making use of the pill-making competition to make a name for Mini Frostcloud Sect. The more limelight he could steal, the better. Pretending to be low-keyed would defeat the purpose.

“If Sect Leader Kushui has any doubts, you can ask someone to try it out. Anyway, the silencing pill won’t cause much damage. Even a premium-grade pill will take a month to recover at most.” Jing Yue looked around, pointed to the mean woman, and said, “How about this fellow Daoist? She talks quite a lot.”

Mean woman, “…”

Fairy Kushui, “…”

Onlookers, “…”

Qin Yanzhi: ^ ^

The mean woman immediately bit her lower lip. Her eyes went red and she looked aggrieved. Fairy Kushui didn’t like her pettiness but she couldn’t really ask someone to test the pills, so she said, “I believe in Sect Leader Jing, of course.”

Jing Yue, “This is a premium-grade pill. Are you sure you don’t want to try it?”

The corners of the Fairy Kushui's mouth twitched, “There’s really no need.”

At the end of the semi-finals, Jing Yue naturally passed with flying colors. Fairy Kushui invited him to a gathering to exchange pointers on the art of alchemy. Since Jing Yue had nothing to do anyway, he led the disciples of the sect to ‘socialize’.

At the same time, the mean woman ran back to her dormitory in tears. Although she didn’t take the silencing pill in the end, she had been humiliated in public. She was so ashamed that she wanted to die! She never expected Jing Yue to be so narrow-minded and vindictive. Thinking of the strange looks from her fellow disciples along the way, she really wanted to bury herself in the ground! Before that, she wanted to shred Jing Yue into pieces!

However, she noticed the change of attitude in the sect leader and several elders. If Jing Yue really became the guest of the Tianshui Palace, her days in the future…

Thinking of this, she couldn't help being utterly devastated and started wailing.

After Jing Yue had a cordial and friendly conversation with the senior members of Tianshui Palace, he returned to the guest house with a large number of spirit stones in his pocket. Daoist Tian Luo said sourly, “I can't believe that you actually know how to make pills.”

Jing Yue, "Didn't you see it yesterday?"

Daoist Tian Luo's eyes flickered. Yesterday, he thought Jing Yue was just lucky.

Seeing him like this, Jing Yue smiled and said, “Do you think I’m very powerful and want to join the sect and formally acknowledge me as the sect leader?”

Qin Yanzhi also had a smile on his face, totally a different person from when he was watching the competition. “Of course my brother is powerful.”

Blue phoenix, nestled on Jing Yue's shoulder, nodded vigorously.

Daoist Tian Luo, “…”

When Jing Yue saw Daoist Tian Luo's speechless look, he couldn't help but laugh. After he had laughed enough, he casually asked, “Yanzhi, do you want to learn alchemy from me?”

Qin Yanzhi shook his head without hesitation.

Jing Yue, “Why not?”

Qin Yanzhi, “Didn’t you always tell me? One sword breaks ten thousand laws. Alchemy is only one of the ten thousand laws, so why should I practice anything else?”

Jing Yue was momentarily startled before he patted Qin Yanzhi’s shoulder in admiration. “As expected of Sword Inscription…” Halfway through, he jammed on the brakes and changed his words abruptly, “…my brother.”

Qin Yanzhi didn’t notice Jing Yue’s slip of the tongue. His entire attention was focused on the warmth on his shoulder and his thoughts ran wild for a while.

On the day of the finals, there were only twelve participants left. Among these twelve, only one person could get the precious golden lotus pill.

It was heard that the gambling den had opened a handicap. Although Jing Yue made a huge splash during the prelims and semi-finals, the pills he refined in the first set were low-grade and made it seem as if the level of his skills were unstable. Thus, he was ranked in third place. The first two were naturally Xu Fenglan and Zhang Liancheng.

When Qin Yanzhi heard about this, he deliberately dragged Jing Yue to the gambling den to place a bet before the competition. As for the stakes… in any case, it was enough to make the gambling den lose their pants.

At this time, Wu Changzi was analyzing the situation on the stage to Daoist Tian Luo. Yes, he stood next to Daoist Tian Luo again today. In just a few days, they had boarded the small boat of friendship together.

The finals was to make a pill that the contestants were best at. The medicinal materials were prepared by the participants themselves. Hence, everyone offered their prized treasures and displayed their full abilities.

Seeing Zhang Liancheng put several herbs into the furnace, Wu Changzi immediately said, “The Cicada Grass and Golden Wheel Flower are supposed to be mutually exclusive, but if you add the Tiger Blood Vine, you can neutralize the medicinal properties. However, the dosage must be very precise, otherwise, it will blow up the furnace. These herbs are the main materials for refining the Marrow Pill. There are rumors that he has refined this pill to perfection and can produce at least one premium-grade pill every time.”

“Premium-grade? Didn't he refine it yesterday?” Song Xiaobao was puzzled.

Wu Changzi showed an expression of superiority. “Yesterday's pill is only a mortal-grade pill. This Marrow Pill is a Xuan-grade pill. The medicinal materials alone cost more than seven to eight thousand spirit stones. How is it the same?”

Seeing the look of surprise on the disciples of Mini Frostcloud Sect, Wu Changzi added, “Although the Marrow Pull is rare, there are still some for sale in some large medical halls. However, I heard that the pill prepared by Xu Fenglan today is one that Tianshui Palace has never disclosed to the public.”

Daoist Tian Luo, "Could it be another new pill recipe?"

Wu Changzi, “It's not a new recipe, just one of the Tianshui Palace’s exclusive legacies. It can be seen that the Tianshui Palace has really put in a lot of effort to groom Xu Fenglan.”

Daoist Tian Luo disdained. “No matter how exclusive the legacy is, it’s not as good as a new recipe.”

He thought that Tianshui Palace must be feeling very bitter now. With Jing Yue's new pill recipe yesterday, how far could Xu Fenglan go?

Daoist Tian Luo turned his gaze to his sect leader and saw that he was still using the standard pill furnace, and most of the herbs were common. At least, he knew most of them.

Many people were also staring at Jing Yue, but this time, no one made any mocking remarks. Firstly, they didn’t know when the disciples of Mini Frostcloud Sect would appear out of nowhere. Secondly, after several swollen faces, everyone had learned a good lesson.

Jing Yue concentrated on refining his pill. The more Fairy Kushui watched, the more alarmed she became. She secretly exchanged glances with several elders, lowered her voice, and said, “This technique of his is not the one I’m thinking of, right?”

Another said, “I also feel like it, but how can he know the exclusive legacy of our Tianshui Palace?”

Fairy Kushui was silent for a moment. “Since he knows a pill recipe we've never seen before, it’s not impossible for him to study the recipe for the golden lotus pill. Let’s wait and see.”

It turned out that they suspected that what Jing Yue wanted to refine was the top prize Tianshui Palace had prepared for the pill-making competition—the golden lotus pill.

As Tianshui Palace had never announced the recipe, the onlookers couldn’t tell what Jing Yue was going to make. Many people suspected that it was another new kind of pill, so they kept their eyes wide open, not wanting to miss anything at all.

Time passed slowly. After a day, Fairy Kushui discovered that the pills Jing Yue was refining were subtly different from the Golden Lotus Pill, with several more steps in the handling of the herbs. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief and became curious instead.

Suddenly, green grass grew near Zhang Liancheng's furnace, spreading slowly in all directions. The shadow of a great sun rose from behind him, spreading a golden light on the grass.

Someone in the crowd exclaimed, “It’s the Marrow Pill! It’s a pill that replenishes vitality. This is a sign that the pill is about to take form!”

“Has he succeeded?”

“Not yet, but if nothing goes wrong, there will be a premium-grade pill in this furnace.”

Only a premium-grade pill of Xuan-grade and above would produce a pill vision, but how could it be so easy to produce a premium pill? In the past competitions, it was difficult to find even one premium pill, but this time, there were two? If the Erasure Pill that Jing Yue refined yesterday was included, that was more!

“Sure enough, there’s a breath of vitality. This Zhang Liancheng does have a knack for it.”

The crowd got more excited as everyone started talking at once.

The finals lasted for three days, but for the practitioners who loved alchemy, it was only a flash. On the last day, a loud noise suddenly came from the stage!

Amid the black smoke, Zhang Liancheng looked lifeless. He never expected that his furnace would explode just as the pill was about to take form.

Wu Changzi sighed and said, “If he only went for a high-grade pill, perhaps he would have already succeeded. The premium pill requires all aspects to be in full compliance with the laws of heaven and nature. Zhang Liancheng is still a little lacking in his state of mind. It’s a pity.”

After he said that, another strange vision appeared.

The phantom of a golden tiger jumped out from mid-air and fought with a silver dragon, and Xu Fenglan was the one who inspired this vision.

“It’s the Taixu Dragon Tiger Pill!” Wu Changzi recognized it and sighed. “I didn’t expect that Tianshui Palace would bring out this pill as well.”

Daoist Tian Luo was stunned, “Is this the pill that doubles the spiritual energy within 12 hours after taking it?”

Wu Changzi, “Exactly. Taixu Dragon Tiger Pill has not appeared in the world for a long time. I only know that Tianshui Palace has the recipe for this pill, but because of the scarcity of the materials, they never sold this pill to the public.”

Taixu Dragon Tiger Pill was also a Xuan-grade pill, and few people had seen it before, which immediately drew a burst of applause. Fairy Kushui had a light smile on her face, thinking that it was finally their turn to make a splash.

If this pill was successful, there must be a premium-grade pill. Even she had never refined a premium-grade Taixu Dragon Tiger Pill, which showed that Xu Fenglan's talent was high.

She looked at Jing Yue again, wondering what kind of pill the other party was making. Was it also Xuan-grade? Why was there no vision?

When the sun had set on the horizon, most of them had finished refining their pills. However, due to the excessive consumption of spiritual energy, they closed their eyes to rest their minds, while there was still no movement from Jing Yue.

Another night passed. Jing Yue was the only one left among the twelve participants who had not succeeded, and everyone was a little disappointed.

Fairy Kushui raised her eyes to look at the sun and was about to announce that the time was up when she heard a crisp sound as if the porcelain had cracked. She followed the sound and saw that Jing Yue’s furnace had broken.

Someone mumbled, “Did his furnace explode?”

“No way. How could an exploding furnace make so little noise?”

The crowd looked at each other but no one could tell.

At this time, a rich pill fragrance swept through the audience, making everyone’s souls tremble. Wu Changzi's eyes narrowed slightly. Before anyone could react, he immediately crossed his legs and went into meditation.

The surrounding people noticed his actions. After careful observation, they felt a slight expansion at the spiritual dais. With a jolt of the heart, they also sat down with him.

More and more people entered the meditative state. Fairy Kushui was bewildered. What was going on? What happened?

Not only her, but most of the people in the field were at a loss. Even if they followed suit and sat down, they couldn't enter the state at all.

Suddenly, Fairy Kushui shuddered. She had figured it out! The people who entered the meditative state were Foundation Establishment cultivators! An incredulous thought welled up in her mind. Instantly, her heart raced and her body went numb!

In a flash, she stood in front of Jing Yue. “Is this pill…”