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

In order to open up the alchemy direction, Yun Fuzhao even went to learn the steps of alchemy. The more she looked at it, the more she felt that something was wrong. This was completely different from Qi Huai's usual alchemy method.

Everyone else is cautious, but he's not. He just throws all the herbs in without a care for their properties or interactions. Anyone who didn't know better would think he was making soup.

Qi Huai himself commented on this, saying, "It's just alchemy, why bother with all that? As long as the result is the same, who cares about the process?"

His casual and careless alchemy methods were fully reflected in his disciples.

Yun Fuzhao was already used to this and was quite confident in Ge An's alchemy methods. Not to mention, his alchemy furnace was already emitting a rich medicinal fragrance.

Unlike her, everyone else was stunned, staring in disbelief. "Why hasn't it exploded yet? He was clearly just messing around."

"I don't believe that you can really refine pills this way."

They certainly didn't believe it, but if there were any foxes present, they would know that this method was their fox clan's unique alchemy technique.

No matter what kind of medicinal materials are used, as long as the unique alchemy method of the fox clan is used, the furnace will not explode.

Ge An remained completely undisturbed. Before going on stage, he had already memorized the recipes for third-grade pills from the cultivation world. Now, he only needed to control the heat to refine the pills.

Ge Qianran was right beside him, and when he caught a glimpse of his alchemy method, a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes. No wonder he's so old and has accomplished nothing; he doesn't even know the most basic common sense.

He stopped paying attention to Ge An and focused all his attention on refining his own elixir.

The incense stick at the front burned quietly, and when it was two-thirds burned, a rich fragrance of incense wafted from the platform.

"As expected of a disciple of the Xuantian Sect, their strength is beyond question."

"The fragrance is so strong, it feels like it's of very high quality. I wonder if there will be any light when the lid is opened?"

High-quality pills will emit light when the lid is opened, with white light being the strongest, followed by purple light, and then decreasing in that order.

Ge Qianran followed closely behind, and this time they were even faster than Lingyue Sect.

He withdrew his hand triumphantly, having made a general judgment about the quality of the pill. He had a premonition that he would be able to surpass Lingyue Sect this time.

"Cousin, you'd better hurry up, the incense is about to burn out."

Ge Qianran crossed his arms, looking smug.

As the other alchemists around finished refining their pills, Ge An was left alone on the large platform.

The disciples of the Boundless Sword Sect were starting to lose their composure. "I have a feeling I'm going to die."

"No way, we're going to be eliminated in the preliminary rounds..."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Ge An was unusually nervous. Large beads of sweat slid down his forehead and dripped into his eyes, but he dared not be distracted to wipe them away.

Ge Qianran's smile deepened. "What a pity, my cousin is going to be eliminated in the preliminary round."

Buma stared at the incense, which was about to burn out. He raised his hand, but before he could speak, a strong fragrance of elixir filled the entire alchemy field.

Even the cultivators competing on the other side could smell this aroma.

"It smells so good. I wonder which sect's disciple made it."

"Is there any need to guess? It must have been refined by a disciple of our Xuantian Sect."

"My Lingyue Sect will be the first to object!"

The cultivators over there were discussing animatedly, while the group of alchemists over here were dumbfounded.

The atmosphere was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Ge An completed the refining of the Grade Three Foundation Strengthening Pill just one second before the incense burned out.

"Time's up! All alchemists, please cease your refining."

Bu Ma and the other two walked up to Dan Xiu one by one and asked him to open the alchemy furnace.

"Refining failed."

"The pill to be refined is a foundation-strengthening pill, not a beauty pill. Failure."

"Second rank, not up to the required level, eliminated."

They assess very quickly; they don't even need to open the lid. Just by smelling the aroma, they can tell whether the refining was done correctly and whether it reached the required grade.

When it was Ge Qianran's turn, Bu Ma nodded, "Third-grade blue rank, not bad."

His quality is second only to Xuan Tianzong, who refined the blue-grade.

"Thank you, elder."

Ge Qianran beamed with joy. Surpassing Lingyue Sect was already quite an achievement; now he would have something to brag about when he returned.

The three of them moved to stand in front of Ge An.

The moment that rich fragrance of elixir wafted out, all three of them knew that he was most likely to be the champion of this preliminary test.

"Uncover it."

Ge An nodded and carefully lifted the lid, instantly revealing a blinding purple light.

The audience gasped.

Standing beside him, Ge Qianran's expression froze. He looked at him in disbelief, even wondering if it was just his imagination.

Shi Weige: "Third-grade purple rank, that's really unexpected."

Gong Jiang: "It's been a long time since I've seen purple light appear during the preliminary exam."

Qi Huai nodded in satisfaction and said succinctly, "Okay."

Yun Fuzhao saw his tail swishing proudly behind him, and she nodded, "Very good."

Upon hearing this, Ge An scratched his head sheepishly and smiled shyly.

Buma couldn't help but ask, "I've never heard of your alchemy method before. Where did you learn it from?"

“Our sect’s teacher,” Ge An looked at Qi Huai, “is a very excellent alchemist.”

The three followed his gaze and saw Yun Fuzhao standing there, an androgynous beauty whose white hair was adorned with distinctive fox ears that twitched slightly.

They noticed the man at first, but couldn't see anything special about him. Plus, the rumors that he was the spirit pet of the sect leader of the Boundless Sword Sect made him even less worthy of their attention.

Unexpectedly, this spirit pet can also refine pills.

"The fox clan's origins are not simple," Bu Ma commented.

"Yun Fuzhao is really something else; both of her spirit pets are quite extraordinary."

"That one isn't anything special, I heard it's just a spirit snake, at most a fifth-grade one."

"I can't tell its rank, but it looks no different from an ordinary spirit snake."

After reading everything, Bu Ma announced, "The champion of this preliminary round is—"

"and many more!"

Ge Qianran interrupted him, "Senior Bu, I have a question."

Interrupted like this, Bu Ma frowned, his goodwill towards this junior diminished somewhat, but under the watchful eyes of everyone, he couldn't say anything, and simply replied, "What's the problem?"

"Alchemy emphasizes the alchemist's own skill. Can an alchemist who relies on external aids to produce high-quality pills truly be considered a qualified alchemist?"

These words drew envious agreement from many alchemists: "That's right, a truly good alchemist can refine excellent pills even in a fire-heated furnace."

"Ge An's alchemy furnace is only grade six. He can probably refine purple-grade pills mainly because of this furnace."

"Give me a sixth-rank position, and I'll take it too."

Ge An hadn't expected them to be so critical. Just as he was about to speak, a familiar female voice came from below.

"I remember there was no rule against using a sixth-grade alchemy furnace in the competition, right?" Yun Fuzhao asked slowly.

“No,” Ge Qianran said, “but do you dare say that Ge An didn’t have a pill-refining furnace to refine the purple-grade pills? If he did it with the help of a pill-refining furnace, then why is he ranked first?”

Yun Fuzhao smiled and said, "You mean the alchemy furnace? What a coincidence, it's made by the Rong family's forging shop."