A soft hum arose.
The alchemical furnace floating in mid-air began to rotate slowly, then spun faster and faster.
The crowd in the plaza was drawn to this unique scene.
This was their first time witnessing alchemy performed in such a manner, and to make the furnace spin was unprecedented.
Everyone knew that alchemy demanded extreme balance; a slight misstep could render the entire process void.
Someone as audacious as Zhang Ergou was truly unheard of.
Zhang Ergou's ability to do this was primarily due to his powerful soul force.
After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, his divine sense power had also improved qualitatively. Previously, he might have needed to be cautious when refining a second-grade pill.
Now, with his robust soul force and skilled alchemy techniques, refining second-grade pills was effortless for him.
However, one always strived for perfection.
Since the day's assessment was to refine the Second-Grade Spirit Replenishing Pill, Zhang Ergou decided to put a wild idea of his into practice.
In the past, for various reasons, although the pills he refined always met the grade requirements, he had never managed to produce a single batch of top-grade pills.
Pills were categorized as low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and top-grade based on the number of elixir patterns.
One to three patterns constituted low-grade pills, four, five, and six patterns were mid-grade, seven and eight patterns were high-grade, and only nine-pattern pills were considered top-grade.
Apart from their appearance, different grades of pills also varied significantly in their medicinal efficacy.
Top-grade pills contained the most potent medicinal power, followed by high-grade, mid-grade, and then low-grade.
Normally, Zhang Ergou's refined pills were mostly high-grade and mid-grade; he had never produced a top-grade pill.
Despite countless experiments, Zhang Ergou had always failed to refine nine-pattern top-grade pills.
He had even attempted to control the alchemical furnace's rotation during the refining process, but alchemy itself was already a great drain on soul force, and having to divert a portion to control the furnace led to utter failure.
Zhang Ergou was never one to be defeated by failure. He attributed his previous failures to insufficient soul force.
After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, he hadn't refined a single pill with full concentration before being brought here by chance.
Today presented an opportunity, and he boldly decided to act on his past idea again.
"What is this kid trying to do?"
Dan Feng, who had stood up, was perplexed as Zhang Ergou delayed the pill's extraction.
From his perception, the pills in the furnace had already taken shape and were ready for extraction.
Dan Feng couldn't comprehend it, and the peak lords, who knew nothing about alchemy, were even more baffled.
However, they all felt a sense that the outstanding young man was undertaking something extraordinary.
Not only were the people in the plaza captivated by Zhang Ergou, but even the alchemists who had failed earlier and had yet to make their second attempt were drawn by the commotion from Zhang Ergou's side.
After a period of rapid spinning, the alchemical furnace slowly came to a halt before Zhang Ergou.
"It's done."
Zhang Ergou's face lit up. He gently patted the furnace, and nine pills flew out one by one, which he quickly collected into a prepared jade bottle.
With just a glance, Zhang Ergou knew he had truly succeeded this time.
Nine nine-pattern top-grade Spirit Replenishing Pills lay quietly in the jade bottle.
Zhang Ergou looked up and realized everyone's gaze was fixed on him. He grinned and placed the batch of pills on the teleportation array to the left of his position.
He also put away the remaining two sets of medicinal ingredients.
The other alchemists, whose attention had been fully absorbed by Zhang Ergou, suddenly snapped back to reality. They were also participating in the assessment and had been so careless.
Fortunately, only half the time had passed. Regaining their senses, they hurriedly restarted their furnaces for another attempt.
The Second-Grade Spirit Replenishing Pills refined by Zhang Ergou were quickly transmitted to the judges, two sixth-grade alchemists from the Dan Peak.
As they were about to examine the first batch of finished pills received, before they could even open the stopper, the jade bottle was snatched away.
"Peak Lord."
Looking up, they saw that the person who had snatched the jade bottle was Dan Feng. They quickly rose to bow.
Dan Feng waved his hand dismissively and eagerly opened the stopper. Upon seeing the nine nine-pattern top-grade Spirit Replenishing Pills lying within, his breathing became noticeably rapid.
"This disciple belongs to Dan Peak, no doubt."
Dan Feng's voice, not deliberately lowered, reached the ears of the elders and peak lords.
The peak lord surnamed Liu's expression changed drastically. As someone had said, the young man he had favored was indeed being contended for.
Initially, he hadn't been too worried when he saw Zhang Ergou appear at the alchemist competition.
After all, alchemy and cultivation were two different paths, and excelling in either required immense effort.
Let alone excelling in both. Zhang Ergou had already demonstrated his exceptional cultivation talent.
Peak Lord Liu naturally assumed he was merely interested in alchemy and didn't pay much attention to Zhang Ergou's performance.
Even when others teased him, he would just smile it off.
But when he heard Dan Feng, after examining the bottle of pills, confidently declare Zhang Ergou's belonging to Dan Peak with a tone that was not feigned, he panicked. He couldn't compete with the wealthy Dan Feng in terms of resources.
Everyone knew that alchemy was the most lucrative profession, which was why many young people initially wanted to learn it.
However, alchemy demanded extremely high talent and soul force, leading to a scarcity of alchemists compared to cultivators.
Furthermore, cultivators primarily consumed resources, obtaining them through missions and other means.
But alchemists had people vying to offer them money and various cultivation resources just for their needed pills.
It seemed that before the competition had truly begun, he had already utterly failed in the bid for Zhang Ergou.
"What's wrong, Old Dan?"
Hearing Dan Feng's undisguised exclamation, several peak lords flashed to his side.
Even the old man sitting steadily in the center was drawn by the commotion.
Hua Xu was also slightly surprised by Zhang Ergou's performance. Although he had known early on that Zhang Ergou was an alchemist, he found it incredible that the pills Zhang Ergou refined could cause such a sensation.
After all, Dan Feng was an eighth-grade alchemist, and his standards were unimaginably high.
"You'll see when you look."
Dan Feng said nothing, instead handing the jade bottle in his hand to a peak lord beside him.
"Hiss, nine-pattern top-grade Spirit Replenishing Pills."
The man exclaimed as he held the jade bottle.