"This time's Great Alchemy Competition seems a bit too difficult, doesn't it? Out of twenty people, only Nameless produced a pill, and the highest grade is only a Third-grade Elixir!"

"Haven't you heard? This is the toughest Great Alchemy Competition in nearly a hundred years!"

"Oh my god! This must be quite a blow to the alchemists..."

...

For a moment, everyone was engaged in lively discussions, clearly surprised by this Great Alchemy Competition, but there was still a slight excitement in their hearts. After all, with the competition being so difficult, it's an intriguing event for the many spectators, truly worth watching.

In response, Ding Fan wasn't too worried. Although this Great Alchemy Competition seemed challenging, Ding Fan knew in his heart that the challenge was directed at all the participating alchemists, not just him. Ding Fan was quite confident in his alchemy level, and at this moment, not only was he not worried, he was even a bit anticipative. The more difficult the competition, the more Ding Fan wanted to confront the challenge head-on.

After a short while, under the hosting of Elder Wu, the second group of alchemists had already entered the competition arena. Just like the process in the first group of the Great Alchemy Competition, several staff members directly distributed twenty pill recipes to the twenty alchemists. The first group's alchemists had already been confined in a room, clearly to prevent them from leaking the pill recipes, a measure for fairness.

Among the second group of alchemists was an old acquaintance of Ding Fan and He Qianyao, Gao Lian. At this time, just like the other alchemists, Gao Lian received the pill recipe and began thinking. Shortly after, he started preparing for alchemy, his techniques skillful, clearly not an ordinary person. It was apparent that Gao Lian had come prepared.

One should know that after being expelled from the Dayang Sect, he had been vigorously researching alchemy. It's known that for a cultivator, the sect is immensely important, and Gao Lian's cultivation talent was quite decent. After all, he was once an inner sect disciple of the Dayang Sect. However, he never expected to be expelled from the sect, and from then on, he understood it was necessary to find a different path for development in cultivation.

Being expelled was obviously a major blow to his cultivation, as the sect had many cultivation resources, even guidance from the sect elders, clearly superior to the outside Loose Cultivator. The Dayang Sect had a significant foundation at the time. Unfortunately, Gao Lian never thought that a moment of negligence would get him expelled from the sect.

So after being expelled by the Dayang Sect, he focused all his efforts on studying alchemy, aiming to become an alchemist and thereby become a strong cultivator. When he started studying alchemy, he discovered he had a talent for it. Other alchemists needed a month to refine a medicine pill, but he could finish it in just half a month.

For a time, Gao Lian felt utterly excited, solidifying his determination to become an alchemist. Through his relentless efforts, he eventually became a famous alchemist locally, also the youngest alchemist in the area, gaining some notoriety. Thus, he received an invitation from Dancheng for this Great Alchemy Competition, as the officials had recognized the existence of such an alchemic genius.

Therefore, this Great Alchemy Competition was crucial for Gao Lian. He realized if he secured a good ranking, his name would be known throughout the Donglai Continent, and he would have the opportunity to become a true powerhouse, able to avenge past humiliations. Regarding the Dayang Sect expelling him back then, Gao Lian didn't believe it was his fault.

But what he didn't know was that many cultivators from the Dayang Sect truly hated him. After all, He Qianyao was considered the daughter of the city master, a goddess-like figure in the Dayang Sect. Gao Lian's actions nearly stripped Qian Yao of her purity and even endangered her life. Many suitors of the goddess wanted to kill Gao Lian. Even He Zenfen was furious at the time, wanting to kill Gao Lian, but in the end, he was let go and expelled from the sect.

Of course, Gao Lian didn't think it was his mistake, even believing it was his full right to pursue love, as most offending cultivators didn't believe they were at fault.

Thus, Gao Lian always intended to seek revenge against the Dayang Sect and harbored a love-turned-hatred towards He Qianyao, vowing to humiliate her once he became strong. Yet Gao Lian never expected the Dayang Sect to have already been wiped out, which he considered a great boon, even feeling his vengeance had been carried out by someone else.

But he never anticipated encountering He Qianyao again, realizing she was still alive, rekindling the hatred within him. He even got slapped by a cultivator beside He Qianyao, and he naturally intended to settle this grudge properly.

Clearly, this Great Alchemy Competition was a critical step for him to become stronger, and he definitely wouldn't easily give up this opportunity, willing to fight tooth and nail to perform well. As the first group concluded amidst remarks on the difficulty of this year's competition, Gao Lian was filled with anticipation, knowing the tougher the competition, the more it showcased he was the best!

At this moment, not only did Gao Lian have high expectations for himself, but several elders in the judge area also had their eyes on Gao Lian, clearly holding great expectations for him.

"Hope this kid will bring us a surprise!"

"I don't think so, you have to know that this pill recipe this time is not that simple. This recipe was excavated from the Ancient Mansion, during that collective departure of our Dancheng experts. It took a lot of effort to discover these recipes. It's said that this recipe is one of the more rare types among them..."

"Yes, indeed, even we few old folks barely refined the recipe into a Grade Eight Pill. This kid Gao Lian is, after all, a Loose Cultivator. Obviously, if he could refine a Fifth Grade Medicine Pill, that would already be quite impressive!"

"That's right, that's right..."

...

At this time, the elders in the Judge Area couldn't help but start discussing. Clearly, they knew in their hearts that this pill recipe was not a simple matter. Among them, some of the elder judges had high expectations for Gao Lian. After all, they knew that Gao Lian was quite young among this group of alchemists. Although Ding Fan was also quite young, apparently the judges hadn't heard of Ding Fan; whether he was a dragon or a snake was still unknown.

Obviously, comparatively speaking, they understood Gao Lian better since he was somewhat famous locally. Generally, his alchemy had already reached the High Level Pill tier, which was truly remarkable for a young alchemist.

Of course, besides Gao Lian in the second group of alchemists, there were also several middle-aged men that some judges were quite interested in. After all, though these middle-aged alchemists weren't as young as Gao Lian, they were already very famous. Clearly, they were not ordinary people, and these middle-aged alchemists had much more alchemy experience, certainly not something average alchemists could compare to.

As time passed, the second group's Great Alchemy Competition soon concluded. Evidently, this second group performed better than the first, yet it still shocked people. Out of the twenty alchemists, only eight managed to refine any pills. Clearly, while this performance was slightly better than the first group, it still left people worried because not even half of the alchemists managed to produce any pills.

It's worth noting that in previous Great Alchemy Competitions, although only a few achieved excellent results, most alchemists still produced pills, even if their grade wasn't high. At least it made those eliminated look slightly better since they still managed to refine pills. However, in this round of the Great Alchemy Competition, in the very first round, the majority couldn't even produce pills, leaving them quite frustrated.

After all, they were considered some of the better alchemists on the Donglai Continent, yet in the first round, they couldn't even refine any pills; it was somewhat humiliating!

"Does it have to be this difficult? Many alchemists couldn't even make any pills, it's just unbelievable!"

"That's right, does it mean that ordinary alchemists can't even understand the recipe?"

"I wonder if that Legendary Boy will be participating in this year's Great Alchemy Competition. Could it be that Gao Lian is that Legendary Boy? I heard Gao Lian is quite famous locally!"

"Who knows, we'll find out after we see the results of this second group!"

...

At that moment, discussion erupted among the crowd, clearly finding it remarkable that even in this second group of the Great Alchemy Competition, most alchemists couldn't produce any pills — it was almost too exaggerated!

Meanwhile, the eight alchemists who did produce pills had already handed them over to several elders in the Judge Area. The elders, examining these eight pills, couldn't help but frown slightly, obviously dissatisfied with their grade levels. Seeing the expressions of the elders in the Judge Area, everyone guessed something and immediately became tense as nobody knew the exact grade levels of these eight pills.

It wasn't long before the elders in the Judge Area finished assessing the eight pills. Among them were three First Grade Pills, two Second Grade Pills, two Third-Grade Elixirs, and one Sixth Grade Medicine Pill! Hearing the grades announced, everyone was initially stunned, as they were solemn since there were three First Grade Pills; this clearly indicated the general grade level of these pills wasn't great.

However, when the Sixth Grade Medicine Pill was announced, the crowd immediately erupted in chatter. They hadn't expected that, given the difficulty of this recipe, an alchemist could still produce a Sixth Grade Medicine Pill! This was already the best among mid-level pills, considering pill grades range from Grade Nine, the first three being Low-level Pills, the middle three Mid-level Pills, and the last three High Level Pills.