Ye Chen opened his internal space, revealing an Orchid Snake Fruit that was nearly nine thousand years old. It resembled a small, emerald-green serpent made of jade, crystalline and translucent, exuding an orchid-like fragrance that was utterly captivating.
He casually tossed it into the Chaos Cauldron. Within, Chaos Dao Fire blazed forth. With a whoosh, the Dao Fire engulfed the Orchid Snake Fruit.
Under the immense pressure of Ye Chen's powerful Chaos Saint Soul, the Orchid Snake Fruit, as if possessing a spirit, emitted a shrill serpentine shriek. Ultimately, under the burning of the Dao Fire, it slowly melted into a puddle of sparkling medicinal liquid.
As the Dao Fire continued to burn, this fist-sized puddle of liquid gradually shrank and concentrated over time, continuously reducing in size until it finally condensed into a single drop of juice the size of a thumb. It was flawless and crystalline, even more lustrous than emerald jade.
Looking at this tiny drop of juice, though only thumb-sized, it contained all the Dao essence and purity of the entire Orchid Snake Fruit. Its energy was terrifyingly potent.
Subsequently, Ye Chen followed the alchemy recipe's sequence, throwing in the second ingredient—a ten-thousand-year medicine treasure—and continued the refining process.
Thanks to the miraculous effects of the small Dan Cauldron and his Chaos Saint Soul, which had grown stronger after the tribulation, Ye Chen became even more adept at extracting essence from medicinal liquids. One by one, the ingredients were successively refined into shimmering, radiant medicinal liquids.
Among them were several Medicine Spirits.
Naturally, these Medicine Spirits resisted, unwilling to be completely refined, as they had developed a sliver of spiritual intelligence at this stage and did not wish to vanish. However, Ye Chen communicated with them and did not refine the entire Medicine Spirit; simply cutting off a portion of their branches, leaves, or fruit was sufficient.
One could sense that the spiritual nature of the medicinal liquid contained within these Medicine Spirits was far beyond imagination. They even contained some profound Dao fragments, some involving the mysteries of the myriad heavens' Dao and even longevity, which was astonishing.
No wonder these Medicine Spirits could break through the ten-thousand-year limit, reaching ages of tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand years.
Just as Ye Chen began refining the God King Pill according to the recipe, the other alchemy prodigies had naturally long since started refining their respective pills from the recipes they obtained.
Within those Dan Cauldrons, brilliant light shone as various ingredients were successively thrown in, transforming into medicinal liquids and continuously being refined into pills.
Although higher-grade recipes offered a greater chance of winning the championship, pills of that level were also increasingly difficult to refine, with the failure rate multiplying.
Therefore, many alchemy prodigies harbored some dark thoughts, hoping that those who obtained high-grade recipes would ultimately fail during the refining process and be forced to withdraw. That would give these lower or mid-grade alchemists a higher chance of winning.
However, anyone qualified to participate in this Alchemy Grand Competition basically possessed extraordinary attainments in the alchemical Dao, at the very least being Seventh-Level Alchemists. Someone like Ye Chen, an ordinary alchemist, was a rare exception, practically a bizarre oddity.
The Alchemy Grand Competition had corresponding time limits, set at five days.
Because some pills required exceptionally long refining times, five days were provided. If one couldn't refine it within five days, there was nothing more to say.
As time passed, many alchemy prodigies successively failed.
Although their alchemical skills were extraordinary, the pill-refining process was often filled with unpredictable, sudden situations. The slightest deviation could lead to complete failure.
One wrong step leads to many wrong steps—this saying applied perfectly here.
Nevertheless, they had sufficient ingredients and quickly adjusted their mindset to begin refining anew.
Among them, prodigies like Dan Xian, Xi Men Dao, and Zhang Feiyang were outstanding. Even while refining high-grade seventh-rank pills, they remained calm and composed, confidence evident in their brows as they skillfully refined one heavenly treasure after another without failure.
From their Dan Cauldrons, brilliant light continuously erupted.
The gazes of the vast majority of people present fell on these few individuals, as they were the true favorites to win the championship.
As for the oddity like Ye Chen, who dared to use his own main weapon for alchemy, he was largely forgotten.
Time flowed on, and before they knew it, it was already the third day.
This day was as dull as ever.
But soon, someone broke the monotony, and simultaneously, the heavens trembled.
On the Suppress Heaven Platform, a Dan Cauldron located at the western edge suddenly trembled. Its lid flew open, and a brilliant pill light shot up from within, soaring into the heavens, drawing the attention of all parties.
"Look! Someone has successfully refined a pill!"
Everyone looked over. From the cauldron's mouth, pill light erupted, dazzling and brilliant. Within the light pillar, a pill could vaguely be seen floating up and down, and a rich pill fragrance rapidly spread out.
"A 7th Rank Treasure Pill! Someone has refined one!"
Many people focused their attention. Although everyone knew all the alchemy prodigies were refining pills of at least the 7th Rank, this was the first one successfully refined, so it naturally garnered significant attention.
The alchemy prodigy's face was slightly pale, with sweat beading on his forehead. Pill refining took a considerable toll on one's essence, energy, and spirit, but he was undoubtedly excited because he had finally succeeded.
In the end, everything dissipated, revealing a thumb-sized pill hovering in the air, round and natural. However, it wasn't truly perfect; the pill's surface was somewhat rough, and its color appeared slightly uneven.
"7th Rank, lower grade. Judging by the upper, middle, and lower tiers, it barely qualifies as mid-grade. For someone of this age to refine such a pill is quite commendable," an Alchemy Master commented, nodding slightly. Though somewhat disappointed, he still acknowledged the 7th Rank Treasure Pill refined by this prodigy.
After all, being able to refine a 7th Rank Treasure Pill at such a young age definitely made one the top alchemy prodigy in a star domain. It was only in a grand event like the Alchemy Grand Ceremony, facing prodigies from across the Ancient Universe and even other Ancient Universes, that one might seem lacking.
But it was enough to be proud of.
The other alchemy prodigies on the Suppress Heaven Platform cast various glances—some indifferent, some disdainful, some envious, and some congratulatory.
After all, no one dared claim they would definitely succeed. Refining a pill was already considered quite an achievement.
After the first person refined a 7th Rank Treasure Pill, it seemed to trigger a chain reaction. Others also successively refined their pills.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
From those Dan Cauldrons, brilliant beams of light shot out one after another—pill light, erupting skyward with intense spirituality, vanishing into the heavens.
Witnessing those dazzling pillars of pill light rising from the Suppress Heaven Platform, many people outside watched with burning eyes, including those ancient Great Powers.
After all, once pills reached the 7th Rank, everything was completely different. Even for powerhouses at their level, such pills held immense efficacy.
Immediately, many were tempted, hoping that after the Alchemy Grand Ceremony concluded, they could recruit these alchemy prodigies into their respective sects and forces. At the very least, they aimed to establish friendly relations and avoid offending them.
Although these prodigies weren't yet on par with the Masters, they were still quite young and already possessed such profound alchemical skills. Who knew if they might one day break into the realms of Master or even Grandmaster?
Even though breaking into the Master realm was extremely difficult—many Seventh-Level Alchemists spent their entire lives without ever stepping into that domain—sometimes it wasn't just about talent but various other factors.
Nevertheless, the potential was clearly there.
However, the Alchemy Grand Ceremony wasn't over yet. The higher the grade of the pill, the more dazzling and eye-catching the released light would be, offering a glimpse of its quality.
By the fifth day, over seventy percent of the alchemy prodigies had refined their pills. Brilliant pill light wantonly erupted from those Dan Cauldrons. Even the alchemy masters and grandmasters, who usually wore arrogant expressions, couldn't help but nod at this sight.
These alchemy prodigies indeed possessed the potential to advance to the Master and Grandmaster levels. At the very least, showing such skill at such a young age meant that achieving the status of Alchemy Master was only a matter of time. With enough luck, breaking into the Grandmaster realm wasn't out of the question.
However, regarding whether they could enter the Divine Alchemist realm, they all shook their heads.
That realm was far too difficult. Those capable of refining Emperor Pills were exceedingly rare throughout the ages. Even the Grandmaster-level figures present, who had spent their entire lives exploring it, couldn't help but shake their heads, as they couldn't even touch the threshold, let alone these alchemy prodigies.
Talent was talent, but reaching the Divine Alchemist realm required more than just talent.
As for the legendary Heaven-Defying level, there was no need to even think about it. Throughout the ages, as epoch after epoch passed, only the Alchemy Emperor had successfully broken into that level, truly unparalleled in history.
At this moment, everyone closely watched the few most promising alchemy prodigies, such as Dan Xian, Xi Men Dao from the Han Ancient Universe, and Zhang Feiyang from the Eight Desolations Ancient Universe. All were renowned Seventh-Level Alchemists whose alchemical skills had reached the pinnacle, making them the top contenders for the championship.
Barring any surprises, the champion of this Alchemy Grand Competition would emerge from among these few.
However, soon everyone shifted their gaze to the Battle Saint King. Although they didn't know his alchemical skills, he was a terrifyingly monstrous genius who could challenge those above his realm. Not a Great Power, yet not inferior to a fifth-level Great Power—truly bizarre.
During this time, Ye Chen paid no attention to any external movements, because by now, the preliminary steps for the God King Pill were complete. Whether it was the seven Medicine Spirits serving as main ingredients or the other materials, all had been refined and purified to the greatest extent possible.
Then, his solemn gaze fell upon the Dan Cauldron, looking at the dozens of purified medicinal liquid masses within. His heart stirred slightly. The main task now was to merge all these medicinal liquids into one.
Once merged, the pill could truly take form!