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**
With that public proclamation, the world gained a brand-new Heavenly Flame.
The twenty-fourth: Black Sun Burning Heaven Flame.
For now its official ranking remained undecided, so it was temporarily placed at number twenty-four. The wider world still knew little about its unique traits, and its eventual place on the Heavenly Flame Ranking would need to be settled gradually.
After all, to determine a ranking that everyone would accept was never something that could be done overnight.
Still, anyone could see that a flame capable of growing to the level of a Dou Zun would never end up with a low standing. Many spectators believed that while a top-ten spot might be uncertain, entering the top fifteen was practically guaranteed.
The brief interlude ended, and the true contest began.
"Hmph."
Mu Gu shot a cold glance at Wei Yang, who had landed back on his stone platform and sat cross-legged once more, then at the Nihility Devouring Flame sub-flame returning to his own hand. With a frosty snort he flicked his finger, sending a jet-black flame drilling into the cauldron before him.
So what if the fire is strong?
Alchemy is not about firepower alone. Mu Gu resolved to teach this younger generation a harsh lesson through pure alchemical skill.
Wei Yang only smiled faintly. With a wave of his sleeve, a cluster of black flame leapt into the Ten-Thousand Beast Cauldron. The frigid metal quickly grew hot under the fierce fire.
While the cauldron warmed, he closed his eyes, carefully reviewing every detail of the pill he planned to refine for this Pill Gathering: the First Start Pill.
This pill could summon five-colored pill lightning—more than enough to compete for the championship.
When the cauldron's temperature reached the ideal point, Wei Yang flicked his sleeve again. One after another, medicinal ingredients shot from his storage ring and floated in a circle around the stone platform.
A quick count revealed over two hundred different herbs.
The First Start Pill was infamous for its terrifying complexity. Anyone whose soul control was lacking would feel dizzy just looking at such a variety of ingredients—let alone refine them into a single pill with flawless precision.
The more ingredients, the more intricate the process and the steeper the difficulty.
After confirming that every preparation was complete, Wei Yang's expression grew solemn. This was the most complicated and demanding pill he had ever attempted—far beyond the Bone Growing Blood Fusing Pill or the Purple-Azure Supreme Pill. One careless step could mean instant failure.
In alchemy, success or ruin often hinged on a single thought, a single subtle movement.
In his mind the entire refining method of the First Start Pill flowed like a quiet stream. He reviewed each minute detail from start to finish, memorizing every caution.
Refining more than two hundred different herbs—their properties, their interactions—was a monumental task. If written out in text, the formula alone would run to hundreds of thousands of words.
Exhaling a long breath, he focused every shred of his attention inward, shutting out the outside world. His half-closed eyes snapped open, a glint of dark red light flashing within.
His hands formed seals in a blur. Several herbs separated from the hovering circle and dropped together into the cauldron.
The instant they entered, the terrifying heat of the black flame withered them. Under Wei Yang's powerful soul control, within twenty short minutes each herb had been refined into pure medicinal essence.
With a thought, he guided these essences into separate clusters of black flame, suspending them neatly at the edge of the cauldron. Without pause he summoned the next ingredients.
No matter how many herbs followed, his movements never faltered. Every change in every plant lay within his perception; at the slightest mental command, the flame's intensity shifted to match, refining each ingredient to its purest state.
Each finished essence carried a faint trace of spiritual energy. Though subtle, it quietly elevated the quality of every refined component.
Time flowed on.
Two full days passed in this steady rhythm.
Across the vast square, columns of heat rose from cauldrons on countless stone platforms as every competitor focused on their own pill.
Wei Yang sat cross-legged before a crimson cauldron, black flames roaring within, his concentration unshaken.
A series of small black suns floated within the black flame, rising and sinking as they circled around the center.
At the very heart of the black fire, several rare herbs struggled against the searing heat. If one looked closely, faint threads of pale fluorescence shimmered across their surfaces, forming a thin barrier that warded off the scorching temperature of the flame.
Every true treasure born of heaven and earth carried its own instinct for self-preservation. But this stalemate could not last forever. Under the relentless burning of the black flame, they would eventually be refined completely.
Keeping the flame steady, Wei Yang sat with eyes half-closed and an expression of calm. Around him, the original circle of more than two hundred ingredients had already thinned, and as time went on their number continued to shrink.
Inside the cauldron, the amount of refined essence grew steadily.
After another half day passed, every last herb was gone.
Within the cauldron now floated more than two hundred miniature black suns, sinking and rising amid the roaring fire as they revolved in a slow dance.
"Hu~"
Wei Yang let out a soft breath, a slight smile curling the corner of his mouth.
The first stage—extracting the pure essence—was a flawless success. To refine over two hundred high-grade ingredients in less than three days was an impressive pace indeed.
Such speed came not only from his own strength and the might of the Death Life Flame, but even more from the sheer power of his soul.
A strong soul allowed him to handle each complex step with exquisite precision, saving countless moments and avoiding every mistake.
With the extraction complete, the next and most critical stage lay ahead: the forming of the pill.
Wei Yang chose to rest briefly, steadying his spirit. Then he once again focused all of his mind on the cauldron. His hand seals shifted sharply.
"Condense!"
As vast soul power surged forth, the two hundred black suns began to draw together, spinning closer and closer until they started to collide.
Boom—
Above the square, countless stone platforms hung in the air.
On each one, the competitors wore solemn expressions, wholly absorbed in controlling their flames and refining the pills within their cauldrons.
The faster alchemists had already reached the condensing stage. The slower ones were still extracting essences.
Among these many participants, most were sixth-grade alchemists, a smaller number were Tier 7, and only a very few reached Tier 8.
Despite the wide difference in rank, their visible pace of refining did not appear drastically different.
In other words, a Tier 8 alchemist refining more than a hundred—perhaps even over two hundred—high-level ingredients took nearly the same amount of time as a Tier 6 or Tier 7 alchemist refining only a few dozen.
Of course, the sheer workload between them was worlds apart. The entire square, the very heavens above it, grew hushed. Countless eyes were fixed on the busy figures suspended in the sky.
Everyone waited—for that final, decisive moment. Because only then would the most important event of this Pill Gathering arrive. Only then would the champion be born.
The waiting was dull, but for what might become the most brilliant moment of many lifetimes, it was worth every breath.
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