Another incense stick of time passed. Ruan Se slowly raised her hand and slightly withdrew the spiritual power at her fingertips. The furnace lid automatically popped open, and three pills, as lustrously white as jade, slowly floated out. They were precisely top-grade Cold Dew Pills.

Unable to hold on any longer, Ruan Se staggered slightly, a faint smile appearing on her face.

The onlookers couldn’t help but freeze, staring in disbelief at the pills in Ruan Se’s hand, rendered entirely speechless for a moment.

Not far away, Meng Qiuran looked in Ruan Se’s direction, his eyes filled with admiration. He hadn’t expected her to possess such tenacious perseverance and exquisite alchemy skills.

After inspecting the pills, the host announced, “Ruan Se, Fourth-Grade Cold Dew Pill, top-grade quality. She advances!”

Ruan Qin slowly withdrew her gaze and finally relaxed, though deep in her eyes lay a trace of complex emotion that even she hadn’t noticed.

She knew better than anyone where her sister’s limits lay. Although Ruan Se had forcibly suppressed the sudden fluctuation of the spiritual fire a moment ago, Ruan Qin could see the price she paid for it even from halfway across the square.

“Fellow Daoist Ruan,” a lazy voice sounded from the side.

Ruan Qin turned her head, meeting Pei Changjing’s half-smiling eyes.

“Your sister’s response just now was rather interesting,” Pei Changjing said slowly, leaning back in his chair. “When the Spiritual Fire is disturbed by an external force, an ordinary Alchemist’s first reaction is to increase their Spiritual Power to suppress it. But her? She directly abandoned controlling the fire and used the medicinal properties of the auxiliary herbs to nourish the Pill Embryo. In all my years of living, this is the first time I, Old Pei, have seen this method of Alchemy.”

Ruan Qin narrowed her eyes slightly. “What is Alchemist Pei trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say,” Pei Changjing picked up his teacup and blew away the floating foam, “that this technique doesn’t seem like the Alchemy Sect’s style. Has your sister recently taken some extraordinary person as her master?”

Ruan Qin did not answer. Her gaze returned to the field. Sitting at the other end of the judges’ panel, Lai Li’an caught every word of this conversation.

He remained outwardly composed, but internally, he was already complaining frantically:

While he was pondering, another commotion suddenly broke out on the field. Yet another contestant’s Alchemy Cauldron had exploded.

The contestant clutched his arm and jumped away, staring in disbelief at his Alchemy Cauldron that had exploded into fragments.

“That’s the third time.” Yin Zheng set down his teacup and frowned.

Elder Sun also stood up from the judges’ seats, his expression grave. “There were no abnormalities in the first and second rounds, but after the third round began, there have been three consecutive cauldron explosions. In all my years hosting the Alchemy Conference, I have never seen such a situation.”

Pei Changjing finally dropped his lazy posture. “Interesting. I glanced at the conference’s Alchemy Cauldrons before the opening. Although their grade isn’t high, they were all completely intact. There are no issues with them being old or in disrepair.”

“Does Alchemist Pei mean,” Yin Zheng turned his head, “that someone is secretly sabotaging things?”

“I didn’t say that.” Pei Changjing returned to his indolent expression. “I just think it’s quite a coincidence.”

A brief silence fell over the judges’ seats. Just then, Lai Li’an stood up.

“Fellow Daoist Lai?” Yin Zheng was a bit surprised.

Lai Li’an didn’t explain, simply walking away from the judges’ area. Ruan Qin watched his retreating back, a thoughtful look flashing through her eyes.

As he walked, Lai Li’an recalled the scene he had witnessed on the steps earlier: Yin Wuji grabbing Shao Jiao’s arm and dragging him away from the crowd.

That action looked more like he was being escorted as a prisoner. Was Shao Jiao truly participating voluntarily today?

Sigh, he hadn’t wanted to meddle in this at all, but whatever the Blood Lotus Sect was up to might interfere with his own goals. What a hassle.

As he reached the end of the corridor behind the judges’ seating, a voice came from behind him: “Fellow Daoist, what are you looking at?”

Lai Li’an paused his steps and turned around. Ruan Qin had followed him out at some point and was currently standing in the shadows of the corridor.

“Why has fellow Daoist also come out?” Lai Li’an asked impassively.

“It’s rather stuffy at the judges’ seats,” Ruan Qin said lightly. “You, on the other hand, leaving your seat right when the competition is at a critical juncture is quite unusual. Or could it be… that the words exchanged with Pei Changjing just now are bothering you?”

“This Venerable simply came out for some fresh air.”

Ruan Qin didn’t respond, merely walking to the edge of the corridor and looking down at the plaza below.

“I am more concerned about one thing. My sister, what does she have to do with you?”

“This Venerable and Miss Ruan Se merely met by chance at the Yunze Market.” Lai Li’an stood with his hands clasped behind his back. “She saved this Venerable’s disciple, and in return, this Venerable taught her a few Alchemy techniques. That is all.”

“That is all?” Ruan Qin curled her lips. “She has been in the Alchemy Sect for ten years and has reached the forefront of her peers in the orthodox Alchemy Dao. Her foundation was built by her own hard work, every step steady and secure. Yet that move she just used to suppress the out-of-control Spiritual Fire…” She stared into Lai Li’an’s eyes, “was an unorthodox trick, not the Sect’s teachings.”

Lai Li’an did not reply, merely standing quietly in place, his expression completely impassive.

“She abandoned the orthodox fire-control methods and used the medicinal properties of the auxiliary herbs to feed back into the Pill Embryo. There is no basis for such a technique in any of the Alchemy Sect’s texts,” Ruan Qin said unhurriedly. “She has studied alchemy for a long time, yet she has never used such an unorthodox method. But after encountering you for only a short time, she dared to change even her own foundation.”

Lai Li’an was silent for a breath before slowly speaking, “Fellow Daoist, the paths of the Alchemy Dao are inherently diverse. This Venerable merely casually demonstrated a little trick that your sister happened to see. Her comprehension is excellent, and she figured out how to use it on her own. That is her own skill and her own choice. How much does that really have to do with this Venerable?”

“As for this Venerable’s identity, this Venerable is but a rogue cultivator without sect or faction, not worth fellow Daoist’s concern.”

Ruan Qin narrowed her eyes slightly, as if she wanted to dismantle the mask on his face piece by piece to see exactly what lay beneath.

Just as she was about to say something else, a deafening explosion suddenly rang out from the plaza, followed closely by another. Within just a few short breaths of time, two alchemy cauldrons exploded consecutively.

Screams and cries of alarm mixed together, and even the several elders on the judges’ seats stood up one after another.

“Fellow Daoist Ruan,” Lai Li’an nodded slightly to her, his demeanor remaining calm and unhurried, “We can discuss this matter later. Excuse me for now.”

After saying that, he didn’t wait for Ruan Qin to respond. He turned around and walked toward the steps. Ruan Qin stood in the corridor, watching his back disappear at the end of it.

She had followed Lai Li’an out, but what she truly wanted to ask about was never the Alchemy Dao, but her younger sister.

Ruan Se had been single-minded since childhood; once she set her mind on something, no one could persuade her to turn back.

If she trusted the wrong person or took the wrong path, as her older sister, she had to act as a gatekeeper for her first.

Yet she couldn’t see through the man before her. Ruan Qin withdrew her gaze and walked back briskly, her eyes falling on the flickering firelight in the center of the plaza.