Standing quietly before the slate platform, Xiao Yan gently pushed the crimson cauldron slightly forward. At this moment, he did not immediately summon flames as other alchemists would, nor did he rush to begin the refining process. Instead, he held the thin sheet of paper in his hands, furrowed his brows, and carefully studied the sparse information written upon it. He understood well the principle that "sharpening a knife doesn't require much effort when chopping wood"—the opportunity was limited to just two chances, and any lapse could lead to failure. The medicine required for this assessment was a second-grade pill known as "Bone-Reviving Pill," designed to treat severe injuries. As a healing tonic, such pills were generally not considered particularly valuable, and the "Bone-Reviving Pill" likely traded for only a few or a few hundred gold coins in the marketplace—far less than the more prestigious pills that enhanced qi or offered other specialized benefits. To prepare the "Reviving Bone Pill," a total of six herbs are required. Among the second-rank pills, this isn't particularly complex. However, since the "Reviving Bone Pill" is a specially formulated, innovative healing medicine developed by the Guild, even though Xiao Yan has encountered numerous healing pills before, he still finds it somewhat unfamiliar. Although healing pills vary widely in form and appearance, the fundamental principles behind their preparation are quite similar—differing mainly in complexity. Given that these pills aren't excessively intricate, as long as one has a solid grasp of actual pharmaceutical techniques, it's quite feasible to gradually deduce the method for preparing the "Reviving Bone Pill." Therefore, even if the prescription merely outlined the general considerations during the preparation process, as long as one followed their intuition, success was surely achievable. Having carefully absorbed all the details written on the thin sheet, Xiao Yan slowly closed his eyes. After a while, he gradually opened them again, exhaled softly, placed the thin sheet on the table, and turned to look. To his surprise, Princess Xiao and Li Lin had already begun stirring the flames, preparing the elixir. The deep yellow flames they were generating were identical—fully catalyzed by qi energy. Yet Xiao Yan believed this was not their limit. He was certain that both of them likely held hidden reserves. Given their status, it was entirely normal for them to possess such reserves. "These two, regardless of their temper or personalities, truly excel in practical application. . . ." With a soft sigh, Xiao Yan thought to himself. Since he had begun studying alchemy, he had only been learning for about three years. Compared to Princess Xiao, who had likely been nurtured under their teacher since childhood, Xiao Yan naturally found himself falling a bit behind in certain aspects—no matter how gifted he was, it simply wasn't possible to catch up with someone who had accumulated over a decade of experience in such a short span. Precisely because of this, even though the Princess had already reached the third rank at her age, Xiao Yan felt no sense of disappointment. Her innate talent was already strong, and having dedicated years to alchemy, her achievements were far from surprising. At this point, over fifteen minutes had passed since the assessment began, and within this brief span, the vast plaza was frequently illuminated by flashes of red light. Behind each flashing stone platform, the failed alchemists could only blush, grow disheartened, and reluctantly withdraw. For many alchemists who preferred a conventional, meticulous approach to preparing pills, this unconventional assessment method had effectively proven to be a matter of life and death. With a gentle flick of his fingers, a purple pill shot directly into Xiao Yan's mouth. He chewed it slowly, and then, after a moment, suddenly opened his mouth wide, expelling a vibrant purple flame that immediately came to rest in his palm. "Wow! A purple flame?" Given his prominent position at the center of the stage and his impressive entrance earlier, countless guests and spectators—both on the贵宾 seats and in the audience—had been intently observing Xiao Yan's every move. The sudden emergence of such a striking purple flame naturally drew a wave of gasps. While the grand arena was already home to several unusual flames, Xiao Yan's unique method of producing them through his mouth still captured the attention of many. "A purple flame?" Mapha gazed at the purple flame now held in Xiao Yan's hand, paused briefly, and then smiled lightly, "This young one truly has some solid talent." "Heard this, Hai Bo Dong gave a slight frown. Having known Xiao Yan for so long, he was well aware of the nature of this flame—this purple flame was actually the weakest among the ones Xiao Yan controlled. The cold white flame and the light, agile blue flame, on the other hand, were truly formidable, even something Hai Bo Dong himself had to respect. The purple flame danced with the grace of fairies upon Xiao Yan's palm. After a brief moment, Xiao Yan merely lifted his hand, and the flame was launched directly into the mouth of the cauldron. Instantly, the surge of purple fire began to rise and burn within the pot, steadily warming the cool furnace. Once the temperature inside the cauldron reached a certain threshold, Xiao Yan placed his palm against the mouth of the flame, closed his eyes slowly, and gradually extended his soul energy, beginning to guide and regulate the ascent of the purple fire." Due to his significantly less refined control over the purple flame compared to the meticulous command of the azure lotus heart flame, Xiao Yan could only precisely regulate the purple flame by maintaining physical contact with the medicinal cauldron at this moment. If he attempted to manipulate the flame as the azure lotus flame was manipulated—by keeping his hands free—the already high rate of failure in the preparation process would likely surge even further. With only two chances at this critical assessment, Xiao Yan simply could not afford such a risk. A purple flame, under the control of Xiao Yan's soul power, remained exceptionally obedient, suppressing its own temperature without any resistance. After this state persisted for a while, Xiao Yan raised his hand, and a herb resting on the stone platform was instantly drawn into his palm. He gently pressed it and then tossed it into the cauldron, where the purple flame surged upward, swiftly enveloping the herb. … A less valuable herb took no less than ten to fifteen minutes of Xiao Yan’s careful attention before it gradually reached the standard he considered satisfactory. Only then did he carefully place the second herb into the cauldron. His hair was blackened and scorched, his face unrecognizable. The alchemist stared blankly at the flashing red light, muttering angrily as he finally descended from the stage. With a growl, he walked toward the square's edge, his steps firm under the weight of countless eyes. As he passed by Xiao Yan, the latter was surprised to find that this failure was actually a third-rank alchemist from another nation. … As time passed slowly, flashes of red light continued to ripple across the vast plaza. One after another, the herbalists, their faces either pale with frustration or flushed with anger, reluctantly stepped down from the stage, leaving with a mixture of regret and disappointment under the countless sympathetic glances from the spectators. Though the current assessment had proven particularly challenging, it could not be denied that many of the participants were truly talented. Aside from those who had fallen short due to various reasons, at least half of the herbalists remained, just as Xiao Yan had done, quietly and carefully testing the purity of the herbs. When the great hourglass on the wall had nearly emptied half its sand, Xiao Yan had finally completed his thorough examination of the material purity—despite accidentally burning two plants during the refining process in the workshop—his overall results were quite impressive. Then, the various refined herbs needed to be blended together to form the true "Bone-Forming Pill." This process would be more intricate than the previous refinement. Should the cultivator even slightly lose focus, the herbs might completely perish; and if they were entirely consumed, Xiao Yan would be automatically eliminated from the subsequent evaluation. Recognizing the critical nature of this step, Xiao Yan had already prepared by transforming his qi into a thin film, placing it over his ears to block out the surrounding noise. As the external noise gradually faded, Xiao Yan's mind grew still. He exhaled a deep breath, closed his eyes again, and swiftly picked up a jade bottle from the stone pedestal. The bottle contained the essence extracted earlier from a herb that Xiao Yan had processed. Holding the bottle, he paused briefly before pouring its contents into the medicinal cauldron. Immediately afterward, he quickly added two more bottles of extracted materials into the cauldron. The soul force carefully controlled the purple flame, gently roasting the individual herb powders that initially refused to cooperate. As the powders subtly blended, the unique effects emerging during this process would be rapidly transmitted through the soul force within the flame to Xiao Yan's mind. With this information, he could then judge whether the direction of the blending was correct. This kind of feedback analysis is an extremely mentally taxing task, but fortunately, the only prescriptions currently requiring analysis are of second-rank quality. If they were third- or fourth-rank prescriptions, even a third- or fourth-rank alchemist like Xiao Yan would find it nearly impossible to analyze them—after all, if analyzing a prescription were that simple, then prescriptions themselves would hardly be valuable at all. The rumble within the cauldron was not particularly faint, so soon after the sound emerged, the young princess, who was not far from Xiao Yan, and Liu Ling turned their attention toward him. Upon seeing Xiao Yan's cauldron without any flame, both were momentarily stunned. The princess reacted slightly more gracefully, merely offering a helpless expression, while Liu Ling, with a smug, almost condescending smile, seemed rather unkind. … Inhaling a breath of slightly hot air, Xiao Yan gazed at the dark, ash-like residues within the cauldron, closed his eyes for a moment, and then slowly opened them again. A faint, quiet smile spread across his face. Though this time he had failed, he had now roughly grasped the method for refining the "Sheng Gu Dan." What remained now was the smooth, seamless process of refinement. He withdrew another purple pill from his storage ring, placed it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly. Taking this brief moment, he glanced around and noticed that within the cauldrons before Princess Xiao and Liu Ling, the initial forms of pill-like substances had already begun to coalesce—clearly, they would soon be fully formed. "A solid pace—indeed, she has the makings of a true prodigy." "Raised an eyebrow, Xiao Yan slightly opened his mouth, and once again spouted out purple flames that flowed into the cauldron. After a moment of stillness, his hands suddenly began to move—watching as they danced, the six small jade bottles placed before him were completely poured into the medicinal cauldron." "Really intending to blend all six herbs simultaneously? While this would save considerable time, if one's spiritual strength isn't strong enough, and if the coordination fails, it's essentially a path to certain doom," murmured Fang Ma and Otto, along with the others who had years of experience. Fixing his gaze on the swirling flames in the cauldron, Xiao Yan used his spiritual power to control the purple fire, separating each ingredient and gradually bringing them closer through slow roasting. As they neared, the herbs began to show signs of fusion. The large hourglass poured its sand down swiftly. ... "Clang!" At a certain moment, a clear, resonant sound of the bronze cauldron echoed across the square. Liu Ling was the first to firmly strike the cauldron with his palm, sending the lid soaring upward, and a perfectly round pill shot out, which he caught mid-leap, holding it with a look of unmistakable delight. "Clang!" Another crisp sound followed, as the young princess extended her slender hand, summoning a pill that shot forth from the cauldron. "Clang, clang, clang..." After these two sounds, a chain reaction unfolded across the vast square—each cauldron lid was launched skyward, hundreds of pills of varying shapes bursting out and flying into the air, each one seized excitedly by its owner. "The time is almost up..." Fixing his gaze firmly on the figure at the center, still closed-eyed, Xiao Yan, Otto suddenly clenched his hands tightly. This man always managed to keep everyone on edge during each assessment. Across the plaza, countless eyes gradually shifted toward Xiao Yan, the young man at the most prominent position. As the grains of sand cascaded steadily from the hourglass, everyone wondered whether he could successfully complete this final trial under pressure. With only a few grains remaining, those grains slipped down one by one. As the very last handful of sand was about to fall, a wave of murmurs of disappointment rose from both the audience and the guest seats.