"Hmm? What is that... the ancient treasure, the Fire Controlling Bead? This brat has indeed obtained this treasure!"
Everyone's expressions changed drastically as they looked at the red bead emitting a scorching aura between Ye Feng's brows, utterly shocked.
Although they had already heard the news, knowing it was one thing, but seeing it with their own eyes still made each of them unable to contain their astonishment.
After all, this was an ancient treasure. Not only had they never seen it, but even hearing about it was incredible.
However, soon everyone recovered, and they all sneered, "Heh heh, so what if he has the Fire Controlling Bead? Without the right flame, he can't refine the Fire Ganoderma at all!"
"Exactly. Although the Fire Controlling Bead is powerful, it needs to continuously collect various flames to unleash its immense power. This brat probably doesn't even have a single flame!"
"Heh heh, that's not necessarily true. At worst, this brat can collect ordinary mortal flames. I just don't know if mortal flames can refine the Fire Ganoderma!"
To refine a spiritual medicinal ingredient like the Fire Ganoderma, ordinary flames wouldn't suffice. At the very least, it required flames ignited by a cultivator's spiritual energy.
Therefore, if Ye Feng intended to use ordinary mortal flames to refine the Fire Ganoderma, it would undoubtedly lead to failure.
Listening to everyone's words, Ye Feng sneered inwardly, but he didn't offer any explanation. He simply said indifferently, "Won't we know if it's mortal flame by trying?"
With that, Ye Feng wasted no time. He immediately used his will to control the Lava Strange Flame from within the Fire Controlling Bead and began to melt the Fire Ganoderma.
Seeing this, everyone shook their heads and said, "Tsk, still pretending. I don't believe mere mortal flames can refine the Fire Ganoderma!"
"Exactly. If mortal flames could refine it, alchemists wouldn't be so rare. This brat is definitely feigning calmness..."
Only Kang Qian, standing nearby, frowned tightly the moment Ye Feng's flame emerged, as he sensed a terrifying temperature from it.
Coupled with Ye Feng's confident demeanor, it made him secretly ponder, "This brat is so confident, could it be that this flame is indeed not a mortal flame?"
However, he soon thought of something else and sneered, "Heh heh, even if it's not mortal flame, so what? This Fire Ganoderma has been processed. So, brat, just wait for your failure!!"
...
Meanwhile, in the arena, Ye Feng was diligently refining the Fire Ganoderma. However, as he was refining, he discovered something was amiss: the Fire Ganoderma was exceptionally hard!
"How can this be? This Fire Ganoderma is merely a somewhat spiritual medicinal ingredient, not even a first-tier spiritual medicine. Why is it so hard?"
Ye Feng's brows furrowed. If it were just an ordinary Fire Ganoderma, let alone a strange flame, even the flames ignited by the spiritual energy of a Grandmaster cultivator could refine it.
Yet, this spirit mushroom before him could withstand the temperature of the Lava Strange Flame without melting. Such a bizarre situation made Ye Feng quickly realize something was wrong.
Recalling his previous offense towards Kang Qian, he now understood. This fellow had likely tampered with it behind the scenes.
"However, these minor tricks are meant to stop me from joining the Alchemy Sect? You underestimate the power of the Fire Controlling Bead. Lava Strange Flame, increase the heat!!"
Ye Feng snorted coldly. In the next second, he directly controlled the Fire Controlling Bead to increase the heat. With its enhancement, the temperature of the Lava Strange Flame suddenly surged.
Immediately after, a series of intense sizzling sounds could be heard. The seemingly incredibly hard Fire Ganoderma began to slowly soften, then melted into countless liquids that flowed to the bottom of the alchemy furnace.
Seeing this, Ye Feng let out a sigh of relief and quickly began to reduce the temperature, lest the excessive heat scorch the Fire Ganoderma.
By the time he had completely melted the entire Fire Ganoderma, he glanced at the time and found that only three minutes had passed. This made him marvel once again at the terrifying power of the Fire Controlling Bead and the Lava Strange Flame.
While marveling, Ye Feng also took the opportunity to observe the refining of others. It was almost the same as the first batch, with most failing, which made him shake his head incessantly.
However, seeing this, the crowd didn't think the same way.
Furthermore, since he was using an alchemy furnace, the crowd couldn't see the situation inside. Therefore, seeing him stop so quickly and shake his head, they all showed excitement.
"Haha, look at that brat, he's already stopped and is sighing. Could it be that he failed the refinement and gave up struggling?!"
"Heh heh, that's for sure. It's been less than three minutes, and that brat has stopped. He probably knew mortal flames couldn't refine it and gave up early!"
"Exactly, this brat must have failed..."
Everyone stated with certainty. Upon hearing this, Kang Qian, who was standing nearby, also revealed a pleased expression.
He had initially been worried about an accident when he saw Ye Feng's flame was somewhat unusual. However, seeing Ye Feng stop so early immediately put his mind at ease.
Soon, five minutes passed quickly. Amidst the laughter of the crowd, the middle-aged man began to inspect the masterpieces of the assessed participants on stage one by one.
Without exception, most were eliminated, with only a few passing by luck, which made everyone marvel once again at the high threshold for becoming an alchemist!
However, despite their astonishment, everyone's gaze turned to Ye Feng.
"Heh heh, guess what expression that brat will have when he's eliminated later? I bet it'll be ugly and unwilling!"
"Do you even need to ask? It'll definitely be embarrassing, especially since that brat was so confident earlier..."
The crowd couldn't help but laugh, as if they had already foreseen Ye Feng's expression when he was eliminated, which was incredibly pleasing to them.
However, just as they were thinking this, the middle-aged man in charge of the assessment arrived in front of Ye Feng and slowly opened the lid of the alchemy furnace.
Immediately after, his expression changed instantly. His eyes bulged like ox eyes, as if he had seen something unbelievable.
Seeing this, the crowd initially thought he was shocked by Ye Feng's abysmal skill and burst into laughter.
"What's wrong, Elder He? Why are you so surprised? Could it be that this brat's refinement is so trashy that it hurt your eyes!"
"Heh heh, that must be it. It's definitely too trashy for Elder He to have such an expression. After all, this brat used mortal flames to refine, how could it be good!"
"Exactly..."
While sneering, the crowd craned their necks to look into the furnace, wanting to see how bad Ye Feng was to make Elder He speechless.
However, the next second, when they clearly saw the situation inside the furnace, their expressions completely changed, shifting from joy to disbelief.
"How, how is this possible? This, this... this is unscientific!!" someone exclaimed uncontrollably, their face filled with disbelief.
Hearing this, the others followed suit, "Yes, yes, it's so exaggerated. This, is this really what this brat refined? I can't believe it at all!"
"Right, it's too fake..."
Listening to the exclamations of the crowd, Kang Qian, who had been happy, also felt something was amiss. "What's going on? Why is everyone so surprised?"
As he spoke, he also turned his head to look into Ye Feng's furnace, and then, he froze completely on the spot...