On the plaza atop Ningcui Peak, the four major competitions of the Danxin Sect were proceeding simultaneously.
Due to this year's new regulations, many disciples who had been excessively fraudulent in the past were compelled to participate in the grand competition.
At this moment, these habitually cheating disciples were making spectacles of themselves in the competition arena.
One person attempted to refine a flying sword, but after much effort and sweating profusely, couldn't even produce a simple fire poker.
Another managed to injure himself while crafting talismans on the spot.
The alchemy competition was an even bigger disaster zone; some individuals didn't even realize they had picked the wrong spiritual herbs, while others couldn't control their flames and ended up burning off their own eyebrows.
These various embarrassing failures brought immense joy to the disciples watching from outside the arena, lifting their spirits, clearing their minds, and making them feel like they could eat two more bowls of rice that day.
Among the disciples of the Danxin Sect, those who were wealthy were, after all, only a minority.
The majority of them could only diligently work, complete tasks, and earn meager spirit stones and contribution points to sustain their cultivation.
Seeing that the rich young masters could exchange large amounts of spirit stones for contribution points and live carefree lives, they naturally felt unbalanced.
Now, witnessing these disciples make fools of themselves, they not only rejoiced but also offered sarcastic remarks.
Among them, Xiao Fei naturally became the focal point of everyone's mockery.
In their eyes, Xiao Fei was clearly also a rich young master.
"Hahaha! Even True Person Guangling can't wake someone who's pretending to be asleep."
"Perhaps he's confident in his abilities and is just meditating beforehand, intending to showcase his skills later!"
"Hahaha..."
Amidst the jeers of many onlookers, Xiao Fei opened his eyes, ignoring the chatter of the idle bystanders.
Although these people were cultivators, they lacked brains and only possessed mouths; they were destined to be mere supporting characters, forever complaining and blaming others.
Compared to Huang Feifei, who also lacked background and origin, and was merely a woman, her spirit of striving and progress was far superior to these onlookers.
Xiao Fei scanned the Qingning Pill medicinal ingredients he had received with his divine sense and discovered the presence of Huangqian Root, which was extremely similar to the Sangcao Root required by the pill formula, making it easy to confuse.
In the past six months, he hadn't just been refining pills in his spatial dimension; he had also extensively read various books, dedicating considerable effort to understanding all sorts of spiritual herbs, their medicinal principles, and properties.
He believed that the sect wouldn't make such a low-level mistake, and this Huangqian Root was likely intentionally mixed in as the first step of the test.
He swept his divine sense over the surrounding alchemy disciples and noticed that several pill furnaces were already emitting thick black smoke, clearly indicating failed attempts at alchemy.
Xiao Fei picked out the Huangqian Root that had been mixed in, then ignited the spiritual charcoal to warm the furnace, and finally added the medicinal ingredients. His movements were fluid and unhurried, executed with composure.
"Heh, this kid can't pretend anymore."
"I bet his alchemy process will fail before the time it takes an incense stick to burn!"
Many of the disciples watching, who had just been mocking Xiao Fei, now that he had begun refining, psychologically did not wish for his success, as it would be tantamount to them being proven wrong.
However, True Person Guangling on the main stage let out a soft "Hmm."
An expert's move is immediately recognizable.
True Person Guangling, a third-rank alchemist, had also seen countless people and could discern a person's alchemy skill from subtle details.
Xiao Fei's movements were fluid, his techniques skillful and naturally graceful, especially his meticulous control with his divine sense.
It would take at least ten years of diligent practice to reach such a level.
It seemed he had misunderstood this disciple earlier. Simultaneously, with the arrogance of a victor, he glanced at the envoys from the three sects.
These envoys, also alchemists, could naturally tell at a glance that this was a disciple who had put in hard work in alchemy, far from someone who idled about without learning.
People are like this: if Xiao Fei could display a relatively high level of alchemy skill, his previous behavior would be seen as preparation before refining, undisturbed by external factors, a sign of firm will.
But if he performed poorly, it would be considered shirking responsibility and unforgivable.
It's like how excellent people read books even while sleeping, while mediocre people fall asleep as soon as they pick up a book.
While Xiao Fei was fully engrossed in alchemy, almost half of the disciples in the arena had already failed.
Most of their pills were also ready to be taken out.
At this moment, after Shen Chuyao made her final hand seal, she lifted the lid of her pill furnace.
As a strong contender for first place this time, she naturally attracted the attention of everyone, and all eyes turned towards her pill furnace.
"Wow! Eight pills!"
"These aren't the pills she usually excels at refining; these were randomly drawn. Achieving this result is already very difficult."
Before the crowd's amazement had subsided, the disciples from the Chiyang Sect and Ziwei Sect, who were there for exchanges, had also finished refining, with a success rate of seventy percent.
"The disciples from these two sects are also very formidable this year!"
"These two sects are not skilled in alchemy, so achieving this result is truly remarkable."
"Look quickly, the remaining disciple from the Zixia Sect has also produced pills, and surprisingly, also achieved eight pills."
"Judging by this trend, our Danxin Sect's position is in jeopardy!"
On the viewing platform, the envoys from the three sects wore pleased expressions. The four sects each had their own strengths.
The Danxin Sect often represented the highest level of alchemy in the entire Lv Country's immortal cultivation world.
Their ability to catch up to the Danxin Sect in alchemy meant that they could seize more benefits in the future pill market.
At this point, only Zuo Qiuliang and Xiao Fei had not yet produced their pills.
Everyone's gaze was focused on Zuo Qiuliang, hoping he would achieve a better result and crush the disciples of the three sects.
Internally, they might dislike and mock each other, but when facing external enemies, they showed remarkable unity and solidarity.
As for Xiao Fei, who was also concentrating on alchemy, he was overlooked.
After all, a newcomer who was unknown and had never appeared on the rankings before, it was already impressive enough to make it onto the rankings. In such a peak confrontation, he had no part to play.
Amidst the anticipation of the masses, Zuo Qiuliang produced his pills, and his furnace also contained only eight pills.
At this, the entire Danxin Sect, from ordinary disciples to the elders of the Pill Hall, began to feel anxious.
Based on the current results, Zuo Qiuliang, Shen Chuyao, and the disciple from the Zixia Sect were tied for first place, with no clear winner.
If the Zixia Sect were to win first place this time, it would be a great loss of face for the Danxin Sect once it spread throughout the immortal cultivation world.
Just as all the Danxin Sect cultivators were worrying, Xiao Fei also produced his pills, yielding seven pills.
Under normal circumstances, for a newcomer to achieve such a result would have been enough to elicit gasps of astonishment from the crowd.
However, today, no one had the leisure to pay attention to the emergence of a dark horse.
After all, no matter how remarkable this dark horse was, it ultimately could not contend for the first position.
Talisman crafting, Chiyang Sect artifact refining, Danxin Sect alchemy, Zixia Sect formations.