"Nephew… are you really going to use that?" Old Fu asked, stroking his beard thoughtfully.
"What does he mean, use that?" Lian thought.
"How else am I supposed to refine a pill if I don't use my cauldron?"
Murmurs immediately spread through the room.
"Is that an open cauldron?" someone whispered.
"I haven't heard of a master using one in the last thousand years."
"They're notoriously difficult," another added.
"It's almost impossible to regulate heat properly. Why would he use such an ancient thing?"
"I'm starting to believe Pai Ying," someone scoffed.
"He probably stumbled upon some ruins and found both the cauldron and the pill inside. What a scammer."
"He's just trying to show off," another voice muttered.
"What's with all this ruckus?" Old Fu snapped sharply.
"How do you expect him to refine anything with all of you making such a fuss?"
The chatter died instantly.
"Well then, nephew," Old Fu said calmly, gesturing forward.
"Go on. Show us."
Just then, two young girls entered, each pushing a small trolley stacked with spiritual herbs.
"You only need to refine a basic Qi-Essence Pill," Old Fu continued.
"If you can manage that, you win."
"Huu…"
Lian took a deep breath and extended his will outward.
"Hoho…" Old Fu's eyes narrowed slightly.
"What is this feeling? I was certain he wasn't at the Sovereign stage. Is he hiding his realm… or does he possess a soul-cultivation technique?"
Lian's Qi surged forward. One by one, the ingredients lifted into the air and floated smoothly into the cauldron.
"Tsk—hahaha!" someone burst out laughing.
"I knew he was a fraud! How do you expect to refine anything by just tossing all the ingredients in at once?"
"They'll burn immediately!"
"Doesn't he realise each ingredient requires a different level of heat?" another sneered.
"If refined improperly, their properties will clash and ruin the pill entirely!"
He formed the first hand seal.
A blue flame ignited beneath the cauldron.
"My, my… what do we have here?" Old Fu thought, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"That isn't True Fire Qi—this is Fire Essence. Even at my age, I'm starting to feel intrigued by this young fellow."
Gasps rippled through the room.
"Can you feel it?" someone whispered.
"The nature of that flame…"
But this was only the beginning.
Lian extended his will into the cauldron, his consciousness plunging deep within as he began extracting the medicinal essences. Using the Four Seasons Refinement Cycle he had learned, he guided the herbs into rotation.
Spring gave birth.
Summer expanded.
Autumn condensed.
Winter stabilized.
The herbs clashed—yet instead of collapsing, their opposing forces locked together, solidifying and amplifying the extraction.
"How impressive," Old Fu muttered, unconsciously stepping closer.
"Yes… that's it," Lian thought calmly.
"Over ninety percent of the essence has been drawn out."
With precise control, he stripped away every last impurity, expelling the turbid residue from the cauldron.
The room filled with shifting scents.
At one moment, the aroma was sharp and piercing, enough to jolt the senses.
The next, it softened into a gentle floral fragrance that soothed the soul, causing several cultivators to relax their breathing unconsciously.
"Look at that," Old Fu thought, his heart stirring.
"There are more than five Qi natures inside the cauldron… yet instead of clashing, they're reinforcing one another."
"Even if he bottled this liquid as it is, it would already qualify as high-grade spirit medicine."
"Pai Ying has lost."
"What—what is this?!" someone shrieked.
Lian's hands suddenly turned golden as karmic energy surged around them, swirling like invisible threads of fate.
He exhaled sharply.
"Twenty-Four Palms!"
His hand shot forward.
PUNG!
The cauldron rang like a massive bell. Inside, the spirit liquid trembled violently as Lian compressed it with sheer will.
PUNG!
The second strike echoed even louder.
One by one, the surrounding alchemists sat down cross-legged, unable to resist.
Their Qi circulated instinctively as they entered cultivation, drawn in by the evolving pill like moths to a flame.
"This is the last strike… I still can't go past the fourth one, even now," Lian thought.
His arm swept through the air.
Afterimages bloomed behind it—layer upon layer—until it looked as though a thousand hands were striking at once.
"What the hell is this… what the fuck—damn it, damn it!" Pai Ying screamed internally as he watched the surrounding alchemists fall one after another into the lotus position.
"Is this truly his skill?"
"Even my seniors… they're gaining enlightenment just from watching him refine?"
"No… this can't be real. I refuse!"
Pai Ying staggered forward, his breath uneven. His face twisted grotesquely, his hands shaking uncontrollably, madness burning in his eyes as his Qi spiralled out of control.
"I knew it," Old Fu murmured, though his gaze never left Lian.
"He refuses to accept reality. At this rate, he'll suffer Qi deviation."
But even Old Fu's attention trembled, because something was wrong.
"I have to pour everything into the next strike."
The air around Lian shuddered violently.
The seasons shifted in rapid succession.
Summer's heat flared—
Autumn's pressure descended—
Winter's stillness crushed inward—
Spring's vitality surged forth—
Over and over, faster and faster, until the boundaries between them blurred.
Lian's feet slowly lifted from the ground.
The cauldron followed, rising with him as though bound by an invisible law.
Qi roared like a storm.
"Frog at the bottom of the well…"
One of the alchemists who had mocked Lian earlier collapsed to his knees, his voice trembling as enlightenment struck him like lightning.
"Heavenly resonance… that's it. I haven't seen this in years."
Old Fu spoke softly, a single tear slipping down his weathered face.
Wang Gu had already fallen backwards, staring up at Lian floating in the air.
"Brother… you are truly a heavenly talent!"
Lou Yi remained silent, watching everything unfold. She didn't even know what to say.
Paanng!
Lian struck again.
The sound rang out, clear and resonant, echoing endlessly. Everyone present felt the scenery shift for a brief moment.
A towering mountain range appeared before their eyes.
The sun rose slowly over its peaks.
The entire scene flowed like liquid ink, black and white moving like a living painting.
Crack!
The calm was shattered.
A thunderous roar descended from the heavens, striking Lian's cauldron directly. From within, a pill shot upward—
Another bolt of lightning followed, smashing into it.
"My… oh my," Old Fu whispered, his voice shaking.
"What am I witnessing?"
"That pill… It's undergoing a heavenly tribulation."
"What rank pill did this boy refine?!"
By now, the roof had already collapsed.
Lightning struck again.
And again.
Surrounding Qi surged wildly toward the pill.
At first, it was pitch black.
A layer cracked—
It turned brown.
Another crack—
It became golden, as intricate silver patterns formed across its surface like flowing veins.
Lian slowly descended, his feet touching the ground with a light step.
The pill continued to levitate on its own, spinning gently as it absorbed the remaining Qi from the tribulation.
Moments later, it drifted downward—
And landed softly in Lian's palm.