After another incense stick’s time, Ruan Se slowly raised her hand, gently withdrawing the spiritual power at her fingertips. The furnace lid automatically popped open, and three pills as white and lustrous as jade slowly floated out—the peak quality of Cold Dew Pills.
Ruan Se could no longer hold on. She staggered, a faint smile appearing on her face.
The onlookers froze, staring in disbelief at the pills in Ruan Se’s hand, momentarily speechless.
Not far away, Meng Qiuran looked toward Ruan Se, his eyes full of admiration. He hadn’t expected her to possess such tenacious willpower and exquisite alchemy skills.
After the pills were inspected, the host announced,
“Ruan Se, fourth-grade Cold Dew Pill, peak quality, advances!”
Ruan Qin slowly withdrew her gaze and finally relaxed. But deep in her eyes, there was a hint of complex emotion she hadn’t even noticed herself.
She knew better than anyone where her younger sister’s limits lay. In that instant of spiritual flame fluctuation just now, Ruan Se had forcibly suppressed it, but the cost was obvious even from half a plaza away.
“Fellow Daoist Ruan.”
A lazy voice came from beside her.
Ruan Qin turned her head and met Pei Changjing’s half-smiling eyes.
“Your younger sister’s response just now was quite interesting.”
Pei Changjing leaned back in his chair and slowly continued,
“When the spiritual flame was disturbed by an external force, an ordinary alchemist’s first reaction is to increase spiritual power to suppress it. But she directly gave up controlling the flame and used the medicinal properties of the auxiliary herbs to feed back into the pill embryo. In all my years, Old Pei here has never seen such a method of alchemy.”
Ruan Qin narrowed her eyes slightly.
“Alchemist Pei, what are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying,” Pei Changjing picked up his teacup, blew on the foam, “this technique doesn’t seem like the path of your Dan Sect. Has your younger sister recently taken on some extraordinary master?”
Ruan Qin didn’t answer. Her gaze fell back to the field. Lai Li’an sat at the other end of the judges’ seat, taking in every word of the conversation.
His face remained impassive, but inwardly he was already frantically complaining:
‘Pei Changjing’s eyes are too sharp. Ruan Se only used the “using medicine to control medicine” technique once, and he saw at a glance that it wasn’t from the Dan Sect. If this continues, we might slip up.’
As he was pondering, another commotion arose in the field. Yet another contestant’s furnace had exploded.
The contestant jumped back, clutching his arm, staring in disbelief at his furnace, now shattered into pieces.
“The third time.”
Yin Zheng put down his teacup, frowning.
Elder Sun also stood up from the judges’seat, his expression grave.
“There were no abnormalities in the first and second rounds. After the third round started, three furnaces have exploded in succession. I have presided over the Alchemy Grand Assembly for many years and have never seen such a situation.”
Pei Changjing finally dropped his lazy demeanor.
“Interesting. I took a glance at the assembly’s furnaces before the opening. Though their grade wasn’t high, they were all intact—no problems with age or disrepair.”
“Alchemist Pei means,” Yin Zheng turned to him, “someone is sabotaging us?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Pei Changjing resumed his languid expression.
“I just think it’s quite a coincidence.”
A brief silence fell over the judges’ seat. At that moment, Lai Li’an stood up.
“Fellow Daoist Lai?”
Yin Zheng looked surprised.
Lai Li’an didn’t explain. He simply walked out of the judges’ seat. Ruan Qin watched his retreating figure, a thoughtful glint flashing in her eyes.
As he walked, Lai Li’an recalled the scene he had seen on the steps earlier: Yin Wuji had grabbed Shao Jiao’s arm and dragged him away from the crowd.
That action seemed more like an escort. Was Shao Jiao really participating voluntarily today?
‘Ah, I don’t want to get involved in this, but the Blood Lotus Sect’s meddling might affect my objective. What a hassle.’
When he reached the end of the corridor behind the judges’ seat, a voice came from behind.
“This fellow Daoist, what are you looking at?”
Lai Li’an stopped in his tracks and turned around. Ruan Qin had followed him out at some point and was standing in the shadow of the corridor.
“And you, Fellow Daoist, why are you out here?”
Lai Li’an asked calmly.
“The judges’ seat is stuffy.”
Ruan Qin’s tone was flat.
“As for you, the competition is at a critical moment, and leaving the seat at this time is unusual. Or could it be that what Pei Changjing said bothered you?”
“I just came out for some air.”
Ruan Qin didn’t respond. Instead, she walked to the edge of the corridor and looked down at the plaza below.
“I’m more concerned about one thing. What is your relationship with my younger sister?”
“I met Miss Ruan Se by chance at Yunze Market.”
Lai Li’an stood with his hands behind his back.
“She saved my disciple, and I taught her a few alchemy tricks as repayment. That’s all.”
“Just that?”
Ruan Qin curled her lips.
“She has been in the Dan Sect for ten years, walking the orthodox alchemy path to the forefront of her peers. Her foundation was built step by step through her own effort. But that move to suppress the spiritual flame’s loss of control just now…”
She stared into Lai Li’an’s eyes.
“That was an unorthodox method, not the sect’s teachings.”
Lai Li’an didn’t respond. He just stood still, his expression unchanged.
“She abandoned the orthodox fire control method and used the medicinal properties of auxiliary herbs to feed back into the pill embryo. This technique has no basis in any of the Dan Sect’s classics.”
Ruan Qin spoke unhurriedly.
“She has studied alchemy for a long time but never used such a heretical technique. Yet after meeting you for only a short time, she dares to change even her own foundation.”
Lai Li’an was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.
“Fellow Daoist, the path of alchemy takes many different forms. I simply casually demonstrated a small trick, and your sister happened to see it. She has good comprehension and figured out the application herself. That’s her own skill and her own choice. What does it have to do with me?”
“As for my identity, I am but a rogue cultivator, without any sect or school—not worth your concern, Fellow Daoist.”
Ruan Qin narrowed her eyes slightly, as if she wanted to tear off the mask on his face piece by piece.
She was about to say something more when a deafening explosion suddenly rang out from the plaza. Then another. Within a few breaths, two furnaces exploded simultaneously.
Screams and shouts mixed together. Even the several elders on the judges’ seat stood up one after another.
“Fellow Daoist Ruan,” Lai Li’an gave her a slight nod, still composed, “Let’s discuss this later. I must take my leave now.”
Without waiting for Ruan Qin’s response, he turned and walked toward the steps. Ruan Qin stood in the corridor, watching his figure disappear into the distance.
She had followed Lai Li’an out, but what she really wanted to ask was never about alchemy—it was about her sister.
Ruan Se had always been stubborn. Once she set her mind on something, no one could talk her out of it.
If she had misjudged someone and taken the wrong path, her elder sister had to screen them first.
But this man before her—she couldn’t see through him. Ruan Qin withdrew her gaze, walked quickly back, and fixed her eyes on the area in the center of the plaza where the firelight flickered.