Meanwhile, Shao Jiao also began his refinement. Before him was still that rust-mottled bronze cauldron, and the materials he brought out were shockingly simple.

But an observant person could tell at a glance that the pill formula was not simple; it was likewise Fifth-Grade.

His movements from beginning to end were smooth and flowing, as if refining this Fifth-Grade Pill was nothing but a routine task for him.

Time trickled by, and the Spiritual Fire intertwined into a brilliant curtain of light above the arena.

Six hours later, clear and resonant cauldron chimes broke through the clamor of the arena. Many people’s pills had taken shape, all of them being fine pills of the Fourth-Grade and above.

Not long after, a sound also rang out from Meng Qiuran’s Alchemy Cauldron. The lid popped open, and a completely crimson Pill slowly rose from within, its surface flowing with five distinct pill veins.

The Blazing Sun Snowmelt Pill was complete, and its quality was top-notch.

Deafening cheers erupted from the stands. Meng Qiuran let out a long breath, raised his hand to collect the Pill into a jade bottle, and a hint of a smile finally surfaced on his lips.

He had done it. Mid-Tier Fifth-Grade, top-notch quality, this was the best batch of pills he had refined to date.

But before he could even catch his breath, the chime of a cauldron rang out from the other side of the arena.

Shao Jiao held the lustrous white Fifth-Grade Pill rising from his Alchemy Cauldron. After receiving pointers from Lai Li’an, he had performed at his absolute best, and the pill’s quality was better than any he had refined before.

The stands completely boiled over. These two had successively succeeded in refining Fifth-Grade pills, directly elevating the standard of the finals by a whole tier.

The competitors who were still burying their heads in refining Fourth-Grade pills looked ashen; a Fourth-Grade pill was completely inadequate now.

Pei Changjing leaned back in his chair and said lazily, “Two Fifth-Grade pills. This year’s batch is indeed quite good. This result has probably exceeded most people’s expectations.”

Yin Zheng did not speak, only quietly watching the cyan-clad figure in the arena who had yet to open their cauldron.

Time continued to pass, and in the blink of an eye, only the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn remained.

Just as everyone thought the battle for the championship would be settled between Meng Qiuran and Shao Jiao, a faint hum came from the south side of the arena.

In an instant, everyone present caught a whiff of an unusual medicinal fragrance.

The fragrance was extremely faint, barely discernible, yet it drifted into the nasal cavity like an invisible silk thread, inexplicably causing one’s heartbeat to quicken and their cheeks to grow slightly hot.

At the same time, everyone’s gaze fell upon the Alchemy Cauldron in front of Ruan Se. At this moment, it was beginning to tremble slightly, and a faint wisp of pink mist was seeping out from the gaps in the cauldron’s lid.

The discussions in the spectator stands instantly exploded.

“Is that… the precursor to forming a pill?”

“No way, right? That kind of trashy medicinal ingredient can actually form a pill?”

“So what if it does? The stuff refined from Joyful Union Grass, at its absolute best, is just a Pure Fourth-Grade Medicine. Is it even presentable?”

“Pure Fourth-Grade Medicine? Smell this pill fragrance; could a Fourth-Grade have this kind of scent?”

The pink mist grew thicker and thicker, swirling and lingering above the Alchemy Cauldron.

Sitting in the judges’ seats, Lai Li’an sensed the complicated moods of the old fellows beside him, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up slightly.

Pei Changjing was the first to freeze, his body involuntarily sitting up a bit straighter, his usually sleepy eyes now staring wide open.

Everyone was waiting, waiting for the mystery of this cauldron to be revealed, waiting to see what kind of result the alchemist despised by everyone would ultimately deliver.

Suddenly, Ruan Se abruptly withdrew her hands, formed a Pill-Retrieval Hand Seal in front of her, and gave a clear shout—

“Open!”

The cauldron lid popped open, and a pill slowly rose from within, hovering and slowly rotating in mid-air.

Its entire body took on a translucent pink-jade color with a warm and moist texture. Six pill veins clearly flowed with a faint light, and the spacing between each vein was precise to an outrageous degree.

The entire venue fell dead silent for three full breaths. Everyone’s eyes widened at the exact same moment, as if they had seen something entirely incomprehensible.

“Sixth… Sixth-Grade?” a disciple of the Hundred Herbs Hall stammered, his voice trembling. “This kind of pill can actually be refined to the Sixth-Grade?!”

The middle-aged alchemist who had previously mocked Ruan Se turned deathly pale. Looking as if his soul had been drained, his lips trembled a few times, yet he couldn’t utter a single word.

Pei Changjing sprang up from his chair, his movements so swift he nearly knocked over the teacup on the table, his pupils sharply contracting.

“This is no ordinary Sixth-Grade Pill!” He stared fixedly at the pill veins flowing across the Pill’s surface. “This quality… how is it possible?”

Yin Zheng also stood up, looking at the Pill with a solemn gaze. “Azure Wood Qi-Harmonizing Pill… a lost ancient pill recipe. It uses the Joyful Union Grass and other yin-wood Spiritual Herbs as the base, and Azure Wood Spirit Fruit as the sovereign ingredient, transforming the aphrodisiac properties into a nourishing power that warms and nurtures the Meridians.”

As the saying goes, Pills are neither inherently righteous nor evil; a medicinal property is merely a possibility yet to be understood.

The people in the audience who had just been despising the Joyful Union Grass were now completely silent.

Those Hundred Herbs Hall disciples who had just been mocking Ruan Se for “taking a crooked path” were now ashen-faced, wishing they could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Shao Jiao was the first to react. He looked at the Pill in his own hand, then at the Pill hovering above Ruan Se’s Alchemy Cauldron, and finally put down the jade bottle in his hand.

There was not a single trace of regret, only a sense of relief. He even chuckled softly; in the end, did he still fall short by a single move?

Meng Qiuran tightly clutched his own pill. At this moment, his usually carefree face held no trace of resentment. Looking up at the pill in the air, he suddenly burst into loud laughter.

“Hahahaha! I knew it!” He laughed so hard his eyes narrowed into two slits. “I knew Senior Lai’s disciple couldn’t possibly be simple! Fifth-Grade is underestimating her!”

In the judges’ seats, Ruan Qin sat in her place. From beginning to end, she had not said a single word or shown any sign of surprise. Her gaze landed on her younger sister in the arena, and in her usually cold eyes, something was slowly melting.

The corners of her lips curled up slightly into a smile. Lai Li’an sat with his legs crossed, sipping tea. Watching everything unfold in the arena, he unhurriedly blew the foam off his cup.

The eyes of the entire audience were focused on that slowly spinning pill, focused on that young girl.

The appearance of a Sixth-Grade Pill wasn’t unprecedented in the history of the Cangwu Alchemy Conference, but that had been hundreds of years ago. Moreover, that Alchemist had later become an Elder of the Alchemy Sect Main Branch, whereas the person standing here today was a young female cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Ruan Se held the pill in her hands and raised her head. Her gaze crossed the densely packed sea of people in the stands, passing over countless eyes, and landed on the figure leisurely sipping tea at the very top of the judges’ area.

A hint of a smile surfaced in those amber eyes.

“Senior,” her voice was drowned out by the uproar of the entire venue, “I didn’t let you down.”

Up in the judges’ seats, Lai Li’an seemed to have heard something. The corners of his lips curled into a smile, and he raised the teacup in his hand, offering a distant toast to the girl down in the arena.