You're just a single demon beast? I have a whole army of beast tamers!

Qin Shou glanced at He Changfeng.

This person is in the mid-stage of True Immortal, and his immortal spiritual power is extremely well contained within him.

To be able to say such things, one's alchemy skills must be extraordinary.

He wanted to ask again, but He Changfeng had already raised his glass and said:

"Fellow Daoist Qin, you don't need to believe everything. It's more interesting when there are many experts."

Qin Shou did not respond.

He picked up his wine glass and touched his lips to it.

"If Fellow Daoist Qin is unwilling to have a deep conversation with me, then let's just consider today as a meal."

He Changfeng put down his wine cup. "After the conference, if you need anything, you can come to the Hundred Beasts Pavilion to find me."

I, He Changfeng, have always been generous to my friends.

Qin Shou nodded: "Thank you."

He sat for about half an hour, then said goodbye and went downstairs.

Back at the Shui family shop, Elder Liu was waiting for them.

Seeing him return, he asked, "How did it go?"

"He didn't say much. He just asked a few questions about alchemy," Qin Shou said.

"We should be careful with the people from Yunshan Pavilion," Elder Liu said.

Qin Shou agreed and went into the east wing.

After closing the door, Shen Liuli asked telepathically, "That He Changfeng isn't simple, is he?"

"Mid-stage True Immortal. His aura is far more profound and substantial than that of an ordinary True Immortal."

Qin Shou said, "Moreover, this person is quite skilled in alchemy."

He said he was evenly matched with Wen Yan, which was probably just modesty.

"What would you do if you encountered an opponent with six Paths Marks?"

Qin Shou pondered for a moment and said, "I can refine the Six Paths Pattern. It's just unstable."

Actually, he was wrong. If he had the comprehension of the sphere, six lines would be a certainty. He had even produced seven and eight lines before.

"Having five lines is enough to get into the top ten."

"If we're going to compete for first place, we'll have to wait and see on the day of the finals," Shen Liuli said.

Qin Shou remained silent.

He took out He Changfeng's invitation from his sleeve, glanced at it under the lamp, and then casually burned it.

The final is the day after tomorrow.

Whether the questions set by the Three Immortals Sect are biased or not, we'll find out in time.

On the day of the finals, no smaller rooms were set up on the Danxin Platform, and all ninety-nine cultivators who had passed the semi-finals took to the platform.

In full view of everyone, they started refining pills on the spot. Each person had a uniformly issued pill furnace, a stone platform, and a set of well-preserved medicinal materials in front of them.

The three elders of the Three Immortals Sect sat side by side on the judging panel.

Although the old man in the middle, dressed in a green robe and with a white beard, looked to be only about fifty years old, Qin Shou could tell at a glance that the immortal spiritual power within him was unfathomably profound, clearly indicating that he was a genuine Xuanxian (mysterious immortal).

The old man in the green robe and white beard stood up from his seat, his gaze slowly sweeping over the crowd on the stage. His voice, though not loud, clearly reached the ears of every participating cultivator:

"I am Zhou Yuanlang, an elder of Danxia Peak of the Three Immortals Sect."

Today's final round will be judged by myself and two senior brothers. The questions are sealed here and will be opened in public.

The rules will only be explained once, so listen carefully.

He paused for a moment, then took out a blue jade slip from his sleeve.

He crushed it in front of everyone, and a light screen immediately rose into the air, covered with tiny characters. Zhou Yuanlang pointed at the light screen and said:

"The final competition will last for five hours. The medicinal materials will be uniformly distributed. After the pills are made, the grade will be considered first, followed by the quantity. The one with the higher grade will win. If the grades are the same, the quantity will be compared."

Only those with five or more runes can compete for the top three. If someone refines seven runes, regardless of the number, they are automatically first place.

A murmur rippled through the audience. The words "Seven Patterns" made many alchemists breathe more heavily. Only Qin Shou stood on the stage, his expression unchanged, as if the rules had little to do with him.

Zhou Yuanlang withdrew his hand and added:

"There are no limits to the use of celestial fire; anyone with the ability may use it."

As soon as the words were spoken, the people on the stage did not delay any longer and returned to their positions to light their alchemy furnaces. The first to light up were several flames of different colors.

On the east side, a young man in a red robe flipped his palm and held up a crimson flame with astonishing heat. Immediately, people nearby whispered that it was the Crimson Sun Immortal Flame, a mid-grade flame.

On the west side, another female cultivator in green released a ball of emerald flame. The flame did not look fierce, but it carried a life-giving medicinal fragrance. Some people recognized it as the Azure Wood Spirit Fire, which is most suitable for wood-type alchemists.

Qin Shou did not rush to make a move. He stood in place and scanned the immortal flames of the people on the platform one by one. The immortal flames in the hands of these cultivators were all of good quality, at least of low grade, and some of them had even reached the middle grade. However, none of them could be compared with the Taiqing Immortal Flame.

He Changfeng stood in the northern part of Taichung, a dark golden flame hovering in his palm. The flame was not ostentatious, but no one dared to get too close.

Qin Shou could tell that the dark gold flame in He Changfeng's hand was of a high grade. Although it was not as good as the Taiqing Immortal Flame, it was already much stronger than most of the immortal flames present.

Qin Shou still didn't release any immortal fire. He only used the ordinary spiritual fire that came with the alchemy furnace to warm it up. He did this in the preliminary and semi-final rounds.

Even now, it remains the same; a nearby alchemist noticed that he wasn't even releasing his immortal fire.

A hint of disdain flashed in his eyes, because the final question was about the companion leaf of a Nine-Aperture Immortal Spirit Flower. This kind of immortal medicine is extremely unstable. Ordinary spiritual fire can hardly even purify it, let alone refine it into a high-grade immortal pill.

Qin Shou ignored the gazes of others, took the companion leaf out of the sealed box and placed it in his palm, and the Wood Law was quietly activated.

The leaf trembled slightly, and he gradually drew out the medicinal properties from the nine fine lines. The ordinary spiritual fire in the furnace was not burning very strongly, but he first used the wood element to protect the medicinal liquid, preventing the spiritual fire from directly burning the medicinal power.

He used this method for many years, and it was the only way to ensure the stable formation of every batch of high-grade pills.

As time passed, the smell of burning gradually spread across the stage. The three alchemists who had made mistakes in controlling the heat had ruined the medicinal materials and had no choice but to withdraw from the competition in disappointment.

The people beside Qin Shou also looked tense and were sweating. Five hours seemed like a long time, but when it came to refining pills, not a moment could be wasted.

Suddenly, He Changfeng made a move. He abruptly retracted the dark golden flame in his palm and swallowed the entire liquid directly into the Flame Heart.

Someone in the audience gasped in surprise, because the flames didn't look like they were refining pills, but rather like they were burning medicine. However, in just a moment, a pure fragrance of pills wafted out of his furnace.

Qin Shou looked up and made a judgment in his mind: He Changfeng's move had at least five patterns, and possibly even six patterns.

Two hours later, people began to open their furnaces one after another. The first to lift the lid was the young man in red robes on the east side. He had four immortal pills in his furnace, three with five-line patterns and one with four-line patterns. He looked quite proud of himself.

Next up was the female cultivator in green. Out of five pills in one batch, four had five-line patterns and one had four-line patterns. This was an excellent result, and the discussion below the stage gradually grew louder.

But what truly silenced the entire room was Wen Yan. He stood at the very front, his movements unhurried and deliberate. He used almost no fancy techniques when refining pills, and the fire in his furnace remained remarkably cool.

At the very last moment, he suddenly took out a jade bowl and poured three drops of emerald liquid into the furnace. The furnace trembled violently and then spewed out a cloud of pure air. When the furnace was opened, the three immortal pills lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace, each with six golden lines on its surface.