Chapter 1727: The Third Person

The moment the demon beast recovered, it immediately noticed that the crystal pillars sealing it had vanished. A look of terror flashed through its eyes. Sensing several powerful auras around it, it instinctively tried to flee. Its reactions were indeed faster than its thoughts.

But no matter how fast it was, it was merely a fourth-rank beast here.

Elder Liu’s expression remained unchanged. She didn’t seem to move, yet she merely glanced at the beast, whose figure was already becoming a blur.

“Ow!”

The beast, which had just gathered its strength to flee, let out a mournful howl. It was instantly bound by an invisible force, causing its strength to vanish and dissipate. A powerful, peerless force yanked it back, and it flew rapidly toward Elder Liu.

When the beast arrived before her, she sent her Divine Sense directly into its sea of consciousness. After a moment, she withdrew it. She then nodded toward Deacon Li. Deacon Li remained solemn, his face devoid of any relaxation.

Even though Elder Liu had checked, he still meticulously probed the beast’s sea of consciousness. He needed to verify if the illusions were truly gone from its mind.

Elder Liu did not object. None of the disciples participating in this assessment were her people anyway. Moreover, she understood Deacon Li’s personality and conduct very well; it was highly unlikely for him to show any leniency.

Soon, Deacon Li also withdrew his Divine Sense. With a wave of his hand and a surge of magical power, he tossed the beast into the air to the side. The crystal cage that had vanished earlier reappeared, sealing the beast once more in its previous state.

“First stage: Yan Qingchen. Refined the pill within the allotted time. Ranking: One. Successfully neutralized the poison in twelve breaths. Pass!” Elder Liu announced softly.

As her voice faded, a similar set of characters appeared on one side of the blue light screen in the void, positioned at the very top of the column.

However, this news was not transmitted into the stone rooms. The process of refining a pill could not be disturbed by external information. Only when the assessment time was up would Elder Liu and the other deacon forcibly interrupt all sessions. She didn’t care how many people were present; she simply announced the current result.

Yan Qingchen looked up and saw his name at the top of the void screen. He immediately bowed to the two above.

“Thank you, Seniors!”

A smile as bright as sunshine appeared on his face. It didn’t give off a sense of arrogance; instead, it felt sincere, as if coming from the bottom of his heart.

“Ming Qi, present your pill!” Elder Liu wasted no time, looking toward Ming Qi. The name of the occupant was displayed in front of each stone room once the token was inserted.

Ming Qi did not delay either. Yan Qingchen’s entire process had taken less than fifty breaths; it had barely consumed any time at all. With a wave of her snowy-white hand, her pill bottle flew toward Elder Liu.

Shortly after, the two checked the pills inside. There were four white pills, all of the fourth rank. However, based on the experience of Elder Liu and the deacon, as well as the faint pill inscriptions, they felt the quality was slightly lower than those refined by Yan Qingchen.

The four pills were soon judged to be normal and freshly refined. As Yan Qingchen looked at the four pills, a sharp light flickered in his eyes.

‘She emerged only a moment after me. I thought I was strong enough, but I didn’t expect her to refine four pills in one go, finishing only a few breaths after me. These sisters have only been here for a few years. It turns out they have such extraordinary means. If their subsequent performance remains strong, I’ll need to investigate them…’

Next, Elder Liu waved her hand again, and another crystal cage appeared in the void. The demon beast inside was almost identical to the previous one. The first beast had been resealed and was now suspended quietly to the side.

This was done for the sake of fairness. These beasts had all been checked by the Law-Enforcement Hall, and the same beast was not allowed to be used twice in one assessment. This was to prevent any accumulation of pill toxins or mental fatigue from repeated illusionary shocks.

Ming Qi acted without hesitation, sending all four white pills from her bottle into the beast’s mouth.

Both Yan Qingchen and Ming Qi had completely ignored the impurities and toxins within the pills in order to shorten the neutralization time. They had forced all their pills into the beasts at once. After all, Elder Liu hadn’t explicitly restricted how many antidotes could be fed to the beast at one time.

Naturally, they wouldn’t feel any pity for the beasts before them, nor would they care about any damage or lingering side effects.

However, using this method also tested the alchemist’s skill. They had to have an accurate measure in their hearts. Otherwise, if there were too many toxins, they wouldn’t just fail to neutralize the poison; they might actually kill the beast. Even a fourth-rank beast couldn’t withstand toxins that corroded its internal organs directly.

In the next moment, everyone’s gaze in the hall fell upon the beast, waiting to see if Ming Qi would produce a better result.

Breaths passed. Soon, a hint of nervousness appeared in Ming Qi’s beautiful eyes. Though she possessed strong confidence, hope brought pressure. This was exactly what Yan Qingchen had anticipated: once someone succeeded, those following would instinctively feel stress.

When ten breaths had passed, Yan Qingchen sensed the beast’s aura. It showed no signs of waking up. Though the smile had left his face, he was already smiling in his heart. Under these circumstances, it was absolutely impossible for her to break the poison in twelve breaths!

Furthermore, since he was the first to successfully refine the pill and emerge, the first place in this stage was surely his!

‘I hope Liu Siyu and the others can emerge soon. They must also seize the spots to truly ensure my path is smooth. Otherwise, if I lose their help, it will affect me later…’

Seemingly by accident, his gaze swept toward several stone rooms. Those were the ones occupied by the people he had set his sights on.

At that moment, the sound of a stone door opening suddenly rang out. Although the gazes of those in the hall were still fixed on the beast before Ming Qi, their Divine Senses swept over instantly.

One of the stone doors opened, and a disciple with an exceptionally ordinary appearance walked toward them at an unhurried pace.

“It’s him…”

When Elder Liu and Deacon Li saw who it was, their expressions shifted. They had been monitoring the light screens and saw some disciples currently performing techniques, reaching the condensation stage. However, they paid more attention to disciples with unusual behavior and the ongoing assessment in the hall.

The person who had emerged now was quite unexpected. He was the first of the nine recommended individuals to finish. In their minds, three of those nine seemed to have some skill, but they shouldn’t have been able to complete the refinement until at least half the allotted time had passed.

Li Yan’s emergence was quite anomalous!

When Yan Qingchen saw Li Yan, he was momentarily stunned. Though he expected others to appear, and even thought some might finish shortly after Ming Qi, he never imagined it would be Li Yan.

‘Wasn’t it said that he only became a Yellow-rank Alchemist six months ago?’ Yan Qingchen was truly caught off guard.

Ming Qi was also stunned when her Divine Sense swept over Li Yan. Even though she was in the middle of her assessment, she turned her head and stole a quick glance at him.

On the other side, Li Yan walked toward the center of the hall with a calm expression. From his peripheral vision, he saw some images on the screen in the air. Previously, while in the stone room, he had used his Divine Sense to look at the screens, but his sense had been completely blocked. Now that he could see them, he immediately understood their purpose: they allowed the overseers to see the situation inside each room.

‘First stage: Yan Qingchen… This is the ranking. That youth really succeeded!’

As Li Yan walked forward, a beast’s roar suddenly echoed from the front, only to be cut short the next moment. He saw a beast bound by a force and dragged to a spot not far from Elder Liu.

Seeing this, his pace slowed for a moment before he continued forward.

“First stage: Ming Qi. Refined the pill within the allotted time. Ranking: Two. Successfully neutralized the poison in fifteen breaths. Pass!” Elder Liu’s voice rang out as Li Yan approached.

Then, Li Yan saw a new line of text appear on one side of the blue screen, exactly matching what Elder Liu had said.

‘Two people passed already, and in such a short time!’ Li Yan mused. Though he had anticipated this, the speed of these two still surprised him.

During the previous hours, he had naturally been studying that red pill. Aside from using his Fragmented Poison Body to break it, Li Yan had made other judgments. He felt that if he relied solely on his true skill to neutralize it, he would likely emerge around the ten-hour mark, and his success rate would only be around sixty percent.

This was the result of his years of cultivation in Huangqi Valley, which had allowed his alchemical skills to improve by leaps and bounds.

When Li Yan reached Elder Liu and the others, two crystal cages were already placed side by side, containing the two beasts that had been resealed. Yan Qingchen and Ming Qi had consciously stepped to the side, and their gazes were now fixed on Li Yan.

This was the third person to appear after them, and it was someone they hadn’t expected. This Li Yan had never been famous, yet he had emerged only dozens of breaths after them. However, they didn’t think his chance of failure was high; anyone who emerged at this point likely had some degree of certainty.

‘Doesn’t Liu Siyu say she checked this man, and he only became an alchemist six months ago? Could he be a late bloomer?’ Yan Qingchen’s expression remained unchanged, but he couldn’t help but think of other possibilities.

‘I couldn’t tell that Fellow Daoist Li’s alchemy was even stronger than Ming Yu’s…’ Ming Qi thought to herself. Her sister Ming Yu’s skill was only slightly lower than hers. If her judgment was correct, her sister should be emerging soon as well.

Li Yan arrived before Elder Liu and the deacon and came to a halt. Elder Liu’s voice immediately reached him.

“Li Yan, present your pill!”

Hearing this, Li Yan gently pushed the bottle he had been holding forward.

Elder Liu followed the same procedure, using her magical power to pull the stopper. A single black pill appeared at the mouth of the bottle. Her eyes flickered.

‘Only one. The yield of his batch wasn’t very good…’ Though she thought this, her expression remained the same as she looked at the black pill.

Deacon Li also sent out a thread of Divine Sense toward the pill. But in the next moment, his head snapped toward her.

“There are no pill inscriptions at all?”

A voice transmission from Elder Liu reached Deacon Li’s mind, her voice carrying a hint of astonishment. They first confirmed that the pill Li Yan had refined was indeed freshly made and not an old, pre-made one.

However, not a single pill inscription appeared on the surface of this black pill. This phenomenon could only mean one of two things. One: the pill was a failure, a dud with no effect despite its appearance. Two: the refining method was unconventional and did not follow the standard sect methods, thus preventing inscriptions from forming.

In such a case, it was difficult to judge the pill’s grade based on experience; it could only be determined through its actual effects.

The two quickly exchanged a glance and then studied Li Yan for a moment. They found him as calm as ever, showing no signs of nervousness. This suggested the youth knew what he was doing and was unlikely to present a dud.

Furthermore, an alchemist could sense the overflowing medicinal power during the critical moment of condensation. They would only proceed to seal the power and form the pill if it was successful; otherwise, they would let the pill dissipate and discard the batch rather than waste energy on a failed form.

Meanwhile, Yan Qingchen and Ming Qi didn’t dare use their Divine Sense to probe the pill, lest they interfere with the assessment. However, they were cultivators with extraordinary eyesight. At such a close distance, they could see quite clearly.

Even without Divine Sense, they saw the black pill hovering at the mouth of the bottle. There wasn’t a single inscription on its surface.

‘Hmm? He only produced one pill, and its grade can’t be judged from the surface… If his method is unconventional, then a yield of just one pill is far too low…’

Yan Qingchen’s mind raced as he observed Li Yan’s expression. Based on the success rate, it was possible the pill was a failure, but he couldn’t see any abnormality in Li Yan’s face. To dare to come out for the assessment, the pill must have at least some effect. Presenting a dud would likely enrage the two overseers.

Consequently, Yan Qingchen began to feel that this black pill might not be as ordinary as it seemed…

The more intelligent people like them were, the less likely they were to take others for fools. They knew they weren’t the only smart people in the world!