The eldest sister just wanted to give up, while the spirit swords vied to recognize her as their mas

Yun Fuzhao was taken aback. "Why are you swearing?"

Qi Huai: "..."

The preliminary test was a two-person competition. Yun Fuzhao discussed it with his disciples and decided to send Wang Liang and Yi Nong. Both of them were of stable strength and were basically able to defeat Guan Shanzong.

The alchemy competition is different from other competitions; it does not require fighting or killing. You only need to refine the specified pills within a specific time.

Those who fail to refine the pill or exceed the time limit will not be able to proceed to the second round. The first round is relatively simple, generally requiring the refinement of a second-grade pill, and mainly tests one's mentality.

For the initial examination, Fu Zhao decided to send Ge An. He was steady and not arrogant or impatient. Qi Huai said that as long as he worked steadily, he would achieve great things in the future.

"The Boundless Sword Sect is going to refine pills too? Are they crazy?"

"Why are you doing alchemy instead of practicing swordsmanship? Can't you keep practicing your swordsmanship?"

"Everyone has their own expertise. Just you wait and see, the Boundless Sword Sect will be eliminated in the first round."

Most disciples did not have a high opinion of their sect.

"Hilarious! Isn't this Ge An? He's so old and still hasn't refined a first-grade pill. What was Yun Fuzhao thinking, daring to put him on the list?"

“Talented alchemists have long been picked up by other sects, and those with even a little bit of talent wouldn’t choose the Boundless Sword Sect, a sect with no talent, no resources, and no connections. In the end, the alchemists she can find are only of this level.”

Ge An walked onto the stage, unaffected by their comments. He found his place and stood still.

The person next to him is a disciple of Medicine King Valley.

Medicine King Valley is a place that specializes in alchemy and cultivation.

Their sect ranks tenth in alchemy cultivation, and like the Boundless Sword Sect, they specialize in one area. Over the years, they have produced many outstanding alchemists.

“Long time no see, cousin,” Ge Qianran went over to greet him. “After all these years, a sect is finally willing to take you in.”

He looked at Yun Fuzhao below the stage and mocked, "You're really too indiscriminate. You even dared to go to the Boundless Sword Sect, a sect that's feared by thousands. If your uncle finds out, he won't break your legs, will he?"

Ge pursed her lips and remained silent.

Yuan Youxi said, "Ge Qianran and Ge An are from the same family. The Ge family is in the business of selling medicinal herbs and is quite well-known in the cultivation world."

After spending more than a month together, Yuan Youxi had basically figured out the backgrounds of her disciples. She whispered to Yun Fuzhao, "Ge An is the son of the Ge family head. I heard that because his qualifications are too poor, the Ge family head will soon be ousted."

Let Ge Qianran's father take over. Ge Qianran has been taken in as a personal disciple by the Grand Elder of Medicine King Valley, and he's at the height of his power; the entire Ge family has to fawn over him.

Yun Fuzhao hadn't expected there to be such a connection. "No wonder Ge Qianran looks so arrogant."

He's probably been flattered a lot, and he looks down on everyone.

"This preliminary test requires you to refine a Grade 3 Foundation Building Pill. All alchemists are requested to refine it within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Afterwards, it will be judged by three Pill Kings."

The ranks of alchemists are from one to nine, followed by alchemist, alchemist king, alchemist sect master, and alchemist saint. After alchemist saint, one ascends to godhood.

These three Pill Kings are Bu Ma from Xuantian Sect, Shi Weige from Lingyue Sect, and Gong Jiang from Xiaoyao Sect.

The Free and Unfettered Sect ranks fifth, the Valley of Ten Thousand Beasts ranks fourth, and the Joyful Union Sect ranks third.

These sects, except for the Joyful Union Sect, are all well-rounded and their strength should not be underestimated. These three always preside over the alchemy competitions, and almost everyone who practices alchemy knows them.

"Senior Shi is really beautiful. To be honest, I came here for her."

"All three of them are good-looking. Everyone says that cultivators can freeze their age, and these three are living examples. If you didn't know, you wouldn't know that they are almost two hundred years old."

Bu Ma raised his hand, "Silence, all alchemists, please prepare yourselves, the competition is about to begin."

The alchemists on the stage took out their alchemy furnaces. Alchemy furnaces and pills would be provided on-site. The pills had to be provided on-site, but there were no strict requirements for the alchemy furnaces.

Ge Qianran turned to Ge An and said, "We're brothers, do you want me to lend you my alchemy furnace? It's a third-grade furnace, you've never used one before, have you?"

His tone was condescending, as if he were bestowing a handout.

Ge An shook his head. "I prepared it myself."

Hearing this, the alchemists nearby all looked over. Most of them had no teachers, and now that they had such a good opportunity, they naturally wanted to belittle Ge An in order to curry favor with Ge Qianran.

"He really doesn't know what's good for him. What kind of good alchemy furnace could he possibly have?"

"Brother Qianran, if he doesn't want it, can I have it? I've never used such a fine alchemy furnace in my life."

Ge Qianran disagreed, "Take it."

The man was overjoyed, as if he had found a treasure.

Ge An ignored the noise from the outside world and carefully took out his alchemy furnace from his storage bag.

As soon as the alchemy furnace hit the ground, an eerie silence fell over everyone.

They were all alchemists; how could they not see the quality?

"Sixth grade?"

"Where did Ge An get such a good thing? Didn't they say the Ge family had given up on him?"

Ge Qianran's expression was not good. His own alchemy furnace was only of the fifth grade, and he had gone to great lengths to obtain it. "Who gave you this alchemy furnace?"

Ge An did not hide anything, "We are from the same clan."

He didn't forget what the sect leader had said about promoting it well: "Entering the Boundless Sword Sect will give you a sixth-grade alchemy furnace, one for each person."

"...Is this for real?"

"Damn, the Boundless Sword Sect has really gone all out."

Yun Fuzhao nodded with a look of satisfaction. "Not bad, you've remembered what she said."

In a sense, the alchemy furnace is also an invisible competition. Looking at the entire stage, only Ge An's alchemy furnace is of the sixth grade.

Even the other major sects are only at the fourth rank.

A sixth-grade alchemy furnace is very expensive; it costs at least several hundred high-grade spirit stones at the Zhenpin Pavilion.

Large sects have many disciples; if everyone had this level of qualifications, there wouldn't be enough spirit stones to go around. Moreover, the disciples sent to participate in the preliminary test are relatively mediocre, and the sects aren't fools; they won't waste their resources on mediocre individuals.

After this incident, everyone's attention turned to Ge An, wanting to see what he was capable of.

Foundation-Strengthening Pill, as the name suggests, is used to consolidate one's foundation, and is mostly used in the stage of breaking through the Spiritual Nirvana stage during Foundation Building.

The conventional alchemical approach involves adding one ingredient at a time, gradually, to avoid any adverse interactions or problems caused by conflicting medicinal properties.

Alchemy is a delicate art that requires not only patience but also extremely strong control over the heat, because if it is not controlled properly, it will explode.

"Oh!"

A loud bang was heard on the field, and some alchemists had already blown up their furnaces because they lost control of the heat due to nervousness.

The disciples on the stage became even more nervous upon hearing this voice, fearing that they too might fail.

"Wait, Ge An threw all the medicinal herbs in? Is he making elixirs or stewing soup?"

"Being second-rate is being second-rate. I'm afraid the Boundless Sword Sect has never even grasped what alchemy is all about."

"I give up. If you can't refine pills, don't participate. It's embarrassing."

"Am I the only one hoping his alchemy furnace will explode? Hahahaha."

However, to everyone's surprise, his alchemy furnace did not explode. Instead, it emitted a strong herbal aroma.