The Pill Sect, a secluded courtyard.
This place currently belonged to the Heaven and Earth Sect, serving as the temporary residence for their Grand Elder, Long Zhizheng.
Inside the room, the light was somewhat dim.
Long Zhizheng sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes closed tightly as he cultivated.
Fine purple threads began to appear around him one by one, extending outward with him as the center.
They connected to ethereal, graceful figures in the surrounding void like a spiderweb.
These were the God Puppet phantoms he controlled through his cultivation technique.
The God Puppet phantoms could not only assist Long Zhizheng in battle, but they could also cultivate in his stead, feeding the gains back to his main body.
Long Zhizheng’s own talent was not particularly strong.
However, by relying on this secret technique, he was able to reach the Third Layer of the Great Ascension Stage, a realm that only a very small number of cultivators could ever achieve.
Streams of pure spiritual energy began to flow along the threads, gathering within Long Zhizheng’s body.
But suddenly, a layer of fine sweat broke out on his forehead.
His face turned pale in an instant, and his body began to tremble.
The purple threads surrounding him fell into a state of disorder, and the figures in the void began to blur.
Suddenly, Long Zhizheng snapped his eyes open.
His eyes were bloodshot, carrying a deep sense of unwilling exhaustion.
‘Too slow, too slow!’
‘The talent of these God Puppets is simply too poor after all. If I rely on them, when will I ever be able to break through to the next realm?’
Long Zhizheng muttered to himself in a raspy voice.
Suddenly, a sharp, sinister light flashed in his eyes.
‘Unless… unless I can get my hands on a few superior God Puppets. Ideally… bodies that possess special constitutions or cultivation techniques…’
Thinking of this, the figure of a peerlessly beautiful woman involuntarily surfaced in Long Zhizheng’s mind.
It was the Sect Leader of the Acacia Sect, Tai Lingxuan.
The Joyful Union Art she practiced was a special cultivation technique.
Furthermore, Tai Lingxuan possessed excellent talent, and her recent string of breakthroughs was witnessed by all, leaving many astonished.
In addition, there was that boy…
Although the boy’s realm was low, he possessed a Sun Body.
If he could be refined into a God Puppet, the benefit to himself would be beyond doubt.
‘If I could refine them into God Puppets too…’
Long Zhizheng murmured to himself, his gaze growing increasingly cold.
He slowly stood up and walked out of the room into the courtyard.
He looked off toward the direction of Spirit Medicine City, his eyes sharp and filled with blatant greed and malice.
“Tai Lingxuan… you won’t escape. And that precious disciple of yours, this venerable one will have him!”
The third round of the Pill Conference was held three days later.
For the final round of the competition, the Pill Sect would provide the raw materials.
Each person would randomly draw three pill recipes and then choose one of those three as their final assessment task.
The lowest of these recipes were for Grade 3 pills, while the highest even included Grade 5 recipes.
Naturally, the alchemists who could rank in the top 100 and remain on the field were all outstanding talents among their peers, each with their own specialized skills.
However, if one wanted to go a step further in this final round—or even take the top spot—then challenging a high-grade, high-difficulty pill recipe was undoubtedly the best choice.
It was also the best way to demonstrate one’s strength.
Chen Yuyang, however, did not have many thoughts on the matter.
To him, being able to break into the third round and enter the top 100 meant his initial goal had already been achieved.
His performance in the previous two rounds had already been flashy enough, attracting plenty of attention.
For this third round, he planned to just go through the motions.
If he actually took one of the top spots, it would be detrimental.
Competing for this against these youngsters under 50 years old… if it weren’t for his master’s requirements and his actual needs, he wouldn’t have come at all.
He simply couldn’t afford to lose that kind of face.
As everyone took their places, Chen Yuyang swept his gaze around.
When he saw the person in the spot next to him, he was slightly surprised.
The person in the adjacent position was actually Yun Lian.
“Sister Yun, you advanced too?”
Chen Yuyang couldn’t help but ask.
Hearing this, Yun Lian gave him a small eye-roll, her tone carrying a hint of mock reproach.
“Did you not even look at the advancement list for the second round?”
“I didn’t…”
Chen Yuyang answered honestly.
“Fine, that really is your style, Little Brother Chen.”
Yun Lian gave a helpless, bitter smile and shook her head.
She then said with a bit of self-deprecation, “But I just barely made it in at the last spot. I suppose I can’t be compared to you, who advanced so easily.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Sister Yun,” Chen Yuyang offered a casual word of comfort.
“Maybe your state of mind will be excellent today, and you’ll perform beyond your usual level.”
While they were talking, the Sect Leader of the Pill Sect, Zhu Tian, slowly stepped onto the high platform.
He cleared his throat and began his routine speech.
The content of the speech was nothing more than praising everyone as geniuses of the alchemical world, stating that he was honored to witness this grand event and telling everyone to perform well, and so on.
Once the speech was finished, the Pill Sect Leader announced the start of the competition.
Chen Yuyang stepped forward in order and randomly drew three slips from the drawing box.
Returning to his table, he opened them one by one.
“Grade 4 Qi Accumulation Pill, Grade 4 Clear Cloud Pill, Grade 5 Spirit Condensing Pill…” Looking at the names of the pill recipes on the slips, Chen Yuyang’s mouth twitched, feeling somewhat speechless.
Wait, didn’t they say before the match that this round would mainly consist of Grade 3 pills?
Where happened to the Grade 3?
Where was the three?
Chen Yuyang turned to look at Yun Lian nearby to see her situation.
Yun Lian was looking down at the slips she had drawn.
Seeing him look over, she openly showed them to him.
They were two Grade 3 pill recipes and one Grade 4 pill recipe.
“Little Brother Chen, what grade do you plan to refine?”
Yun Lian put her slips away and asked curiously.
“By the way, what exactly is your alchemist rank?”
By now, she knew that Chen Yuyang possessed extraordinary talent, but even now, no one was clear on his specific alchemist rank.
After all, the previous matches hadn’t really been able to reflect a specific grade.
“For now, let’s just say I’m Grade 3,” Chen Yuyang responded vaguely with a shrug.
He then helplessly turned the three recipes he had drawn toward Yun Lian.
“But look at what ‘treasures’ I drew.”
Seeing the grades of Chen Yuyang’s recipes, Yun Lian was first stunned, then she burst into a quiet laugh.
“It seems your luck today really isn’t very good, Little Brother Chen.”
“Yeah…”
Chen Yuyang sighed and shook his head, no longer dwelling on it.
His gaze swept across the three recipes, and he finally picked the relatively simplest one, the Grade 4 Qi Accumulation Pill, as his exam topic.
Yun Lian didn’t hesitate either, choosing her only Grade 4 recipe as well.
Refining a Grade 3 pill was certainly safe, but it would be impossible to stand out among these 100 people.
Although refining a Grade 4 pill carried the risk of failure, success would place her among the top ranks.
The Pill Sect elders confirmed the chosen topics one by one.
Before long, the corresponding medicinal materials were delivered to each alchemist’s station by designated staff.
Chen Yuyang took his portion of materials for the Grade 4 Qi Accumulation Pill.
After checking them over, he began to process them skillfully.
The refining time for Grade 4 pills was naturally quite long.
Under normal circumstances, ten days was the baseline.
To refine a pill of even better quality, some might even take one or two months, or even half a year.
Naturally, the Pill Conference couldn’t last that long.
The Pill Sect had prepared for this.
After all the alchemists began processing their herbs, several elders of the Pill Sect walked to the formation eyes around the field.
They formed hand seals and injected spiritual energy.
Before long, a faint glow appeared over the entire refining field as a massive formation quietly activated.
Chen Yuyang immediately recognized it as the Yuheng Formation.
Its effect was to change the flow of time.
Based on the scale and intensity of this formation, Chen Yuyang estimated that staying here for three days was equal to one day passing in the outside world.
This would significantly shorten the time of the competition.
However, this formation consumed a massive amount of resources, and the difficulty of setting it up was extremely high.
If it weren’t for the sake of ensuring the successful completion of the Pill Conference, the Pill Sect wouldn’t have easily spent such a fortune.
Once the formation started, everyone focused entirely on their refining.
The audience outside the field also held their breath, their eyes locked onto the arena.
In their eyes, everything inside the field appeared to be moving at three times the speed.
Tai Lingxuan stood at the front of the crowd with Lingxi, watching Chen Yuyang in the field without blinking.
Although they didn’t quite understand what was happening, they were nervous as well, anticipating Chen Yuyang’s performance.
Time passed quietly under the acceleration of the formation.
The first two days were basically calm.
Most alchemists were methodically processing their medicinal materials.
By the time everyone had finished processing their materials and entered the third day, most people had begun mixing and condensing the preliminary ingredients within their cauldrons.
This time, Chen Yuyang didn’t perform any stunts like cauldron-less refining.
He simply placed the processed ingredients into his cauldron in a standard manner and then used his Sun Fire to power the furnace.
Even so, his speed was quite a bit faster than the others.
By the afternoon of the first day, he had already begun mixing the ingredients for the preliminary refining.
Once the stage of refining inside the cauldron was reached, the alchemists could relax slightly.
They only needed to check the condition of the pills inside the furnace from time to time, adjust the heat, and then quietly wait for the pills to form.
Of course, there were also cautious alchemists who stayed by their cauldrons without moving an inch, their eyes fixed on the furnace lid, fearing that any mistake might occur.
Someone as relaxed as Chen Yuyang, after confirming the furnace fire was stable and the ingredients were merging smoothly, simply left his cauldron and started wandering around the field.
The rules didn’t forbid alchemists from moving around during the refining period.
On the contrary, the Pill Sect encouraged everyone to observe and learn from each other to improve, as long as they didn’t interfere with the normal operations of other alchemists.
Chen Yuyang first went over to Yun Lian.
He watched her for a long time.
So long, in fact, that Yun Lian felt his gaze and couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed.
“Little Brother Chen, are you that bored?”
Yun Lian stopped what she was doing and turned her head, asking with a bit of helplessness.
Chen Yuyang nodded honestly.
Yun Lian: “…”
She gave a light cough and said with a slight pout, “Being watched like this makes my movements feel a bit stiff…”
“Sorry, sorry.”
Chen Yuyang waved his hand hurriedly with an embarrassed smile.
He then turned around to check on the others.
But the moment he turned, Chen Yuyang’s brow couldn’t help but furrow slightly.
In his mind, he recalled the movements Yun Lian had made when she opened the lid to check just now.
Although it was extremely subtle and very difficult to detect, that spirit stone she had taken out to stabilize the furnace fire… gave off a feeling that wasn’t quite right.
Was there something else wrapped inside that spirit stone?
A hint of doubt surfaced in Chen Yuyang’s heart.
‘Could it be some special item used to improve the quality of the pill?’
But if it were a special additive, the Pill Sect didn’t seem to forbid it.
If an alchemist had their own methods and techniques to improve the quality of a pill through other means, there was no need to be secretive about it.
‘Or is that thing… something that can’t be seen in the light?’
Shaking his head, Chen Yuyang stopped thinking about it.
Even if it was cheating, it wasn’t his business to manage.
If none of the elders had noticed anything unusual or raised any objections, thinking about it himself was just a waste of time.
He might as well think about what method he could use to help Yanluo master the Sun Fire as quickly as possible once the Pill Conference ended.