The event was held on a hilltop in the resort. The hilltop was quite special; it looked as if the entire top had been flattened by a knife, and a plaza had been set up on it.
Qi Zhiheng and the other alchemists were going to hold their competition here. This place was very spacious, and not only alchemists were competing here, but other cultivators who had chosen to participate would also compete here, though they would be divided into several camps.
Many of the spectators in the stands were disciples from various sects. These disciples were the most likely to enter the secret realm to cultivate under the Enlightenment Tree after the competition. Of course, there were also some who were simply there to watch the excitement.
Sitting in the huge square, surrounded by a bustling crowd, Qi Zhiheng found a spot and placed his alchemy furnace in front of him.
The first round was only meant to eliminate a portion of the participants. Qi Zhiheng casually refined a batch of pills, and although none of them were top-grade, it was enough for him to advance to the next round.
The two level-five alchemists naturally didn't join this group of alchemists; they could wait until the final competition to participate.
Three days later, only five hundred alchemists remained; the rest had no chance of getting a spot.
Qi Zhiheng and the remaining alchemists of the Lu Shen Sect gathered together. In the end, eight people remained, all of them fourth-level alchemists, including Qi Dong.
Qi Dong and Qi Zhiheng are quite special, as they are both Golden Core cultivators, which makes them stand out among the Nascent Soul cultivators.
Despite the probing gazes around him, Qi Zhiheng remained unmoved.
Qi Dong stood beside Qi Zhiheng, looking somewhat anxious. He transmitted his voice, saying, "It's quite embarrassing with so many people watching."
Qi Zhiheng glanced at him and said, "Then you should stand further away from me."
Qi Dong looked him up and down: "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Your grandson is the center of attention, isn't he?" Qi Zhiheng was already used to ignoring the stares around him.
"Hey, Zhiheng, why do I feel like you're getting more and more shameless?" Qi Dong nudged Qi Zhiheng with his elbow.
Qi Zhiheng smiled and said, "Grandpa, you flatter me."
As the two were talking, they heard someone whisper, "Qin Wangxue, the alchemist from the Shenmu Sect, and Yu Zhi, the alchemist from the Tianyuan Sect."
Looking in the direction of the voice, the newcomers were none other than the two level-five alchemists.
The two men looked to be around the same age, like two middle-aged men, but their appearances were quite different. Yu Zhi from Tianyuan Sect had an average appearance, while Qin Wangxue from Shenmu Sect looked like a handsome middle-aged man.
Both of them were already quite old, but Yu Zhi was over a thousand years older than Qin Wangxue.
The two level-five alchemists were positioned differently from the others, at the head of the table.
As soon as Yu Zhi and Qin Wangxue took their seats, everyone's attention was drawn to them. The discussion shifted from Qi Zhiheng to the two alchemists.
"Looks like you've fallen out of favor." Qi Dong's tone held a hint of schadenfreude.
Qi Zhiheng almost doubted whether this was his own grandfather: "Anyway, I don't care."
After everyone was seated, the alchemy process would soon begin.
Qi Zhiheng also began refining pills. Considering that there were still two level-five alchemists, he didn't hold back and planned to refine just five top-grade pills.
While refining pills, Qi Dong chatted with Qi Zhiheng: "Those two level-five alchemists haven't even started yet. Are they going to refine level-five pills?"
Qi Zhiheng was also unaware of the situation, and replied via telepathy, "That should be it. If a fifth-level alchemist doesn't refine district-level pills, then their vision is far too narrow."
As Qi Zhiheng was speaking, he began refining pills.
The two level-five alchemists over there also started to fight.
Qi Zhiheng diverted a bit of his attention to them, and then he was dumbfounded. The other party was also refining a level four pill!
Qi Zhiheng glared at her, then focused on refining the pills, but he had already made up his mind to get third place.
Qi Zhiheng then asked Qi Dong, who was standing next to him, "Grandpa, do you think you can get fourth place?"
Qi Dong also glanced at the head of the table: "It's hard to say, hard to say! There are many powerful alchemists in the Divine Wood Sect."
After Qi Zhiheng finished speaking, he quickly immersed himself in alchemy. His progress was extremely fast. Seeing that the others were very slow, he felt embarrassed and slowed down. He put the pills through the furnace again before finishing the alchemy.
By this time, several alchemists had already completed their pill refining, and Qi Zhiheng was not particularly outstanding among them.
He placed the pills into the medicine bottle. That last rotation had refined the originally planned five top-grade pills into seven.
"Master Qi is quite fast."
"Speed doesn't mean anything; quality is what matters."
Qi Zhiheng closed his eyes to rest, waiting for the others to refine the pills.
Qi Dong followed suit and refined the pills as well. After putting the pills away, the two began to chat via telepathy.
The two level-five alchemists were secretly competing, and Qi Zhiheng watched everything unfold, treating it all as a performance.
As I looked at it, something felt off.
Qi Zhiheng transmitted his voice, "I feel like something's not quite right."
Qi Dong glanced at the platform and immediately noticed something amiss: "I can tell there's something wrong with the pills they're making."
Qi Zhiheng looked at Qi Dong.
Qi Dong said, "They are refining level four pills."
Qi Zhiheng coughed lightly, turning his attention to the stage: "It really is! Why don't they refine level 5 pills?" And why are these two having so much trouble refining level 4 pills?
Qi Dong thought for a moment and transmitted his voice, "Perhaps it's because level-five spiritual herbs are too precious. And the probability of them forming pills is much lower."
Qi Zhiheng thought about it and agreed. Finding level-five spiritual herbs in Nanzhou was not an easy task. For the sake of a competition, they probably couldn't produce many spiritual herbs.
"If it's this slow for just two people to refine level four pills, perhaps the success rate for level five pills will be even lower," Qi Zhiheng could only explain.
Yu Zhi and Qin Wangxue finished making their pills almost simultaneously, producing ten pills each. Qi Zhiheng couldn't discern the quality of these pills and could only wait for the results.
Unlike the other two level-five alchemists, who placed their pills on the referee's table and then went to rest, Qi Zhiheng and the others had to wait for other alchemists to finish refining their pills.
Three days after the start of the competition, the deadline for submitting the elixirs arrived, and by then even if someone was still refining them, they had already lost their chance.
Qi Zhiheng labeled the pill bottle with his own number and then had it delivered.
Qi Zhiheng's number is 135.
Then they began to announce the quality of the elixirs.
The person testing the pills will announce their serial numbers, but the identity of the person represented by each number is unknown. These numbers are drawn by the alchemist at the beginning; one end is affixed to the pill bottle, and the other is carried on the alchemist's person. After the results are announced, the alchemist will collect their own pill and ranking.
This is largely considered fair. Furthermore, since all the alchemists present remained in place, the possibility of exchanging pills was eliminated.
One by one, the alchemists' pills were announced, but Qi Zhiheng waited for a long time without hearing his own number.
When it came to the last dozen or so pills, the person testing the pills' voice trembled: "Number 328, six Grade 4 High-grade pills, four Grade 4 Extreme-grade pills—" He drew out the last syllable, and everyone below the stage heard it clearly!
Everyone was convinced that this must have been the work of two level-five alchemists!
Qi Zhiheng had the same thought. He looked at the two alchemists on the stage, both of whom remained completely calm, making it impossible to tell which one the pill belonged to.
After reading the names of two more people, the examiner's voice became even more excited: "Number 87, seven high-grade level four pills, three top-grade level four pills—"
Having already achieved the results of the previous four top-grade pills, the first three top-grade pills were not so outstanding.
Qi Zhiheng immediately looked at Qi Dong next to him.
Qi Dong smiled and looked back at his grandson, transmitting his voice, "This time it's mine, so I'm sure I'll be in the top five." The previous results have all been read out, and the remaining ten or so haven't been read out yet. As long as there are no surprises, the top five should be no problem.
Qi Zhiheng looked at the two level-five alchemists, both of whom had expressions of joy.
This led Qi Zhiheng to some speculation. He twitched his lips and transmitted his voice, "It seems that the two fifth-level alchemists are evenly matched."
Qi Dong asked, "How did you know?"
Qi Zhiheng: "Two level-five alchemists told me."
Qi Dong gave him a "you're just talking nonsense" look and secretly rolled his eyes.
Qi Zhiheng: "I'm telling the truth. When the inspector read out the four top-grade level four pills, these two level five alchemists were very calm. But when they heard that there were three top-grade pills, their eyes were full of pride."
Qi Dong: "That's right, but what does that prove?"
Qi Zhiheng's lips curled into a subtle smile as he continued to transmit his voice: "That proves that the four top-grade pills just now belonged to one of them. And when your three top-grade pills were read out, they all thought they belonged to the other. I guess both of you level-five alchemists achieved scores of four top-grade pills!"
Qi Dong shook his head slightly and said, "Your guess is unreasonable. Aren't there numbers? Wouldn't they know how to read the numbers? If one of the level 5 alchemists heard that the number just now wasn't theirs, wouldn't that prove that the four top-grade pills just now belonged to the other party? At least one level 5 alchemist wouldn't doubt it."
Qi Zhiheng: "You forgot one thing."
Qi Dong: "Which point?"
Qi Zhiheng: "Those two probably don't know their own numbers."
Qi Dong: "..."
He recalled that the two alchemists seemed to have finished refining the pills and then sent them up. During this process, no one put a number on their pill bottles.
Qi Zhiheng: "Their numbers were submitted directly, and someone else even helped them put them on."
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