60: Refining the Qi Condensation Pill

"Lin Feng? Who is Lin Feng?"

"Sword, Pill, Talisman, and Formation—all four categories? Am I seeing things?"

"An Outer Sect Disciple? What’s this guy's background?"

"He’s crazy... absolutely insane! No one has ever dared to sign up for four categories."

"Just grandstanding. I’ll wait to see him get eliminated in the first round of everything."

"There must be a mistake in the registration. How could this be possible?"

Somewhere in the crowd, Senior Sister Xiao, who had just arrived, saw the names on the jade wall. A look of astonishment flashed across her cold face, followed by a slight, uncontrollable upward curve of her lips.

On the other side of the crowd, Su Sizhu, dressed in green, was focused on the changes in the Alchemy Dao rankings. When the words "Lin Feng - Outer Sect Disciple - Alchemy" caught her eye, she narrowed her eyes, a sharp light flashing within them as a knowing sneer curled her lips.

'It really is him... He actually dared to sign up for four categories? He has some nerve. It seems he was hiding much more than I imagined during the last Alchemy observation. I’ll have to take a close look this time and see just how far his level in the Dao of Alchemy has reached.'

At the edge of the square, Sun Hao was standing on his tiptoes in the crowd, trying to see the Heaven Rankings. When that familiar name appeared four times in such a shocking manner, his eyes widened, and the color drained completely from his face.

'Lin... Lin Feng? Is it that Lin Feng?' His voice trembled, hardly able to believe his eyes.

'He... he has reached Foundation Establishment? When did that happen? And... signing up for four categories? How is that possible.' He subconsciously shrunk his neck. Thinking about how he had exhausted his Family resources just to barely break through to the ninth level of Qi Refining, he felt a sudden surge of shame.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Fang Lingyao was chatting and laughing easily with her fellow Senior Sisters, commenting on the names on the rankings. When the name "Lin Feng" appeared on the screen in such an inconceivable way, her smile instantly froze on her face.

"What?" she gasped. 'Four categories? The Dao of the Sword is understandable; after all, I taught him the Flowing Cloud Water Dividing Sword Art. But when did he learn the Pill, Talisman, and Formation arts?'

'An Outer Sect Disciple... I never thought he would have such strength...' She pursed her lips and frowned deeply.

"Clang!"

A grand and resonant chime of a bell suddenly rang out from the center of the square. The sound spread in all directions, instantly drowning out all the clamor and discussion.

As the bell echoed, an Elder with a profound aura flew over the main stage. His voice boomed like a great bell: "Silence. The Tianxuan Sect’s Sect Grand Competition officially begins. Disciples signed up for Alchemy, please enter the arena in order."

In the center of the square, massive Formation patterns had already been engraved on the ground. As the presiding Elder announced the start of the Alchemy Competition, the Formation nodes lit up one by one, emitting a low hum.

Following that, the bluestone slabs on the square floor slowly sank and shifted. Over a hundred standard Pill Furnaces rose from the ground, precisely fixed atop each Formation node. A spiritual light flashed at the connection between the furnace bottom and the Earth-fire vein, and the furnace fire was instantly ignited, billowing upward.

The entire process was like precise Mechanisms, swift and orderly, clearly a facility designed specifically for the Sect Grand Competition.

The topic of this assessment was to refine the "core condensation pill." This pill could stabilize one's cultivation at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage. The refining process demanded extremely high precision in heat control and the timing of medicinal property Fusion. The Pill Formula and Materials had already been placed on the tables in front of each person.

Lin Feng did not rush to start. Instead, he stood quietly before the Pill Furnace, his gaze scanning the field.

Not far away, a Disciple's fingertips shimmered with spiritual light. Dozens of herbs were precisely tossed into different side chambers of the Pill Furnace for preheating and purification, without the slightest error.

On another side, a female Disciple pressed her hands toward the Pill Furnace. Water-blue spiritual energy condensed around her, and the furnace fire flickered accordingly, tempering the medicinal liquid and forcing out the Impurities bit by bit.

Further away, there was even a Disciple with three small auxiliary Medicine Cauldrons floating before him. He processed different auxiliary medicines simultaneously, his Divine Sense divided and controlled with ease, drawing bursts of low gasps from the surroundings.

'As expected... the Dao of Alchemy is broad and profound, filled with masters.' Lin Feng's heart sank slightly as he felt a massive pressure.

'My Alchemy skills only come from observing Senior Sister Su; my techniques are unrefined. Compared to them, I definitely lack practical experience. If I follow the standard procedures, I might not even make it into the top ten.'

'I can only... try it again.' He took a deep breath and secretly activated the heaven-stealing vine.

However, just as he tried to extend the spiritual tendrils of the heaven-stealing vine as he had in the past, he suddenly remembered the scene at the Outer Sect Martial Arts Arena. Back then, when he had rashly reached his tendrils toward an Elder in the crowd, he had nearly suffered a Qi Deviation.

A shiver ran through his body, and he instinctively wanted to forcibly retract the heaven-stealing vine.

'No. There are too many people. Their auras are too chaotic. If I... again...'

In that moment of hesitation, he realized that after reaching Foundation Establishment, the heaven-stealing vine seemed to have undergone some unknown transformation. Its leaves had become even more vibrant green, and the dozen or so spiritual tendrils were now several times thicker than before.

'It... got stronger?' Lin Feng was shocked. 'But even if it’s stronger, there are so many Disciples here with mixed auras. If it goes out of control... the consequences would be unthinkable.'

The memory of the agonizing pain from nearly suffering a Qi Deviation last time caused a layer of cold sweat to break out on his back.

'I went through so much hardship to successfully reach Foundation Establishment and get to where I am today. How can I be a coward before the battle even starts?'

'Whatever. Fortune favors the bold.' Lin Feng steeled his heart and guided the three thickest spiritual tendrils, carefully extending them toward Su Sizhu and the female and male Disciples from before.

Gradually, the subtle details of refining the "core condensation pill," the optimal timing for heat transitions, and the delicate feel of medicinal property Fusion became clearly present in his perception.

'So that’s how it is... The heat at this point needs to be instantly switched to a gentle flame for three breaths the moment the medicinal liquid begins to bubble like fish eyes...'

'After this auxiliary herb is added, it needs to be slightly vibrated seven times with Divine Sense to perfectly activate its medicinal properties...'

'The Water-Refining Method can actually strip away Impurities so gently while preserving the essence of the medicinal properties...'

Lin Feng realized that these various key points would have likely taken him years to figure out on his own. Now, however, it was like a divine revelation, and he understood everything perfectly.

Lin Feng looked up at the sky and then down at the Pill Furnace.

He finally moved.

He pointed his right finger in the air, and the earth-fire beneath the Pill Furnace rose in response, its flame color turning from orange-red to bluish-white.

His left hand swept across the table, tossing three stalks of "Frost-Condensing Grass" into the furnace. The herbs quickly shriveled under the high temperature, oozing a jade-green liquid.

At the very moment the liquid began to form fine fish-eye bubbles, Lin Feng pressed down with his fingertip. The furnace fire let out a soft "poof" and instantly switched to a faint blue gentle flame for exactly three breaths, no more and no less.

The gentle flame flickered, slowly drawing out the purest parts of the medicinal liquid while the Impurities were quietly incinerated into ash.

Next, he picked up the crimson "Flame-Heart Fruit," but instead of tossing it directly into the main furnace, he used the spiritual energy at his fingertips to shatter it mid-air. The fruit flesh turned into dozens of vermilion liquid droplets that rotated around the Pill Furnace.

Each droplet was scorched by different parts of the flames at different heights, emitting faint sizzling sounds.