Interwoven Phenomena

After consuming the second Lesser Extreme Devouring Pill, her cultivation temporarily returned to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Forcing down the churning blood and Qi in her body, Shi Yu gathered spiritual energy into her palm and swept up the displayed spiritual plants, casting them into the pill furnace one by one.

Sensing its master's will, the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame burst into a roaring blaze. The full prestige and pressure of a Heavenly Fire poured out without restraint, causing the few remaining fires burning in other furnaces across the stage to shudder violently before snuffing out in the blink of an eye.

Inside the newly refined Tier-4 pill furnace, the primary ingredient, Ice Marrow, sat in the center, flanked by the supplementary herbs arranged around it. The crimson-gold flames woven into a dense net engulfed everything, swiftly calcifying and extracting their essence.

Though this body was attempting to refine a Tier-4 pill for the very first time, the extreme pressure drove Shi Yu into a state of unprecedented focus and efficiency. Her movements were swift yet precise, steady yet fluid. Her speed in extracting the medicinal liquid was subtly even faster than when she had refined the Lesser Extreme Devouring Pill earlier. Her grand, decisive, and seamless execution stunned many in the crowd.

Under the scorching heat of the flames, plant after plant withered and curled, releasing crystal-clear, potent medicinal liquids. Clustered together, the droplets bobbed within the flames in vibrant, distinct hues, looking like gems embedded in the fire.

Though impurities lingered within these “gems,” the relentless heat gradually purged them, leaving the liquid droplets increasingly translucent, pure, and dazzlingly bright.

The duration of the Lesser Extreme Devouring Pill was limited, and even with the Life Spring water supplementing her vitality, her body could not endure such severe strain for long. Knowing she had to make quick work of this, Shi Yu unleashed her full power for the very first time.

Such an approach carried immense risk. She possessed only a single piece of Ice Marrow; if this attempt failed, she would get no second chance.

Yet it was precisely this lack of a safety net that filled her with absolute confidence, feeling as though everything was firmly within her grasp.

Shi Yu seemed to enter a profound, otherworldly state. Everything between heaven and earth faded away, leaving only the small platform before her. As she refined the pill, it was as if she were an onlooker, observing every detail of her own actions with perfect clarity.

...

“Her control over the flames is so fierce, yet the medicinal properties aren't compromised in the slightest, being extracted with absolute precision...” Yin Shixiu drew a sharp breath. Even if he were in her place, he might not be able to maintain the stability of the medicinal properties while unleashing maximum firepower.

“Pushed to the brink, this girl has unleashed astounding potential.” Yin Shixiu composed himself, staring fixedly at her every move.

Waves of noise erupted across the spectator stands.

The Alchemy Exchange Conference was a monumental event for all of Changyuan Prefecture. No one wanted the first-place title to fall into the hands of a cultivator from another prefecture—especially an evil cultivator from Wanchou Prefecture. To the local cultivators, that would be a humiliating disgrace.

When Pei Yanji had completed his pill, summoning an omen that demonstrated the grandeur of a Tier-4 pill, everyone had despondently believed the outcome was sealed and no one could challenge him. Now that Shi Yu was making another move, hope reignited within their hearts.

Cheers and roars echoed into the clouds. At this moment, no one cared that Shi Yu hailed from the remote Lingtai Prefecture; standing as one with Changyuan Prefecture, they cheered for her with all their might.

Pei Yanji coldly swept his gaze across the boiling spectator stands below the platform. “Heh.”

Contempt and mockery still lingered in his eyes, but when he turned to look at Shi Yu, a trace of gravity inevitably crept into his expression.

As a fellow Tier-4 alchemist, Pei Yanji knew better than anyone how difficult Shi Yu's current refinement was. What unnerved him even more was that despite being soaked in blood and in a wretched state at such a critical moment, she exuded an unmistakable calm. Where did her confidence and composure come from?

“I heard she comes from a remote prefecture within Changyuan Prefecture... Such achievements could never be taught by an alchemist association in a backwater place. Just who is her master?” Pei Yanji's eyes flickered with hidden intent to kill. “If this girl isn't eliminated, she will cause endless trouble in the future...”

He was still confident in himself, believing it was impossible for Shi Yu to beat him in this grand competition.

Still... Pei Yanji had to admit that the girl's talent was truly terrifying. He needed to find an opportunity to finish her off early to prevent her from becoming a formidable enemy in the future.

...

Shi Yu had lost all sense of time, her mind entirely immersed within the pill furnace.

Executing her pill seals, her divine sense wove through the flames, guiding more than twenty droplets of medicinal liquid to draw near one another.

Differing in attributes and size, some shimmering like ripples, some rigid and firm, others emitting an icy blue light, the medicinal droplets were herded like sheep under Shi Yu's divine sense, gradually converging into one place to fuse together.

By now, Shi Yu was practically drenched in blood, with hardly a single uninjured spot on her body, kept upright solely by sheer willpower.

Below the stage, President Song and Master Ji could no longer bear to watch. Their eyes were red, brimming with tears. Had it not been for the barrier set around the high platform by Golden Core experts—which their Foundation Establishment cultivation could not break through—they would have rushed up long ago to drag Shi Yu away.

Honor and the association's rise were entirely banished from their minds; their only thought was Shi Yu's safety.

Even Yin Wenzhou and Qin Qingmu wore complex expressions as they looked at Shi Yu's tragic state. They had thought she was merely lucky enough to gain the recognition of a Heavenly Fire, or perhaps had a mighty master who spared no effort in passing down their legacy...

But seeing all this, the two proud prodigies had to admit that their inner resolve paled in comparison to the young woman before them. Her ability to reach this point was truly due to her unbreakable will and unshakeable resolve.

At this moment, Shi Yu's essence blood was completely exhausted, her body weak like a candle in the wind. The fire ignited by the Lesser Extreme Devouring Pill began to consume her divine soul.

In stark contrast to her failing body, her state of mind grew increasingly ecstatic.

As an Ancient Clan Descendant, her bloodline bore the sealed mark of the Divine Phoenix. This instilled in her a self-destructive inclination—to seek life through death, to rebuild only after breaking down. The more agony she endured, the more thrilled she became.

Just as her divine soul faltered, there was still a ways to go before the pill could be formed.

Right at that moment, the life scale beneath Shi Yu's eye—silent for so long—lit up once more. A stream of extraordinarily pure spiritual energy and vitality surged from the life scale, spreading through her body to mend her shattered physique and replenish her nearly dried-up dantian and meridians.

“Qingzhou, are you helping me too?”

Shi Yu took a deep breath, swallowing the Life Spring water she had been holding under her tongue. Closing her eyes, she mobilized her divine sense one final time, violently compressing the scattered medicinal energy in the furnace and driving it toward its destination with fierce determination.

The wind billowed through her robes, snapping wildly in the air. Her blood-soaked dress felt far heavier than usual, stripped of its former lightness.

Under the breathless gazes of the audience, a blinding radiance suddenly erupted from inside the furnace before abruptly snapping back inward.

“Is... is the pill about to form?”

“It has to succeed...”

Amidst the tense, anxious whispers and watchful eyes of the crowd, a hazy mist of glowing clouds suddenly materialized around the furnace.

Like a flood dragon, the glowing clouds circled the furnace in a dreamlike tapestry of brilliant colors. Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple interwoven with gold, silver, copper, and iron, forming a breathtaking canvas of heaven and earth that filled onlookers with awe and longing.

Within the glowing clouds, spiritual energy surged faintly, releasing an aura of immortal grace and Daoist resonance that refreshed the minds of all present like a gentle spring breeze.

Someone froze, then cried out in joy, “It's an omen! An omen has manifested!”

Omens only had a chance to manifest when pills reached the Middle Three Tiers.

Earlier, when Pei Yanji completed his pill, dark winds had howled and illusions had swirled—that too had been an omen. His and Shi Yu's current mist belonged to the lowest tier of omens, such as iridescent mist, profound light, howling winds, or flowing water.

This left no doubt whatsoever: a Tier-4 pill had been successfully refined!

Yet before the crowd could burst into cheers, streaks of icy blue fractured through the glowing clouds. That icy blue split open like a fissure between heaven and earth, revealing an ethereal figure gradually taking shape within.

A translucent, phantom ice deer stepped out of the void atop the glowing clouds. Every step it took seemed to float effortlessly across water, light and elegant.

The cheering instantly died in everyone's throats, replaced by stunned expressions.

Formed entirely of ice crystals, the deer radiated a faint, biting chill. Its antlers resembled jade branches—intricate and graceful—while its eyes were like gems in a deep abyss, clear and profound. Its presence made the surrounding glowing clouds shine with even greater brilliance.

The ice deer looked around as if searching for something, until its gaze finally settled on Shi Yu. It let out a joyful cry.

“...”

After a long silence, someone murmured, “A Spirit Beast Manifestation...”

This was an omen of an even higher rank.

Omens came in various forms, and a pill was not restricted to generating just one. Interweaving phenomena could occur—but only when the quality of the refined pill reached an extraordinarily high level.