Word Count: 2,772 Words

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The moment President Xuan Kong Zi’s command rang out, every alchemist across the plaza set to work.

Though the unexpected challenge between Xiao Yan and Old Demon Hou had stirred no small commotion, the other alchemists remained unwavering in their focus. For them, this was a rare chance to secure a place within the Small Pill Tower for advanced instruction, and they had no intention of squandering it.

Clang, clang.

Crisp, metallic echoes rippled through the tense air. Those scattered notes soon merged into a continuous chorus as imposing medicinal cauldrons were drawn from storage rings and set heavily before their owners.

Hu hu hu—

Wisps of many-hued flames rose into the air before being channeled down into the waiting cauldrons. Dou Qi poured in after them, and the fires swelled violently. Within moments, the temperature across the entire peak began to climb.

It was a pity, though, that despite everyone present being an 8th-tier alchemist, and many of them seasoned masters of the older generation, not a single one possessed a Heavenly Flame.

Nor was this surprising. Setting aside how elusive Heavenly Flames were to begin with, not everyone possessed the courage to gamble their lives in refining one. Moreover, at their level of standing, rank 8 beast flames and various special fire seeds were plentiful enough. For pure alchemy, unburdened by the need to fight, these safer alternatives were often the better choice.

Xiao Yan let his gaze wander across the forest of cauldrons around him, and a trace of quiet sentiment flickered through his eyes. He almost always refined pills in solitude; the chance to work alongside so many fellow alchemists at once was exceedingly rare. He could not deny it, a place like the Small Pill Tower truly did offer the ideal environment for honing one’s alchemy.

It was not unlike academic research at a university. With the right atmosphere, surrounded by accomplished peers and mentors, breaking through a stubborn bottleneck came far more naturally.

’These two girls’ alchemy has improved quite a bit.’

Rather than immediately producing his own cauldron, Xiao Yan allowed his gaze to roam across the square.

With his current level of discernment, a single glance was enough to confirm that the two most skilled alchemists present were, without question, Cao Ying and Dan Chen.

In stark contrast to her usual timid demeanor, Dan Chen was anything but meek when she refined. Her hands moved with bold innovation, tempering her ingredients in broad, decisive strokes. Cao Ying, by contrast, forsook her usual charm-laden ease for a subtle, measured approach, coaxing medicinal essence forth thread by thread with exquisite precision over her flame.

When it came to alchemy, the two women’s personalities seemed to have traded places entirely.

Xiao Yan’s gaze then swept toward Old Demon Hou, and he recognized at once that the old man was preparing to refine his peak tier 8 Flame Demon Quiet Mysterious Pill.

"That fellow Xiao Yan looks rather confident," the First Elder of the Small Pill Tower remarked with a faint smile from the sidelines.

"I wouldn’t call it confidence. It’s closer to plain indifference," the Elder beside him replied with a slow shake of his head. "A tier 9 pill isn’t something you can rush, after all." In his view, Xiao Yan simply did not care about the outcome, which was why he could afford to glance about at his leisure without the faintest trace of urgency.

Xiao Yan watched for a good while longer before finally drawing the Black Demon Cauldron from his storage ring. With his current Spiritual Strength and control over flame, he could just as easily have condensed a cauldron from fire alone. The Black Demon’s usefulness had long since dwindled. In truth, were he to refine a Tier 9 Mysterious Pill, it might not even withstand the pill’s violent energy and could very well rupture outright.

None of that troubled him. Rather than showing off, he simply set the Black Demon Cauldron before him and summoned the Bone Chilling Flame.

The instant the Bone Chilling Flame appeared, every fire burning within the surrounding cauldrons reacted, each one shrinking ever so slightly. The change was far from dramatic, however, which spoke to the quality of these fire seeds. While they couldn’t compare to a Heavenly Flame, they were all first-rate flames in their own right.

"A Heavenly Flame. Deep white in color, rising like drifting snow, a thread of cold woven through its heat." The First Elder studied the pale fire dancing in Xiao Yan’s palm and nodded slowly. "That should be the Bone Chilling Flame, ranked eleventh on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, the very Heavenly Flame Yao Chen once refined."

Old Demon Hou’s pupils contracted sharply. Years ago at the Pill Gathering, he had nearly bested Yao Chen, only to lose in the end to a pill refined with this very flame.

Once Xiao Yan entered his refining state, every external sight and sound was shut out. A flick of his finger sent the Bone Chilling Flame arcing into the Black Demon Cauldron, and from that point on he made no effort to conceal his strength. Majestic Dou Qi poured into the vessel, and the full aura of a 2-star Dou Saint erupted from his body.

"Saint might!!"

"And late-stage 2-star Dou Saint, at that..."

A thunderous boom accompanied the wave of oppressive Saint might that surged skyward, sweeping across the entire mountain range in an instant. Every alchemist present turned toward Xiao Yan with undisguised shock, Old Demon Hou, the two Pill Tower presidents, and the First Elder included.

"How in the world does this guy cultivate?" Cao Ying’s soul-stirring eyes brimmed with bewilderment. She had only just reached 2-star Dou Venerate, yet Xiao Yan was already a late-stage 2-star Dou Saint!

"Big Brother Xiao Yan is incredible." Dan Chen’s large, dewy eyes shone with undisguised admiration. Her own cultivation was likewise nothing remarkable; she, too, stood at only 2-star Dou Venerate.

The Elder who had questioned Xiao Yan’s nonchalance only moments before now looked as though invisible fingers had clamped around his throat. His mouth worked soundlessly, but no words came.

Setting aside the Pill Tower’s Old Ancestor, the strongest figure within the Small Pill Tower was the First Elder himself, and even he was only an early-stage 2-star Dou Saint. Xiao Yan, however, had already advanced to the late stage.

The First Elder stroked his beard and gave a quiet smile. "It seems he isn’t merely here to attempt a tier 9 pill. From his bearing, he’s almost certainly refined them before, and with a respectable success rate too. He’s a true 9th-tier alchemist."

Hiss!!!

Every Elder present drew in a sharp breath, Xuan Kong Zi and Tian Lei Zi among them. Shock and disbelief colored every face.

Among those Elders, only the top three could claim a decent success rate in refining tier 9 pills. The rest had managed the feat only through sheer volume of attempts, and even then the quality of their products had been mediocre at best. Some could not so much as draw down Black Demon Lightning.

If the First Elder’s assessment held true, did that not mean Xiao Yan’s alchemy had already reached his own level?!

The Pill Tower’s number one!

Medicinal ingredients flew one after another into the cauldron under Xiao Yan’s deft guidance. The Bone Chilling Flame split itself into countless needle-fine threads of Heavenly Flame, and beneath their searing, piercing touch, medicinal powders and liquid essences were swiftly drawn forth.

Cao Ying and Dan Chen, watching him begin in earnest, quickly reined in their wandering thoughts and refocused on their own work. As alchemists, neither would allow herself to falter halfway. They had long since accepted that they could not match Xiao Yan, but that did not mean they would let the gulf between them yawn any wider. Both were determined to put forth their most brilliant display.

A hint of quiet relief surfaced in Old Demon Hou’s gaze as he watched Xiao Yan refine. He understood well enough: Xiao Yan was Xiao Yan, not Yao Chen. Whether he won or lost here was ultimately meaningless.

Xiao Yan’s refining naturally stirred no small commotion. Countless alchemists studying within the Small Pill Tower watched him, utterly entranced, and his display far surpassed anything Old Demon Hou had put on.

Even a layman could see that Xiao Yan’s alchemy stood well above Old Demon Hou’s. Should this refinement fail, no one would question his skill, and from all appearances, failure seemed unlikely in the first place.

Refining pills, especially those of higher tiers, always demanded time. For anything tier 8 or above, a single refinement stretching ten days to half a month was perfectly ordinary.

The alchemists ringing the square understood this perfectly well. Not one of them showed the slightest impatience. On the contrary, they watched with rapt interest. As the old saying went, laymen watched the spectacle while experts studied the craft. To outsiders, such drawn-out refinements might have seemed tedious, but to the alchemists gathered here, every motion was endlessly fascinating.

Time flowed on, and five days slipped by in the blink of an eye.

Over that stretch, waves of chaotic energy rippled out from more than a few cauldrons. Several disturbances escalated into full-blown energy riots that destroyed every trace of medicinal essence within.

Yet hardly anyone appeared dejected. For these alchemists, failure during refinement was as commonplace as breathing. No one could claim a flawless success rate, not even Xiao Yan.

As the days wore on, several alchemists who had already failed three times shook their heads and quietly departed. They were the ones whose skill fell short of refining pills capable of drawing down seven-colored Pill Lightning.

To become an apprentice, one needed at least a solid foundation. Entering the Small Pill Tower was no child’s game. Every alchemist who walked through its doors aspired to become a supreme 9th-tier alchemist, and if one could not even produce a pill that drew seven-colored Pill Lightning, there was no point wasting a precious spot.

Ordinarily, an alchemist prepared three sets of ingredients for a given refinement. With a thirty to forty percent success rate, one could reasonably expect to produce a single successful pill from those three attempts. Three sets was the standard because anything less risked financial loss, while three roughly broke even; anything more meant operating in the red.

So when someone was designated an alchemist of a particular tier, it meant they held roughly a thirty to forty percent success rate at that tier, not that they never failed. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

More than half a month slipped away. Thunder rumbled intermittently across the Small Pill Tower, yet every instance proved to be merely five-colored or six-colored Pill Lightning. Not once did seven-colored Pill Lightning appear.

Seven colors marked a critical threshold. Who knew how many of the older-generation alchemists present had been stuck at the six-colored barrier for decades, some even for centuries, never managing that final step.

Alchemy truly depended on talent and comprehension above all else.

"Hm? That’s... seven colors?!"

"No, there are two clouds! Cao Ying of the Cao Clan and Dan Chen of the Dan Clan!"

"Truly worthy of being Holy Pill City’s twin pearls. Their talent really is remarkable."

BOOM! BOOM!

Thunder rolled without end. Dark clouds surged into existence overhead as silver serpents of lightning darted through the roiling masses. Layer upon layer of color bled across the thunderheads, deepening one after another until the seventh hue finally materialized. Only then did they stabilize.

Seven-colored Pill Lightning!

In the Central Plains, such a sight would have drawn countless astonished gazes. Here in the Small Pill Tower, however, where seven-colored Pill Lightning was merely the baseline requirement for entry, it barely stirred a ripple.

Still, for the purpose of earning an apprenticeship, seven-colored Pill Lightning was more than sufficient.

"Those two young ladies aren’t bad. To refine pills that draw seven-colored Pill Lightning at such a young age... very good." The First Elder gazed at the twin seven-colored thunderclouds forming above Cao Ying and Dan Chen and nodded quietly to himself.

Both women deployed special items to weather the descending Pill Lightning. The Cao and Dan Clans did, after all, possess a certain foundation of resources.

The two quickly swallowed recovery pills, and only then did a hint of color return to their pale faces. Once their breathing had steadied, they secured their newly refined pills and, as if on cue, turned to glance at one another. After all, only a single apprentice position was available. Each Elder could bring only one apprentice into the Small Pill Tower.

When Xuan Kong Zi and Tian Lei Zi had first entered the Small Pill Tower long ago, each of them had taken on one apprentice as well.

The First Elder swept his gaze around the plaza. Aside from Old Demon Hou and Xiao Yan, whose refinements were still underway, the others had more or less finished. With his experienced eye, he could tell at a glance that the only pills capable of attracting seven-colored Pill Lightning belonged to Cao Ying and Dan Chen.

He walked unhurriedly over to the two young women, examined each pill, and delivered his judgment. "You have both successfully refined pills that drew down seven-colored Pill Lightning. However, judging by luster and fragrance, Cao Ying’s pill is the slightly superior of the two."

Even someone as composed as Cao Ying could not contain herself. She sprang to her feet, delight spilling across her features, and covered her mouth as a silvery laugh escaped. "Hehe, Sister Dan Chen, it seems I’ve won this time."

Dan Chen immediately puffed out her cheeks in grievance. She had hoped to shine in front of Xiao Yan just this once, only to be outdone by Cao Ying!

Then Cao Ying’s beautiful eyes drifted upward toward that lean figure perched high above, and a quiet light kindled in her gaze. She knew Xiao Yan would certainly defeat Old Demon Hou, which meant she would be following him into the Small Pill Tower to study alchemy under his guidance.

For a long moment, shifting emotions flickered through those dark eyes. Her teeth lightly caught her red lip as an unconscious smile curved the corners of her mouth. One instant her cheeks flushed pink with warmth; the next, they glowed with a soft, dreamlike allure, the very picture of a maiden lost in spring reverie. Who knew what she was fantasizing about?

She knew something of Xiao Yan’s circumstances, of course. She had even gone out of her way to inquire. But feelings were not something one could simply rein in, and on the Dou Qi Continent, powerful experts lived extraordinarily long lives. Was it really so strange for a man to have multiple wives and concubines?

...

Three more days passed in a flash.

By now, only Xiao Yan and Old Demon Hou remained active on the plaza. Their alchemy stood above all others present, yet the pills they were refining were likewise the most difficult, so it was only natural their work should take longer.

The vast majority of gazes had long since settled on the two of them.

A muffled boom suddenly rang out across the mountain. Before the onlookers could pinpoint its source, a heavy rumble rose from within Old Demon Hou’s cauldron. A surge of fierce energy spread outward, and clouds overhead began to condense with lightning-quick speed.

"Old Demon Hou has succeeded after all. Now it all comes down to whether that fellow Xiao Yan can pull off his tier 9 pill."

Just as expected, nine-colored Pill Lightning descended. Old Demon Hou caught it with ease, then carefully secured his pill before turning his gaze toward Xiao Yan. He was not alone; every eye present shifted to Xiao Yan in the same breath.

Everyone knew Xiao Yan was refining a tier 9 pill, but between the Black Demon Cauldron and the Bone Chilling Flame, the situation inside his cauldron remained completely obscured. Even the First Elder had no way of telling how far along Xiao Yan’s refinement had progressed.

"Two or three months is perfectly normal for a tier 9 refinement, isn’t it?"

"Certainly. I heard Elder Qing once spent an entire year and six sets of ingredients to produce a single tier 9 pill."

"Hiss... a whole year!"

While the spectators murmured among themselves, Xiao Yan, who had kept his eyes closed throughout, slowly opened them. A confident smile curved at the corner of his mouth.

The instant that smile touched his face, every scalp on the mountain prickled numb!