The thirty-eighth Heavenly Stele.
A burning flame appeared before Lin An, but the way it burned was quite strange.
"Is this a reverse playback of the flame combustion process?"
Lin An quickly understood and turned his gaze to the exam questions.
Please use this fire to refine a King Spirit Pill.
The requirements for the exam were simple: King Spirit Pill was just an ordinary King Rank pill that could increase one's cultivation level after consumption.
However, even Lin An himself had never tried to refine pills using an inverted flame.
"This test question is quite interesting."
Lin An also became interested, his eyes fixed on the upside-down burning flames, and he began to deduce the scenario in his mind.
A full half hour passed before Lin An finally smiled.
This level isn't difficult; it just takes some time. Even he took half an hour, let alone others.
Lin An then began to act, adding the medicinal herbs he needed to refine with each breath the flames receded.
Time passed slowly, and in just about fifteen minutes, a pill took shape amidst the flames as fire rose.
At the very moment the elixir was formed, Lin An successfully passed the test of the thirty-eighth Heavenly Stele and arrived before the thirty-ninth Heavenly Stele.
The questions posed on this stele are also quite interesting.
A pill the size of a fist appeared, but it was devouring itself, like an endless Möbius strip.
[If this elixir continues to devour itself indefinitely, when will it ever reach perfection?]
This is the question for this level.
After some thought, Lin An came up with a solution: to divide the pill in two, making it both a devourer and a devoured.
When the two reach a balance, things should be perfect.
After all, the path of alchemy is based on the principle of moderation and balance.
However, he had another, more direct method.
That is...
Lin An reached out and grabbed the pill, then swallowed it. As he circulated his cultivation technique, the pill was quickly refined.
"To be refined by me is also to achieve perfection."
Lin An said with a smile.
The ultimate purpose of elixirs is to be refined. No matter what kind of elixir it is, if it is not refined and consumed by living beings, it is no different from a useless elixir.
A good pill should be consumed and refined; otherwise, what's the point of refining it?
The Heavenly Stele seemed surprised by Lin An's answer and paused for a few breaths. Finally, it seemed to agree with Lin An, and a stream of light entered his brow, further deepening the Origin Pill Mark.
At the same time, Lin An arrived before the fortieth Heavenly Stele.
Time continued to pass, and the others were also working hard to pass the Heavenly Stele Test, but their speed was ultimately not as fast as Lin An's.
Another two weeks passed quickly.
Currently, apart from Lin An, the fastest are still Ning Shanhai, Xu Ming, and others, who have now reached the thirty-sixth Heavenly Stele, while most others are still at the first nine Heavenly Steles.
As for Lin An, he had already arrived in front of the seventy-first Heavenly Stele.
"Only two more Heavenly Steles are needed. Once I pass through these two Heavenly Steles, the Origin Pill Mark should be fully activated, allowing me to enter the Pill Dao Origin Sea."
Thinking about it, Lin An's gaze also fell on the seventy-first Heavenly Stele in front of him.
A line of text appeared on it.
This stele serves as proof that the Dao of Alchemy no longer exists!
Lin An frowned as he looked at the exam question.
Does this prove that Dao of Alchemy no longer exists?
How can this be proven?
"Self-proving trap?"
Lin An sneered, then threw a punch, "A mere Heavenly Stele, does it even deserve my proof?"
Boom...
A terrifying force erupted and slammed directly onto the Heavenly Stele.
Lin An had thought the Heavenly Stele was indestructible, but to his surprise, it shattered under his punch, turning into countless fragments that paved a path to the seventy-second Heavenly Stele.
"Go forward without hesitation, and you will achieve the Dao of Alchemy."
A sudden realization dawned on Lin An. Without looking back, he embarked on this path and arrived before the last celestial stele.
Another line of text appeared on it.
Countless alchemists throughout history have practiced this art; please write an epitaph for them!
Lin An knew that these last two stone tablets were no longer a test, but rather a questioning of his own conscience.
This last celestial stele, said to be an epitaph for alchemists throughout history, is it not also a self-written epitaph?
"The elixir can seize the creation of heaven and earth. If one uses the elixir to kill the heavens, is it the elixir's fault or the heavens' fault?"
"The elixir has no inherent good or evil, and Heaven has no inherent right or wrong."
As Lin An spoke, he transformed his finger into a knife and wrote on the Heavenly Stele: "My Dan is proof that I stole from Heaven!"
As the characters were written, the entire Heavenly Stele trembled, and then all the Heavenly Steles in the entire Pill Forest shook together.
Splash splash splash...
The next instant, streaks of light shot up from these celestial steles, sweeping towards Lin An.
The sudden disturbance naturally attracted the attention of everyone in Pill Forest.
"What's going on? Why are these celestial steles suddenly exhibiting such strange phenomena?"
"Could it be that someone passed the test of the Seventy-Two Heavenly Steles, which triggered this strange phenomenon?"
"No way, could it be that Senior Ning Shanhai and the others passed the test?"
"Impossible! Only about twenty days have passed. Last time, Senior Ning Shanhai only passed fifty Heavenly Steles. How could he have made such great progress?"
"What's going on? Apart from Senior Ning Shanhai and the others, it seems no one else has a chance to pass the Seventy-Two Heavenly Stele assessment."
"..."
While most people were shocked, they were also bewildered. They didn't know what had happened and could only speculate.
However, Ning Shanhai, Xu Ming, and the others became serious.
Is it him?
"It seems like besides him, there's no one else above us."
"A prodigy, truly a prodigy! I never imagined that the Heavenly Stele, which I have failed to pass in nearly ten thousand years of my life, would be passed by a junior. I am utterly ashamed."
"It is said that the Pill Forest Heavenly Stele contains an Immortal Dao of Alchemy inheritance, doesn't that mean he has obtained this inheritance?"
"This is the first time I've ever seen such a strange phenomenon. It's a pity that he was in such a high position that none of us could see him."
Everyone looked towards the celestial steles ahead, but once they reached more than ten steles, they were enveloped in mist, and Lin An was nowhere to be seen.
The sunlight was blinding, making their eyes hurt, and in that light, they seemed to see that figure.
At this moment, Lin An was indeed standing in the center of the light, with countless streams of light flowing into his brow, making the Origin Pill Mark on his brow even more dazzling, and at the same time, a large amount of information flooded into his mind.
Those were ancient alchemists who were now imparting all their knowledge to him, allowing him to glimpse countless long-lost alchemical formulas and various alchemy methods.
As Lin An processed this information, when Lin An opened his eyes again, his gaze seemed to have become deeper and more profound.
"Now that the Origin Pill Mark have been fully activated, I can also enter the Pill Dao Origin Sea."
Without hesitation, Lin An sat down cross-legged.
As the light from the Origin Pill Mark his brows intensified, his consciousness entered the Pill Dao Origin Sea in the next instant.