Immortal Road.

An orange-yellow light burst forth in an instant, and a burst of pure energy shot out from the alchemy furnace with a bang, then exploded into the sky like a mushroom cloud!

swoosh~
A perfectly balanced elixir leaped three feet high, spun around as if observing the situation, its spiritual power astonishing. Then, without a word, it prepared to flee!

"Come back here!"

The alchemist was prepared; with a wave of his hand, he grabbed it and placed it into a jade bottle, sealing the bottle's opening with a restriction.

There were quite a few knowledgeable people in the audience who recognized it as a seventh-grade Xuan Dan. Judging from its aroma, color, and aura, it should be related to beast taming.

However, this person was the first to successfully refine the elixir, which did not cause anxiety among others, who were still busy working on their own alchemy furnaces.

The faster one completes the process, the better the quality. It only indicates a high level of proficiency, or the powerful effect of the spirit fire furnace. It is also possible that the recipe is simple to begin with. The speed of completion cannot be used as a criterion for judgment.

However, some elixirs require a longer period of tempering, so many alchemists are not in a hurry.

Of course, this alchemy competition is not without time limits. It's impossible for someone to sit still and refine pills for ten or eight years. The surrounding audience doesn't have time to wait with you either, and the true immortals on the stage are even busier.

So there's only one day!
The alchemy competition lasted for a whole day, which may seem impossible to many people. Some pills clearly state in their formulas that they require forty-nine days. However, in the hands of skilled alchemy masters, all rules are flexible!
If the technique is skillful enough, forty-nine days can be condensed into one day.

Moreover, those who can participate in this grand event are basically masters of alchemy from the entire Immortal Realm, with numerous powerful figures and countless unique skills among them.

One by one, the pills were completed and the furnaces were opened, with explosions echoing everywhere. Various medicinal aromas mingled together, thick smoke billowed, and the ground was stained with all sorts of colors, resembling an overturned palette of paints.

The Pill Pavilion has specially appointed cultivators to collect the pills one by one, and then send them to the high platform for inspection. The True Immortal 'Runyuan Ancestor', who was specially sent by the Pill Pavilion to oversee the inspection, personally reviewed them.

"Brother Yuanjian, you are a Celestial Appraiser, how about you join me in appraising this?"

"Haha, this alchemy competition is Brother Runyuan's home turf, so I won't steal the spotlight."

Immortal Yuanjian smiled and declined. He was certainly more than qualified to appraise pills, but everyone has their own expertise. Compared to appraising the efficacy of medicines, alchemists like Ancestor Runyuan were the real experts, able to judge the skill of a pill refiner by their various qualities and appearances.

Soon, the leaderboard began displaying scores and rankings.

The details of what kind of pills each person refined, their difficulty, efficacy, flaws, timing, and side effects were all included, sparking a lively discussion among the crowd.

"Number 59: One Myriad Transformation Void Spirit Pill, with Myriad Transformation Grass as the main ingredient and 36 kinds of seventh-grade auxiliary ingredients. It can raise the cultivation level of the Void Transformation stage by one small realm. The drawback is that the imbalance during the refining process has led to a fragile internal ecosystem of the pill, which may cause the medicinal effect to go out of control and backfire, resulting in serious injury."

"Number 23: One Dao Continuation Pill, with Dao Continuation Grass as the main ingredient and 13 auxiliary ingredients. It can repair 90% of minor injuries to the Dao Foundation of cultivators at the Void Refinement stage and below, making up for the regrets left behind. However, due to the lack of skill in the technique, the effects of two of the ingredients were not fully activated, leaving serious hidden dangers. It only treats the symptoms, not the root cause."

"Number Five: One Void Enlightenment Pill, main ingredient Void Flower, 72 auxiliary ingredients. After taking it, one will enter a state of Void Enlightenment for three days and three nights, deepening one's understanding of the laws tenfold. The state is perfect, the quality is excellent, a top-grade product."

"Number Nine: Twelve Profound Void Bone Forging Pills, with Void Profound Iron as the main ingredient, supplemented by hundreds of kinds of mineral liquids, to strengthen the cultivator's bones and body, suitable for most body refining techniques. The quality of the pills is acceptable. There are also five defective pills, which slightly polluted the pill pool, resulting in excessive pill toxin content, but this does not affect consumption."

Upon seeing the comments, the participating alchemists displayed a variety of expressions, some joyful and some sorrowful.

However, these are all those that can be successfully made into pills. Those that explode, burst, or become useless are in a terrible situation. They only have one chance, and failure means elimination.

Xing Shuzi, on the other hand, performed relatively steadily. After concentrating for three hours, he finally managed to refine a batch without any major incidents.

"It's done!"

The old man clapped his hands and eagerly opened the alchemy furnace. Three fist-sized pills, shimmering with starlight, popped out one after another, which he scooped into his hand.

Those nearby couldn't help but feel envious, thinking to themselves that it was simply because it benefited from the Xuan Tian Pill Furnace; otherwise, it would have exploded long ago.

The pills were then sent to the appraisal platform, and the Pill Pavilion quickly provided a ranking.

"Number Sixty-Two: Three Star Pills, main ingredient Rao Xingzhi, 40 kinds of auxiliary ingredients. It can replicate the natal star of a star cultivator. However, its effects are singular, its uses are limited, its quality is poor, and its refining method is crude."

Soon, these three pills were placed at the very bottom, becoming the third to last, which caused a lot of people to burst into laughter.

Xing Shuzi's face flushed red, then gradually turned purple, and before he knew it, it had turned into a liver color!

"No, that's impossible."

His eyes bulged and widened, he could hardly believe that after all these years of painstaking research, he had finally figured out the formula and today he had perfectly produced three pills in one batch, how could he be ranked third from the bottom?
On the VIP seats, Lin Shan was slightly surprised to see this. It seemed that the old man had made some progress over the years and was no longer limited to just the method of using the Chaoling Shedan.

However, as a newly initiated seventh-grade alchemist, he is indeed far inferior to those veteran alchemists. Their subtle manipulations are easily discernible and cannot be hidden from the discerning eyes of the Pill Pavilion.

According to the appraisal, this Star Pill can replicate one's natal star? It's a valuable item for star cultivators!

If I were to take them and copy a few of the Calamity Stars to play with, and then throw them out to self-destruct at the slightest provocation, wouldn't that be incredibly satisfying?

He kept a close eye on it, thinking he would find an opportunity to get a few after he went down.

Wenlingzi remained calm and composed, simply sitting in her original spot, watching the intense alchemy competition below, and remained there for the entire day.

"Who do you think will win this alchemy competition, Fairy?"

Since he had nothing better to do, Lin Shan decided to chat with the other party.

"No need to guess, just like the appraisal conference, the top three have already been chosen."

The senior sister of the Brocade Immortal Sect spoke steadily, seemingly already knowing the outcome, and pointed to the three people in the front row.

"The first place is undoubtedly Dan Qiuzi. He is the junior brother of the Dan Pavilion's ancestor Runyuan. He was the champion of the last alchemy competition a thousand years ago. He's back again this year. Who can compete with this old guy?"

"The second place should be Master Jiajing. He has an official background and is said to have connections in the Heavenly Court. The Pill Pavilion has to give him some face."

"The third saltpeter refiner was originally a rogue cultivator, but he has been recruited by the Hanyun Immortal Sect. The Hanyun True Immortal has high hopes for him, so he inevitably provides strong support."

"The others are insignificant, just there to make up the numbers, to go through the motions."

Lin Shan and the old Taoist priest Jin Chi looked at each other in bewilderment upon hearing this.

Is it fair that such a grand event in Yunzhou has been shrouded in secrecy and decided by connections?

Instead of doing this, you might as well just award yourselves the prizes. Why make us, the independent cultivators, participate? Isn't that redundant?
"It's different. Your vision is too narrow. It may seem that everything at the Yunzhou Grand Gathering is predetermined, but in reality, everyone wins based on their own abilities."

Wen Lingzi looked at the three of them. "In the end, even though everyone had already predicted the outcome, these people still deserved to win the championship. Their skill level was overwhelming."

"After all, they have the best resources, and no matter how hard others try, they can't catch up, let alone take away their spots."

"The pre-selection is based on the results of strength, not the cause, but the effect."

"Those people, even if they lose, will accept it willingly, admit that they are not as good as others, and everything will be fair and square."

Indeed, alchemy has a very high barrier to entry, and only top-tier forces can master it. The strong always get stronger, so how can small and insignificant families compete with them?

But Lin Shan had something to say at this point.

You still consider yourselves upright and honorable?
Did they even ask for my opinion when they ranked me third at the treasure appraisal event?

If you keep competing like this, I'll knock you out of first place!

Wenlingzi also knew that nothing was absolute. It was indeed unreasonable that Lin Shan, this dark horse, was suppressed as soon as he emerged, but that's how it often is.

"Giving you third place is already quite good. The rewards for the top three are tailored by the organizers based on the individual participants. The Law Scroll and the rare celestial treasures that you received should have been given to me."

"I have mastered the Law and am currently refining the second Law. I need the Law Scroll to assist me, so the Heavenly Observation Division deliberately did me a favor in order to win over my master."

"I didn't expect you to steal it from me. Afterwards, Immortal Yuanjian didn't hold it against me, which shows his magnanimity. You should be secretly happy!"

what?
Lin Shan didn't dwell on the matter of him intercepting the prize. He knew that the True Immortal wouldn't break his promise over such a trivial matter and would severely suppress him.

But Wenlingzi is at the peak of the Void Realm, and has already mastered one law. If she wants to work on the second law, what will happen when she becomes an immortal?

Does this mean that there is more than one law for the geniuses of the celestial realm to become immortals?
"Nonsense, kid. Becoming an immortal is of paramount importance. The stronger your foundation, the more likely you are to advance to a higher realm. If you think that becoming an immortal is enough, then becoming a true immortal will be the end of your cultivation journey!"

Immortal Lord Xuheng had already woken up at some point and was secretly eavesdropping on the sounds outside from inside the Spirit Nourishing Pearl.

"I smell a lot of medicinal fragrance, some of which can heal Yang Shen injuries. Bring them to me quickly, at any cost!"

Lin Shan rolled his eyes. This immortal lord had a nose like a dog's. Every time something good appeared, he would wake up around the smell. It was probably because someone on the spot had refined an unparalleled elixir, which attracted this big shot.

They're willing to pay any price; this is an entry for an competition, how can I possibly win it back for you?
Wenlingzi was unaware that after telling him about the treasure appraisal conference, the Immortal Yuanjian had specially gifted her a scroll of laws.

As compensation for the unexpected loss of the prize.

"What? I'm giving you another set!"

Hearing this, he finally understood the insurmountable gap between himself and the geniuses of the Immortal Sect.

There's nothing we can do; they were born into a good family, have a true immortal master, and possess double pupils.

"You don't need to belittle yourself. You're only at the early stage of the Void Realm. You won't need the Law Scroll for now. Be careful not to be targeted. Yunzhou may seem peaceful on the surface, but there are constant conflicts behind the scenes."

The other party's subtle reminder was definitely not unfounded.

Perhaps someone is already eyeing the scroll of laws in his hands!
Lin Shan felt a chill run down his spine. It seemed that he couldn't keep the pseudonym Xing Shuzi after the conference and would have to lie low for a while.

In that time, thunderous cheers erupted from the crowd!
It turned out to be Dan Qiuzi, the alchemy master in the front row, who had refined a legendary immortal pill. Surrounded by purple clouds, flowers fell from the sky and golden lotuses sprang up from the ground, and immortal energy filled the arena. The scene was so grand that it left everyone speechless!

On the high platform, Ancestor Runyuan stroked his beard and smiled. All of this was within expectations, and the other True Immortals beside him were also unsurprised.

"Hehe, Fellow Daoist Dan Qiuzi's performance is becoming more and more stable. Over the years, the success rate of refining immortal pills has been able to be guaranteed to be over 60%. It's probably only a matter of time before he is recognized as an immortal pill master."

Dan Qiuzi was clearly only at the Void Refining stage, but because he could refine elixirs, he was addressed as an equal by a True Immortal!
"Oh, everyone, you flatter me. To become a master alchemist, you need at least an 80% success rate. My junior brother still needs to work harder."

Ancestor Runyuan waved his hand, though he was modest, a hint of pride was on his face.

After the elixir was delivered, it was examined.

"Number One: One Yang Shen Pill, with the Rejuvenating Immortal Herb as the main ingredient, plus 108 kinds of auxiliary ingredients. It can help people transform into Yang Shen, and can also repair, reshape, and heal. Its quality is no different from the mainstream Yang Shen Pills on the market, comparable to the skill of a celestial alchemist, whose technique has reached the pinnacle."

In an instant, Dan Qiuzi ranked first, topping the scoreboard.

Everyone in the arena was cheering for him, and the monks who had placed bets were waving their fists wildly. Anyone who didn't know better would think they had made a fortune.

"Alright, stop arguing. Dan Qiuzi's odds are 10 to 1, what's there to be happy about?"

The bookmakers already knew some of the inside information, so they set the odds extremely low, meaning the losses wouldn't be significant, and they didn't care about the odds at all.

Lin Shan below stirred slightly. Immortal Lord Xu Heng had repeatedly instructed that if they couldn't get the Divine Source Stone to repair the Purple Mansion, they could make do with the pills to repair the Yang God for now.

The key question is how to make do and how to help out.

As the alchemy competition drew to a close, the other two highly favored contenders, Master Jiajing and the saltpeter refiner, also successfully refined celestial-grade pills. However, due to their slightly inferior quality and efficacy, they ranked second and third respectively, exactly as Wenlingzi had predicted.

The conference finally came to a close, and the points standings were finalized at the last moment. No dark horse like Lin Shan emerged to snatch the victory, and the rankings, which were tacitly agreed upon by all parties, were successfully completed, bringing the event to a smooth conclusion.

Then, the Dan Pavilion Ancestor Runyuan personally distributed the rewards. The prizes from first to tenth place were as generous as those from the Tianjian Division, causing one sensation after another.

However, this is not the end of the story. According to custom, after the alchemy competition, all the pills refined by the contestants can be auctioned off in public for a good price, thanks to the credibility of the alchemists who have appraised them.

Are elixirs made and sold on the spot?

Lin Shan realized that an opportunity had arrived, and if he didn't seize it now, when would he?

Auction bidding starts with the lowest ranked bidder.

After two consecutive sales attempts failed to attract any buyers, it was clear that no one had high hopes for the lower-ranked pills, until it came to Xing Shuzi's third-to-last 'Star Phenomenon Pill'.

At Lin Shan's behest, the old Taoist Jinchi deliberately waited until no one was around before standing up and looking down at the entire room with disdain.

"I'll take them all, even if they're only seventh-grade spirit stones!" (End of Chapter)