At that moment, a spiritual light swept over, lifting the alchemy furnace and placing it steadily on the ground.
It was Wei Chengzong, who was standing nearby, who had made the move.
He looked at Ning Ruiming, who had been struck to the point of questioning his entire life, and even felt a bit of sympathy.
Ning Ruiming's performance today had been more than good enough; it was even beyond his usual capabilities.
But unfortunately, he had encountered the heaven-defying Ning Fa.
The gasps of the crowd just now had caused Ning Ruiming to lose control and glance at Ning Fa.
Upon seeing that Ning Fa had actually refined two batches of Three Yuan Pills simultaneously, and even managed to produce a total of seven pills from both batches, he completely broke down.
His remaining refining operations naturally couldn't continue, which directly led to the alchemy furnace nearly exploding.
He had already lost this competition.
Moreover, he had lost spectacularly, becoming a stepping stone for Ning Fa to gain fame within the family.
It was foreseeable that Ning Fa's astonishing feat today would undoubtedly be spread throughout the family and would endure for a long time.
Every time this alchemy competition was mentioned, Ning Ruiming would be brought up and ridiculed once more, becoming Ning Fa's perfect background character.
Ning Ruiming naturally understood this outcome, which was why he was so despairing now.
Ning Jiannan leaned back in his chair, his eyes tightly shut, as if he couldn't bear to witness Ning Ruiming's current miserable state.
Second Elder Ning Weidong glanced at Ning Zhongjiu, a faint smile in his eyes.
Ning Zhongjiu, however, had a slightly serious expression. He looked at Ning Fa, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
Fourth Elder Ning Weize chuckled lightly, "This has truly been eye-opening. It's a shame Hua Rong left too early; I think she'll regret it."
Ning Shaohong, who had been nervously worried for Ning Fa, let out a light sigh of relief, her smile growing wider.
At this moment, the last phantom flame spirit flower in the air also burned out.
The hall was utterly silent.
Wei Chengzong glanced at Ning Fa, couldn't help but swallow, and even felt a sense of unease.
Ning Fa had frightened him.
It wasn't just Ning Fa's astonishing alchemy talent; he was even more shocked by Ning Fa's ruthless methods.
Ning Fa had clearly deliberately used this split-mind, show-off technique.
His goal wasn't solely to win the competition.
It was more to heavily strike Ning Ruiming in front of everyone, even aiming to shatter his confidence in alchemy.
He also wanted the family to realize how far Ning Ruiming's alchemy talent lagged behind his own.
Ning Fa had clearly planned this day three months ago when he challenged Ning Ruiming.
What was terrifying was that three months later, he had actually achieved it.
With this inconceivable alchemy operation, he had utterly crushed Ning Ruiming.
Ning Fa's ruthless methods sent a chill down Wei Chengzong's spine.
This was because he himself had dealt with Ning Fa twice on Ning Ruiming's behalf.
The first time was obstructing his Pill Master assessment, and the second was using the excuse of issues with the Pill Hall's restrictions to prevent Ning Fa from moving into the Pill Hall, after which Ning Fa "coincidentally" got injured.
Now, seeing Ning Fa's formidable alchemy talent and his ruthless methods of retaliating against Ning Ruiming, Wei Chengzong suddenly panicked.
At this moment, Ning Shaohong on the high platform lightly chuckled, "Pill Master Wei, can you announce the results of the competition?"
Wei Chengzong snapped back to reality. He shifted uncomfortably, let out a dry laugh, and with a slightly unusual tone, announced:
"This competition has concluded. Within a total of nine hours, Ning Ruiming refined five Three Yuan Pills, and Ning Fa refined... twelve Three Yuan Pills. Ning Fa wins."
In the hall, there was a moment of silence so profound that one could hear a pin drop.
Ning Fa's complexion was slightly pale.
His magical power was not too bad; he had a little less than half remaining, and it was still recovering.
However, his spiritual sense had been heavily depleted, leaving him with less than ten percent.
The split-mind operation of refining two batches of pills simultaneously was not something he had decided on the spur of the moment.
It was an idea he had conceived more than half a month ago.
At that time, his success rate in refining Three Yuan Pills was already around fifty percent.
Ning Fa felt confident of victory. Upon learning that there was another spare alchemy furnace for the competition, he had a flash of inspiration and came up with this audacious move.
That was to refine two batches of pills simultaneously.
Once he won using this method, the effect would be absolutely explosive.
It was equivalent to knocking Ning Ruiming to the ground with one slap, and then stomping his face into the dirt with his foot.
This would become a lifelong mark of shame for Ning Ruiming, preventing him from ever holding his head high again.
Ning Fa felt a surge of excitement for his ingenious idea, and for the rest of the time, he worked tirelessly, forgetting to eat or sleep.
His daring thought wasn't born from blind arrogance, but from a solid foundation.
He possessed a unique advantage.
That advantage was his Great Five Elements Thunder Body and the Ancient Source Thunder Scripture he cultivated.
This allowed him to maintain precise, stable, and efficient magical power output even when refining two batches of pills simultaneously.
With Lesser Thunder Sources in both his left and right hands, he could execute hand seals with the agility of his own limbs, swift and unimpeded, without any mutual blockage or interference.
Even though his magical power consumption doubled, he had a vast reserve of magical power within him, supplemented by three other Lesser Thunder Sources, and the Main Thunder Source in his dantian, all continuously supplying magical power to the Lesser Thunder Sources in his arms.
Not to mention, his Thunder Body was constantly and automatically recovering magical power, making it feel like cheating.
Therefore, for Ning Fa, the greatest challenge wasn't a lack of magical power, but the limitations of his spiritual sense.
After all, refining two batches of pills at the same time placed an immense burden on his spiritual sense.
Up until yesterday, Ning Fa's success rate for this dual-tasking operation was less than fifty percent.
That's why Ning Fa was taking a risk by trying today.
But on this important occasion, he withstood the pressure and even performed beyond his usual level, executing the task flawlessly.
By refining two batches of pills simultaneously, he produced seven Three Yuan Pills, a feat he had never accomplished even at home.
Seeing Ning Ruiming looking as if he had lost his parents and his soul, a cold smile flashed across Ning Fa's lips.
He silently thought that this was just the beginning; he had only collected a small amount of interest today, and the real show was yet to come.
Ning Fa, with a harmless smile on his face, said to Ning Ruiming, "Brother Ruiming, you are too kind. I was truly fortunate to win today. You don't need to rush to move out of your residence in the Pill Hall; I'm not in a hurry."
A strange smile flickered in Ning Shaohong's eyes.
Ning Fa was too wicked; not only did he win, but he also rubbed salt into Ning Ruiming's wounds.
Wei Chengzong shifted restlessly again, feeling immense pressure.
Ning Ruiming, who had been slumped on the ground, questioning his entire existence, suddenly stood up, pointed at Ning Fa with agitated emotion, and roared:
"You cheated! You must have known how to refine Three Yuan Pills long ago! And then you deliberately competed with me in refining this pill!!"
Ning Jiannan on the high platform closed his eyes, unable to bear watching.
Wei Chengzong and Ning Shumou, among others, looked at Ning Ruiming with a hint of sympathy.
They knew Ning Ruiming had completely lost his composure.
Even if Ning Fa had truly known how to refine Three Yuan Pills before, so what?
But it was true that Ning Fa had just advanced to the Qi Condensation Mid-stage, and it was also true that Ning Ruiming had long since advanced to the Qi Condensation Late-stage and become a Grade 1 Mid-rank Pill Master.
Now, in a fair competition, he had suffered a crushing defeat. Anything more he said would only make him lose more face.
Ning Zhongjiu's brows furrowed, his eyes like a deep, cold pool. Suddenly, an invisible, immense force enveloped Ning Ruiming.
Ning Ruiming, who had been continuing his roar, felt as if he were bearing the weight of ten thousand pounds and couldn't utter another word.
Ning Zhongjiu let out a cold snort, "You lost, so you lost. Stop embarrassing yourself!