"Peak grade pills?"
Gasps of amazement echoed from behind the man.
Although the Spirit Replenishing Pill was only a second-grade pill, being able to refine a nine-pattern peak grade pill indicated that the refiner possessed exceptional control over the medicinal properties and extraordinary talent in alchemy.
The peak masters looked at Dan Feng with envy.
In their eyes, Zhang Er Gou would undoubtedly be taken in as a direct disciple by Dan Feng after this competition.
As for the peak master surnamed Liu, he had long been disregarded.
The jade bottles were passed from one peak master to another. Each person, after receiving and examining the pill, was shocked by the spiritual energy it contained.
The commotion here naturally drew the attention of the crowd in the plaza.
Seeing the solemn and amazed expressions of the great figures, the young disciples in the plaza had mixed feelings.
However, Zhang Er Gou, the protagonist of all this, remained outwardly calm.
Li Zhan remembered a phrase Zhang Er Gou often uttered: "The highest form of showing off is to appear nonchalant when others are shocked."
Wasn't this exactly his current demeanor?
After another incense stick's worth of time, the dozen or so alchemists, who had discovered the abnormality in the medicinal ingredients like Zhang Er Gou, successively refined second-grade Spirit Replenishing Pills.
Li Qian was a fourth-grade alchemist from the central continent, now only thirty years old.
His fame was already widespread in the Central Prefecture.
A thirty-year-old fourth-grade alchemist had an immeasurable future.
Therefore, when he refined his first fourth-grade pill and officially became a fourth-grade alchemist, many sects and families came to congratulate him.
All to forge good relations with the future alchemy grandmaster.
His master had also predicted that Li Qian's alchemy talent far surpassed his own, and that he had few rivals among his peers.
During this alliance selection, Li Qian was easily chosen based on his alchemy skills.
His goal this time was to become a direct disciple of Dan Feng.
When he discovered that the first assessment item was merely a furnace of second-grade Spirit Replenishing Pills, Li Qian sneered.
He then prepared to proceed with his usual refining method. As a respected fourth-grade alchemist, he rarely refined second-grade pills anymore.
For the sake of the assessment, he would simply practice.
Like Zhang Er Gou, he also discovered that the proportion of one medicinal ingredient was incorrect after the first batch of alchemists failed.
Li Qian naturally paid no mind to such trivial tricks. The subsequent process proceeded smoother than he could have imagined.
This was Li Qian's first time refining a second-grade pill since advancing to fourth-grade alchemist, but as a professional alchemist, he did not slack off in the slightest.
Alchemy emphasized a calm and peaceful mind, something his master had taught him from the very beginning of his alchemy studies.
Even when refining the second-grade Spirit Replenishing Pills, which he no longer paid much attention to, Li Qian still put in one hundred percent of his focus.
The commotion in the arena had no effect on him whatsoever. When immersed in alchemy, Li Qian was truly able to devote himself wholeheartedly.
He exhaled a gentle breath, and only when he felt nine perfectly formed pills in the cauldron did Li Qian relax slightly.
He had never refined nine pills in a single furnace when refining second-grade pills before.
Li Qian attributed all of this to his breakthrough into becoming a fourth-grade alchemist.
He lightly patted the cauldron, and as he saw round, plump pills flying out, Li Qian revealed a satisfied smile.
Four were eight-pattern superior grade, and five were seven-pattern superior grade. All nine Spirit Replenishing Pills were superior grade.
Li Qian was confident that such results would undoubtedly secure him the top spot in the first round of selection.
After placing the pills into a jade bottle and setting it on the transmission array, Li Qian finally looked up.
He had already anticipated the admiring cheers and appreciative gazes surrounding him. In fact, he had already smiled and prepared to respond.
However, things did not seem to be proceeding as he had imagined.
His smile froze on his face as Li Qian noticed that no one was paying attention to him at all.
Even when the pills he had placed in the jade bottle were transmitted to the judges' table, no one picked them up to examine them.
Everyone seemed to be captivated by something else.
The two judges were even standing on tiptoe at the outer edge of the crowd.
Li Qian recognized the group surrounding something as the dozen or so great figures who had been seated on the main platform.
But what could possibly warrant a dozen great figures leaving their seats?
The judges were even disregarding the pills refined by the contestants.
He then looked around and noticed that everyone in the plaza was looking with fervent admiration at a young man in black clothes not far from him.
Li Qian had some impression of that person, mainly due to Zhang Er Gou's distinctive black spear.
Although his cultivation talent was far inferior to his alchemy talent, Li Qian did not pay much attention to sword cultivators, but rather showed unusual interest in cultivators who used less common weapons.
Zhang Er Gou's peculiar performance in the previous few days had naturally caught his attention.
However, Zhang Er Gou appearing in the alchemy competition arena still surprised him.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Li Qian retracted his smile, his body stiffening. At this moment, he also noticed the peak masters passing around a jade bottle.
It was the jade bottle alchemists used to store pills.
It seemed he was no longer the first alchemist to refine a second-grade Spirit Replenishing Pill.
However, Li Qian did not give up hope, for he had refined nine superior grade Spirit Replenishing Pills, a feat that had never occurred before.
Zhang Er Gou, sitting steadily in his seat, keenly sensed someone looking at him from not far away.
He gently turned his head and saw Li Qian's probing gaze.
Zhang Er Gou smiled faintly, raised his hand to touch his nose, and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.
Li Qian could not discern anything special from him. He returned a smile and looked away, then turned his gaze back towards the judges' table.
At this moment, the two judges at the judges' table, upon being reminded by a nearby disciple, finally noticed that someone else had succeeded in refining.
After grabbing the jade bottle and examining it carefully, they found Li Qian's name on the table, wrote down "nine superior grade" on it, and then stood up to join the group of peak masters.
Even now, they had not managed to get a clear look at the pills Zhang Er Gou had successfully refined, leaving the two judges flustered. They were eager to behold the true form of the nine-pattern peak grade Spirit Replenishing Pill.
It would also allow them to properly record the achievements of the young alchemist who was the first to refine a second-grade Spirit Replenishing Pill.
However, these peak masters were each holding onto the bottle so tightly that it had dragged on for so long.
Subsequently, several more jade bottles were transmitted from the transmission array. The two judges, resigned, returned to their seats.
For the pills transmitted later, the two judges merely gave them a cursory glance before recording them on paper, and then they again looked expectantly towards the peak masters.
More precisely, they looked at the jade bottle being passed around in the hands of the peak masters.
Li Qian also noticed the abnormality of the two judges.
He became even more curious about that jade bottle being passed around among the great figures.