Chapter 1067: The Alchemy Competition’s Opening

“Xixi is my friend, and I’ve known her for a long time. She wasn’t ‘brought’ from the Five Grand Realms’ Void Market.” Ning Cheng denied it firmly. He already knew it wouldn’t matter as Liu Fangzhen knew Xixi’s identity.

After hearing Ning Cheng’s words, Liu Fangzhen asked, “Have you heard about the Treasured Stone Dao Court’s Cross-Dao Pond?”

Cross-Dao Pond? Ning Cheng had never heard of such a thing.

Sichen Qiutian, who had not said anything yet, sensed something was off with the situation. Therefore, sensing that Ning Cheng didn’t know about the Cross-Dao Pond, he added from the side, “The Cross-Dao Pond is Treasured Stone Dao Court’s most treasured area. It can help the first-step Dao Confirming Holy Emperors to understand the second step’s dao rhythms and laws. It is said that the Treasured Stone Dao Court exists today because the Cross-Dao Pond helped them produce many Dao Essence experts. However, not everyone can go there; only a few talented first-step Dao Confirming Holy Emperors have the opportunity to use the pond to comprehend the dao rhythms of the second-step Dao Essence Realm.”

Liu Fangzhen smiled and added, “Union Master Sichen’s words are correct. The Cross-Dao Pond is the most precious area of our Treasured Stone Dao Court. Alchemist Ning has outstanding talent, to the point that even Union Master Kong holds high expectations for you. Therefore, when I came to the Alchemy City, I inquired about you on behalf of our Dao Lord. If Alchemist Ning is willing, you can use our Treasured Stone Dao Court’s Cross-Dao Pond anytime.”

Ning Cheng calmly replied, “No merit, no reward. The Cross-Dao Pond of the Treasured Stone Dao Court is a treasure of the Grand Change Realm. As an alchemist from the Grand Essence Realm, I dare not act rashly.”

Liu Fangzhen’s expression changed, and he said, “How can Alchemist Ning have no merit? Our Dao Lord has some matters to inquire about from Xixi. As such, finding Xixi and bringing her to the Grand Change Realm is already a great achievement.”

“Oh, many thanks, Brother Liu. It is true that I found and brought Xixi to the Grand Change Realm. It’s just that I didn’t expect it to be considered a great achievement.” Ning Cheng replied with a smile and a slight bow.

Hearing Ning Cheng’s words, Liu Fangzhen felt overjoyed. He stood up and said, “Alchemist Ning, you can apply to cultivate in the Cross-Dao Pond of our Treasured Stone Dao Court at any time. I won’t disturb you further since I have some matters to attend to; please call Xixi and let her accompany me.”

Ning Cheng’s expression turned cold as he replied, “City Master Liu, Xixi is currently in closed-door cultivation. As such, she can’t accompany you.”

Liu Fangzhen’s gaze turned cold as he said, “So Alchemist Ning has been mocking me till now?”

Ning Cheng remained unperturbed and said, “I wouldn’t dare to mock someone of your stature. I never said that Xixi would go with you. If City Lord Liu thinks that my finding Xixi and bringing her to the Grand Change Realm does not count as merit, then I have no problems with that either. Farewell, City Lord Liu. I won’t see you off.”

After saying that, Ning Cheng didn’t wait for Liu Fangzhen to argue and directly stood up to see him off.

“Very well.” Liu Fangzhen regained his calmness and turned to leave Ning Cheng’s room.

Sichen Qiutian didn’t inquire why Ning Cheng fell out with Liu Fangzhen. Instead, he reminded him, “There are still a few days before the Five Grand Realms’ Alchemy Competition begins, so you should be more careful with everything. I’ve gained quite a bit over the past few weeks and must research some pill formulas. I won’t say much to you for now.”

“Many thanks, Union Master Sichen, but Union Master should wait a moment before leaving. Let’s refine a furnace of pills first.” Ning Cheng had already sensed Sichen Qiutian’s confidence in alchemy returning. As long as he refined another furnace of Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills, Sichen Qiutian would make tremendous progress.

While speaking, Ning Cheng had already taken out the materials for a furnace of Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills.

Sichen Qiutian had long wanted to refine such a furnace of pills, but his confidence in alchemy had also crumbled because of this particular pill in the past. Moreover, his declining skills had caused him to use most of the Celestial Origin Heavenly Pill’s ingredients.

But now, with Ning Cheng taking out the materials for a furnace of Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills, his dao heart could potentially heal and advance even further on successfully refining this furnace.

Sichen Qiutian nodded at Ning Cheng without saying a word. Ning Cheng had already helped him enough. Truthfully, he didn’t know what condition he would have been in without Ning Cheng.

Seeing Sichen Qiutian organising the alchemy ingredients, Ning Cheng silently activated the restrictions in his room, sat down quietly to one side, and focussed on watching Sichen Qiutian refine pills.

Sichen Qiutian thoroughly analysed hundreds of ingredients individually, organising them into categories and putting them aside in neat heaps. From this, it became clear that when it came to depth and level of alchemy skills, Sichen Qiutian was no doubt far superior to Ning Cheng; however, his ability to refine pills had fallen far below that of Ning Cheng.

After completing these tasks, Sichen Qiutian finally took out a pill furnace and ignited the pill flame.

It was another divine flame. Even though Ning Cheng didn’t know the name of this flame, he could tell that Sichen Qiutian’s flame was formidable.

With the pill flame lit, he then carefully introduced one divine herb after another into the pill furnace. As two more hours passed, Sichen Qiutian finally introduced the Celestial Origin Fruit and the Lunar Sacred Fruit into the furnace.

Compared to Ning Cheng’s alchemy speed, Sichen Qiutian was much slower.

Dao rhythm surged within the pill furnace, and Sichen Qiutian’s entire consciousness remained focused on the furnace’s ever-changing flow. On the other hand, Ning Cheng could only observe Sichen Qiutian’s alchemical techniques continuously flowing above the furnace, step after step, without stopping for even half a moment.

As a day passed, Sichen Qiutian expelled some impurities from the divine herbs, highlighting the excruciatingly slow progress. If Ning Cheng had been the one refining this batch of Celestial Origin Heavenly Pill, he would have finished it long ago.

However, Ning Cheng knew that there were numerous alchemical techniques. His kind of alchemy was to use his perception of the Dao of Alchemy and combine it with the worldly dao rhythms to form a dao pill. The requirements for such kind of pill refining were very strict; not only did it require a powerful pill furnace and pill flame, but it also depended on the alchemist’s perception of the Dao of Alchemy,

On a fundamental level, Sichen Qiutian and Ning Cheng’s alchemical techniques were the same. The difference in speed, on the other hand, was due to their different perceptions of the Dao of Alchemy,

It was also quite similar to another method of refining pills, where a furnace of Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills could take several years to refine. This method was called ‘Simmering Pills’ and had a much higher, almost 100%, success rate, but fewer people use it nowadays. At the very least, alchemists wouldn’t use such a method during alchemy competitions. After all, who would have the time to watch an alchemist sit and do nothing for several years while the pills simmered in the pill flame?

On the second day, Ning Cheng caught a whiff of the fragrance of Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills from the pill furnace. Ning Cheng had refined Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills before, so when he noticed this fragrance, he understood that Sichen Qiutian was close to success.

Even Sichen Qiutian was filled with excitement at this moment. He hadn’t expected that his speculation from back then was true. The incomplete worldly laws of the Grand Essence Realm prevented the formation of Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills.

As soon as the third day began, Sichen Qiutian accelerated his alchemical techniques, and the pill rhythms within the furnace surged without end. Suddenly, twelve pills with a white hue tinged with shades of grey fell into the jade bottle beside the furnace.

The top-grade Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills were milk-white, but the Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills refined by Sichen Qiutian had hints of grey, showing that they weren’t top-grade pills. Even though there were no top-grade pills, the batch still had five high-grade pills, four middle-grade pills, and three low-grade pills.

This batch alone showed that Sichen Qiutian had achieved great success with this furnace of pills.

“Congratulations, Union Master, for successfully refining a furnace of Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills.” Ning Cheng was the first to stand up and clasp his fists in congratulations.

Sichen Qiutian excitedly took a pill and examined it before placing the jade bottle in Ning Cheng’s hand. He said, “Thank you, Ning Cheng. I’ll take one as a souvenir.”

Ning Cheng knew that Sichen Qiutian didn’t lack Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills; besides, these pills weren’t his to begin with, so he accepted the pills without hesitation and said, “Union Master, even without me, there would have been a day when you would have successfully refined the Celestial Origin Heavenly Pill.”

Sichen Qiutian shook his head, “No, if I hadn’t met you, even if I had several more batches of ingredients, I wouldn’t have been able to refine the Celestial Origin Heavenly Pill.”

Ning Cheng understood what Sichen Qiutian meant. Sichen Qiutian’s lack of confidence in alchemy caused his dao heart to crumble. Thus, even coming to the Grand Change Realm might not have helped him refine a batch if it hadn’t been for Ning Cheng’s help healing his dao heart and regaining his lost confidence.

The successful refinement of this furnace of pills marked the complete disappearance of the alchemical heart demon in Sichen Qiutian’s dao heart, and the shadow of failing 51 consecutive furnaces of Celestial Origin Heavenly Pills finally faded away.

……

While Sichen Qiutian regained his confidence and focused on healing himself, Ning Cheng didn’t sit idle as he constantly delved into the depths of the Dao of Alchemy.

More than ten days passed by in the blink of an eye.

And Liu Fangzhen also never showed up to bother Ning Cheng after he ridiculed him away.

Therefore, on the day the Alchemy Competition was about to start, Ning Cheng walked out of his room in high spirits.

Sichen Qiutian and the others were waiting for him outside. When they finally saw Ning Cheng come out, Sichen Qiutian smiled faintly and said, “Let’s go. We should also head to the Alchemy Hall.”

Ning Cheng nodded towards Xixi, showing that she should follow Protector Ju closely, but then asked, “Union Master Sichen, are we missing someone?”

Ning Cheng hadn’t seen Dou Jiangshi since he arrived in the city.

Sichen Qiutian was in a very different mood than when he came, so after hearing Ning Cheng’s words, he smiled. “Don’t worry about it. He got lost as soon as he came here. I guess he won’t be participating in the Alchemy Competition.”

Ning Cheng naturally didn’t believe that a Dao Transformation Holy Emperor would get lost so easily. In any case, he also knew why Dou Jiangshi left. Dou Jiangshi probably had the same intentions as before, to take him down. But after Ning Cheng exposed his body possession attempt, he probably didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself.

Moreover, Ning Cheng even became friends with Sichen Qiutian and Lu Dongze and even had a good relationship with Kong Lianbo. Dou Jiangshi would be a fool if he still thought he had a chance to do anything to him. As such, Dou Jiangshi could only stay away and return to reclaim his reputation when he had enough strength in the future.

It’s just that Ning Cheng didn’t care whether Dou Jiangshi left. He didn’t fear Dou Jiangshi right now, and he certainly wouldn’t fear this zombie in the future.

……

The Pill Union wasn’t just a single building but encompassed a large public square.

This time, as the one hosting the Five Grand Realms’ Alchemy Competition, the Grand Change Pill Union opened it up for everyone to watch. Therefore, millions had already gathered there by the time Ning Cheng and the others arrived.

The Pill Union didn’t restrict people from using their spiritual consciousness, so no matter how many people were there, they could see each participant’s performance in the Five Grand Realms’ Alchemy Competition.

A tall and large altar was at the top of the Pill Union. Ning Cheng estimated that this giant altar was for the alchemists participating in the competition.

Behind the altar, at a slightly higher level, were rows of high seats, presumably for the competition judges.

As participating alchemists, Ning Cheng and the others naturally had a designated seating area. However, compared to the other Grand Realms, the number of people from the Grand Essence Realm was the fewest. With Ning Cheng bringing in Xixi, there were only eight people.

Just as Sichen Qiutian and the others had taken their seats, a dazzling figure landed on the altar.

When Ning Cheng saw this person, he felt slightly puzzled as the person who landed on the altar looked like a teenager. At first glance, he even seemed younger than him. However, immediately after, Ning Cheng felt a chill in his heart. Besides Ancestor Kang and the elder from the Mysterious Ferry Ancient Clan, this young boy in front of him was the only other person he couldn’t see through in terms of cultivation level. The only thing he could feel was that a boundless dao rhythm surrounded this teenager, so vast that he couldn’t even estimate its boundary.

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