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**
Fa Ma's gaze slowly swept across the plaza as he gently pressed both hands down.
Immediately, the deafening noise and cheers began to quiet.
His voice echoed once more:
"This third round of assessment—the Association will no longer provide any assistance. Everything will depend solely on your own ability."
"The Association will not restrict anything—whether it's pill recipes, medicinal ingredients, or anything else."
"In other words, within the allotted time, you must successfully refine the highest-grade medicinal pill that is within the limits of your current capabilities."
"And in the end, the winner will naturally be judged by the grade, quality, and practical value of the pill they refine."
Fa Ma then added meaningfully, "Of course, if any of you are capable of refining a Tier 5 or even a Tier 6 pill… well, there's no need to say much—you'd be leagues ahead of the others."
Hearing the announcement echo across the plaza, many of the participants were stunned by the abrupt and unexpected format of the final round.
This last trial had no fixed theme. The alchemists were to rely entirely on themselves.
No provided pill recipes, no supplied ingredients.
The final result would be determined by true strength.
After a moment of silence...
Some participants began to look pale.
Clearly, those people had not prepared suitable pill formulas or sufficient ingredients.
Under these rules, lacking either would mean a massive disadvantage—the likelihood of losing had just skyrocketed.
Others, however, had only slight changes in expression before quickly regaining composure.
Clearly, they had long since prepared for a challenge like this.
In the end, an alchemist's path was simple.
Whether one was a donkey or a fine horse, the moment you're pulled onto the track, your true worth is exposed.
No matter how the rules change, raw ability is always the deciding factor.
Even the gray-robed youth furrowed his brow slightly at first.
But soon after, he let out a cold laugh and muttered to himself:
"Well, this is more like it. Alchemists should always prove themselves with real strength, not with some weird and pointless tests. Heh… this championship is as good as mine!"
"Since everyone understands the rules…"
On the high platform, Fa Ma slowly raised his hand and then waved it down with force.
His calm voice rang out across the square:
"The third round of the examination… begins now!"
With Fa Ma's declaration—
None of the participants immediately made a move. Instead, they all simultaneously fell into silence, deep in thought.
Each one frowned in contemplation, trying to decide which pill to refine—one they were confident in, but that still offered a shot at victory.
Of course, the prerequisite was having enough medicinal ingredients.
Even the audience fell into a rare quiet.
Countless eyes were fixed on the more than one hundred contestants below, eagerly waiting for their performance in this final round.
This silence lasted nearly five minutes.
Then, Xian'er was the first to break it.
With a flip of her hand, a small crimson cauldron appeared and landed on the stone platform in front of her.
With a wave, a dark red flame floated into her palm and was casually tossed into the cauldron to begin the warming process.
Soon after, the Little Princess and Liu Ling followed suit.
With a motion of their hands, two ancient-looking yet subtly powerful cauldrons—one green and one red—appeared on their platforms.
Both of these cauldrons were famous Tier 5 alchemy cauldrons.
The Little Princess's green cauldron was called the Blue Flame Cauldron, a treasured heirloom of the imperial family.
Liu Ling's red cauldron, even more renowned, was once the signature tool of Pill King Gu He himself—the Volcano Flame Furnace. Also a Tier 5 cauldron.
In the world of alchemy, a good cauldron was immensely helpful to an alchemist.
It could greatly enhance success rates during pill refinement.
On the other hand, lower-quality cauldrons often had weak heat resistance or poor durability under energy shocks. Just like when Wei Yang tried to refine the Dou Spirit Pill earlier—his cauldron nearly exploded during the condensation phase due to the violent energy surge.
Thus, cauldrons also had precise grading standards.
They were divided into eight tiers, from low to high.
And above the Tier 8—stood the Heavenly Cauldrons.
In the world, apart from the famed Heavenly Flame Rankings, there was also a Heavenly Cauldron Rankings.
The number of cauldrons at that level was believed to be only thirteen in total.
This showed just how rare and valuable Heavenly Cauldrons truly were.
In fact, they were even rarer than Heavenly Flames!
That's why Wei Yang had never let go of his obsession with the Heavenly Cauldron in Han Feng's possession...
The cauldron Xian'er was currently using was still only a Tier 3 one.
Even the bronze cauldron Wei Yang had received from Yao Lao was only Tier 7.
Of course, no matter how helpful a cauldron was, it was ultimately just an external tool. Its significance could never compare to that of a Heavenly Flame for an alchemist.
For true alchemy masters, whether or not they had a cauldron made very little difference.
They could manifest a cauldron from their palm, and refine pills at will, without limitation—that kind of mastery was the true mark of a true alchemy grandmaster.
That's why, in the eyes of true masters, the value of a Heavenly Flame was far greater than that of a Heavenly Cauldron!
If one had to choose between the two, most true alchemists would, without hesitation, pick the Heavenly Flame, not the cauldron.
Of course, if one could possess both, that would be ideal.
One by one, the contestants began to reveal their true trump cards.
In an instant, cauldrons of Tier 3 and above started appearing across the plaza.
There were even multiple Tier 5 cauldrons unveiled in succession.
In contrast, Xian'er and Xiao Yan were still using the same Tier 3 cauldrons as before, which made them look rather plain in comparison.
Xian'er's cauldron was small and delicate, its body glowing with a crimson hue.
Xiao Yan's was a bit rougher in appearance, a dark reddish tone covering its surface.
This unexpected contrast drew curious glances from many in the audience.
Clearly, most people hadn't expected that these two central figures—who were considered among the top-seeded contenders—would still be using such modest cauldrons.
But the two ignored the surrounding looks.
Instead, they each began pulling out their herbs and ingredients, preparing for the pill refinement process.
Had anyone been able to peer through the jade bottles and boxes they took out, they would have been shocked to discover—
Both of them had brought out the exact same set of ingredients.
More than twenty kinds in total.
These were the ingredients for refining a Tier 4 pill: the Three-Line Green Spirit Pill!
Xiao Yan suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a ball of purple flame, sending it directly into his cauldron to begin the warming process.
"A Tier 4 pill, huh… That's no easy feat," Xiao Yan murmured in his heart, his brows slightly furrowed. "I've never refined one before."
"And this Green Spirit Pill, while technically a Tier 4 pill, if I want to win this tournament, just refining one with a single pill line definitely won't cut it. I'll need to refine one with three full pill lines."
Starting off with such a high-difficulty refinement, even Xiao Yan couldn't help but feel the pressure.
A Green Spirit Pill without pill lines was just a normal product.
If it was of high quality, producing one pill line, it became a One-Line Green Spirit Pill.
As for three-line, that went without saying—the difficulty was immense.
It would require the use of three different types of flame to even have a chance of forming three pill lines.
"Wow! That's a blue flame!"
Suddenly, from the spectator stands, a wave of excited commotion erupted.
On one of the central stone platforms, a stunning sight appeared—in the hand of the Little Princess, a strange, watery blue flame was rising.
What made the scene even more magical was that rippling water-like waves undulated around the flame as it flickered, creating an almost surreal and mysterious effect.
Though clearly a flame, it gave off a sensation that was as cool and fluid as water.
Many of the onlookers instantly recognized this unique flame.
Because on the crest of the Jia Ma Imperial Family, this exact flame was depicted.
The royal emblem featured a mighty beast howling toward the sky, and this blue fire was shown coiling around its body.
Those familiar with the deeper secrets knew that this beast was the guardian beast of the Jia Ma Imperial Family—a peak Dou Huang-level magic beast.
Its name: Serene Sea Scaly Beast.
A rare water-type magic beast.
And the bluish flame that surrounded it was the exceedingly rare water-attributed flame known as Dry Blue Water Flame.
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