Exactly five spirit pills leaped out from within the Pill Cauldron, hovering in front of Ye Yunfei and lining up in a row, radiating a rich aroma of pill medicine.
"How is this possible!"
"He was sitting cross-legged and motionless the whole time, keeping his eyes closed and resting.
Why does he suddenly have refined spirit pills?"
Every pair of eyes stared at the five spirit pills in front of Ye Yunfei—some bewildered, others profoundly astonished.
Eunuch Ouyang took a deep breath, walked briskly to Ye Yunfei's side, and proceeded to appraise the five pills.
"Alchemist Ye Yunfei has refined the Fourth-Grade Three Purities Pills! Yield of five pills, each one of perfect quality!" Eunuch Ouyang announced in a clear, ringing voice, himself utterly shocked as he proclaimed the result.
What?!
In that instant, the entire square fell into total silence. It was as if time and space itself had been frozen.
A Fourth-Grade Spirit Pill!
A yield of five pills!
And all of perfect quality!
How could this be?
This immense, indescribable astonishment left everyone standing dumbfounded. They felt their thoughts had completely stalled.
"Ye Yunfei, I actually refined a total of ten Three Purities Pills, all of perfect quality," Huang Shang communicated to Ye Yunfei.
"This is enough," Ye Yunfei replied with a faint smile.
Then, Ye Yunfei put away the Pill Cauldron, turned around, and prepared to step down from the platform.
"Hahaha… Brother Ye, splendid!"
"You truly have not disappointed me!"
"You truly are a Fourth-Grade Alchemist!"
The Third Prince's hearty laughter broke the silence in the square.
Guo Shijie and Lin Ming, standing beside the Third Prince, had faces ashen with dismay. They stared at Ye Yunfei with fearful eyes, feeling a deep sense of defeat. They recalled their own exclusion, mockery, and scorn towards Ye Yunfei over the past few days. And yet, the other party was actually a Fourth-Grade Alchemist! At this moment, Guo Shijie and Lin Ming both suddenly felt like clowns.
Then, the entire square erupted into an uproar.
Everyone began to discuss things frantically, their words filled with extreme astonishment.
"Humph!" The eldest prince appeared intensely unwilling. His gaze towards Ye Yunfei was brimming with killing intent. Apart from the eldest prince, the looks the other princes cast towards Ye Yunfei were also far from friendly.
"Heh heh, good, excellent! This Alchemist Ye Yunfei has taken first place, defeated that alchemist from the Tang Kingdom, and salvaged the face of our Great Qin Empire! He has rendered a great service!" On the high platform in the east of the square, the Emperor felt tremendously gratified and laughed heartily.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Our Great Qin Empire has gained another Fourth-Grade Alchemist.
This portends prosperity for our Great Qin Empire's national fortune. This is a wonderful thing!" The ministers beside the emperor also began offering praise one after another.
"So, what do you say now!"
"Now you know the skill of our Great Qin Empire's alchemists!"
"You kept saying you'd crush our Great Qin Empire's alchemists. Well, go ahead and crush them now!"
"Get out of the Great Qin Empire immediately! You are not welcome here!"
…
At this moment, the martial artists in the square began yelling at Yang Cheng one after another. They finally felt vindicated. Yang Cheng's sarcastic jibes earlier had thoroughly offended nearly everyone present.
Meanwhile, Tang Feng and Yan Qing both had pale faces. Their fists were clenched tightly, and their eyes stared at Ye Yunfei, filled with unwillingness. This was especially true for Tang Feng, whose face was twisted horribly. During the previous matches, he had repeatedly spoken publicly to challenge and mock Ye Yunfei. Little did he think Ye Yunfei was actually a Fourth-Grade Alchemist!
Both Tang Feng and Yan Qing were illustrious figures within the alchemy circles of the Great Qin Empire, individuals accustomed to great pride. Yet today, they suffered this setback. First defeated by Yang Cheng, now overwhelmingly surpassed by Ye Yunfei's results. Their self-confidence suffered a massive blow.
"No!" After remaining stupefied for several dozen breaths, Yang Cheng finally erupted, shouting hysterically like a madman, "Fake! I don't believe it! He never took any action to refine pills! How could five spirit pills appear?! I suspect him of cheating!"
Yang Cheng's face flushed crimson, his neck bulging. He simply couldn't accept such a result.
"My alchemy techniques are not something a piece of trash like you could possibly comprehend," Ye Yunfei responded, casting a light, dismissive glance at Yang Cheng.
From beginning to end, Ye Yunfei had never considered Yang Cheng a real competitor.
Ye Yunfei had only come to participate in this alchemy competition because he had promised the Third Prince back in Yuanyue City.
Otherwise, how could such a lousy pill refining contest ever draw Ye Yunfei to move?
"I refuse to accept this!"
"Ye Yunfei, I don't believe you can refine Fourth-Grade Spirit Pills!"
"You must have hidden those five Three Purities Pills inside the cauldron beforehand!" Yang Cheng shouted, his voice verging on hysteria.
"The result of the match is now official.
It's best you don't cause any trouble here!
Go down now," Eunuch Ouyang declared.
His words clearly favored Ye Yunfei.
After all, this Yang Cheng represented the Tang Kingdom, while Ye Yunfei represented the Great Qin Empire.
"If you lost, you lost. Get down now!" The crowd began to jeer loudly, everyone shouting at Yang Cheng.
"Ye Yunfei, I don't believe it either—that you can refine Fourth-Grade Spirit Pills. I also suspect you of cheating. While I do wish that the alchemists of our Great Qin Empire could defeat those of the Tang Kingdom… even more so, I wish for an alchemy competition free of fraud."
Suddenly, Tang Feng spoke up.
"Young Master Tang, you…" Eunuch Ouyang couldn't help but be taken aback.
Tang Feng held an esteemed status and position, not someone Ouyang dared offend lightly.
Everyone else also stared, stunned at Tang Feng's words.
"Ye Yunfei, I hope you can prove your true level of alchemical skill," Tang Feng declared, taking a deep breath as he looked at Ye Yunfei.
He had always believed that within the Great Qin Empire, aside from his master, his own alchemy skills were the highest! Yet now, this Ye Yunfei had suddenly appeared, stealing all the limelight in this competition.
It was only natural for Tang Feng to feel bitterly discontent.
"Oh?"
"And how would you like me to prove it?" Ye Yunfei's gaze shifted, his tone placid.
"Ye Yunfei, I want you to personally demonstrate your pill refining in front of everyone—refine a pill once more for us all to see. Do you dare!" Before Tang Feng could answer, Yang Cheng was already roaring.
"And why should I do that?" Ye Yunfei neither confirmed nor denied.
"I have ten Soul Stones here!" Yang Cheng said through gritted teeth, pulling out ten light-yellow stones from his spatial ring. His eyes were bloodshot, making him look like a desperate gambler.
He was betting it all.
He couldn't accept the earlier competition result, and he genuinely doubted Ye Yunfei's actual alchemy level.
"What about you?"
"What can you offer? If you can produce something of interest to me, perhaps I might consider publicly refining pills once more."
Ye Yunfei's gaze shifted to Tang Feng.
Since Tang Feng had provoked him like this, Ye Yunfei would naturally take this chance to make him pay a bit.
"You…!" Tang Feng was furious.
"Fine!"
"I have a chunk of Earth Core Meteorite Iron here. Tougher than a spiritual artifact, its value is immeasurable."
"If you can prove you are a Fourth-Grade Alchemist, this chunk of Earth Core Meteorite Iron is yours."
Tang Feng clenched his teeth and produced an enormously heavy mass of meteorite iron.
Ye Yunfei's eyes couldn't help but shine.
Lately, he had been pondering how to gather the materials for forging the Five Elements Spirit Swords. This Earth Core Meteorite Iron before him was perfect to serve as the sword embryo for the metal sword among the Five Elements Spirit Swords.
"Deal," Ye Yunfei agreed immediately and decisively.