So once the furnace fire was lit, the raging flames rekindled his hope and gradually calmed his agitated mind.
He glanced at the hourglass, calculating the time. If he followed the usual alchemy method, it would definitely be too late. He could only shorten the time for each stage proportionally.
Thus, he quickly finished the warming stage and began the intense refining.
Ying Dansheng nodded repeatedly, "Yes, that's right, this is the correct way to control fire."
In contrast, Mo Qi was fiercely fanning the furnace fire, causing the flames to leap three zhang high, completely engulfing the entire alchemy furnace.
His eyes were also obscured by the firelight, his eyeballs turning crimson, as if he had gone mad.
"Hahaha, he's doomed to lose, he's gone mad." people from Heavenly God Academy laughed.
"Alas, what a disgrace."
"What a pity, I didn't expect him to be so unable to withstand pressure."
A roar came from the spectator area of Heavenly Rank Academy, "Mo Xin, what are you doing? Don't mess around, stabilize yourself! We can win!"
At this moment, Mo Qi suddenly stopped fanning the fire and quickly extinguished it.
Then, without using spiritual power to maintain it, he simply stood there, watching quietly.
"Has he given up?" The people from Heavenly Rank Academy widened their eyes, full of disbelief.
Mo Qi decisively turned and walked directly to Lu Xiaoyue, indicating that his match was over.
"Alas," a sigh came from the surroundings, "How could he do this? It's too irresponsible. Since he went up, he represented Heavenly Rank Academy, representing the entire Southern Continent. How can he just give up like that? It's too irresponsible."
Xing Mian also had a gloomy expression, staring at Mo Qi, his eyes seeming to spew fire.
Lu Xiaoyue turned to look at Mo Qi, "You, did you give up because you felt you couldn't win against him?"
Mo Qi shook his head, "How could I give up? How could I, the invincible alchemy prodigy, give up alchemy at any time?"
Lu Xiaoyue pouted, "Still bragging! Your personality hasn't changed at all."
At this moment, cheers erupted from the arena because Cheng Guzhi had extinguished the fire and was slowly using spiritual power to condense the pill.
Seeing his calm and unhurried demeanor, the surrounding spectators believed he had already won, so they gave him their applause and cheers in advance.
"This is what an alchemy master should look like, unlike that person, too impetuous, too superficial."
"Exactly, he's just a beginner alchemist."
"He hasn't even entered the door."
Amidst the eager anticipation of the crowd, Cheng Guzhi finished refining the pill. He then looked back, and the hourglass had just finished draining.
The timing was perfect, truly spectacular!
Thunderous applause erupted from the surroundings again.
The celestial maiden in the sky gently raised her hand, Cheng Guzhi's furnace lid opened, and three pills slowly floated up. They gently descended into an open bottle prepared beside him.
The pills were white with a hint of red, round, but without luster.
Cheng Guzhi's own expression changed, his face filled with disbelief, "How could this happen?"
The celestial maiden said faintly, "This pill is of inferior grade!"
Cheng Guzhi's head drooped to the ground. However, a commotion around him made him raise his head again, "It's okay, the pill Mo Xin refined is even worse."
"Yes, I'm sure his pill didn't even condense."
"How could it condense? It's probably just a pile of rotten medicinal ingredients."
Cheng Guzhi's confidence suddenly surged. He stretched his neck, his eyeballs almost reaching into Mo Qi's alchemy furnace.
Everyone also looked towards Mo Qi's alchemy furnace in unison.
Lu Xiaoyue swallowed, feeling a little nervous.
The celestial maiden gently raised her hand again, Mo Qi's furnace lid opened, and a pill flew out from inside, also falling into an open bottle prepared beside him.
Following that, a rich fragrance wafted through the air.
The pill was light and graceful, crystal clear, round, and bright in color.
The celestial maiden announced, "This pill is of supreme quality."
Her voice was low, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.
"Ah, we won." Cheers erupted from the Heavenly Rank Academy spectators.
"What's going on? What happened?" The people from Heavenly God Academy were bewildered.
"Didn't he give up? How could he condense a pill?"
"Even if it condensed, it couldn't be of supreme quality."
Cheng Guzhi collapsed to the ground, his face dejected.
At this moment, someone from Heavenly God Academy jeered, "What's the use of just looking good? Pills aren't meant to be looked at."
"Yes, only effective pills are good pills."
Cheng Guzhi's stubbornness was reignited. He suddenly stood up.
Although he also believed Mo Qi's pill would be more effective, at this moment, for the sake of face and honor, he had to get to the bottom of it, he had to be stubborn to the point of losing all reason.
"Yes, how can you judge mine as inferior grade based solely on appearance, and his as supreme quality? That's too exaggerated," Cheng Guzhi said loudly, looking up at the sky.
The sky fell silent for a moment.
The people from Heavenly God Academy became even more agitated, talking about the goddess being biased, the goddess not having accurate judgment standards, and conspiracies, all sorts of voices intermingling, creating chaos.
A pleasant voice drifted down from the sky, like a light rain in the desert hitting one's body, "The pills from Heavenly God Academy are indeed of inferior grade, and my judgment is naturally well-founded. Firstly, in the raw material preparation stage, Heavenly God Academy became impetuous in the later stages, resulting in flaws. Secondly, during the refining stage, in order to complete it within the allotted time, the time for each stage was compressed equally, leading to insufficient spiritual energy in the initial stage of the pill and a forced condensation in the later stage, with undoubtedly unsatisfactory effects."
"The pills from Heavenly Rank Academy, in the initial raw material preparation stage, were both fast and good. In the later refining stage, the initial spiritual energy release was sufficient. In fear of insufficient time in the later stages, the heat was increased to accelerate condensation. After stopping the fire, to preserve the medicinal properties and prevent the pill from collapsing, it was allowed to cool naturally. Although the time was tight, the best was achieved in each stage. Therefore, the quality of the pill was guaranteed."
People listened with rapt attention, barely registering the specific content of the speech, and a profound silence fell.
Cheng Guzhi remained insistent, "Firstly, I was not impetuous in the preparation stage. Secondly, I also paid attention to controlling the heat during the refining stage, and I did my best in each stage. How could my pill be of inferior grade?"
The sky fell silent again, but imperceptibly, people felt a faint pressure slowly descending from above.
Mo Qi couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Alas, I originally wanted to save you some face, but you didn't want it, and you even rushed to make me slap you. If your face gets swollen, I won't be responsible for treating it.
"This is a healing pill, and whether it's good or not is very easy to verify," Mo Qi said, looking at Cheng Guzhi. "How about this, I'll cut myself, take my pill, and you cut yourself and take your pill. We'll see who heals faster. What do you think?"
"Okay, let's do it." A chorus of agreement immediately arose from the surroundings, their voices filled with eagerness.
After all, it wasn't their bodies being cut, and the sight of blood gushing out seemed quite interesting.
"This..." Cheng Guzhi hesitated.
"What's wrong? Are you admitting defeat or backing down?" Mo Qi stared at him intently and said loudly.
"Admit defeat? Back down? Who's afraid of whom? Let's do it." The people around were enjoying the spectacle and not afraid of trouble.
Cheng Guzhi had no choice but to brace himself and say, "Fine, let's verify it."
He took a dagger, rolled up his sleeve, and with a swish, he made a long cut on his arm. Blood streamed out.
Mo Qi thought to himself: Ruthless!
Cheng Guzhi quickly walked to the table, picked up the pills from the bottle, and ate them.
The crowd watched with great anticipation, but the blood continued to flow, and it didn't stop for a long time.
Cheng Guzhi said calmly, "Don't rush, we have to wait a while. Even the best pills need some time."
Mo Qi chuckled lightly, rolled up his sleeve, and mirroring the length and depth of Cheng Guzhi's wound, he made a cut on his own arm. It really hurt! How could Cheng Guzhi do that!
Mo Qi endured the pain, walked to the table, picked up the pill he had refined, and swallowed it.
The crowd nodded repeatedly, "That's fine, let's observe together, so as not to delay time, because even the best pills need... Huh? What's going on? This is too outrageous."
Before they could finish speaking, they saw the wound on Mo Qi's hand rapidly heal. In the blink of an eye, the wound disappeared. He wiped away the blood, and it was clean and smooth, as if he had never been injured.
"Wow!" The people felt their horizons broadened and exclaimed in unison.
Cheng Guzhi was also completely convinced. He let out a sigh and turned to retreat, even forgetting about the wound on his hand.
Ying Dansheng also stared at Mo Qi blankly, "Is the gap between me and him really that big?"
The celestial maiden announced leisurely, "The third alchemy match, Heavenly Rank Academy wins!"
A roar of cheers erupted!
It was only then that many people suddenly realized that Heavenly Rank Academy had already won three consecutive matches in the alchemy competition, and Mo Qi had won them all by himself.
Many people unconsciously began to get excited: as long as they won one more match, it seemed Heavenly Rank Academy would usher in a victory unseen for eight hundred years.
It seemed that in eight hundred years, this was also the closest they had ever been to victory.
However, the victory in the remaining match depended on these few people in front of them, which didn't seem very reliable.
Xing Mian was also a little excited, and a little nervous.
Or rather, very nervous. If he had not been shown any hope from the beginning to the end, it would have been fine. But now, in the dark night, a star was slowly rising in the distant sky, emitting a faint light.
Where there is light, there is hope. But how could a faint light illuminate the dark night?
Mo Qi walked back to Lu Xiaoyue's side.
Lu Xiaoyue, rarely, revealed a smile.
That smile was like a ray of sunshine in the cold winter, like a spring of clear water in the vast desert.
This smile made all the grass sprout, all the flowers bloom, all beings fall into a daze, and all things welcome spring.
Mo Qi stared at her, feeling a bit dazed and elated, almost impulsively wanting to kiss her.
He decided against it, the palm strike on the river that year was still vivid in his memory.
At this moment, the magical combat on the other side had also entered a white-hot stage.
Mo Qi suddenly realized that Xue Nu was participating in the competition!
He hurried over to watch.
His opponent was a young male cultivator with a handsome face. However, as Supervisor Yue had said, this person's body had also undergone an异化. His chest and abdomen were bulging high, and his entire chest, abdomen, and arms seemed hardened, covered with a layer of black, textured, iron-plate-like skin. The iron plates protruded piece by piece, layer upon layer, like scales.
The handsome and delicate face and the robust body belonged to the same person, which looked extremely incongruous.
This person was named Min Zhiyuan, and he used a cylindrical magical artifact called the Dragon Restraining Pillar.
The Dragon Restraining Pillar had three rings. When unleashed, the three rings would suddenly expand, encircle a person, and then rapidly contract, binding the person to the pillar.
Moreover, Min Zhiyuan's arms were like Qilin arms. When he punched, divine light would erupt, working in conjunction with the Dragon Restraining Pillar, making it impossible to guard against.
Xue Nu first unleashed a small bell, which was a magical artifact obtained from a stone cave below Duoshe Cliff back then.
... The bell-shaped magical artifact spun in the air, suddenly expanding, but it was finally caught by one of the rings of the Dragon Restraining Pillar and tightly locked onto the pillar. The bell artifact was still slowly rotating, making a creaking sound, trying to break free from the Dragon Restraining Pillar's control.
However, the other two rings moved with the pillar, continuously expanding and still reaching towards Xue Nu.