The next day arrived swiftly. Sun Simiao maintained a placid expression, as if lost in meditation, his alchemic fire perpetually at its peak, steadily compressing and refining the viscous liquid.
"Boom!"
"Bang!"
As everyone’s attention was drawn to the anomaly originating from Elder Dan's direction, Elder Dan’s face suddenly turned pale. His speed was too rapid. This was his first attempt at refining a seventh-grade low-rank pill. He had simply replicated his experience with fifth-grade pills, bypassing fusion and refinement in a single night. Now, the clashing energies within the alchemic cauldron were rapidly depleting his vital energy.
Streams of flames shot out from the cauldron, and the faint scent of burning wafted out. Elder Dan wiped a bead of sweat, glanced at Sun Simiao, who was still refining and compressing, and then re-ignited his alchemic furnace.
Regarding this scene, the elders of the Dan Qing Pavilion could only express a slight sense of pity. Failure was not unusual, after all. A seventh-grade pill was something unseen in the Southwestern Domain for a hundred thousand years, and no alchemist had ever reached such an aspirational realm.
Numerous alchemists in the crowd, holding notebooks, meticulously wrote and sketched, recording Elder Dan's detailed alchemic process from the very beginning. They hoped to sift through it, to improve their own alchemic path.
Another day passed in the blink of an eye. Elder Dan set off once more, and by nightfall, he began a new round of refinement and compression.
Li Bai and Xu Chu sat on the ground, completely bewildered. Unable to comprehend anything, they took out fine wine and savored it.
Ling Mu, on the side, chattered and laughed, his words unclear. This caused Ling Xuan, beside him, to blush and shyly avert her gaze.
Sun Simiao closed his eyes, releasing streams of vital energy from his hands, which transformed into flames, continuously scorching the red-hot cauldron.
At this moment, the fist-sized viscous substance within the cauldron emitted a faint crimson glow, appearing as red as steel. A layer of black residue clung to its surface.
As the residue detached, the fist-sized viscous substance was now only the size of a pigeon’s egg. It seemed as if the constant burning of flames was evaporating and peeling away the excess residue, leaving the viscous substance increasingly round and seemingly robust.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, another muffled thunderous sound erupted from Elder Dan’s ongoing alchemic process. Darkness had already enveloped the night, and coupled with the sheer boredom, many had already closed their eyes. At this moment, the muffled thunderclap, as if doused with cold water, caused everyone to snap their eyes open and look towards Elder Dan.
"Crack crack!"
Some Spirit Sovereign powerhouses directly produced stone carvings emitting a faint azure light, capable of briefly recording snippets of time.
Abruptly, a surge of immense energy erupted, the commotion far surpassing anything before. Dense vital energy fluctuations, accompanied by a refreshing fragrance, swept outwards. With crackling sounds, strands of lightning descended from the void, like countless lightning dragons, intertwining above the Dan Qing Pavilion.
Elder Dan grew increasingly excited. If this pill succeeded, he would be the first seventh-grade alchemist in a hundred thousand years. This was the dream tower for countless alchemists in the Southwestern Domain for a hundred thousand years.
A pill emitting a faint halo rose from the red-hot cauldron. The powerful alchemic lightning from the void converged, striking the pill repeatedly, each impact becoming more ferocious.
"That's!"
The alchemists held their breath, their eyes wide, gazing at the pill in the void. The alchemic patterns carved onto the pill, under the bombardment of lightning, flashed with faint blue light.
"One!"
"Two!"
...
"Six!"
As if guided by an unseen hand, the crowd on the plaza counted in unison. Six alchemic patterns lay quietly on the pill. Although there were minor flaws, it was still a seventh-grade low-rank pill, an earth-shattering event in the Southwestern Domain for a hundred thousand years.
Under the furious bombardment of alchemic lightning, Elder Dan tremblingly extended his palm. Looking at the pill cradled in his palm, he was so overcome with emotion that he momentarily forgot his wager with Sun Simiao. Gazing at the seventh-grade pill, tears welled in his eyes. He had succeeded! He had broken through the seventh-grade barrier, something that had not occurred in the Southwestern Domain for a hundred thousand years. Due to the immense passage of time, seventh-grade alchemists had become like mythical figures, impossibly out of reach.
Sun Simiao opened his eyes, appearing exhausted, yet also a touch impatient. He softly murmured, "So slow!"
He could have formed the pill long ago, but he wanted to use the Dan Qing Pavilion’s efforts to build momentum for the Great Han, elevating its prestige to an unprecedented peak.
He slowly stood up, glanced at Elder Dan’s trembling form, and couldn't help but shake his head. He then turned his gaze to the alchemic cauldron before him.
"Clang!"
Under Sun Simiao’s control, the lid of the alchemic cauldron was directly flung open. With a deafening roar, explosive energy, like raging dragons, seemed poised to break free from the cauldron.
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
Peal after peal of metallic impact echoed across the plaza. Under the collision of energies, the alchemic cauldron exploded.
In an instant, a rich alchemic fragrance, dozens of times more potent than Elder Dan’s, spread outwards. Its speed was so great it seemed as if a dense fog had descended from the heavens, obscuring the sun and moon.
Seven streams of fire dragons rose from the ground, their columns of fire piercing the sky. The seven fire dragons intertwined in the void, their scorching radiance making it difficult for the martial artists to discern the location of the pill. The seven fire dragons rapidly ascended towards the nine heavens.
"Rumble!"
Upon reaching a certain altitude, the seven fire dragons dispersed, spreading to the horizon. Instantly, thunder rumbled, dark clouds gathered, and streams of lightning dragons surged forth, the churning clouds and mist waves crashing like a tempest.
"Whoosh!!"
Drops of colorful alchemic rain instantly cascaded down, fiercely striking the pill enveloped in a halo.
"Alchemic rain!"
"It's alchemic rain!"
"Even with this display of alchemic rain, the pill refined by Sun Simiao, the master of the Great Han’s Alchemic Hall, must be of no low grade."
Some alchemists exclaimed, "This alchemic rain is an anomaly of high-grade alchemists refining pills. This alchemic rain is the most condensed vital energy from the nine heavens. Such a massive amount infused into the pill must undoubtedly be a seventh-grade pill."
"What?" Before Elder Dan could even boast to others, Sun Simiao instantly seized everyone’s attention.
"Hmph!"
"It's merely an anomaly. Whether it can form a pill is still debatable!" Elder Dan snorted, shaking his hand.
"Boom!"
The thunderclouds churned, and a surge of azure lightning suddenly flashed. In an instant, a surge of red lightning shot out!
"Two-colored alchemic lightning!"
"Let me see!" The plaza erupted in an instant. Alchemists frantically flipped through ancient books, searching for data from hundreds of thousands of years ago.
"Indeed, it's two-colored alchemic lightning!"
"This is the anomaly of a seventh-grade pill forming!"
After verification, the alchemists shouted wildly. The intensity of their frenzy was akin to a martial artist breaking open the gate to the Heaven-Melding Realm.