"You..."

Zhao Xianping was momentarily stunned. He had only intended to ridicule Jiang Chen to make everyone despise him but forgot that his family's ancestor had granted him permission to skip the first round.

With a teasing tone, Jiang Chen said, "If you think I don't deserve to stand here today, go ask your ancestor?"

"I..." Zhao Xianping glanced at the sky, glared fiercely at Jiang Chen, and shut his mouth sullenly.

"Hmph! Spoiled and arrogant! The ancestor only gave you the privilege because of your high soul strength, yet you show no gratitude and flaunt yourself here. If you can't take first place with a soul strength at the Divine Soul Realm, your talent's wasted!" A nearby woman sneered again.

Jiang Chen glanced at the woman, shook his head with amusement, and replied lightly, "People without talent resent those with it, just like those without money hate the rich. And you, probably despise beautiful girls, right?"

"What do you mean?" The woman was momentarily stunned and then shouted angrily.

"Jiang Chen, Valley Master is announcing the rules. You're interrupting again; are you disrespecting Elixir Valley?" Fourth Elder Chen Tian yelled angrily, glaring at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen cast a glance at Chen Tian and replied leisurely, "Who interrupted first?"

"You..." Chen Tian was instantly choked silent.

"Alright! Time's up, everyone, start refining elixirs!" Fu Tianbo glared at Chen Tian and then announced loudly.

The crowd fell silent, turning their attention to the ten people on the square, focusing especially on Jiang Chen, drawing at least half of the surrounding eyes.

Everyone wanted to see if Jiang Chen, with his Divine Soul Realm, used any unique methods to refine elixirs. Even the people of Elixir Valley were looking his way!

"What's he doing?"

"Seems like he's identifying herbs."

"Really? Can't even recognize herbs?"

"Wow, someone who can't even distinguish herbs made it into the top ten? Is this a joke?"

"Haha, while others are using Earth Fire to heat their Pill Furnaces, he's still identifying herbs. What a fool!"

Suddenly, a clamor erupted around them, and everyone focused on Jiang Chen.

After Fu Tianbo announced the start, the other nine had already activated their Earth Fire and started heating their Pill Furnaces, whereas Jiang Chen was leisurely identifying herbs nearby.

Hearing the crowd's shout, Jiang Chen turned towards the other pill masters and paused briefly.

There was a square cavity beneath each pill master's furnace, where Earth Fire spewed forth.

"Earth Fire?"

Jiang Chen was a bit surprised internally. The ancient medical texts in his mind recorded that Earth Fire accumulates underground for thousands of years, receiving the essence of the sun, reaching an extreme ignition point, automatically igniting upon encountering air, and some higher-grade Earth Fires are produced by legendary flames.

Is Elixir Valley really this high-end?

Upon closely examining the flames beneath a nearby woman's Pill Furnace, Jiang Chen found it amusing: "This... isn't it just a natural gas pipeline buried underground with a few switches attached? This is Earth Fire?!"

He shook his head amusingly and glanced at the base of his own Pill Furnace. There was a square stone brick, with two switches beside one of the furnace legs, one push-button and one pull-switch. Jiang Chen stepped on the push-button switch.

Whoosh!

Flames emerged from the seams of the square stone brick beneath the Pill Furnace.

"Wow, does this guy not know how to use Earth Fire?"

"Probably never used it before?"

"Haha! How embarrassing!"

"Can't even tell apart the switch and the valve, what a talent!"

Sounds of ridicule echoed from the surroundings.

Jiang Chen touched his nose, then nudged the pull-switch with his foot.

Thud...

Whoosh!

The square stone brick under the Pill Furnace slid aside, and a column of fire surged forth.

"Head of the Jiang Family, the time allowed for heating the furnace is half an hour. You already wasted a few minutes identifying herbs. That time won't be deducted. There's an adjustment button on the side of the herb rack; you can regulate the size of the Earth Fire." Realizing Jiang Chen couldn't use Earth Fire well, Fu Lengfeng offered a reminder, along with the unified time rules for the competition.

Jiang Chen nodded lightly, found the gas adjustment button, and turned the flame up to the maximum!

"Haha! He really doesn't know how to refine elixirs! Doesn't even know the basics about heating a furnace for alchemy. Such a person made it into the top ten at the Elixir Valley Pill Conference? My gosh!"

"Don't remind him; I want to see what kind of elixir he can produce!"

"Won't he use up all five sets of herbs provided by Elixir Valley and fail to create a single elixir?"

"Haha, that would be a real disgrace!"

"Totally wasting that Divine Soul!"

Once more, the surrounding people mocked openly.

"Gentle heating can ensure even heat distribution across the Pill Furnace. Intense heating causes uneven distribution, increasing the difficulty of alchemy!"

A gentle voice spoke up, seemingly reminding Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen paused slightly, turned to look at the source. On the other side of the woman, there stood a middle-aged man in a Taoist robe, with a hair bun, calmly warming his Pill Furnace.

Noticing Jiang Chen's gaze, the middle-aged man nodded in acknowledgment.

"Wu Dan Sect?" Jiang Chen inquired softly.

"I'm Zhang Xingyuan from Wu Dan Sect. Greetings, Jiang Family Head!" The middle-aged man greeted Jiang Chen with a single-handed Taoist salute.

Jiang Chen returned the salute with a cupped fist, "Jiang Chen from the Jiang Family of Jincheng."

"Jiang Family Head, have you never used Earth Fire for elixir refining?" Zhang Xingyuan asked softly.

At this time, everyone was still tempering the furnace, so idle talk wouldn't disturb the others. Proper order would be maintained by Elixir Valley once someone began crafting elixirs.

"No, I've always used firewood at home. I prefer it; the heat can be adjusted freely, whereas gas... always falls short!" Jiang Chen shook his head lightly.

Zhang Xingyuan's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but smile, "I misunderstood; turns out Jiang Family Head is indeed an elixir expert. Only those with sufficient alchemy skill fine-tune the flame's power. In the elixir books, it's said: to know the material is to enter, understand the elixir for mastery, comprehend the furnace as a teacher, and grasp the flame as a grandmaster. Looks like Jiang Family Head is close to becoming a Grandmaster of Alchemy!"

"Hmph! Taoist, you're good at flattering! But does he even understand those four sayings?" The woman sitting between Jiang Chen and Zhang Xingyuan interjected mockingly.

Jiang Chen glanced at the woman but ignored her, turning to Zhang Xingyuan, "I might not be an alchemy Grandmaster. I've read the elixir books in the Chi Xiao Sect, and according to current standards, I should fall between understanding micro as grand and understanding spirit as celestial."

Zhang Xingyuan paused and looked at Jiang Chen with a surprised expression and a hint of peculiarity in his eyes.

This Jiang Chen is really audacious!

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