The news that the Danta Star Furnace had been opened quickly spread throughout Sacred Pill City.
After the nine tolls of the pill bell, the entire city seemed to awaken.
In the streets and alleys, countless Alchemists raised their heads toward Danta. Some hurried out of Medicine Workshops, some burst from their secluded cultivation chambers, while others stood atop tall buildings, staring in shock at the ancient tower piercing the clouds.
Ninth-Rank Profound Pill.
Those four words were enough to make any Alchemist's blood boil.
What was more, the one opening the furnace today was not one of Danta's old monsters who had been famous for years, but Xiao Fan.
Danta was no stranger to that name.
Back during the Ye Family incident, Xiao Fan had turned the situation around single-handedly and allowed the Ye Family to secure its place among the Five Great Families once more. Back then, Xuan Kongzi and the others had already remembered this young Alchemist.
But being remembered was one thing. Being brilliant was another.
Between the eighth and ninth ranks still lay an insurmountable gulf.
At Danta Star Furnace Plaza, the ancient Star Furnace stood at the center.
The furnace was enormous, its entire body dark silver, with star patterns winding around its walls like a sleeping galaxy. As the Star Furnace opened, an ancient, weighty scent of medicinal fire slowly spread out, even slightly warping the space around the plaza.
Xuan Kongzi, Xuan Yi, and Tian Leizi, the three great leaders, sat atop the high platform.
Behind them sat many of Danta's high-ranking elders.
Several elders looked at the black-robed figure before the Star Furnace with complicated expressions.
"This boy's talent is indeed astonishing, but a Ninth-Rank Profound Pill cannot be refined by talent alone."
"The Ye Family affair proved that no one