292: Chapter 292 The hall was filled with alchemists, but this one furnace remained silent.

How to choose depends entirely on one's own judgment, but the significance of the second round goes beyond just points.

The Elders of the three major Nascent Soul Sects are watching, the Golden Core True Persons of the three major Families are watching, the Alchemy Hall Head and Deputy Head are watching, and one's own Revered Master is also watching.

This round features two hundred and seventy-two people competing on the same stage; it is a true Opportunity to make an appearance before the entire Tianlan Province cultivation world.

If you want to be valued by the Sect and remembered by the outside world, just burying your head in Alchemy is far from enough.

The third round involves a brand-new Pill Formula, testing Comprehension Ability and adaptability on the spot, with too many variables.

If the Pill Formula doesn't suit your style and your Comprehension Ability isn't sufficient, you might not even be able to form the pill, so what kind of display would that be?

Therefore, the second round is actually where one should truly show their skills.

With plenty of Spirit Medicine, a familiar Pill Formula, and ample time, showing your strength and leaving an impression while ensuring you advance is the choice of a smart person.

So, the display of individual Divine Ability begins at this very moment.

"Begin."

Two hundred and seventy-two people started simultaneously.

Su Cheng received the first batch of Spirit Medicine from the Pill Hall Deacon; he was limited to three portions at a time and could collect more after using them.

With three portions of Spirit Medicine laid out on the table, he went through them one by one using his Qi of Creation to confirm their quality, age, and vitality.

Then, he took out the wanbao mirror from his Storage Pouch.

Injecting his spiritual power, the mirror body slowly rotated, and five-colored light flowed out under the sunlight.

After a few breaths, a half-person-high Pill Furnace appeared on the table; the furnace body was bronze-colored, its surface interwoven with Five Elements patterns, and three layers of Array Inscriptions—the Spirit Gathering Formation, the Flame Stabilizing Formation, and the Heat Conducting Formation—flowed ceaselessly.

A precious artifact pill furnace.

Suddenly, people in the plaza noticed this side.

"That... is that a Treasure Artifact?"

"Is that the Disciple from Qingmu Peak who hasn't been in the Sect for many years? What's his name again, Su Cheng? Since when did he have a precious artifact pill furnace?"

The discussion soon spread, and the guests in the spectator area were also attracted.

What truly made everyone sit up straight was Su Cheng's next action.

He raised his hand, and a wisp of dark purple flame emerged from his fingertips.

The purple fire was not large, about the thickness of a thumb, with a tiny, extremely bright white light flickering in the center of the flame.

Yet, this tiny wisp of flame released a temperature and spiritual power fluctuation that made the air within a ten-zhang radius tremble slightly.

Strange fire, third-rank strange fire.

At this, the plaza went silent for a moment.

"Strange... strange fire?!"

"This kid actually has a strange fire?"

The gaze of the entire audience immediately converged here.

On the high platform, the gaze of Alchemy Hall Head Xu Changqing also fell over; Deputy Head Zhao Mingyuan leaned over and whispered something, and Head Xu Changqing nodded without any special reaction.

However, Elder Qingmu, sitting on the left side of the high platform, paused with his teacup.

He had never seen Su Cheng's precious artifact pill furnace, and he had certainly never seen the strange fire.

When did this kid save up these possessions? He had never mentioned a single word about it to him.

Elder Lu Yuan beside him leaned over and lowered his voice: "Old Qingmu, the good things on your Disciple, they aren't given by you, are they?"

Elder Qingmu set down his teacup and shook his head: "No, this is his own Opportunity."

Elder Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow but did not pursue the question; his gaze toward Su Cheng became increasingly gentle, and then he continued to watch the stage below.

Elder Qingmu picked up his Spirit Tea and took a sip, his gaze falling on Su Cheng below the stage.

He recalled that in the past few years, Su Cheng would run to the Prefecture City every few days, and every time he returned, he would go into seclusion for quite a while; this precious artifact pill furnace and strange fire were likely obtained from outside.

This Disciple truly has deep blessings.

Elder Qingmu didn't think much more about it, set down his teacup, and continued watching.

However, Su Cheng was not the only one attracting attention.

In the northeast corner, Wu Chen also sacrificed his full set of equipment at the same time.

Glazed Pure Fire, precious artifact pill furnace.

This combination was not unfamiliar; during the initial Sect entry examination, Wu Chen had relied on this set of belongings to refine a supreme grade biling pill on the spot, suppressing all the heroes to take first place.

Now, years later, it was still the biling pill, the same furnace, and the same fire; for him, it was practically walking the old path again.

The Glazed Pure Fire illuminated the Pill Furnace as transparently as crystal, making the flow of the medicinal liquid inside the furnace clear at a glance, and the spiritual power fluctuation was pure to the extreme.

The two Golden Core Elders of the Wu Family remained calm, but their posture was straighter than before.

Everyone could see that Wu Chen intended to aim for supreme grade from the very first furnace.

An average person certainly would not have this kind of confidence.

But Wu Chen was different; backed by a Nascent Soul Family and as a Personal Disciple of a Nascent Soul Old Ancestor, having undergone years of hard cultivation in seclusion, and refining the biling pill he was most skilled at, there was no reason not to go for it.

It was just that some people offstage whispered that the second round happened to choose the biling pill, which was overly suitable for Wu Chen.

The Sect entry examination involved refining the biling pill, and this time it was the biling pill again; whether it was a coincidence or intentional favoritism by the Alchemy Hall, no one could say for sure.

However, no one dared to say such things openly, as Wu Chen had a Nascent Soul Old Ancestor standing behind him.

Another focus on the west side was Zhou Mingyuan.

On Zhou Mingyuan's Alchemy table sat a supreme grade Magical Artifact Pill Furnace with a mottled exterior.

The patterns on the furnace wall were worn to the point of being blurry, and the bronze surface was covered with traces of time, looking like an old object that had been used for nearly a hundred years.

Without a strange fire, Zhou Mingyuan used his own spiritual power to fuel the furnace fire; a pale green flame rose from the bottom of the furnace, neither high nor low, and was surprisingly stable.

But the moment the flame rose, Zhou Mingyuan's entire temperament changed.

The thin, quiet old man who had been resting with his eyes closed just a moment ago disappeared, replaced by an indescribable state.

His breathing, the rhythm of his spiritual power circulation, and even the slight forward tilt of his body were perfectly synchronized with the vibration frequency of the Pill Furnace.

The boundary between the person and the furnace became blurred at that moment.

The higher-cultivation Elders present all twitched their eyebrows.

Ninety-seven years; this Pill Furnace had been with him for ninety-seven years, and the tacit understanding between the person and the furnace was nearly like two sides of the same coin.

Zhou Mingyuan opened his eyes, his fingers unhurriedly picking up the first Spirit Medicine and sending it into the furnace.

The Alchemy technique he employed was extremely compatible with the medicinal properties of the biling pill; the route of his spiritual power, the nodes of injection, and the curve of the heat change were all tailored specifically for this Medicinal Pill.

The reaction of the medicinal liquid in the furnace was exceptionally quiet; after the Spirit Medicine entered the furnace, it was precisely suppressed, melting, decomposing, and releasing its medicinal properties according to the most ideal rhythm.

A hall full of Alchemy, only this furnace was silent.

Zhou Mingyuan's eyes were half-closed, his face serene, as if he had entered meditation, or as if he had immersed his entire mind into the furnace, breathing together with the medicinal liquid.

That was an unfathomable Realm that others could see but could not learn.

Zhou Mingyuan was too strong.

Looking at Shen Qing, he used his Water Spirit Body to drive his own spiritual power to preheat the furnace.

Among the three auxiliary ingredients of the biling pill, two were water-attribute; the natural advantage of the Water Spirit Body in this type of Medicinal Pill was something others could not catch up to even with a fast horse.

Shen Qing's Pill Furnace was not a Treasure Artifact, but a supreme grade Magical Artifact, the Green Jade Furnace.

But his method of adding medicine was extremely meticulous; his spiritual power output was cut into countless fine threads, each one precisely wrapping around a particle of Spirit Medicine, guiding it to merge into the medicinal liquid.

The spiritual power consumption of this method was more than three times that of conventional methods; for anyone else, they wouldn't be able to sustain two days of high-intensity Alchemy, but the spiritual power recovery speed of the Water Spirit Body was also several times that of an ordinary person, resulting in a draw.

He was also aiming for supreme grade, the first furnace.

Lin Ruoshui's Alchemy table was arranged the most neatly; the Spirit Medicine was arranged from left to right in the order of use, the jade bottles were stacked in two rows, and even the excess dregs and fragments were swept by her spiritual power into a special waste box.

She was also a Water Spirit Body and was also good at precise control, but her strategy was completely different from Shen Qing's.

Lin Ruoshui did not intend to aim for supreme grade.

From the first furnace, her rhythm was stabilized at an extremely fast frequency; adding medicine, purification, Fusion, and pill condensation—every step was completed in the most efficient, rather than the most meticulous, way.

The Medicinal Pills produced were all High Grade, with inner treasure light, and she was following the same path as Su Cheng: winning by quantity.

It was just that her speed was a little slower than Su Cheng's.