Chapter 664: Intellectual Domination

For a moment, several Yao Clan alchemists and elders—those capable of refining Eight Grade Peak elixirs and even attempting Ji Pin Dan Yao—stared in stunned silence.

They were not only astonished by the thrilling struggle among the four Nine Grade Profound Alchemists for Heavenly Energy, but also by the fact that Xiao Yan had foreseen this very step!

The four of them fighting each other would only end in mutual destruction!

So before the net broke, Xiao Yan had already quietly stuffed himself full!

"Damn, who says alchemists only need talent? Without intelligence, you're just a fool being played for a fool."

"This guy predicted Elder Yao Wanhuo and the other two!"

Those who understood the purpose behind Xiao Yan's choice of the simplest Mystical Pill refinement were suddenly struck dumb.

"Huh? Why are all four fighting over Heavenly Energy? Is that how alchemy works?" some novice alchemists asked in confusion.

"A Nine-Treasure Pill can reverse fate and defy heaven; a Nine Grade Profound Pill must seize heaven's power—hence, ninth-grade elixirs are called Heavenly Pills."

"The fact that all four are seizing Heavenly Energy proves they're all refining Nine Grade Profound Pills."

At the foremost seat, Yao Dan gazed at the celestial phenomenon above, his expression turning strangely uneasy. With his eye for detail, how could he not see that these four were competing? He didn't know the others well, but he knew Elder Wanhuo inside and out—though the latter's alchemy was no weakling, his success rate in refining a Nine Grade Profound Pill would hardly exceed twenty percent.

Moreover, refining a Nine Grade Profound Pill requires absorbing an astonishing amount of Heavenly Energy. Though the energy within a ten-thousand-li radius of Yao Mountain was extremely dense, it was clearly insufficient to support the condensation of four Nine Grade Profound Pills. In his estimation, even if all the energy within that radius were absorbed, forming even one Nine Grade Profound Pill would be difficult—let alone four, all at once.

"If Nine Grade Profound Pills were this easy to refine, their numbers wouldn't be so scarce," Yao Dan murmured, shaking his head slightly, then turning his gaze toward Xiao Yan's position. If anyone had a better chance of refining a Nine Grade Profound Pill this time, it was truly this clever little rascal, Xiao Yan.

Far above, energy howled wildly, finally coalescing into four colossal spiritual tornadoes. One end of each tornado connected to the respective alchemy furnace of the four alchemists; the other end frantically sucked in the dense Heavenly Energy, like fishing nets desperately vying for the realm's power.

Facing this near-suicidal suction, those around the Guang Chang suddenly felt their Dou Qi trembling, as if about to burst from their bodies. Panic surged through the crowd; they hastily retreated, terrified their hard-earned Dou Qi might be dragged away by the four storms above—such a loss would be catastrophic.

Xiao Yan and the others showed no sign of stopping their struggle. This apocalyptic battle lasted nearly three days. During those three days, no one knew how much energy had been drained from this realm; all they could feel was that the surrounding air had grown drastically thinner, and the medicinal materials around the Guang Chang had begun to yellow and wither—their energy forcibly ripped away.

Moreover, none of the four had reached Imperial Soul, and all possessed Unique Flames, so the actual gap between them wasn't great.

A Nine Grade Profound Pill is, by nature, a man-made Supreme Treasure. The energy required for its formation is so terrifying it could shock even many Sage Emperors. Ancient texts record that in ancient times, wherever a Nine Grade Profound Pill emerged, nearly a thousand li would become barren—because all the energy of that land was absorbed into the pill.

Though the Yao Clan members felt pained seeing the withered medicinal materials, they could do nothing. Some elders quickly moved to seal off the most precious Pill Fields within Yao Mountain, lest the entire mountain turn barren after the refining was complete.

This endless, boundless absorption lasted five full days. At noon on the fifth day, everyone suddenly felt the howling sky grow strangely quiet. Looking up, they saw the four colossal tornadoes had quietly vanished.

Four alchemy furnaces, each roughly hundreds of zhang tall, hovered in the sky, faintly radiating astonishing energy fluctuations—but even this power fell far short of a Nine Grade Profound Pill's level, and even fell below that of a Nine-Treasure Pill.

"The Heavenly Energy within a thousand li has been completely drained."

Yao Dan reached out and grasped at the air before him, then sighed helplessly. The energy contained in the air had thinned to an almost terrifying degree; restoring Yao Mountain's former density would take at least months, perhaps years.

"If there isn't enough Heavenly Energy, does that mean the refining has failed?"

Many Yao Clan elders were left dumbfounded. The elixir forms inside the four furnaces had only just reached half completion—but now, all the Heavenly Energy within a ten-thousand-li radius had been absorbed. There was simply no energy left to sustain further refining.

A Heaven Realm Great Perfection soul could at most control Heavenly Energy within a ten-thousand-li radius. Of course, if the soul could ascend to the legendary Imperial Soul realm, it would be an entirely different level—then, wherever the soul perception extended, it could command Heavenly Energy as its own. Legends say that in ancient times, a supreme expert who reached Imperial Soul could, with a single thought, control nearly half of Zhong Zhou's Heavenly Energy. Merely imagining such a level sent chills down the spine.

"Wait—look at Xiao Yan!"

Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes and glanced at Hun Xu Zi, who now stared at him with a look of bitter frustration.

Then Xiao Yan looked at Shen Nong Old Man and Elder Yao Wanhuo—both wore expressions of helplessness and resignation.

Xiao Yan's lips curled upward. He flipped his hand, and a transparent crystal appeared in his palm.

This transparent crystal was the residue left after Mao Wu extracted the Ancient Devouring Worm's crystallization during Xiao Yan's entry into the Heavenly Tomb—he had originally planned to use this batch for refining.

The Ancient Devouring Worm could devour Energy Storms and produce these crystals, which contained Heavenly Energy.

With a whoosh, bone-white Bone Spirit Cold Fire enveloped the crystal. The crystalline matter, forged by the Ancient Devouring Worm, visibly melted at a rapid pace, and a wisp of Heavenly Energy drifted into the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation.

One by one, the crystals were refined, transforming into Heavenly Energy that surged into the Refining Heaven Ancient Formation.

Of course, these crystals alone could never supply enough energy for a single Nine Grade Profound Pill—but don't forget: Xiao Yan had monopolized the Heavenly Energy within a ten-thousand-li radius two days ahead of time. While the others fought for five days among four, Xiao Yan had absorbed energy for seven days—and two of those days were entirely his alone!

He alone had absorbed more Heavenly Energy than Hun Xu Zi and the other two combined!

Moreover, the Nine Grade Profound Pill Xiao Yan chose was the simplest of them all—a healing elixir requiring the least energy. After seven days of absorption, he had already gathered ninety percent of what he needed—he only needed to supplement the remaining ten percent!

As Xiao Yan refined each crystal, a faint elixir fluctuation began to emerge from his Ancient Formation furnace.

"Kuang?!"

"This?!"

"No way—did Xiao Yan actually succeed? Did he cheat?!"

For a moment, even Ren Yaozi, Yao Tian, and Yao Ling wore strange expressions. Every Champion of the Alchemy Ceremony had always been won unquestionably—by the strongest alchemy skill.

But this time, the Champion seemed… questionable.

Though refining a Nine Grade Profound Pill certainly placed Xiao Yan at the pinnacle of Dou Qi Continent alchemy, and given his age, he might one day refine a Nine-Treasure Golden Pill.

But today, Xiao Yan defeated Yao Wanhuo, Shen Nong Old Man, and Hun Xu Zi not because they failed or produced inferior pills—but because they couldn't complete their refining at all.

Xiao Yan succeeded only because he was "lucky."

At this moment, Elder Yao Wanhuo sighed helplessly and muttered, "I never thought my failure to refine this Mystical Pill would come down to this. I must admit—this kid has a bit of cleverness."

Elder Yao Wanhuo stared at the elixir form within his Nine Underworld Wind Flame. Even if he could eventually complete it, his pill still lacked far too much Heavenly Energy—it was simply impossible to reach completion.

Beside him, Shen Nong Old Man stroked his beard, his eyes narrowing slightly as he observed Xiao Yan with quiet interest.

"Perhaps he possesses more than just cleverness. If he had never refined a Nine Grade Profound Pill before, he could not possibly know precisely how much Heavenly Energy it requires."

At Shen Nong Old Man's reminder, Elder Yao Wanhuo suddenly froze, his eyes widening in shock and sudden understanding as he stared at Xiao Yan.

Precise!

Xiao Yan hadn't just predicted that the other three would refine Nine Grade Profound Pills—he had also accurately calculated how much Heavenly Energy he himself could obtain, and how much a single Nine Grade Profound Pill required!

Xiao Yan had not failed in refining. His pill's required Heavenly Energy was sufficient. That meant—when he chose this Mystical Pill, he had already been certain. He knew exactly how much energy he needed, and precisely how long he needed to prepare his medicinal materials to secure the advantage!

This was beyond the calculation of even a Nine-Treasure Pill Alchemist—or even an alchemist like Yao Wanhuo, whose success rate with Mystical Pills barely reached twenty percent.

At this moment, Yao Dan, Hun Xu Zi, and others had also noticed something.

"He may have refined a Nine Grade Profound Pill before. Xiao Yan's alchemy may have already reached the true level of Grandmaster Alchemist—not merely Treasure Pill Master."

As Shen Nong Old Man spoke, Elder Yao Wanhuo's scalp prickled violently. Xiao Yan wasn't guessing—he had precisely calculated how much energy his Nine Grade Profound Pill required. This proved he was utterly confident, not relying on luck or psychological manipulation—but on genuine strength.

And it was because he had strength that he had confidence.

As the saying goes: insiders see the method, outsiders see the spectacle. Even geniuses like Yao Tian and Yao Ling now internally believed Xiao Yan had merely been clever, having outmaneuvered them all.

What they didn't realize was that those who couldn't foresee this scene simply had never successfully refined a Nine Grade Profound Pill, so they knew nothing at all!

Of course, it can't be denied that Xiao Yan is indeed brilliant; the Shen Nong Elder and Hun Xu Zi had also successfully refined Nine Grade Profound Pills, but they never thought of it.

"Sigh, I'm old now, can't compete with the young anymore." Shen Nong Elder was straightforward, directly admitting he was inferior to Xiao Yan.

Yao Wanhuo could claim ignorance because he'd never successfully refined a Mystical Pill, but as for him, it was pure intellectual domination by Xiao Yan.

"It seems the Champion is his this time," Wanhuo Elder said with a bitter smile, shaking his head.

"Hey, that's not certain." No sooner had Wanhuo Elder finished speaking than Hun Xu Zi, far away, wore a strange smile; his hand seals abruptly changed as he slammed his palm hard onto the Black Flame Alchemy Furnace before him.

Instantly, two pillars of Black Flame surged forth, finally forming two wildly spinning black holes above the Alchemy Furnaces of Yao Wanhuo and Shen Nong Elder; terrifying devouring force erupted, and the vast energy both had absorbed over days instantly transformed into beams of light, forcibly sucked into the black holes.

"Hun Xu Zi, how dare you!"

Seeing this, both their faces darkened instantly; they had never expected Hun Xu Zi would be so bold as to target them directly.

Shen Nong Elder and Wanhuo Elder roared in fury; the Life Flame and Nine Underworld Wind Flame surged out, crashing violently into the black holes—but instead of stopping them, the black holes spun faster, their devouring force surging even stronger, swallowing portions of their own Black Flames.

Seeing their resistance failed, Shen Nong Elder and Wanhuo Elder's expressions turned grim; although the Life Flame ranked high, its renown lay mostly in auxiliary power—it stood no chance in actual Battle against Swallowing Flame, and as for the Nine Underworld Wind Flame, it was merely ranked tenth, its gap with Swallowing Flame's Earth Sub Flame impossible to bridge.

"Hah! With your two kinds of Black Flame, you think you can stop my Swallowing Flame's Earth Sub Flame? Delusional!"

Hun Xu Zi laughed loudly, then glanced at the condition inside his own Alchemy Furnace; finding the energy still insufficient, he formed a hand seal, his gaze flicking toward Xiao Yan's direction, revealing a ruthless gleam.

He was a member of the Soul Sovereign—once, even the Dan Tower's Master had been secretly assassinated by him.

(End of Chapter)