The young man's gaze swept slowly across the gathered crowd.

In that instant, every cultivator felt as though they had been stripped naked and thrown into a frozen wilderness, their secrets, intentions, and weaknesses laid bare beneath an unforgiving sky. It was a gaze that did not merely look—it weighed, measured, and judged.

For Wang Chen, the sensation was particularly intense.

His scalp prickled, and his heart skipped a beat as instinct screamed at him to run. Deep within, he silently prayed that his concealment, his fate-erasing techniques, and the veil of Non-Existence would hold.

Please… just don't notice me.

After what felt like an eternity—but was in truth only a few breaths—the young man finally withdrew his gaze. The invisible pressure receded, allowing everyone to breathe again, though no one dared do so loudly.

He cleared his throat.

"Welcome, everyone," Nong Li said calmly, his voice neither loud nor commanding, yet resonating across heaven and earth, "to the Morning Glory Divine Alchemical Sect's ten-thousand-year recruitment ceremony."

"I am Nong Li, an inner sect disciple of the Morning Glory Divine Alchemical Sect. I will be responsible for conducting this round of tests."

His tone was gentle. Almost polite.

Yet when those words reached the ears of Wang Chen and the others, they struck like rolling thunder, reverberating through their bones and souls alike. No one moved. No one dared interrupt. Even the wind seemed to still, as if afraid of drawing attention to itself.

Only after Nong Li finished speaking did the suffocating silence loosen its grip.

Then, without warning, he flicked his wrist.

The sky split open.

A jagged tear of obsidian light appeared overhead, and from within it descended a massive black pillar, its surface smooth and ancient, as though carved before time itself had learned to flow. It radiated a deep, oppressive presence that made the space around it feel heavier, denser.

The moment the pillar appeared, murmurs erupted throughout the crowd.

"What… what is that?"

"How can a mere piece of stone possess such overwhelming presence?"

"Just by looking at it, my foundation alchemy feels clearer… my understanding is improving…"

One cultivator had barely finished speaking when the eyes of several others lit up with sudden realization and barely restrained excitement.

This was no ordinary object.

It was the first test.

They reacted instantly.

Several cultivators dropped to the ground on the spot, crossing their legs and entering meditation without hesitation, afraid of wasting even a breath of the fortune radiating from the obsidian pillar. Enlightenment surged visibly around them, faint ripples of qi trembling as their auras stabilized and refined.

Others, more confident—or more arrogant—did not sit. They stood with arms crossed, gazes sharp and disdainful, watching the scrambling crowd like spectators observing peasants fighting over scraps.

Among them, Bai Xeitian was particularly conspicuous.

He let out a cold snort, his lips curling faintly.

"What an ignorant bunch," he said, his voice carrying just far enough to be heard. "To not even recognize an Enlightenment Stone created by the Heavens' Authority…"

Though his tone dripped with contempt, to Wang Chen it sounded suspiciously like deliberate instruction.

So that's what it is…

Before the chaos could escalate further, Nong Li coughed lightly.

The sound was soft—yet it cut through the commotion like a blade.

Silence returned instantly.

"Someone among you has already identified it correctly," Nong Li said calmly. "This is an Enlightenment Stone created by the Heavens' Authority."

Every gaze locked onto the obsidian pillar.

"As for why it is here…" he continued, pausing just long enough to tighten everyone's nerves, "this pillar possesses the ability to generate entirely new pill recipes—formulas that have never existed in any era."

The air seemed to freeze.

Nong Li's eyes swept across the crowd, his expression unreadable.

"All those who can fully comprehend the recipe it reveals," he said, "and successfully refine the pill within one year, will be considered to have passed the first phase of the recruitment."

"Only one hundred individuals will advance," he added evenly. "They will proceed to the second—and final—test."

For a heartbeat, the world stood still.

Then—

"What?! Only One year?"

"That's insane! Even understanding an entirely new recipe could take centuries!"

"And where are we supposed to find the required ingredients in that time?"

The murmurs exploded outward, panic and disbelief rippling through the crowd like shockwaves. Faces tightened. Confidence wavered. Even some of the earlier arrogance drained away under the crushing reality of the challenge.

One year.

To comprehend a recipe born of Heaven's Authority.

To gather unknown ingredients.

To refine a pill that had never existed.

Many felt their hearts sink.

Wang Chen did not speak.

He simply stared at the obsidian pillar, his gaze steady, his mind eerily calm.

Where others saw impossibility, his thoughts began to race—not with fear, but calculation.

An entirely new pill… born of Heaven's Authority…

For the first time since arriving in the Upper Realm, Wang Chen felt something rare stir within his chest.

Opportunity.

No matter how long Wang Chen stared, he couldn't find a single trace of a recipe.

To his senses, the obsidian pillar was nothing more than a stone—silent, inert, utterly ordinary. There were no runes, no patterns, no fluctuations hinting at hidden information. Forget pill formulas; he couldn't even find the faintest outline of a single character.

Nothing…?

His brows knit together slightly.

If he couldn't even perceive the recipe, then worrying about ingredients was pointless. One problem at a time—except the first problem itself seemed insurmountable.

Unlike him, several others showed no signs of panic.

Bai Xeitian, in particular, remained calm, arms folded as if this were nothing more than a minor inconvenience. His confidence was unwavering. In his mind, there was no doubt—the Morning Glory Divine Alchemical Sect would never release a test without already preparing the necessary resources.

As murmurs spread and uncertainty crept into the crowd, Nong Li finally spoke again.

A faint, knowing smile curved his lips.

"Do not worry," he said casually. "The pill recipes generated by this Enlightenment Stone do not require rare or magical ingredients."

The crowd stiffened.

"And even if ingredients are required," Nong Li continued, his tone unhurried, "they will all be extremely common. Nothing that cannot be found easily."

Silence fell.

Then disbelief.

"What nonsense is that?"

"How can a pill be refined without ingredients?"

"That defies the foundations of alchemy!"

Even Wang Chen frowned.

Though he wasn't an alchemy master, he still possessed basic knowledge. Pill refinement without ingredients was absurd. It went against everything cultivators understood about alchemy. Without materials, what exactly was being refined?

Qi alone?

Intent?

Concepts?

Before anyone could question him further, Nong Li flicked his wrist once more.

A massive hourglass materialized in the air, its transparent body filled with shimmering golden sand. The grains flowed steadily, each fall sounding like the ticking of fate itself.

Time.

"With this," Nong Li said calmly, "the test begins."

His gaze swept across the crowd one last time.

"I wish you all the best."

And with that, he closed his eyes and sat cross-legged atop the pillar, no longer paying the gathered cultivators any attention.

The golden sand continued to fall.

One year had begun ticking away.

The others did not dare waste even a single breath.

To comprehend an entirely new pill recipe, one year was an absurdly short window. For a task of this level, even a century would have been considered generous. But no amount of outrage or disbelief would change the rules set before them.

Time was already flowing.

Relentless. Merciless.

One by one, more than a thousand participants sat cross-legged around the Enlightenment Stone. Their expressions hardened into deep concentration as spiritual senses flared and divine thoughts churned. The air itself seemed to still, heavy with pressure and anticipation.

In the blink of an eye, the surroundings fell into absolute silence.

Only the faint sound of golden sand slipping through the hourglass remained.

"One year…" Wang Chen murmured softly, his gaze fixed on the obsidian pillar.

For others, One year was nothing more than a retreat session. For him, it was a significant portion of his remaining lifespan.

He couldn't afford to gamble it away.

Not as the successor of the Thief Supreme.

Not as the bearer of the Non-Existence Authority.

A flicker of clarity cut through the haze in his mind.

Why should he comprehend it himself?

As that thought surfaced, a slow, dangerous smile tugged at the corner of Wang Chen's lips.

A plan formed.

The moment someone successfully comprehends the pill recipe…

…I'll steal it.

His eyes gleamed faintly, a sharp light flashing through their depths.

Yes.

That was the correct answer.

Why struggle against immortals on their own battlefield when he possessed the very art that rendered effort optional? Let others burn their souls and grind their Dao hearts against the Enlightenment Stone.

He would simply take the result.

Decision made, Wang Chen did not spare the scene another glance. His consciousness withdrew calmly from the Realm Gate, slipping back through layers of space and fate—

—returning silently to the Phoenix and Dragon Dojo.

The golden sand continued to fall.

Unaware that among them sat a man who had already decided the outcome.

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