Extracting all things: My attributes grow infinitely.

An overwhelming suction force surged in from all directions.

Before Jiang Chuan could even react, everything went black, and he felt as if he had been grabbed by an invisible hand and dragged into an unseen rift.

When my feet touched the ground again, the surrounding scenery had completely changed.

The alchemy room is gone.

The noisy discussions also disappeared completely.

Instead, there was a hazy void, with no solid ground beneath one's feet and no sky above; the space in all directions was shrouded in a thin, indistinct mist.

Jiang Chuan steadied himself and subconsciously extended his divine sense outwards, but it was bounced back the moment it touched the gray mist.

Divine perception was suppressed to a radius of no more than ten feet.

"A formation?"

He frowned slightly, stopped probing, and instead put his hands in his sleeves, stood still, and calmly scanned his surroundings.

"Blazing Sun".

A voice came from the depths of the gray fog.

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried a deliberately lowered gentleness, like an elder calling out to their own nephew or niece.

The gray fog churned and receded to both sides, and a figure slowly walked out.

Meng Yangyu.

He still had that otherworldly air about him, his moon-white robe spotless, and three long strands of beard fluttering slightly in the mist.

But those eyes no longer held the gentle warmth of a kind elder; instead, they held an undisguised fervor.

That look in his eyes was like that of a hunter who had been starving for countless days, finally finding his prey.

Jiang Chuan bowed slightly without showing any emotion: "Teacher Meng, this assessment venue is quite unique. I wonder what the first test will be?"

"Assessment?"

Meng Yangyu laughed, the sound echoing in the empty void, sounding particularly jarring.

"No need. Those things were just for show."

He stopped ten steps away from Jiang Chuan, hands behind his back, looking Jiang Chuan up and down as if examining a perfectly crafted elixir.

"Do you know why I set up this Jia Jiu Pill Room, and why I chose a chief alchemist from among so many spirit fire alchemists?"

Jiang Chuan remained expressionless: "This disciple is dull-witted, and humbly requests Master Meng's clarification."

"Because I want to choose someone, someone who can carry the weight of my life's work."

Meng Yangyu's tone remained gentle, as if he were truly having a heart-to-heart talk with his successor.

But his next words caused the temperature in the air to plummet to freezing.

"To be precise, it's someone who allows me to keep living."

The words fell.

The gray mist behind him suddenly surged.

Countless dark red array patterns emerged from the mist, like a vast spider web, enveloping the entire void.

Each of those array patterns exuded a chilling aura that sent shivers down one's spine; they crisscrossed and were densely packed together.

This space was completely sealed off, turning it into a cage isolated from the world.

"Third-order Soul-Locking Array".

Meng Yangyu said calmly, "This is an array that I spent twenty years setting up. Even if a Foundation Establishment cultivator came here in person, they wouldn't be able to see even a fraction of it."

He raised his hand and gently clenched his fist in mid-air.

The dark red array patterns began to writhe slowly, as if they were alive, emitting a series of teeth-grinding hissing sounds.

"Now, it's just you and me here."

"No one will bother us."

Jiang Chuan looked at the dense array patterns around him, his expression unchanged, and simply nodded slightly: "This array is indeed quite ingenious."

"Naturally." Meng Yangyu smiled slightly, his tone carrying a hint of pride. "This formation uses my original divine power as a catalyst and earth fire as its foundation. Once activated, even the divine sense of a Foundation Establishment cultivator cannot penetrate it. No one outside will know what happens here."

He paused, then his gaze returned to Jiang Chuan, the intensity in his eyes becoming even more undisguised.

"So, you don't need to pretend anymore."

"Pack?"

Jiang Chuan raised his eyebrows slightly.

"right."

Meng Yangyu took a step forward, and the distance between the two instantly shrank to less than five steps.

"A genius who could refine a six-patterned high-grade elixir in the entrance examination, a young man who is not even twenty years old and has reached this level in just one year since joining the Immortal Alliance—do you think you've hidden it well?"

He shook his head, a meaningful smile appearing on his lips. "But in my eyes, the radiance you exude is a hundred times more dazzling than Song Qingchen and Zhong Qiyu combined."

Jiang Chuan was silent for a moment, then chuckled softly.

"So, from the very beginning, Master Meng never intended to choose either of them?"

"Should we choose them?"

Meng Yangyu scoffed, his tone full of undisguised contempt.

"Song Qingchen is a decent person, but he is too soft-hearted and hesitant in dealing with things, so he is unlikely to achieve great things. As for Zhong Qiyu, she is ruthless enough, but unfortunately her talent is limited. The seventh-grade Qi cultivation has exhausted all her potential. No matter how much I cultivate her, she will at most be a second-level Earth Fire cultivator."

He waved his hand: "I did hesitate between them at first. After all, there are only a few Spirit Fire Alchemists on Yuanling Mountain who meet my standards. I have to choose one from among the worst."

"Until you came."

Meng Yangyu's gaze fell back on Jiang Chuan, his cloudy old eyes surging with undisguised greed and admiration.

"At less than twenty years old, with body tempering at its peak and Qi cultivation not yet complete, you've already refined a six-patterned high-grade spirit pill. Such talent in alchemy is unmatched even by the Heavenly Fire Alchemists of the entire Yuanling Mountain back then!"

He took another step forward, his voice extremely low, as if he were sharing some earth-shattering secret.

"Do you know that I spent three whole months repeatedly checking all your records since you entered the sect, from the outer sect to the inner sect, from alchemy apprentice to spirit fire alchemist? Every step was so clean that it was unbelievable. There was no background, no backing, just like a piece of rough jade that appeared out of thin air in front of me."

Do you know how I felt at that moment?

Jiang Chuan looked at him calmly.

"It's not a surprise."

Meng Yangyu answered the question himself. He raised his hand, his five fingers slowly clenching in mid-air, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force. "It's jealousy. I'm insanely jealous!"

His voice suddenly rose a few decibels, and a sickly flush rose on his gaunt old face.

"Do you know how much I paid to get to where I am today?!"

"I, Meng Yangyu, entered the Dao at the age of eight, tempered my body at thirteen, and began absorbing Qi at seventeen, but what I consumed was merely a single wisp of seventh-grade spiritual Qi!"

"Seventh rank!"

He practically forced the two words out through gritted teeth.

"Just because I'm naturally less talented, just because I come from a humble background, without any backing or connections, I can't even get a decent amount of spiritual energy! I can only make do with that second-rate seventh-grade spiritual energy, and I can only watch helplessly as those aristocratic scions, whose talents are far inferior to mine, rise to prominence by relying on the high-grade spiritual energy bestowed upon them by their elders!"

"I'm not reconciled."

His voice suddenly lowered, becoming even colder.