Yin Zheng’s gaze suddenly turned solemn. Pei Changjing’s perpetually drowsy eyes were now completely wide open, causing the tear mole at the corner of his eye to lift slightly. Even Ruan Qin took a rare extra glance at him, a flicker of something dancing in her eyes.

The spectator stands erupted into an uproar.

“What did he say? Nourishing the Ice Marrow Jade in advance? What kind of method is that?”

“I’ve studied alchemy for so many years and have never heard of such a technique. Isn’t he just talking nonsense?”

“Wait, look at the judges’ expressions… It doesn’t look like nonsense.”

“Could such an operation actually exist? Just how profound is this person’s mastery of the Alchemy Dao?”

Meng Qiuran froze completely. He stared blankly at Lai Li’an, taking a long while to squeeze out a single sentence, “Se… Senior, what did you say? Nourish the Ice Marrow Jade in advance? But Ice Marrow Jade melts instantly when exposed to heat. If you warm it, wouldn’t it just…”

“Which is why it must reach the critical state of ‘about to melt but not yet melted’,” Lai Li’an added unhurriedly. “A fraction short, and the medicinal properties remain sealed; a fraction over, and the essence completely dissipates. This balance is indeed quite difficult to grasp.”

He was actually just parroting what he had just read, but when he said it, paired with his calm and indifferent expression, it practically screamed, “Grasping this measure is just a casual matter for this Venerable.”

Meng Qiuran suddenly felt that the tiny bit of confidence he had built up over three months of secluded cultivation was shattered to pieces by the Senior’s few casual words. Yet, after the shattering, he saw an entirely new world.

Lai Li’an’s back began to break out in a cold sweat as his mind frantically replayed his words, wondering if he had said something wrong.

“Fellow Daoist is truly magnanimous,” Yin Zheng suddenly spoke, his tone more solemn than ever before.

Lai Li’an was completely dumbfounded.

Before he could speak, Yin Zheng continued, “To be frank, I previously only thought of you as a somewhat capable Rogue Cultivator. Even though Qiuran praised you to the heavens, I merely chalked it up to a young man’s lack of worldly experience.”

He paused, once again resting that Blazing Sun Snowmelt Pill in his palm, his gaze shifting back and forth between the Pill and Lai Li’an…

“It wasn’t until just now,” he said slowly, “when fellow Daoist mentioned ‘nourishing the Ice Marrow Jade in advance to a state on the verge of melting,’ this method… has never been recorded in the ancient texts of the Alchemy Sect. But I just deduced it repeatedly in my mind, and unexpectedly found that this method is far more exquisite than our current practice of alternating Low and High Heat. The current method uses ‘force’ to suppress the conflict between the two medicinal properties; whereas fellow Daoist’s method uses ‘momentum’ to guide them to fuse on their own. One subjugates the medicine, while the other follows the medicine’s nature. The superiority is immediately apparent.”

He took a deep breath, raised his head, and looked straight at Lai Li’an.

“Fellow Daoist is perfecting the pill recipe for us. Such broad-mindedness, such grace… this Yin has cultivated the Alchemy Dao for hundreds of years and has rarely seen the likes of it. To witness it today is the fortune of three lifetimes.”

Beside him, an old judge with a greyish-white beard was so excited that his beard was trembling: “The method of nourishing Ice Marrow Jade… this old man has studied it for more than half my life without figuring out the underlying principles. Listening to your words today, I am suddenly enlightened! Suddenly enlightened!”

Pei Changjing leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t speak, but his slight nod said it all.

The spectator stands completely exploded.

“A pill recipe not even recorded in the Alchemy Sect Main Branch… just what kind of divine being is this person?”

“Didn’t you hear? This is perfecting it! How many people in the entire Cangwu Realm can perfect a pill formula from the Alchemy Sect?”

“My Honored Master once told me that when the Alchemy Dao reaches its peak, what is compared is no longer technique, but the understanding of medicinal properties. This Senior’s understanding of Ice Marrow Jade has reached a state of effortless harmony. How could an ordinary Alchemist achieve this?”

“Did you guys notice? From beginning to end, he didn’t even look straight at that pill. He just casually picked it up and critiqued it without needing to examine it closely at all. What does this mean? It means he saw right through it at a single glance!”

“An exalted Senior, definitely an exalted Senior!”

Some people even started asking around in the crowd: “Who is this person? Which Sect is he from? Does he accept disciples?”

Lai Li’an stood in the center of the venue. The surrounding discussions surged toward him like a tide. His face remained completely impassive, but his mind was already in an absolute uproar:

But of course, he couldn’t say that out loud. He merely nodded slightly and waved his hand in an inconspicuous manner, “It is not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning at all. All Alchemy Cultivators in the world are on the same path. We learn from each other and progress together, so how could there be any secrets I would withhold?”

As soon as these words came out, the surrounding judges looked at him with a few more degrees of respect.

Pei Changjing even unprecedentedly put away his lazy posture and gave him a slight cupped-fist salute. Meng Qiuran’s eyes burst with a startling light, looking at Lai Li’an as if he were a walking god.

After saying this, Lai Li’an’s heart was already bleeding:

The group did not linger for too long, as there were still many people waiting for the conference to proceed.

Next was Shao Jiao. Yin Zheng walked over and held Shao Jiao’s pill in his palm. After examining it closely for a long time, a hint of surprise appeared on his brow.

“Fifth-Grade, the quality is even slightly superior to that Blazing Sun Snowmelt Pill.” Yin Zheng looked up at the plainly dressed young man before him, a trace of curiosity in his tone, “Where do you study under?”

Shao Jiao lowered his eyelashes, fell silent for a moment, and said in a low voice: “My master… passed away many years ago. This junior is a disciple of the Misty Moon Sect, a minor sect that Senior has most likely never heard of.”

Misty Moon Sect, as soon as these three words were spoken, the surrounding judges were all slightly moved. For a small sect whose name no one had ever heard of to cultivate such an alchemist, the hardships involved could well be imagined.

“A brilliant talent from a humble background,” Pei Changjing said with rare seriousness. “It’s not easy to refine a pill to this level under such conditions.”

The judges took turns giving their comments, speaking highly of Shao Jiao’s fire control techniques and handling of the medicinal ingredients.

Shao Jiao listened to them one by one, his expression showing neither joy nor sorrow. Finally, his gaze bypassed the crowd and landed on Lai Li’an.

He looked as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he didn’t utter a single word, only lowering his head very, very slightly.

Lai Li’an took this all in, gave a slight nod, and said no more.

Lastly, it was Ruan Se.

When the group walked up to Ruan Se’s stone platform, the atmosphere in the arena suddenly became delicate.

That entirely pink-jade colored pill was still lying on the tray. Six pill veins flowed with a warm luster under the sunlight; no matter how one looked at it, it was a top-tier item.

But the problem lay in the medicinal ingredients.

Yin Zheng looked at the pill and fell silent. His gaze shifted back and forth between the pill and Ruan Se, his brows furrowed tightly as if he were making an extremely difficult decision.

As the Chief Judge, he had to pass judgment on every pill.

But the grade of this pill was Sixth-Grade, and its appearance was excellent; this was an indisputable fact.

For an Alchemist at the Foundation Establishment Stage to refine a Sixth-Grade Pill was an achievement sensational enough to shake the entire Cangwu Realm. To go against his conscience and declare the Pill subpar would be disrespectful to the Alchemy Dao and a denial of Ruan Se’s strength.

But those medicinal ingredients…

In the perception of Righteous Path cultivators, they all carried a lingering, suggestive undertone.

For a Pill refined from such ingredients to be publicly evaluated at the Alchemy Conference, wouldn’t it make them a laughingstock once word got out?

Yin Zheng was caught in a dilemma; it wasn’t right to praise it, but it wasn’t right to criticize it either.

For the first time in his life, this highly respected Alchemist from the Alchemy Sect Main Branch found himself completely at a loss for words.