Finally, something he's not good at

The Alchemy Competition Begins

Huo Yan stood by the furnace, his hands pressed against its two sides.

Torrents of blazing alchemical fire spewed from his palms.

His movements were fluid and effortless, every gesture precise, clearly honed through countless practice.

He controlled the temperature inside the furnace with extreme accuracy; herbs tumbled and separated within, tendrils of medicinal fragrance drifting out.

While alchemizing, he glanced at Qin Hao beside him.

There, Qin Hao had his hands on his own furnace, tossing all the herbs in at once before channeling his spiritual energy into it.

Qin Hao's spiritual energy was rough and overbearing, lacking any of the delicacy and restraint required for alchemy.

At the same time, under the violent impact of his spiritual energy, the furnace emitted a rumbling hum.

It seemed like it might explode at any moment.

Seeing this, Huo Yan froze for a moment, then the corners of his mouth involuntarily curled upward.

"This is exactly how an alchemy beginner looks."

Earlier, when Qin Hao had produced the Ten Thousand Transformations Heart Furnace, Huo Yan had actually been intimidated by its shape and aura.

He thought Qin Hao was some hidden master of alchemy—only to see this technique.

Huo Yan couldn't help shaking his head.

Qin Hao's spiritual energy output was utterly chaotic; he had no control over the heat whatsoever—it was all about a big flame to reduce the liquid.

He didn't even bother with the order of adding the herbs, just dumping everything in at once.

Huo Yan silently speculated,

"At this rate, he'd struggle to refine even a high-grade spirit pill, let alone an immortal pill!"

Shaking his head, Huo Yan withdrew his gaze and focused on his own furnace.

His technique was seasoned; he cast alchemical seals into the furnace one after another.

The herbs inside gradually merged, the embryonic form of the pill slowly taking shape.

The audience below had also caught on.

"Look at Ye Hao's technique—doesn't it feel a bit off?"

"Off? It's obviously just a beginner's approach. Look at how he's pouring in spiritual energy—someone who knows what they're doing would say he's alchemizing; someone who doesn't would think he's fighting. Alchemy isn't done this way."

"No way? His eye techniques, body skills, swordsmanship, and formations were all so strong before—how is his alchemy this terrible?"

"Why not? This is normal. It just shows that even someone as powerful as him has weaknesses. Sure, he might become an alchemy master in the future, but for now, he's too inexperienced to excel in everything."

Many were whispering; some shook their heads in disappointment, hoping Qin Hao would work another miracle.

Others secretly felt relieved—finally, here was an area where Qin Hao fell short.

Ling Shuangshuang frowned from her seat on the platform, clearly seeing that Qin Hao's alchemy technique didn't belong to someone skilled in the art.

"Is he going to lose?"

Ling Shuangshuang felt uneasy inside.

Time passed minute by minute.

Huo Yan's alchemy had entered its final stage; gurgling sounds began to emerge from his furnace.

This signaled that the pill was about to be formed. Sweat dotted his forehead, but his eyes grew brighter.

Soon, soon!

Within another incense stick's worth of time, his low-grade immortal pill would be completed.

Compared to the fully focused Huo Yan, Qin Hao was far more relaxed.

As time went on, Qin Hao grew increasingly bored.

He didn't know how to alchemize at all—his process was entirely handled by the Ten Thousand Transformations Heart Furnace itself.

Just for show, he had already been standing by the alchemy furnace for nearly an hour. By now, he was utterly bored.

“If I’d known he’d challenge me to this, I wouldn’t have accepted. Alchemy is such a waste of time. In the time I’ve spent here, I could’ve beaten so many people already.”

After the time it took to burn one incense stick, a crisp hum rang out from the furnace before Huo Yan. The lid quivered slightly as threads of alchemical vapor seeped out through the gaps.

The vapor was a pale gold, so thick it almost seemed to solidify. The scent of medicinal herbs filled the entire arena, invigorating everyone who caught a whiff.

“With fumes like that, the quality of that pill is high!”

“The furnace is about to open. Let’s see what grade of pill he’s made.”

All eyes fixed on Huo Yan.

A faint smile tugged at Huo Yan’s lips as an unmistakable look of pride crept across his face. He stood up, formed a hand seal, and struck the furnace with an alchemical charm.

“Open!”

The lid flew off, and a golden light shot up from the furnace, circling three times above the arena before slowly descending back into Huo Yan’s palm.

A pill the size of a dragon’s eye rested quietly in his hand, perfectly round and covered in dense pill patterns, radiating a soft golden glow.

An aura unique to immortal-grade pills spread from the pill, enveloping the entire arena.

“Immortal-grade, lower tier! It’s an immortal-grade lower-tier pill!”

“The pill patterns are intact, and the glow flows clearly. The quality is almost reaching middle tier. Huo Yan truly is the alchemy prodigy of Danxia Valley!”

“That’s trouble for Ye Hao! His technique clearly screams rookie. If Huo Yan had only made a spirit-grade pill, Ye Hao might stand a chance. But against an immortal-grade pill, he has no hope!”

“Ahhh.” Qin Hao yawned, stretched lazily, and then shot a glance at the pill in Huo Yan’s hand.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. An immortal-grade pill! Such a rarity. In all my life, I’ve never come across many pills of this tier. The worst I’ve ever seen were emperor-grade lower tier.”

Smirking to himself, Qin Hao figured that his own Wandao Dharma Heart Furnace was just about done refining its pill.

So he poured more effort into it, channeling his spiritual energy into the furnace like it cost nothing, throwing it in recklessly.

At this sight, the crowd below buzzed with discussion:

“Seriously, what is Ye Hao doing? The further you get into alchemy, the more careful you need to be, especially with high-grade pills. One slip and you lose everything. Why is he doing the opposite? Getting wilder toward the end?”

“Who knows. Maybe seeing that Huo Yan already finished his pill got him panicked.”

“With his method, he’d be lucky to pull off even a high-tier spirit-grade pill!”

In the audience, Ling Shuangshuang clenched her fists, her eyes locked onto Qin Hao’s furnace. She was a major alchemy expert herself, but she had never seen anyone refine pills the way Qin Hao did.

“His whole alchemy stance doesn’t look like a rookie. It looks like someone who’s never touched alchemy in his life!”

“So many people won before him. He’s not going to stumble here, is he?”

Just as the crowd was murmuring among themselves, Qin Hao’s Wandao Dharma Heart Furnace suddenly went silent.

The quiet came without warning. The furnace, which had been buzzing and vibrating just a moment ago, now produced no sound at all.

“Huh? Why is it quiet?”

“Ah, haha! I’ve seen furnaces blow up plenty of times, but a furnace going cold out of nowhere? That’s a first for me!”

Qin Hao’s expression was calm and composed. He withdrew his hands, which had been channeling spiritual energy, and took two steps back.

“Open!”

He uttered the word softly, and no sooner had the sound faded than—

“BUZZ—!!!”

The Ten-Thousand Transformations Dao Heart Cauldron trembled violently, and a deep, muffled roar echoed from within the cauldron!