Chapter 779

"It's meaningless!"

The Great Lun Ming Wang glanced coldly at Zhu Zhengyan: "I merely feel he doesn't need your lecturing right now!"

"You…!" Zhu Zhengyan flew into a rage: "You bitch, I'm disciplining my own child—what's it to you?"

"Don't think just because you broke through one level, I'm afraid of you!"

Zhu Zhengyan's aura fluctuated wildly.

To put it plainly, the Great Lun Ming Wang's action had utterly enraged Zhu Zhengyan.

But the Great Lun Ming Wang refused to acknowledge him!

"Besides, you don't even have a child—how to raise one, you know nothing!" Zhu Zhengyan remained bitterly resentful.

"Uh, Brother Zhengyan, don't be angry!" Jin Gang, the Demon Emperor, stepped forward to mediate: "The young ones below are competing, and alchemy requires a calm mind. Speaking like this to Xuanlun, I think it's inappropriate—if it disturbs the child's composure, it'll harm his later alchemy!"

"Besides, it's not just Zhu Zhengyan competing here—there are other prodigies. If you act like this… you'll distract them!"

Zhu Zhengyan took a deep breath and fell silent.

After all, Jin Gang's words made sense.

But Zhu Zhengyan would not admit his own fault—he merely snorted coldly, said nothing more, and continued watching his son.

Although the Great Lun Ming Wang had enclosed Zhu Xuanlun within a barrier, the barrier was transparent, blocking only sound, not light.

One could clearly see every movement of Zhu Xuanlun.

Boom… boom boom boom…

Boom boom…

The sound of furnace explosions rose and fell in succession.

Many had blown their second furnace.

In the meantime, the prodigies had already completed their second furnace of alchemy.

Some had already begun their third furnace.

Others held their breath, steadying their spiritual sense first.

After about half a stick of incense had burned, nearly everyone had begun alchemy.

Only two were exceptions.

One was Zhu Xuanlun—he sat with eyes closed within the barrier, lost in thought, no one knew what he was pondering!

Outside, the Golden Crow Demon Emperor Zhu Zhengyan paced anxiously, shouting and yelling—but Zhu Xuanlun heard nothing.

He simply remained still, eyes closed, deep in contemplation.

The other was He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng also did not rush to begin his third furnace.

In his first two furnaces, he produced twelve pills each time—all mid-grade.

The second time, he produced twelve pills: six high-grade, six mid-grade!

That was decent.

But He Pingsheng was not satisfied.

Because this result was problematic.

My spiritual sense, proficiency, furnace, flame, and pill formula are all far superior to others—everything is stronger, so the pill quality should be far superior too.

Then why is it still inferior to Zhu Xuanlun and Feng Wanxi?

Ridiculous!

There must be some issue somewhere.

I need to think carefully.

But after thinking for a long time, He Pingsheng still couldn't figure it out.

Forget it—keep alchemizing!

So he opened his furnace and began the third furnace.

As for the 【Nanke Immortal Spring】, He Pingsheng had no intention of using it.

You can't let Nan Qiqi's words dictate everything—even if she says adding Nanke Immortal Spring is fine, cheating is cheating. If caught, all prior effort is wasted.

Besides, I can still rank in the top ten without it—why use it?

"Whoosh…"

"Oh my heavens…"

"No wonder she's a Feng clan prodigy!"

"Incredible!"

"Amazing!"

"All high-grade pills!"

He Pingsheng, still alchemizing his third furnace, was disturbed by the commotion outside, so he deliberately sent a thread of spiritual sense to observe his surroundings.

Sure enough—he saw…

Feng Wanxi of the Feng clan had produced twelve high-grade pills.

Impressive!

Feng Wanxi cast a challenging glance toward He Pingsheng—as if boasting, as if sneering.

He Pingsheng knew Feng Wanxi wasn't this shallow.

She was doing this not out of nature, but deliberately to disrupt his spiritual sense and interfere with his alchemy.

He Pingsheng took a deep breath, ignored everyone else, and focused entirely on his own alchemy.

Over an hour later, the results came out.

Third furnace: twelve pills—still six high-grade, six mid-grade!

He Pingsheng's brow furrowed again.

This isn't right.

It shouldn't be this way.

Yesterday's final furnace also produced six high-grade and six mid-grade pills.

But yesterday's alchemy conditions weren't as good as today's.

First, He Pingsheng hadn't used a high-grade furnace yesterday; second, he hadn't used Nine Heavens Mystic Fire—he'd only used regular alchemy flame.

Now all conditions are at peak, yet the quality hasn't improved.

It's not due to proficiency—he's already mastered it.

It's not because the furnace is new—he'd already subjugated it after just three uses.

It worked exceptionally well.

Then what's the problem?

No…

I can't keep alchemizing—I need to pause and think!

He Pingsheng took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and sank into contemplation.

According to the rules, though only five furnaces are required, all have three full days to complete them.

Moreover, speed in alchemy does not affect the score.

Only quality matters.

"Brother He…" Feng Wanxi completed her fourth furnace—again, twelve high-grade pills. She looked at He Pingsheng with a half-smile: "If you don't find a solution, your score may fall outside the top ten!"

He Pingsheng opened his eyes and smiled: "It doesn't matter."

Feng Wanxi kept chattering, but He Pingsheng no longer heard her.

He temporarily shut off all six senses, thinking only, blocking out all external stimuli.

Around him, prodigies kept producing pills!

Fifth furnace emerged.

Some blew their furnaces, some produced mid-grade, some low-grade.

Some even produced ruined pills.

But Feng Wanxi produced twelve high-grade pills again.

Meaning: Feng Wanxi's five furnaces all succeeded, with three being entirely high-grade.

That's extremely impressive.

She now leads the rankings.

But…

A few cultivators had produced a single supreme-grade pill.

That was interesting.

Those who produced supreme-grade pills had one supreme, one or two high-grade, and several mid-grade.

Seeing this result, many smiled.

Clearly, these people had used underhanded methods to manufacture supreme-grade pills just to gain bonus points.

How they did it—no one knew.

Soon, nearly everyone on the square had finished alchemy—only He Pingsheng remained.

No…

There was still Zhu Xuanlun.

Zhu Xuanlun had only smelted two batches, with three left.

But He Pingsheng had smelted three batches, with two left!

Boom…

A wisp of flame ignited before Zhu Xuanlun; this time, confident, he opened the dantian furnace and began smelting directly.

Time passed slowly.

Two hours later, a clear aura emerged.

Zhu Xuanlun's third batch.

Twelve elixirs: two supreme-grade, ten upper-grade.

Finally, a supreme-grade one emerged.