The next morning, the academy hall was unusually noisy from the early hours of dawn itself. Groups of disciples gathered near the eastern medicinal halls while murmurs spread across the pathways regarding Dan Zhenren’s second trial. Unlike the previous Three Breath Trial, this one involved pill refinement, and the reward itself was enough to make even senior disciples jealous.

A Blue Essence Fruit, a Mid-Tier spirit fruit capable of stabilizing beast essence, purifying impurities, and slightly accelerating cultivation speed for Baby Beast Realm cultivators. More importantly, it can help to nurture the aperture from Baby Beast Realm - Peak stage to Spirit Beast Realm - Lower stage cultivator.

Even outer academy stores sold them for terrifying prices.

"Lin Yuan..." Chen Ming whispered while walking beside Lin Yuan through the academy corridor. "This old man truly struck gold. Even the reward became this insane."

Lin Yuan remained calm.

"The difficulty will also increase accordingly."

Lin Yuan and Chen Ming slowly entered the medicinal refinement hall. Despite yesterday’s refinement chamber, today’s hall felt much hotter and suffocating. Large crimson flames burned beneath dozens of massive bronze furnaces placed around the circular room. Strong medicinal fragrance lingered through the atmosphere, making weaker disciples slightly dizzy from the concentration of spirit herbs.

At the center, Dan Zhenren stood still and calm. His dark-red robes fluttered slightly beneath the air. The old apothecary slowly darted his gaze across the disciples.

"Yesterday... You all refined potions, but today... you all need to refine pills." Dan Zhenren profounded, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Some of the disciples immediately became nervous. Lian Nichang’s expression became more serious. Dan Zhenren slowly walked toward one of the large bronze cauldrons. Inside the cauldron there are few items. They are Green Spirit Herb, Frost Dew Leaf, Beast Core powder, and another unfamiliar crimson-colored herb.

"Potion refinement is easy, because liquids are unstable by nature." Dan Zhenren ignited the flames beneath the cauldron with a flick of his hand.

WHOOSH!

Crimson fire instantly rose beneath the bronze furnace.

"But pills require compression." Dan Zhenren continued, adjusting the heat.

The disciples quietly observed. Dan Zhenren carefully crushed the crimson herb between his fingers. The herb powder slowly sprinkled into the cauldron.

"Compression creates density. Density creates stability." Dan Zhenren’s eyes gleamed, the liquid in the cauldron swirled violently, and he meticulously adjusted the flame intensity. "And stability depends entirely on beast essence control."

Lin Yuan’s eyes slightly narrowed, analyzing the whole process. ’It is similar to mana refinement according to the pressure. Yesterday focused on heat balance, and today focused on the pressure. Adjusting the balance and pressure according to the goal will attain success.’

He watched the swirling liquid in the cauldron, realizing the similarity between the two principles of alchemy and mana. ’Mana refinement is the same, compressing and balancing the power accordingly to get great output to attack or defend. Disturbed Mana is weaker compared to compressed and balanced mana. In pill refinement, the pill acts like an aperture. Just as a cultivator compresses essence into a core, the alchemist must force the chaotic essences of spiritual herbs into a small, stable sphere. ’

"Most beginner disciples fail pill refinement for one reason. They force essence into unstable reactions." Dan Zhenren continued calmly, a faint smirk lingering on his face.

The liquid within the cauldron slowly condensed. The room temperature sluggishly increased. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"A proper apothecary does not dominate the essence. He guides it."

Every disciple listened serenely. Dan Zhenren jolted his head towards the students abruptly.

"Tell me. What happens if the beast essence becomes unstable during pill compression?"

"The pill explodes, Master." Huo Ren immediately answered.

"That is merely the surface." Dan Zhenren shook his head, his eyes darkening faintly. "Unstable beast essence destroys structure."

The partially condensed medicinal ball suddenly trembled rapidly inside the cauldron.

"And once structure collapses..."

BOOM!

The entire medicinal sphere exploded into smoke instantly.

Students squinted their eyes rapidly, shielding eyes with their hands. Dan Zhenren remained calm and reactionless.

"...everything fails."

The room became silent again. Lin Yuan quietly observed the remaining medicinal fragments inside the cauldron. The explosion itself was not random, it’s because the structure lost its synchronization.

Dan Zhenren slowly extinguished the flames. Then turned back toward the disciples.

"Today’s trial is called the Essence Compression Trial." Dan Zhenren announced, waving his sleeve slightly with a flick of his hand.

WHOOSH!

Eight smaller bronze cauldrons floated before the disciples before landing heavily onto the stone floor. Beside each cauldron a Green Spirit Herb, Frost Dew Leaf, Pale White Beast Core powder, Crimson Heat Flower, and one empty jade bottle rested.

Chen Ming quietly swallowed.

"Your task is simple." Dan Zhenren spoke calmly. "Refine a Low-Tier Stabilization Pill."

The disciples immediately became nervous hearing the words "pill refinement."

"This is not like medicinal liquids, pills require essence condensation." Dan Zhenren slowly raised one finger.

"Your flame control." Dan Zhenren beamed, raising his second finger.

"Your beast essence’ stability." Dan Zhenren wheezed, raising his third finger. "And your compression timing must remain synchronized perfectly."

The atmosphere immediately became heavy. A collective of murmurs made the air more suffocatingly heavy.

"The reward for first place..." Dan Zhenren continued calmly. A shimmering blue fruit appeared above his palm. The fruit released faint blue essence into the surroundings. "Blue Essence Fruit."

Every disciple widened their eyes instantly. Even Gu Shiyan’s cold gaze flickered slightly.

Dan Zhenren calmly explained, "This fruit purifies beast essence and improves synchronization during breakthrough attempts. If a cultivator is at the peak stage of the Baby Beast Realm, refining this Blue Essence Fruit will allow them to ascend to the Spirit Beast Realm. And only one disciple will receive it."

The tension within the room immediately increased.

"Lin Yuan... I suddenly feel like everyone wants to murder each other now." Chen Ming whispered nervously.

Lin Yuan remained calm. But inside, he admitted the reward was valuable.

Dan Zhenren slowly stepped backward. "You may begin."

WHOOSH!

The chamber instantly erupted into obscuring movements. Flames ignited beneath the cauldrons one after another.

Yun He moved first, her movements were smooth and elegant while she carefully adjusted the heat beneath her cauldron.

Lian Nichang remained extremely calm. Every movement he made looked precise and practiced.

Meanwhile, Huo Ren instantly increased his flame intensity aggressively.

"That fool learned nothing yesterday." Dan Zhenren sighed softly.

BOOM!

An explosion erupted beside Huo Ren moments later. Smoke filled his surroundings instantly.

"Hahaha!!"

"What a waste!!"

"Is he dumb?"

Murmurs and mockery laughs swirled across the room immediately.

"Dammit!" Huo Ren cursed loudly.

Chen Ming looked even more nervous now.

"Why is compression even necessary..." Chen Ming muttered, sweat crawling from his temples quickly.

Lin Yuan ignored the surroundings completely, his dark eyes quietly observed the ingredient melting speed, heat circulation, essence nature in cauldron. His instincts continuously analyzed every reaction carefully. Potion refinement allowed instability. Pill refinement did not, that was the difference in both.

Lin Yuan slowly ignited the flames beneath his cauldron. He was not like others; his flames remained stable. He carefully crushed the Green Spirit Herb before placing it into the cauldron, then he waited.

Other disciples immediately began rushing the process, but Lin Yuan merely observed the process. The medicinal liquid slowly formed naturally.

Dan Zhenren’s eyes paused briefly on Lin Yuan once again. ’This brat is more interesting than I thought... Hahaha.’

Meanwhile, Chen Ming already looked like he was fighting for survival.

"Lin Yuan... Why is my liquid bubbling like crazy again?!"

Lin Yuan glanced sideways briefly. "Too much pressure. Reduce flame output slowly."

Chen Ming immediately followed the advice, and the bubbling gradually stabilized.

"You saved my ass again..." Chen Ming exhaled dramatically.

Dan Zhenren quietly noticed the interaction once more. Lin Yuan was not merely refining.

He was observing the entire chamber simultaneously. That level of awareness was abnormal for a beginner disciple.

A few minutes passed deliberately. The chamber temperature increased heavily, the disciples began sweating intensely.

Lin Yuan finally introduced the Beast Core powder carefully. The medicinal liquid instantly became unstable.

HISS!!

Violent essence reactions exploded inside the cauldron. But Lin Yuan’s expression remained calm.

Instead of forcing suppression, he slightly reduced the flame, then increased it again, and then reduced it once more. He simply made that process like breathing. The unstable essence slowly synchronized naturally.

Dan Zhenren’s eyes narrowed slightly. ’That control... Even some senior disciples struggled with that stage.’

Meanwhile, Fenglian attempted aggressive compression too early.

BOOM!!

Another explosion erupted within the chamber, leaving the smoke covering his face completely. Everyone laughed quietly. Fenglian’s expression instantly darkened with embarrassment.

Lin Yuan ignored everything around him, his focus slowly entering deeper concentration. The medicinal liquid within his cauldron gradually condensed into a small rotating sphere. This was the true difficulty. The structure had to remain perfectly balanced. Too much pressure, then the pill explodes or if too little pressure, the essence scatters.

Lin Yuan’s eyes slightly narrowed, his past life memories recalled the magical structure stabilization principles. ’Pressure distribution. Energy circulation. Balance points.’

The concepts were nearly identical. The medicinal sphere slowly became denser, forming tiny green essence patterns around it. Across the chamber, Lian Nichang also successfully reached the compression stage.

Yun He followed shortly afterward, but the other disciples were still at the start. Dan Zhenren silently observed the room. The true difference between talent and understanding slowly became visible.

Lin Yuan carefully adjusted the flames once again. The medicinal sphere trembled faintly, but stabilized immediately afterward. A faint medicinal fragrance slowly spread from his cauldron.

"He was already stabilizing the compression phase." Dan Zhenren’s gaze sharpened instantly. The old apothecary slowly narrowed his eyes. "This brat..."

Meanwhile, deep inside Lin Yuan’s thoughts, another realization slowly formed. ’Alchemy was not merely medicine. It was structure manipulation, and if beast essence could be compressed... then perhaps cultivation pathways themselves could also be reconstructed.’

The green medicinal sphere within the cauldron slowly rotated faster. The surrounding essence began converging naturally toward it.

CRACK!!

A tiny fracture suddenly appeared across the surface of the pill. Nearby disciples widened their eyes instantly.

"Lin Yuan—!" Chen Ming called out, and immediately panicked.

Lin Yuan snickered, his eyes filled with shock. The unstable pressure within the pill began increasing rapidly. The next moment, the pill trembled violently inside the cauldron.