Elder Yao: "Little Yan, a Cauldron Is Only an External Tool!"

Hearing the loud voice ringing in their ears, most of the contestants in the square were stunned by the sudden examination topic. After a moment, some of their faces turned pale.

Clearly, these people had not prepared suitable prescriptions or sufficient medicinal ingredients. Under such a test, without either of those conditions, they could only settle for refining lower-grade pills. In that case, their chances of losing would become extremely high.

Although Xiao Yan had long learned the examination topic from Fa Ma, he still pretended for his expression to change. After all, remaining calm in the face of such an unexpected test would inevitably make people suspect that he had gotten special treatment.

As he controlled the changes in his expression, Xiao Yan swiftly swept his gaze around. He discovered that although the little princess and Liu Ling had been somewhat dazed upon first hearing the topic, they quickly recovered. There was not much anxiety on their faces.

They really do have deep reserves. Judging from their expressions, this topic may have caught them by surprise, but it does not seem to hinder their performance at all, Xiao Yan muttered inwardly.

"Since everyone is already familiar with the examination rules, then—"

On the high platform, Fa Ma slowly raised his hand before silently bringing it down. His calm voice echoed throughout the square. "The third round of assessment begins now!"

As Fa Ma's words fell, the square, which had been filled with quiet murmurs, instantly fell silent. Countless gazes from the spectator stands stared intently at the dozens of contestants in the vast square below, waiting for their splendid performances today.

In the square, after Fa Ma's voice faded, nearly all the contestants made no move. Instead, they remained silent as though by mutual agreement, each frowning in thought as they considered how to deal with this assessment.

After the silence continued for nearly ten minutes, the little princess was the first to break it. With a wave of her hand, a somewhat ancient-looking green cauldron, containing a faint yet profound aura, appeared atop her stone platform.

Hearing the sound of the cauldron landing on the stone platform, Xiao Yan turned his head to look, his brows knitting slightly. The cauldron the little princess was using was clearly no longer the one she had used yesterday. Judging from the profound aura it emitted, its quality far surpassed the dark-red cauldron he used.

"Tut, tut, Old Jia, your imperial family is truly generous. You were actually willing to bring out the Azure Flame Cauldron. This is a fifth-tier medicinal cauldron. I remember that several Fourth-Grade Alchemists once fought fiercely over it. I never expected it to end up in your hands." Fa Ma looked at the green cauldron the little princess had summoned and smiled in surprise.

"Hehe, I'm not too sure either. That girl probably pestered her royal father until he gave it to her," Jia Xing Tian said with a faint smile, shaking his head.

After saying this, his and Fa Ma's gazes simultaneously focused on Liu Ling.

At that moment, a crimson medicinal cauldron nearly half a meter tall stood on the stone platform before Liu Ling.

The entire cauldron was dark red, with faint glimmers of light scattered across its surface. Four ferocious snake heads were carved around its lower section.

Their gaping mouths formed four interconnected fire channels. The channels twisted and extended inward, narrowing the deeper they went. From a distance, they seemed to conceal some mystery.

At the top of the cauldron, a giant serpent coiled into a dark-red lid. There was also a special opening in one area of the lid, meant specifically for inserting medicinal ingredients.

The lid was covered in fine holes made of icy silver. They served to dissipate heat and prevent the cauldron from exploding due to excessive temperatures.

In the middle section of the cauldron was a transparent mirror forged from refined ice crystal. Through it, one could clearly observe every movement within while refining medicine.

The cauldron's surface was decorated with exquisitely beautiful carvings of magical beasts, so lifelike that they seemed alive.

Seeing this, Jia Xing Tian sighed. "Liu Ling's medicinal cauldron is truly extraordinary. It looks far better than Yaoyue's."

"It is indeed extraordinary. This cauldron is called the Crimson Snake Cauldron. I never expected Gu He to be willing to give it to Liu Ling!" Fa Ma said in wholehearted agreement upon hearing Jia Xing Tian's words.

Fa Ma was also delighted inwardly. Since Gu He was willing to invest so heavily, Liu Ling's chances of victory had increased by another measure.

In the world of alchemy, a good medicinal cauldron was an enormous help to an alchemist. It could significantly raise the success rate when refining pills. Moreover, lower-quality cauldrons were not very capable of enduring heat, which could result in an unexpected explosion during pill refinement.

Thus, medicinal cauldrons also had a rather detailed ranking system, from the first tier to the eighth tier, in ascending order. Above the eighth tier was the even higher-ranked Heavenly Cauldron Ranking. There seemed to be only thirteen cauldrons of that grade in existence, which showed just how precious they were.

"Teacher, their cauldrons are all so impressive. Should I change mine too?" Seeing this, Xiao Yan communicated helplessly with Elder Yao inwardly.

"Cough, cough, Little Yan, your teacher does not think much of ordinary medicinal cauldrons. Right now, I only have one Black Demon Cauldron. If you took it out to use, I'm afraid it would attract greedy eyes."

Upon hearing Xiao Yan's words, Elder Yao coughed twice and spoke with some hesitation.

Hearing this, Xiao Yan could only nod helplessly.

"Little Yan, don't be so discouraged. No matter how helpful a medicinal cauldron may be, it is ultimately only an external tool. What matters most is that your own strength must be solid!"

"A true master alchemist can form a cauldron in his palm and refine pills as he wishes, without any restrictions. That bearing is what truly befits a master."

"Teacher, I understand!"

Elder Yao's pep talk instantly filled Xiao Yan with confidence again. The next moment, without further hesitation, he took out his dark-red medicinal cauldron.

When Fa Ma saw the cauldron Xiao Yan had brought out, his expression instantly became somewhat unpleasant.

He had originally thought Xiao Yan might merely be lacking some medicinal ingredients or something similar. He had never expected that, even in the finals, Xiao Yan would still be using such a shabby medicinal cauldron.

"Ah, what a miscalculation. I should have asked him last night whether he needed a medicinal cauldron," Fa Ma muttered softly.

At that moment, when Xiao Yan's dark-red cauldron appeared, Fa Ma was not the only one surprised. Countless astonished gazes around them also turned toward Xiao Yan. Many of them had believed that, like the little princess and Liu Ling, Xiao Yan had saved his good things for the end. Yet they had never imagined that even now, he would bring out nothing but this piece of junk.