The black pot slammed onto the bluestone plaza with a crisp, resounding clang.
Every head snapped toward the sound.
Among the forest of gleaming, rune-etched pill cauldrons that radiated ancient majesty, that plain black pot looked utterly ridiculous—like a goofy husky that had somehow strolled into a pack of wolves.
None of the alchemists here were pushovers. They were the elite who had fought through brutal preliminaries across countless high-martial worlds just to stand on this stage. Their skills were monstrous, their standards sky-high.
“Pfft… a cooking pot?”
“She’s seriously refining pills in a pot?”
“Is this little girl here to perform stand-up? The Five Phoenixes are the hosts, and this is the champion they send? Treating a sacred alchemy contest like a circus?”
“A freshly ascended Ninth-grade world… of course they don’t have any decent alchemists. But if they’ve got no one, why send a kid with a pot just to pad the numbers? They’re throwing away their origin source essence for nothing!”
Laughter erupted all around, loud and unrestrained.
To these masters, alchemy was a solemn, almost holy art. They chose only the finest cauldrons, the ones forged from heavenly metals and inscribed with ancient formations, all to ensure perfection and eliminate even the slightest chance of failure.
Using a pot? Unheard of.
Technically possible, sure—but the control required was insane, and one tiny slip meant disaster.
Ni Yu felt every mocking stare prick her skin like needles.
What’s wrong with using a pot?
This pot was personally awakened and blessed by the Young Master himself. Compared to those fancy cauldrons, it was a hundred times better!
Like the old saying goes: the best tool is the one that fits you perfectly.
Who gave these people the right to laugh at her?
High above, on the ancient warship, one of the Upper Realm envoy’s attendants narrowed his eyes slightly.
Refining pills in a pot? A first for him.
He wouldn’t interfere, though. If the Five Phoenixes wanted to clown around, let them. The one who lost would be the one stripped of origin source essence—and that would be the Five Phoenixes’ problem.
Dong!
The attendant clenched his fist and struck the massive bronze bell beside him.
A deep, solemn toll rolled across the plaza.
With a flick of his finger, streaks of light shot out—scrolls that floated gently into every alchemist’s hands.
The moment they unrolled them, every pair of eyes grew grave.
Sixth-grade pill: Flower Gathering Pill.
A pill capable of helping Tribulation Transcendents condense their primordial spirit flower. Even many Eighth and Ninth-grade worlds had never seen one.
And this was only the first round.
Fail to produce it, and you were out—no second round for you.
Ni Yu unrolled her scroll and studied it carefully.
Flower Gathering Pill… ingredients: Prime Spirit Grass, Black Ginseng Root, Velvet Leaf…
Her brow furrowed. Looks tricky.
She memorized every step, every detail. Suddenly, flames burst from the scroll, reducing it to ash in an instant.
Every alchemist lowered their hands, closing their eyes to commit the formula to memory.
The attendant’s cold, proud voice rang out from the warship:
“Beside each of you is a spatial orb containing the exact herbs you need. One attempt only. Form the pill or blow the furnace—either ends your chance. You may abort mid-process if you sense failure and restart without penalty, but time is limited. When the sands run out, those without a finished pill are disqualified.”
He raised his hand. Array patterns wove across his palm and formed a gigantic hourglass.
Shaaaa…
Golden sand began to pour.
“Begin.”
DONG!
The bell tolled again, ripples spreading through the air.
Tension skyrocketed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In an instant, the plaza exploded into a dazzling kaleidoscope of flames—violet, crimson, azure, gold—each more breathtaking than the last.
Herbs flew from spatial orbs, tossed into flames to extract their essence.
…
On the blood-colored battlefield, the new emperor of the Great Xuan Dynasty, Tantai He, sat rigidly, his face dark as reports flooded in.
Around the plaza, cultivators from countless worlds had gathered—some from the Five Phoenixes, most from beyond.
Their representative? A little girl.
A little girl who had just slammed a cooking pot onto the ground.
The competing alchemists at least tried to stay focused, biting back their laughter.
The spectators? They lost all restraint.
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“A Ninth-grade world shouldn’t even have qualified for the preliminaries! If they weren’t the hosts, that kid would still be at home sucking on candy!”
“Pathetic. Even if they wanted to forfeit gracefully, did they have to send a child?”
“Does she even look like an alchemist? Refining pills in a pot—she’s playing house!”
Whispers turned to open jeers.
From the warships hovering in the sky, powerhouses from other worlds laughed without bothering to hide it.
The Five Phoenixes had always been despised here. Born from the Void Heaven, they were seen as upstarts at best, abominations at worst.
The cultivators of the Five Phoenixes clenched their jaws and endured the storm of mockery in silence.
Tantai He’s fists tightened until his knuckles went white.
Then he forced them open and stared at the plaza.
He believed in Ni Yu.
Not for any complicated reason.
Just one: she came from White Jade Capital.
That was enough.
…
Lake of Origin, Heart Island.
Lu Ping’an lounged on the Thousand-Blade Chair, one hand propping his chin, the other lazily swirling a bronze cup of liquor. Ripples danced across the surface.
The Spirit Pressure Chessboard floated before him, projecting the entire alchemy contest in perfect detail.
He watched with amused interest.
For Ni Yu, this was a rare chance to see the wider world.
…
Ni Yu’s round face was flushed crimson. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and forced her heart to calm.
Focus.
No matter how loud the ridicule, she couldn’t let it shake her.
She spat out a tongue of ghostly white flame—the Bone Spirit Fire, a heavenly profound flame personally bestowed by the Young Master. Perfect for alchemy.
One handful of herbs after another flew into the black pot.
Soon she sank completely into the flow state.
Sixth-grade pills were no joke.
Alchemy demanded absolute concentration—using divine sense or primordial spirit to control flame temperature, intensity, rhythm—every step precise to the extreme.
BOOM!
Terrifying primordial spirit fluctuations swept the plaza like a hurricane.
Nearly every contestant was at least a Unity Realm powerhouse; some were even Tribulation Transcendents. Their unrestrained auras clashed and formed a suffocating pressure storm.
Ni Yu felt her cheeks distort under the force.
She hadn’t formed her primordial spirit yet, so she spread only her divine sense.
Many alchemists glanced at her struggling in their aura storm and smirked disdainfully before ignoring her again.
They began refining in earnest.
Herbs dropped into cauldrons. Flames danced under perfect control. Impurities burned away and sank; pure essence was sealed and protected.
Sixth-grade was hard.
Pffft!
Suddenly—a cauldron exploded.
Acrid smoke and the stench of charred herbs filled the air.
One alchemist’s face turned livid. He punched his ruined cauldron with a furious roar.
In a flash, an attendant appeared beside him.
“One chance only.”
A palm struck downward.
Mysterious origin energy surged. Threads of source essence were forcibly ripped from the alchemist’s body.
He stared in despair and regret—he’d actually failed before the girl with the pot!
“Failed contestants leave quietly… or be erased.”
Ashen-faced, the man packed his cauldron and slunk away.
Passing the Five Phoenixes group, he sneered venomously.
“Keep staring. Your little pot girl won’t last much longer.”
Time ticked on.
More explosions. More successes—fragrant pill aroma wafted when cauldrons opened, though only a few pills formed per batch, the scent far from overwhelming.
Ni Yu’s nose twitched.
Gurgle…
Her stomach let out a thunderous growl that echoed across half the plaza.
She was starving.
But this contest was too formal—she couldn’t just pop pills into her mouth mid-refining like usual.
Her chubby cheeks twisted in agony.
Ever since comprehending the Dao Intent of Gluttony, her appetite had become bottomless. Going without food felt like torture—her stomach itself seemed ready to turn into a furnace.
She glanced into the black pot. Rich, mouth-watering medicinal fragrance rose up.
Drool slipped from the corner of her mouth.
“Can’t take it…”
“One portion definitely won’t be enough to fill me!”
She couldn’t hold back anymore.
With a wave of her plump little hand, she yanked out all nine remaining portions of herbs from the spatial orb and dumped them straight into the pot.
Every alchemist nearby twitched.
This was alchemy?!
This was madness!
Who throws ten portions into the same pot at once?!
Precision was everything in pill refining—how could anyone just toss everything together like stir-fry?!
She was begging to blow the pot sky-high!
On the ancient warship, the attendant’s gaze locked onto Ni Yu.
A faint, intrigued chuckle drifted from deeper within the ship.
“Interesting…”
The attendants felt a chill crawl up their spines.
Ni Yu was too hungry to care who was watching. She was about to die of starvation—who cared about peeping?
Her divine sense roared out like a tidal wave.
Normally the recipe was meant for a cauldron, but thanks to the secret black-pot techniques the Young Master had taught her, she effortlessly adapted every step.
Golden sand kept falling.
Everyone waited for her spectacular failure—greedier than the snake trying to swallow an elephant.
Ten portions in one go? What kind of idiot fatty does that?
Of the 13,872 alchemists, one-third had already succeeded.
Another third were still trying or had already failed.
The hourglass never paused for anyone.
The Five Phoenixes delegation grew nervous.
Qi Liujia’s wrinkled old face kept twitching.
Ni Yu still hadn’t finished…
Emperor Tantai He shot to his feet, palms sweaty, staring at the plaza.
Suddenly—
Ni Yu’s eyes snapped open, bloodshot from hunger.
She grabbed the edge of the scorching pot—red-hot from the Bone Spirit Fire—and started slamming it against the ground.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Inside, ten portions of molten essence churned violently, yet her divine sense perfectly separated each portion like oil and water.
Drooling openly now, she began the real performance.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The black pot smashed into the bluestone again and again, cracks spider-webbing across the tiles.
Every alchemist still refining whipped around in fury.
Those who hadn’t finished yet nearly coughed blood.
Damn it!
She can’t refine properly so she’s deliberately sabotaging everyone else?!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The attendant on the warship felt veins pop on his forehead.
He stormed inside to report, expecting the envoy to disqualify the lunatic girl for disturbing the contest.
Instead, laughter echoed from within the cabin.
When he came back out, he looked like he’d bitten into a lemon.
The envoy had allowed her to continue “causing chaos.”
BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions rang out nonstop.
Alchemists screamed in rage.
“I’ll kill her!”
“You little monster—ruining my focus!”
Some clutched their chests and howled.
This was sacred alchemy—how could such a freak exist?!
Attendants flashed in, cold glares forcing the furious alchemists to stand down.
They could only watch their origin essence get stripped away and leave in humiliation.
Ni Yu was oblivious, completely lost in her zone.
Black Pot Alchemy Manual: First smash, second toss, third brew…
Smashing forced the essences to collide and fuse perfectly.
One tiny mistake and the pot would explode.
Of course, she’d done this a thousand times.
Smashing complete.
The ten portions had merged into one massive, fragrant blob.
She swallowed hard.
Then—tossing phase.
Like a master chef flipping vegetables, she jerked the pot rhythmically. The huge mass of liquid leapt and danced, flying out of the pot only to be caught again.
The bottom of the pot, wrapped in heavenly flame, struck the ground in perfect symphony.
If smashing was wild chaos metal, tossing was an elegant orchestral masterpiece.
The remaining alchemists lost their minds.
Their cauldrons started rattling ominously.
All they could hear was that cursed rhythmic CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Another wave of explosions rocked the plaza.
Ni Yu didn’t notice.
Drooling, swaying like seaweed in a storm, she tossed the pot with increasing flair.
The scene was apocalyptic.
Below the stage:
Qi Liujia’s old face twitched uncontrollably.
Nie Changqing covered his face with his palm.
The Five Phoenixes cultivators were stunned speechless—then started laughing through their nerves.
Oh, so we’re not allowed to mess with your focus now?
On the plaza, the remaining alchemists paled.
Because…
As she kept tossing…
That massive blob of essence began condensing—miraculously forming perfect, round pills that rolled and clattered inside the pot like rain on a tin roof.
Huala… huala…
Soon the only sound in the entire plaza was the thunderous applause of hundreds of freshly formed pills bouncing happily in the black pot.
On the ancient warship, the attendant’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.
She… actually succeeded?!
And the yield…
Terrifying!
A powerful primordial spirit fluctuation swept out from the depths of the ship.
A faint, shocked murmur drifted through the air:
“That girl is the alchemist from the newly born high-martial world in the Void Heaven…”
“This… could this be a lost ancient alchemy art?”
