The audience below the Great Alchemy Competition couldn't help but start discussing Elder Herr, as it was clear to everyone that the champion of this group of alchemists would undoubtedly be Elder Herr. Known for his solid alchemical prowess, Elder Herr had long held a renowned position and was already a core alchemist of a sect. For him, this competition was solely about aiming for the champion's reward.

People constantly speculated about what the champion reward for this year's Great Alchemy Competition could be to attract so many alchemists to participate. Take Elder Herr, for example; he obviously had no essential need to participate in the competition. With fame, abilities in alchemical refinement, and a sect providing steady alchemical and cultivation resources, he clearly lacked for nothing.

Yet, he participated in this year's Great Alchemy Competition, signaling that the champion's reward is absolutely extraordinary. Moreover, this year's competition was the most challenging in history; nearly half of the alchemists still couldn't produce a pill. To put it bluntly, they couldn't even understand the pill recipe, which was quite shocking. Even those who managed to refine a pill only reached up to the Sixth Grade Medicine Pill.

Although Sixth Grade Medicine Pills were already very precious for cultivators, and being able to refine such a level of pill is no easy feat for an alchemist, the competitors in this competition were not satisfied. After all, they were the elite of the Alchemist Realm, who on their good days could usually refine high-level pills. At this moment, merely achieving a Sixth Grade Medicine Pill pushed them to their limits.

This clearly indicated that this year's Great Alchemy Competition was quite different from any before, with the difficulty not just slightly increased!

Everyone shared this sentiment, and Ding Fan also speculated that this year's competition became so much harder than previous ones, which seemed abnormal. Perhaps it was due to the Generous Champion Reward making even famed alchemists fight tooth and nail to compete. However, Ding Fan had his own judgments, having received news that the Wild Wolf Gang was recently very active in Dancheng, especially closely related to this competition. Ding Fan speculated that this competition was undoubtedly linked to the Wild Wolf Gang.

Given the Wild Wolf Gang's significant influence in the region as the largest sect nearby, if they joined this competition, it would be far more difficult than previous competitions.

Ding Fan chose not to overthink it, preferring to focus on what was visible. Whatever scheming Wild Wolf Gang was up to, it would eventually be revealed. Better to concentrate on alchemy first.

Immediately, Ding Fan began preparing for alchemy. In no time, several staff members distributed the pill recipes to Ding Fan and the other nineteen alchemists. As soon as Ding Fan got the pill recipe, just a glance was enough to understand what kind of pill it was, and detailed steps for refinement immediately formed in his mind.

In fact, in merely a few breaths, Ding Fan already understood the pill's effects. He was surprised — was this recipe really considered difficult among alchemists? This seemed exaggerated. Although Ding Fan instantly recognized it as an Ancient Pill Recipe, obviously different from the commonly circulated ones in the Cultivation World.

Ding Fan guessed the recipe might have been retrieved from an Ancient Tomb or Ancient Mansion since such ancient recipes were scarce in the current Cultivation World. For him, however, it was pretty straightforward. Ding Fan had learned alchemy from ancient books, comparing these methods with modern ones, finding modern alchemy much simpler, albeit with less effective medicine pills.

To Ding Fan, it was quite regrettable that as history progressed, modern alchemy methods had become increasingly incomplete. What was optimistically called simplifying complexity resulted in decreased medicinal effectiveness and the loss of many excellent alchemical techniques, marking a significant loss for the current Cultivation Alchemy World.

Ding Fan felt a bit regretful since the ancient alchemy book he had studied back then got inadvertently lost. Fortunately, with his exceptional memory, every word had been etched into his brain. Ding Fan remembered how hard it was learning from that alchemy book, spending days and nights experimenting with the ancient methods.

Given the challenge of those ancient books, learning was never easy, but Ding Fan's extraordinary talent allowed him to fully grasp the teachings within half a year, which skyrocketed his alchemy skill to astonishing heights.

So, when presented with the ancient pill recipe, it seemed even simpler to Ding Fan than some complex modern recipes. He believed that the medicine pill from this ancient recipe wasn't very hard to refine, being somewhat superior in grade. Of course, Ding Fan's assessment was objective and might not be entirely accurate, as his familiarity with ancient recipes was personal.

Should the judges, the elderly alchemy masters, learn of Ding Fan's thoughts regarding the ancient recipe, they might be infuriated. This recipe was formed through the collective efforts of numerous alchemy masters to create an eighth grade medicine pill, not even reaching grade nine, a testament to its difficulty!

Subsequently, Ding Fan briefly glanced at the recipe before starting. He first selected all usable spiritual materials and proceeded to purify and extract them skillfully, seamlessly, like flowing water. The surrounding alchemists were initially surprised by Ding Fan's fluid movement, but quickly shifted to a deep sense of mockery.

They had just received the recipe, and except for Ding Fan, the other nineteen alchemists hadn't even finished reading it, while Ding Fan had already started. They figured he must have given up upon seeing the recipe, putting on a show to pressure others. But they inwardly laughed, knowing that none of the competitors were novices.

How could anyone be influenced by such antics? Unbelievable stupidity!

Many alchemists began looking down on Ding Fan, seeing him as a young participant aiming for attention. Beginning refinement so soon after receiving the recipe, even before Elder Herr, and pretending to be so confident was simply laughable!

"Look, that kid actually started the refinement so quickly! That's a bit exaggerated, isn't it!"

"He's just trying to show off. It's impossible to have even finished reading the pill recipe in such a short time! There's no way he could have started refining already. He must have given up!"

"This oddity really isn't few and far between, I've never seen such a bizarre way to give up. Thinking back, that kid from the first group was actually quite a stickler!"

"Haha..."

"But it seems like the young man is quite skilled with his movements, it doesn't look fake..."

"Come on, it's definitely fake. You'll see, soon enough, he'll mess up! I bet it won't even take half an hour. Once some alchemist finishes refining a pill, that kid will be exposed, and by then he would have slunk away with his tail between his legs!"

"Haha, by that time, maybe the young man will come up with a grey pill or something to hand in, and that'll be the end for him..."

"Haha, if that kid really dares to do that, he's just courting death! This Great Alchemy Competition isn't organized by just anyone; not even the City Lord Mansion is easy to deal with. The City Lord Mansion definitely won't let them off!"

…

For a moment, people were discussing intensely, obviously not optimistic about Ding Fan, even finding him ridiculous. Mocking voices about Ding Fan were everywhere. Clearly, not only were the spectators scornfully watching Ding Fan, but those elders in the judge area also noticed his performance, and each felt a bit shocked, as Ding Fan was merely a young alchemist yet began refining so quickly.

They found it astonishing because even these elders couldn't start refining so soon. To start refining before even finishing the pill recipe was simply impossible. The other party was clearly faking it. For a moment, the elders in the judge area furrowed their brows slightly, feeling somewhat displeased with Ding Fan. To refine poorly is one thing, but using such methods to disrupt other alchemists was evidently a sign of poor character.

Though in the Cultivation World, strength talks, it's clear that both cultivators and alchemists are mostly pure-hearted, though a few dark-hearted ones exist.

Clearly, the elders had already regarded Ding Fan as such a person.

"The young people today are so uneducated, only learning unconventional ways, having no prospects!"

"Alas, the declining morals! If all young people are like this, our Cultivation World will be finished! And our Alchemy World will be completely over..."

"It's infuriating that such alchemists should be kicked out immediately. How can they let him affect other alchemists' refining?"

"Sigh, it's hardly surprising, evidently not only he is like this, but he just does it too flagrantly!"

"Even if this kid is a troublemaker, he's only causing trouble in the first round of the Great Alchemy Competition. In the next round, he'll be eliminated! Don't worry..."

…

For a while, the judges' sentiment towards Ding Fan was very unfavorable, with one even suggesting to throw him straight out of Jiangdong, but in the end, other judges stopped him. It wasn't to protect Ding Fan but merely to maintain the image of the Great Alchemy Competition, since expelling an alchemist without reason would be unprecedented in the history of the competition.