Heavenly Flames and Heavenly Flames

Ning Su had decided to refine a Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill.

Meanwhile, on Yao Lao's advice, Xiao Yan had also decided to refine a Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill.

Neither of them knew that the other was planning to refine the very same pill.

The final round of the assessment officially began!

Everyone displayed their own abilities.

All manner of high-grade medicinal cauldrons and colorful beast flames shone brilliantly across the arena.

"Teacher, can you tell what pill Ning Su is planning to refine?"

Xiao Yan vaguely sensed that Ning Su would be his strongest competitor on the road to claiming the Champion title.

"I'm not that capable. I can't just glance at him from so far away and guess what pill he's refining."

"However, judging from his performance in the first two rounds, that fellow will probably refine a fourth-rank pill as well, and its quality likely won't be any lower than yours."

"Little Yanzi, don't let your guard down."

"I'll definitely give it everything I have!"

Xiao Yan also took out a medicinal cauldron and summoned a violet beast flame.

Everyone began refining their own pills, each relying on their own skills.

For a time, the plaza fell into brief silence.

The only sound on the field was that of flames burning.

The people outside the arena did not dare speak loudly either, afraid of disturbing their progress.

Various medicinal ingredients were refined into essences within the flames, giving off a rich medicinal fragrance.

Pill refinement was an extremely time-consuming task.

Especially when refining high-grade pills, it was absolutely not something that could be completed in a short while.

The shortest took one or two days, while the longest could take ten or twenty days.

Every day was a test of an alchemist's skill.

The first day quickly passed.

Some people had already failed once, and because they had not prepared enough materials, they had no choice but to abandon the pill they had originally intended to refine and switch to another.

Others successfully refined their pills.

However, the pills they refined had not been of a high rank to begin with, merely low-grade third-rank pills.

Pills of that level were nothing remarkable in this plaza.

But to those alchemists, these were the final pills they were confident they could refine.

Moreover, they did not withdraw after that. Instead, after setting their finished pills aside, they continued refining.

With a basic pill ensuring they could pass the assessment, they could attempt to refine higher-grade pills without worry.

After all, the assessment did not state that they could not continue refining after successfully producing one pill.

Time passed bit by bit.

More people gradually completed their refinement afterward, their pills all around the third rank.

At last, the pills refined by Liu Ling and the Little Princess emerged from their cauldrons!

Their rich medicinal fragrance instantly overwhelmed all the other pills on the field—because what they had refined were genuine fourth-rank pills!

"These two youngsters are quite good. Successfully refining fourth-rank pills means they can become true Fourth-Rank Alchemists."

Jia Xing Tian and the others nodded in satisfaction.

However, it was not yet time to determine the Champion.

Everyone else had finished refining their pills, but two people had yet to complete theirs—Xiao Yan and Ning Su!

"What kind of pills are these two refining? How have they still not finished after so long?"

"They should be fourth-rank pills too, but after this much time... could they be high-grade fourth-rank pills?"

At that moment, everyone watched Xiao Yan and Ning Su on the platform, wanting to see exactly what pills the two were refining.

The pills inside their medicinal cauldrons had also reached the final stage.

When condensing a peak fourth-rank pill, a stronger flame was needed to speed up both the formation rate and quality of the pill.

Xiao Yan had originally used only violet fire to refine the pill, since he did not possess any Heavenly Flames.

But during the final pill-condensing stage, the temperature of the flame inside the medicinal cauldron was insufficient. The Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill was forming too slowly and stubbornly refused to take shape.

"Teacher, what's going on?"

"The flame's temperature isn't high enough."

"This is Beast Flame. Isn't that enough?"

"In alchemy, flame and skill are both indispensable. Your Beast Flame is already strong enough, but your foundation in alchemy is still far from that of a true high-tier fourth-grade alchemist. As a result, your flame-control technique is lacking."

"Then what do I do now? At this rate, the cauldron is going to explode." Xiao Yan grew anxious.

"It seems your alchemy skills are still a little lacking if you want to refine a peak fourth-grade pill. Take the Bone Spirit Cold Flame."

Yao Lao sighed, but lent the Bone Spirit Cold Flame to Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan was immediately delighted. "I knew you'd help me, Teacher!"

The bone-white flame instantly replaced the purple fire and appeared within the Medicinal Cauldron.

The temperature across the plaza also shot up dramatically.

It was even hotter than when everyone had been refining pills at the same time!

"That's... a Heavenly Flame?!"

"A Heavenly Flame?"

"That's a Heavenly Flame??"

Fa Ma was the first to recognize the Bone Spirit Cold Flame's extraordinary nature.

The others widened their eyes as well.

A legendary flame like a Heavenly Flame had actually appeared here?!

Countless alchemists had pursued Heavenly Flames, dreaming that one day they might obtain one and become an alchemy grandmaster.

Unfortunately, countless people might never even see a Heavenly Flame in their entire lives, much less subdue one.

Now, Xiao Yan had summoned a Heavenly Flame, shocking the entire venue!

On the other side, the flames within Ning Su's Medicinal Cauldron were also affected by the Heavenly Flame.

"The Bone Spirit Cold Flame? Xiao Yan probably couldn't control a pill of that level on his own, so he had to borrow the Bone Spirit Cold Flame."

Ning Su still had not used the Green Lotus Core Flame.

That was because Xiao Yan and Yao Lao had both seen the Green Lotus Core Flame before.

Once he used it, they would definitely recognize it and cause some trouble.

Originally, after devouring Yan Li's alchemy skills and flame, he could refine the Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill even without using a Heavenly Flame.

But now that Xiao Yan had brought out the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, it meant the pill he was refining was of an extremely high grade.

If Ning Su continued to hold back, he might lose his chance to compete for the Champion title.

And if he failed to become Champion, he would not obtain the formula for the Spirit Fusion Pill!

"Damn it, a two-against-one fight really is unfair!"

Ning Su gritted his teeth. Before the Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill had fully formed, he decisively summoned a pale cyan flame from his palm and cast it into the Medicinal Cauldron.

Whoosh!

The Green Lotus Core Flame!

The same scorching heat emerged, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

"Th-this is... another Heavenly Flame??"

Fa Ma was dumbfounded.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Wait, both of you had Heavenly Flames??

And you waited until this final critical moment to use them?

You two were far too good at holding back!

Two Heavenly Flames competing on the same stage—such a sight was rarely seen even once in a century!

"He actually has a Heavenly Flame too?"

Xiao Yan froze for a moment, then suddenly found the flame before Ning Su strangely familiar.

"Teacher, don't you think the Heavenly Flame that guy summoned feels familiar?"

"Of course it does. That's the Green Lotus Core Flame!"

Yao Lao's voice could not hide his surprise.

"The Green Lotus Core Flame??"

"Didn't Queen Medusa take it away? How did it end up in his hands??" Xiao Yan was stunned.

Back then, in order to obtain the Green Lotus Core Flame, he had risked everything to break into the Royal City of the Snake-People Race, only to fail in the end.

Now, the Green Lotus Core Flame had appeared before him in another way!