Half an hour later, Ning Fa was the first to complete the extraction of the spiritual materials.
Balls of spiritual liquid, varying in shape and color, now floated in the air, exuding abundant spiritual energy and displaying various auspicious signs.
Ning Fa exhaled a breath of stale air. The high-intensity extraction for the past half hour had taken a considerable toll on him.
However, the Five Elements Thunder Rune Pattern in his dantian had already appeared, and barely visible Thunder Spiritual Power was surging towards his body.
The thunder pattern slowly rotated, and wisps of silver airflow flowed out from its center, converging into the Main Thunder Source in his dantian.
Then, it swiftly followed the mysterious silver trajectory into the Lesser Thunder Sources in his left and right hands, replenishing the spiritual power consumed by these two lesser sources.
Ning Fa closed his eyes, recalling the alchemy process he had already memorized by heart.
Sixty breaths later, he opened his eyes.
He formed a Hand Seal, sending it towards the bronze alchemy furnace in front of him.
The furnace lid opened, and two balls of spiritual liquid flew into it.
Simultaneously, Ning Fa's Hand Seal continued, striking the alchemy furnace and the blue fire source beneath it.
The fire source here was no longer the low-grade Black Nitre Stone, but spiritual fire released by the second-tier grand array, the Minor Yuan Separation Fire Array.
Although it wasn't as potent as some naturally occurring earth fires, it was more than sufficient for refining first-tier pills.
At this point, Ning Ruiming had just finished extracting the spiritual materials, a full hundred breaths later than Ning Fa.
Ning Ruiming smiled, feeling that he had performed perfectly. He couldn't help but glance at Ning Fa.
The smile on his lips immediately froze.
His heart trembled; he truly hadn't expected Ning Fa to be so much faster than him in extracting spiritual materials.
Ning Ruiming withdrew his gaze, his expression turning grim and extremely solemn.
This was the first time he had directly felt that Ning Fa was not to be trifled with.
However, he wasn't overly panicked.
After all, spiritual material extraction was merely the prelude; the key lay in the subsequent stages, and he had absolute confidence in those.
Following this, Ning Ruiming began his alchemy in an orderly fashion.
Time passed gradually. In the spacious auditorium, there was absolute silence, with only the faint sounds of the two individuals refining pills occasionally breaking the quiet.
The family elders on the stage showed no impatience.
Cultivators needed to be able to endure solitude; their arduous training often lasted months, or even years. This amount of time was merely a fleeting moment for them.
Another hour passed.
Ning Fa sent the final purple Hand Seal towards the alchemy furnace and shouted, "Open!"
The loud sound echoed through the empty auditorium.
Ning Shaohong, who was watching from the stage, felt a mixture of nervousness and amusement.
Ning Fa's move was quite cunning; his refining progress was clearly a bit faster than Ning Ruiming's, and he deliberately shouted so loudly to distract Ning Ruiming.
Ning Ruiming indeed couldn't resist looking over again. Although his expression appeared normal, the two Hand Seals he subsequently issued trembled slightly, though he managed to stabilize them afterward.
Tenth Elder Ning Jiannan's face showed a hint of anger, and he intended to speak.
But Third Elder Ning Zhongjiu seemed to sense something, turned to look at him, and said calmly, "If this is enough to distract Ruiming, then he deserves to lose."
Ning Jiannan paused and sullenly shut his mouth.
Then, his face filled with anxiety, he looked towards Ning Fa's alchemy furnace, eager to know the result of Ning Fa's refining.
The others were the same, their eyes fixed on the furnace.
Ning Fa, however, frowned. He sensed that the result of this refining session likely hadn't reached his usual standard.
Noticing Ning Fa's expression, Ning Shaohong couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.
Ning Fa raised his hand and pointed, the alchemy furnace in front of him opened wide, and a ball of spiritual light flew out.
Immediately, numerous divine senses swept over.
Within the spiritual light, four pale blue pills were visible. Two of them were round and full, emitting pure spiritual energy.
Each pill had three faintly discernible misty rings, slowly rotating around it, adding a sense of mystery.
The other two pills were oval-shaped with cracks on their surfaces and lacked the mystical rings, clearly indicating they were failed pills.
Ning Fa clicked his tongue, somewhat dissatisfied, and thought to himself that it was as he expected.
But this result stunned everyone else.
Wei Chengzong tugged at his beard, his expression one of utter astonishment.
He had originally thought that in this competition, if Ning Fa could refine even one perfect Three Yuan Pill, it would be a great success.
But he never imagined that Ning Fa would refine two Three Yuan Pills on his first attempt; this was truly beyond his comprehension.
After all, a single furnace of Three Yuan Pills could yield at most five successful pills. Ning Fa had already produced two on his first try, achieving a four-tenths success rate.
Even for him, the overall success rate of refining Three Yuan Pills wouldn't be much higher than this.
A thought suddenly rose in his mind.
"Ning Ruiming is in danger."
Liu Qinghui's beautiful eyes widened, a flash of shock in them.
Although she had already anticipated it in her heart, seeing Ning Fa actually refine two Three Yuan Pills in his very first furnace still shocked her immensely, her heart churning.
Ning Shaohong let out a soft sigh, the taut string in her heart finally loosening.
She looked at Ning Fa, a hint of a smile in her eyes.
Second Elder Ning Weidong and Third Elder Ning Zhongjiu both had a sharp glint in their eyes, their gaze towards Ning Fa immediately changing.
Fourth Elder Ning Weize had a strange look flash in his eyes, his smile growing wider.
Fifth Elder Ning Huarong first gave Ning Fa a deep look, then chuckled, "This is a bit interesting."
She then actually got up and left.
Ning Weize asked curiously, "Huarong, aren't you going to watch anymore?"
Ning Huarong replied without looking back, "The outcome is already decided, what else is there to see?"
Ning Weize chuckled speechlessly and said no more.
Ning Jiannan's expression, however, turned extremely ugly.
Ning Fa didn't start immediately; instead, he closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
Although his spiritual power was recovering automatically, he still needed to alleviate his mental fatigue.
Less than fifteen minutes later, Ning Ruiming also finally finished his first furnace of Three Yuan Pills.
As steam billowed, a halo of light flew out from the alchemy furnace, containing three pale blue pills.
There were two successful pills and one failed pill.
Since failed pills were not counted in the competition results, both of them had a draw in their first furnace of Three Yuan Pills.
Ning Ruiming took a deep breath, but when his gaze fell upon the Three Yuan Pills floating beside Ning Fa, his face turned incredibly grim.
He felt an immense pressure, like an ocean, bearing down on him.
Although it seemed like a draw, he had actually lost.
In full view of everyone, he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of panic.
Especially when he glanced at his father's displeased expression and the Third Elder's calm demeanor, he felt tremendous pressure.
But he took a deep breath, a ruthless glint appearing in his eyes.
Thinking of the severe consequences of losing to Ning Fa, it only ignited his fierce determination.
He was now fighting with his back against the wall, with no room for retreat; even a narrow victory, he had to win!
He then cleared his mind and seized the time to regulate his breathing.
Just three hundred breaths later, Ning Fa opened his eyes, divine light shining brightly within them, and then he suddenly stood up, beginning his next round of alchemy.