When Lai Li’an woke up from his bed, the sky was already bright.
He touched the storage bag at his waist. It was bulging, and he nodded with satisfaction.
The medicine cabinet in this room was filled with plenty of good things. There were many treasures recorded in the Eternal Alchemy Divine Scripture alone.
After all, Meng Qiuran himself said, “Feel free to take whatever you need, no need to be polite.”
He was just following suit.
As for how much he took… there was no need to delve into such details.
Today’s venue was even more boisterous than yesterday. From the foot of the mountain to the hillside, colorful banners flapped loudly in the wind. The Luminous Mirrors floating in the air had doubled in number compared to yesterday, completely covering the final competition area in the center of the plaza.
The stands were already packed to capacity. Even the aisles were crowded with standing rogue cultivators, all craning their necks to look forward.
“Have you heard? There are thirty-seven people in the finals this year! Yesterday’s third round eliminated over six hundred!”
“Over six hundred? My god, in previous years it would have been good if half were eliminated. This year’s difficulty is aiming to kill, isn’t it?”
“High difficulty is good. What comes out are real gold. Look at the direct disciples of those major sects. Yesterday in the third round, refining 4th-grade pills was like child’s play. Today in the finals, they’ll probably pull out their ultimate skills.”
“I heard that the Hundred Herbs Hall sent three disciples this time, and all entered the finals. The head of Hundred Herbs Hall was so happy that he rewarded each with a magic artifact on the spot.”
“Tsk, what are three? The Dan Sect Branch sent five, and there’s a monstrous genius like Meng Qiuran. I think the champion this year will probably be theirs too.”
The discussions rose and fell, and the recruiters from various sects were rubbing their hands eagerly.
Any alchemist who could show their face in the finals would at least triple their value after leaving. The elders of those small sects had green eyes, wishing they could rush down and snatch people right now.
On the judges’ seat, Pei Changjing rarely wasn’t yawning. He leaned back in his chair, quietly watching the contestants on the field.
“This year is indeed not bad.”
As if remembering something, he turned to look at Elder Sun.
“Elder Sun, did something happen in the market last night?”
Elder Sun’s expression darkened slightly. He nodded.
“Someone attacked Fellow Daoist Ruan Se’s residence last night. Li Xiuyuan led people in pursuit all night but couldn’t catch them. The other party was two Golden Core cultivators, one of whom is suspected to be from the Blood Lotus Sect.”
“Blood Lotus Sect?”
Pei Changjing’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.
“That bunch of demon brats come to Yunze Market to act wild? Quite bold.”
“This matter is under investigation.”
Elder Sun’s voice was very low.
“The finals are more important right now. It’s not appropriate to publicize it, lest it cause panic. I have already sent additional personnel to secretly guard the venue. There won’t be any more mishaps.”
Pei Changjing nodded and didn’t ask further, but his gaze involuntarily drifted to Ruan Se on the field.
That girl’s complexion today was much worse than yesterday, but her posture as she stood before the stone platform was straight, like a bamboo that bends under the wind but refuses to break.
Ruan Qin sat at the end of the judges’ seat, expressionless. Her wide sleeves covered most of her, but if someone looked closely, they could still see a barely noticeable stiffness in her movements.
After last night, she didn’t say any unnecessary words, nor did she express any opinion on her sister’s participation today.
Only before leaving, she stuffed a pill into Ruan Se’s hand.
“Spirit Restoration Pill.”
She said flatly at the time.
“6th-grade. Don’t die.”
Then she left without even looking back.
Ruan Se put the pill away without eating it.
At this moment, she stood in front of the stage, listening to the presiding elder announce the finals rules.
“The finals are free refining, with no restrictions on grade, pill recipe, or materials. Contestants must complete a full furnace of pills within the set time. The final score will primarily be based on the pill grade. If grades are the same, the winner is determined by the quality of the pill appearance. Time limit: four hours.”
Four hours to refine a pill that could win the championship. The time was not generous.
Ruan Se took a deep breath, expelled distracting thoughts from her mind, and then took out materials one by one from her storage bag.
However, when the surrounding contestants saw the items on her stone platform, their expressions turned strange.
The first to react was a middle-aged alchemist. After seeing the Hehuan Grass in Ruan Se’s hand, his brows furrowed sharply, and then, as if seeing something unsightly, he turned his face away in disgust.
A younger alchemist nearby leaned in and asked in a low voice, “Senior Brother, what kind of medicinal herb is that? It looks a bit familiar?”
The middle-aged alchemist sneered, “What do you think that medicinal herb is?”
The young alchemist froze for a moment, then widened his eyes, and his voice unconsciously rose half a pitch.
“Isn’t that… isn’t that the material used by the Hehuan Sect to refine that kind of pill?”
His voice was neither loud nor soft, just enough for the dozen or so contestants around to hear clearly.
More than a dozen gazes fell sharply on Ruan Se’s stone platform.
“I remember she seems to be a disciple of the main sect of the Alchemy Sect. Why is she using such lowly materials?”
“Ruan Se? That disciple who’s almost been expelled? Wasn’t she quite impressive yesterday? Why is she bringing out these things today?”
“Who knows? Maybe she can’t win with proper recipes and wants to take crooked paths.”
Whispers spread across the competition venue. A disciple of the Hundred Herbs Hall sneered, “The Alchemy Sect is nothing special. Refining this kind of thing at the century-grand competition, aren’t they afraid of disgracing their sect?”
Ruan Se’s hand paused for a moment. She raised her eyes, calmly sweeping her gaze over those who were discussing her. Those who met her eyes fell silent involuntarily.
She withdrew her gaze, arranged the last material, and then raised her hand to ignite the Firestone.
To her, those comments were like wind passing through a bamboo forest—rustling but leaving no trace.
It was just a few lips. If she couldn’t even withstand this bit of noise, she wouldn’t be worthy of Senior’s guidance.
On the judges’ seat, Pei Changjing raised an eyebrow at the commotion in the field, then suddenly turned his head to glance in Ruan Qin’s direction.
Ruan Qin sat motionless, her expression utterly calm. Even hearing the whispers around her, she showed no reaction.
Pei Changjing let out a light laugh, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.
The finals officially began. Dozens of stone platforms lit up with spiritual flames at the same time, various colors of fire interweaving.
The first unexpected thing was that less than an hour into the start, the contestants who had originally planned to steadily refine 4th-grade pills all quietly took out the main ingredients for 5th-grade pill recipes.
The old alchemists on the sidelines whispered to each other, “5th-grade? Has the threshold for this year’s finals already been raised to 5th-grade?”
“It’s not that the threshold was raised. It’s that yesterday’s third round eliminated all those below 4th-grade. Today, everyone in the finals is here to make a name for themselves.”
“Makes sense.”
Meng Qiuran stood before his own stone platform and took a deep breath.
The pill furnace he used today was a brand new bronze furnace with exquisite cloud patterns engraved on its body. It was a gift specially sent by his uncle master during his seclusion.
His pill recipe was a 5th-grade mid-tier: the Blazing Sun Snowmelt Pill.
The main ingredients for this pill were the Blazing Sun Herb and Ice Marrow Jade, two materials with completely opposite properties. They had to be refined in the same furnace with alternating civil and martial flames. The difficulty was considered medium-high even among 5th-grade pills.
To be able to consistently produce this pill, he went into seclusion for three whole months and exploded no fewer than fifty furnaces.
“Since I’m here, I don’t plan to lose.”
He softly repeated the words he had said to Lai Li’an yesterday, and then threw the Blazing Sun Herb into the furnace.