"What's unfortunate?"
Elder Qiu instinctively asked.
"The pill's lines were flawed during inscription," Yang Cheng said. "And the Five-Colored Great Rejuvenation Pill is supposed to use ten-thousand-year Ice Marrow. This one only used thousand-year Ice Marrow."
The hall erupted in uproar.
"Utter nonsense!"
Fang Muxian roared, "Who gave you the courage to spout such lies?"
"Ridiculous."
Zhang Shifan couldn't sit still either.
He had faintly sensed a problem earlier, but never thought anyone in Great Zhou could see through it.
And he needed a supreme pill to shock Great Zhou's people, so he could quickly open up the market.
Who would've thought a boy like this would ruin everything?
"Fang Muxian, Elder Zhang, looking at you two now, you seem rather flustered."
Zheng Sanhe said, unsettled, "Could it be this boy is actually telling the truth?"
Other gazes in the room also turned doubtful.
Cold sweat streamed down Fang Muxian's face. He regretted deeply.
He should never have mocked the boy earlier.
Now he had basically lifted a rock only to smash his own foot.
Elder Qiu narrowed his eyes. "Elder Zhang, Fang Muxian, I've carefully observed this Five-Colored Great Rejuvenation Pill myself. What the young master said seems to have some logic."
"Don't tell me you two, unable to find a real supreme pill, brought out a fake one just to cause a stir?"
His words threw the auction hall into chaos.
Fang Muxian grew more frantic.
"Laughable."
Zhang Shifan, however, stayed outwardly calm.
But his gaze toward Yang Cheng turned icy.
"I am a grandmaster of alchemy. You'd rather believe a brat than me?"
He sneered.
Hearing that, many people began to calm down again.
Zhang Shifan glared at Yang Cheng. "Any other day, if you dared incite trouble and try to ruin me, I'd have killed you on the spot."
"But today, I'll crush you with alchemy instead, so the guests can be convinced."
"You talk like you know everything, but do you even have the skill?"
As he spoke, he pulled out a pill furnace from his void ring.
Then he opened his left hand. A cyan flame rose from his palm.
"Strange Flame!"
Master Fan exclaimed.
"Elder Zhang actually has a Strange Flame."
"Now that's a true alchemy master."
"Looks like the boy really was just bluffing."
The crowd's eyes burned with admiration.
Zhang Shifan looked down on Yang Cheng. "Even now, you won't admit fault? Planning to resist to the end?"
Yang Cheng said calmly, "No need for nonsense. Show me your alchemy."
"Still stubborn until you're in the grave."
Zhang Shifan sneered.
He began refining pills right then.
Clearly, he had been prepared for this.
Originally, he wanted to shock Chanzhou with the Five-Colored Great Rejuvenation Pill first, then cement his position by demonstrating alchemy.
Now he had to switch the order.
But to him, the outcome wouldn't change much.
He tossed the prepared herbs into the furnace, refining with his Strange Flame.
His movements were smooth, practiced, dazzling.
"Elder Zhang's alchemy is far superior to mine."
Master Fan admitted defeat.
The crowd was thrilled. Witnessing a grandmaster refine pills live was a rare sight.
Half an hour later—
"Done."
Zhang Shifan pointed at the furnace.
The lid opened, and two azure pills flew out.
"High-grade pills."
"High-grade Green Spirit Pills."
"Not supreme pills, but still rare."
Many people's eyes heated up with desire.
"That's it?"
Yang Cheng sighed. "Zhang Shifan, I truly overestimated you."
"If you could actually refine high-grade pills, I'd at least respect that."
"But you just hid formations in the furnace ahead of time. That's the only reason you forced out two high-grade pills. Truly disappointing."
In the past, he had thought Zhang Shifan was an alchemy master.
But now, with his own true mastery, he realized Zhang Shifan was mediocre.
"This boy's mouth is outrageous."
"Biggest braggart of all time."
Everyone was stunned.
"Arrogant wretch."
Zhang Shifan's face darkened. "If you can't prove your own alchemy skills today, even if I don't act, the guests here won't forgive you."
"Ignorant fools. Let me show you the true Dao of Pills."
Yang Cheng said.
The words drew mocking laughter.
"He doesn't even have a furnace, yet he dares to refine pills?"
"Shouldn't have expected anything from a ten-year-old child."
The crowd shook their heads.
"Master, I have a pill furnace," Xu Qingxue offered.
"No need for a furnace," Yang Cheng said.
Xu Qingxue was puzzled, but stayed quiet.
"Hahaha, refining pills without a furnace? That's a first."
Fang Muxian burst out laughing.
"How could it be anything else? There's no earthfire here, and he doesn't have a Strange Flame. I really want to see how he plans to refine pills. Don't tell me he'll light a wood fire on the spot?"
Zheng Sanhe sneered.
He disliked Fang Muxian, but he still looked down on Yang Cheng's so-called showing off.
Yang Cheng ignored their sarcasm. He calmly spread out his hand and said, "Heaven and Earth Flame, come!"
Whoosh!
In an instant, the air grew scorching hot.
Before everyone's stunned eyes, threads of fire appeared out of thin air, gathering toward Yang Cheng's palm.
"Flame born in the void!"
Master Fan cried out in shock.
"Impossible!"
Elder Qiu's face was full of disbelief.
"So it wasn't just a trick?"
Zheng Sanhe was dumbfounded.
Zhang Shifan also didn't want to believe it.
Yet his Strange Flame trembled in fear.
That proved this wasn't an illusion—the boy had really summoned the Heaven and Earth Flame.
"What?"
"Legends say when one reaches perfection in the Dao of Pills, they themselves become the pill, and with a single thought can summon Heaven and Earth Flame."
"How… how could this be? He's only so young. How could he have perfected the Dao of Pills?"
Everyone's eyes went wide. The hall boiled with uproar.
Under countless gazes, Yang Cheng held the flame in his palm like the sovereign of all fires.
Countless fine threads of Heaven and Earth flame surrounded him, as if cloaking him in a robe of fire.
The sight was breathtaking.
Next, Yang Cheng took out the Ghost Face Flower.
The pill he was about to refine was the "Heaven and Earth Heart-Inquiry Pill."
The Ghost Face Flower held the power of illusory mind, able to sway a person's thoughts.
Once refined into the Heaven and Earth Heart-Inquiry Pill, it could make one fall into an illusion, where they questioned their heart and comprehended the Dao.
This was a true supreme pill.
And the Heaven and Earth Heart-Inquiry Pill required only two ingredients: the Ghost Face Flower, and the Heaven and Earth Flame.
That was why he didn't need a pill furnace.
Refining this pill required no furnace. Otherwise, he would have asked Xu Qingxue to prepare one beforehand.
The crowd watched in astonishment as the Ghost Face Flower vanished quickly within the Heaven and Earth Flame.
Moments later, a pill began to take shape.
No.
Not just one pill.
One, two, three…
Nine pills formed in succession.
It took less than thirty breaths.
Rich fragrance spread across the hall.
Just smelling it made many feel their spirit rising, as though about to step into a fairyland.
"Supreme pills!"
"This is what true supreme pills look like!"
Exclamations burst from the crowd.
"Nine supreme pills in one go—that's a ninety percent success rate."
Master Fan's whole body trembled. "This young master—no, this Grandmaster's Dao of Pills has already reached perfection."
He immediately bowed deeply, eyes filled with awe and fervor. "Fan pays respects to the Grandmaster."
"Paying respects to the Grandmaster!"
Many others followed, bowing toward Yang Cheng.
A Grandmaster of Pills!
Such a person could save lives in critical moments.
The more powerful and wealthy one was, the more they clung to such figures.
The pills refined by a Grandmaster were not something ordinary people could even afford.
The nobles, however, were desperate to obtain them.
Just the nine mysterious pills before their eyes made their gazes burn with desire.
Elder Qiu couldn't wait to ask, "Grandmaster, may I ask, what are these nine pills?"
"The Heaven and Earth Heart-Inquiry Pill."
Yang Cheng said evenly, "Taking it lets the spirit enter an illusory Heaven and Earth, where a moment feels like a hundred years, so one may question their heart and comprehend the Dao."
At those words, the nobles' breathing quickened further.
Just then, Zhang Shifan's eyes suddenly gleamed with malice.
"Die!"
He manipulated his Strange Flame, hurling it toward Yang Cheng.
In his mind, the only way to break this deadlock was to kill the boy.
If he failed, he'd surely suffer terrifying backlash.
But he didn't think he could fail.
He wasn't just an alchemist—he was also a second-level Martial Emperor.
With the addition of a Strange Flame, his destructive power was enormous.
As long as Yang Cheng was dead, no one would risk offending him for a corpse.
And without this Grandmaster, others would have no choice but to flock to him, the Alchemy Grandmaster.
"Master, be careful!"
Xu Qingxue shouted, too late to stop it.
"Zhang Shifan, you shameless cur!"
Elder Qiu roared.
The Strange Flame struck at Yang Cheng's back.
And Zhang Shifan was a second-level Martial Emperor.
Everyone thought Yang Cheng was doomed.
But Yang Cheng turned calmly, reaching out toward the incoming flame.
The Heaven and Earth Flame in his palm formed a fiery membrane, cutting off the searing heat.
If it were only this, he might not have been able to resist.
For the flame also carried Zhang Shifan's Martial Emperor power.
Yet Yang Cheng had slain Martial Saints before.
What was a Martial Emperor to him?
With ease, he seized the Strange Flame.