"No wonder Feng Yi came to preside over this personally; he’s here to back up his young disciple."
However, Li Nanzhu and the others were entirely unaware of these conversations.
It wasn't until the Discipline Elder announced that the competition was about to begin that Li Nanzhu noticed the anomaly of the scene—there were several times more spectators than during the Refining Great Competition. The surging crowd had packed the arena so tightly that not a drop of water could trickle through.
"It seems the influence of the Shenmu Sect is truly extraordinary."
She whispered to herself, completely failing to realize that these people were all there for her own master.
Although countless pairs of eyes in the stands were secretly sizing up Feng Yi, no one dared to step forward and start a conversation. The Five Elements Dao Sect's sect leader carried an aura that warned strangers to keep their distance; even the sect leader of the Shenmu Sect only nodded in greeting from afar.
As for the people from the Sword Heart Sect, they stayed as far away as possible. Several elders had cold sweat trickling down their foreheads.
After all, when it came to poaching disciples, no one knew if the Five Elements Dao Sect held a grudge. Today, Ling Xiao and Zhao Wufeng were both absent. If anything were to happen, they certainly wouldn't be able to win a fight—not to mention that the Sword Heart Sect was in the wrong to begin with.
The Discipline Elder stood atop the high platform, his sleeves fluttering despite the lack of wind. A thick wave of spiritual energy spread out, suppressing all the noisy discussions in the field.
"Silence!"
A deathly silence immediately fell over the venue; even the sound of breathing was clearly audible.
"This year's Alchemy Great Competition is divided into three rounds." The elder's voice rang out clearly in everyone's ears like a resonating bronze bell. "The first round will take place today. The rules are as follows—"
With a wave of his sleeve, hundreds of standardized alchemy furnaces floated neatly in front of each contestant.
These furnaces were grayish-green, with uniform runes carved onto their bodies, and were identical in size and shape.
"First, all participants must use the provided standardized alchemy furnaces; private replacements are not permitted."
Immediately following this, ten jade boxes landed in sequence beside each competition platform. The boxes contained ten types of basic alchemy materials: three stalks of heart-cleansing grass, five jade marrow fruits, a piece of century-old blood ginseng, two maces of cold ice sand...
"Second, within the time limit of one hour, you must refine at least one formed pill using these materials. Material waste must not exceed thirty percent, and furnace explosions must not exceed three."
The elder's gaze was like lightning as it swept across the contestants. "Third, the judging criteria will prioritize pill quality, with quantity being secondary. The top one hundred will advance to the next round."
Hearing this, Li Nanzhu breathed a sigh of relief. As she had expected, the rules of the Alchemy Great Competition weren't much different from the refining rules.
According to the drawing results, she quickly found her corresponding alchemy furnace. To her surprise, the contestant beside her was an acquaintance.
"Sister Nanzhu!" Lin Xiaowan threw herself onto Li Nanzhu with a look of surprise. "You actually know how to refine pills? That's amazing!"
Li Nanzhu was somewhat at a loss by Lin Xiaowan's blunt praise, for a moment not knowing where to put her hands or feet.
In the Five Elements Dao Sect seating area, Duan Xianxing sprayed out a mouthful of spirit tea. "Pfft—what's wrong with little junior sister? Her face is red all the way to her ears!"
A mischievous smile flashed in Zhu Yinxi's eyes, and Feng Qingping also quirked the corner of her mouth. "It seems little junior sister quite likes this Shenmu Sect disciple."
Mu Wenyan said thoughtfully, "She seems very unskilled at accepting direct praise."
"That's easy," Duan Xianxing said with a chuckle, pulling Jiang Yifan aside to whisper a plan.
The others saw Jiang Yifan's expression change several times before finally returning to his usual expressionless state, but it was clear he had accepted Duan Xianxing's suggestion.
Before they could ask, Duan Xianxing grabbed Jiang Yifan and quickly squeezed out of the crowd.
"This..." Feng Qingping glanced at Feng Yi, but when she saw the faint, suppressed smile on his face, she felt at ease.
On the platform.
Li Nanzhu and Lin Xiaowan had already separated. Lin Xiaowan was clearly still in an excited state, asking questions incessantly, and even Li Nanzhu found it difficult to withstand such enthusiasm for a time.
Fortunately, as the competition was about to begin, Lin Xiaowan returned to her position, not forgetting to wink at Li Nanzhu before leaving. "Sister Nanzhu, let's chat after the match!"
As the starting bell rang, Li Nanzhu quickly focused her mind.
With a tap of her finger on the alchemy furnace, a wisp of red flame leapt out. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Lin Xiaowan's side; the girl had shed her lively demeanor from earlier, her focused expression making her look like a completely different person.
A faint green light glowed from Lin Xiaowan's fingertips as she used wood-attribute spiritual energy to assist her refinement. The exquisite nature of her technique was admirable.
"As expected of the Shenmu Sect..." Li Nanzhu praised inwardly, but her hands were not slow at all. She chose the most basic qi-recovery pill—this was the pill she was most familiar with, and the first type Xiao Yan had taught her by hand.
The moment the flames enveloped the heart-cleansing grass, she felt as if she had returned to that sunny afternoon.
'Heart-cleansing grass should be simmered slowly over a gentle fire,' the voice in her memory was as cool and clear as a spring. 'Haste will cause the medicinal properties to be lost.'
Her movements naturally slowed down. The flames gently wrapped around the leaves, extracting the green essence bit by bit.
During this process, she unknowingly became completely immersed in the world of alchemy, and all the noise from the outside world vanished.
'Peeling the jade marrow fruit must be fast,' that voice rang in her ears again. 'The flesh becomes astringent if it meets the wind.'
She held her fingers like a sword and peeled the fruit in a few swift strokes. The crystalline flesh stayed in the air for no more than three breaths before being cast into the furnace. This movement was fluid and smooth, carrying the crispness unique to a sword cultivator.
At the judges' bench, Elder Tan paused. "This technique... interesting."
Elder Tan's comment was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples across the judges' bench.
Several elders who had been judging the performance of the Shenmu Sect's direct disciples all turned their gazes toward Li Nanzhu. For the Great Elder of the Shenmu Sect to give such an evaluation, this young disciple of the Five Elements Dao Sect was definitely not simple.
Another elder of the Shenmu Sect observed for a moment and couldn't help but sigh. "It looks basic, but in reality, every detail is handled perfectly. Ninety-eight percent of the heart-cleansing grass essence was extracted, and the waste of the jade marrow fruit is less than half a percent—this level of control cannot be achieved without ten years of experience."
When she handled the century-old blood ginseng, Li Nanzhu's movements became even gentler. She remembered her master saying that blood ginseng was fierce in nature and needed to be dissolved slowly with civil fire.
This was not a difficult task for her—her powerful divine sense allowed her to precisely control every bit of the fire's heat, making even the most minute changes in the blood ginseng's veins clearly discernible.
A sudden boom of an explosion came from not far away, and black smoke billowed from a furnace, causing a stir in the surroundings.
But Li Nanzhu didn't even bat an eyelid, her fingertips still steadily controlling the furnace fire.
At the judges' bench, the elders' gazes shifted back and forth between Li Nanzhu and Lin Xiaowan. Because the two were adjacent to each other, it was inevitable to notice the Shenmu Sect disciple beside her when observing Li Nanzhu.
"Eh?" Yi Fengmian, the Second Elder of the Shenmu Sect, suddenly narrowed his eyes. "That girl in the green wood-patterned robes... if I remember correctly, she should be the inner sect disciple Lin Xiaowan?"
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