His gaze slowly swept across the entire crowd. With his hands gently pressed together, the thunderous applause gradually softened, and his deep, resonant voice echoed steadily throughout the square, lingering without fading. "In this third round of evaluation, the council will offer no assistance to any contestant—every aspect, from the prescription to the herbs, must be entirely self-reliant. Therefore, within the designated timeframe, each of you must successfully prepare a pill within the scope of your own capabilities. The ultimate winner will be determined not only by the grade of the pill produced, but also by its practical value!" Hearing the resonant announcement echoing in their ears, most of the contestants on the plaza were stunned by the sudden nature of the examination question. After a moment of silence, several of them began to pale—clearly, these individuals had neither prepared an appropriate prescription nor sufficient medicinal herbs. Without either of these two essentials, their chances of failure were evidently very high. Although they had anticipated the examination question well in advance, Xiao Yan still feigned a slight change in expression. After all, maintaining composure under such an unexpectedly demanding challenge would naturally raise questions. While carefully controlling his own demeanor, Xiao Yan quickly scanned the room. He noticed that although Princess Xiao and Liu Ling had initially seemed momentarily taken aback upon hearing the question, they soon regained their composure, their expressions far from disconcerted. "Indeed, their foundation is strong. From their expressions, it seems this exam question has come as a surprise, yet it hasn't hindered their performance at all..." In a soft murmur, Xiao Yan once again turned his gaze toward Yan Li, who was now furrowing his brows. After a moment, Yan Li sneered and said in a low voice, "No matter what unusual questions you come up with, this championship is mine!" On the plaza, after Fahu's voice had faded, none of the contestants moved—instead, they all remained silent, frowning thoughtfully, each weighing their strategies for meeting this assessment. After nearly ten minutes of silence, Princess Xiao and Liu Ling broke the stillness. The two stepped slowly toward the stone platform, and with a gentle gesture of their hands, two ancient-looking bronze-red cauldrons—though modest in appearance, yet radiating a deep, steady presence—appeared upon the platform. Hearing the sound of the cauldrons settling onto the stone, Xiao Yin turned his head, his brows furrowed. The cauldrons used by these two were clearly not the same as those from yesterday. The deep, resonant aura they emitted far surpassed the quality of the dark red cauldron Xiao Yin himself had been using. "Hmm, Elder Jia, your royal family truly knows how to spend! You've even brought out the Qingyan Cauldron—what a five-stage medicinal cauldron! I remember back then, several four-stage alchemists fought fiercely over it. I never thought it would end up in your hands." Gazing at the jade-colored cauldron summoned by Princess Xiao, Fama remarked with a sense of amazement. "Heh, I'm not entirely sure myself—most likely, the young lady had to plead with her father until he finally agreed." Elder Jia shook his head, smiling lightly. "Ancient He's quite impressive. The red medicinal cauldron of Liu Ling—wasn't that once his signature piece, the 'Volcanic Flame Furnace'? Also a five-stage cauldron, I believe." In the realm of pharmaceutical crafting, a high-quality cauldron offers significant advantages to alchemists, notably enhancing the success rate of medicine preparation. Lower-grade cauldrons, however, often struggle to withstand high temperatures, which may result in sudden furnace explosions during the refining process. Consequently, cauldrons are categorized into refined grades—from first to eighth level, ascending in quality. Beyond the eighth level lies the "Heavenly Cauldron Ranking," as mentioned by the Elder Pharmacist. Only thirteen such cauldrons are believed to exist in the world today, underscoring their immense value. The dark red cauldron frequently used by Xiao Yan, though exceptional, has only just reached the second level—offering only modest benefits. Of course, even the most beneficial cauldrons serve merely as external aids; the most crucial factor remains the alchemist's own strength. Although the Elder Pharmacist had briefly mentioned the "Heavenly Cauldron Ranking" in the past, he did not provide an in-depth explanation of the specific grading system among cauldrons. A true master of herbal medicine can shape a cauldron right in the palm of their hand, crafting pills with complete freedom and no limitations—only then does the true mastery of a master truly shine. "Indeed, it is the 'Volcanic Flame Cauldron'..." Fang Ma nodded, smiling. "Back then, Gu He used it to secure the championship at that tournament. The fact that he entrusted this very cauldron to Liu Ling for the competition suggests he has high expectations for her." "Still, it's unfortunate—if neither that person nor Yan Xiao were present this time, Liu Ling might have still won the title. But now? That would be quite a challenge." Hai Bo Dong shook his head, offering a slightly wistful smile. Fang Ma smiled, said nothing, and turned his gaze toward the plaza. On the plaza, although Xiao Yan was somewhat astonished by the clearly superior medicinal cauldrons of Liu Ling and the other two, he showed no expression of envy. Having embraced the philosophy of the Medicinal Elder, he always regarded such items as mere external trappings. Thus, he simply turned his gaze away and raised his hand, summoning at random a dark-red cauldron that, compared to the five-stage cauldrons of Liu Ling and her companions, appeared rather modest. "Oh, fourth-rank pills... quite a challenge, isn't it?" With a soft sigh, Xiao Yan raised his head and scanned the surroundings, noticing that many of the contestants had already begun lighting fires to extract their herbs. "Although the Three-Stroke Qingling Pill is also classified as a fourth-rank pill, if I want to stand out among the others, I believe we'll need at least two concentric pill patterns—otherwise, merely a standard one-stroke Qingling Pill, securing the championship title will surely be difficult." Xiao Yan furrowed his brows, murmuring to himself. Staring in astonishment at the azure flame, Xiao Yan felt somewhat bewildered. "Though... it seems rather familiar." Frowning slightly, he pressed his lips and pondered for a moment, then suddenly his brow arched as it clicked into place. "Ah! This azure flame—somewhere back then, when she was traveling in the royal carriage, there was a royal emblem that resembled this one. I think I've seen it before." The royal emblem depicted a massive, majestic creature rearing its head and roaring. And upon the creature's body, the very flame that now shimmered with a wave-like ripple—exactly like the one now swirling around the flame—was present. According to folk legend, at the founding of the Gamma Empire, the royal family once possessed a divine beast of extraordinary power, which had saved the empire on several occasions. However, many of the local tales had grown distorted over time, and thus, most people didn't take them seriously—except for those who knew the truth. "Hm? Is this flame... the Qi Blue Water Flame of the Shengtao Dragon Beast?" On the raised platform, both Famus and Haibo Dong were momentarily stunned by the blue flame summoned by the young princess. After a pause, as though recalling something, they turned to each other, expressing astonishment. "Ah," said Jia, smiling, yet he said nothing about the legendary dragon beast mentioned by either of them. "What a lucky girl! I never expected that creature—thought to have slept for so many years—would still be alive..." Observing Jia's expression, Famus and Haibo Dong shook their heads in resignation, exchanged glances, and both sensed the unspoken meaning in each other's eyes. Though the dry-blue water flame was not on par with the extraordinary celestial flames, among the so-called "beast flames," it ranked absolutely among the top. Moreover, this flame was inherently gentle and yielding; if used by a virgin to refine pills, its potency would be even greater. ... Soon after the young princess summoned her dry blue flame, two waves of gasps echoed from the audience. It turned out that Li Ling had also unexpectedly summoned a pale brown flame at that very moment, while another wave of astonishment arose from Yan Li, whose flame was not the usual yellow but a deep, black one. Gazing at the vibrant array of flames now spreading across the plaza, the audience members were visibly excited. It was clear that many had held back their strongest performances during yesterday's evaluation, and this undoubtedly made today's demonstration even more compelling.