Alchemical refinement is an extremely time-consuming endeavor, especially when preparing pills—often requiring ten to fifteen days, and such situations are not uncommon. The attendees are well aware of this, so they do not show impatience despite the prolonged wait. Those who have made the journey to the Holy Pill City typically possess the necessary strength and patience. Under the steady gaze of countless expectant eyes, time flows quietly, passing in mere moments—just five days have elapsed. During these five days, the alchemical process has remained largely calm, though occasionally low rumbling sounds emerge, signaling furnace explosions caused by issues during the refinement. Over the five days, a small number of alchemists successfully produced pills, but upon achieving this, they realized their involvement in the event would have to conclude here, as higher-grade pills generally require significantly more time to craft—while those like them, who typically ended up in the lower ranks, simply couldn't keep pace. The attention of the audience likewise did not linger on these few successful alchemists; instead, most of the eyes remained fixed on Cao Ying, Song Qing, and several well-known master alchemists, who were understood to be the true focal point of the competition. Fortunately, during the second fusion of the Snow-Bone Ginseng, no further errors occurred. After all, Xiao Yan had only prepared two sets of these herbs; should the process have failed again, he would have had to seek an alternative method. When the fifth day's bright sun reached the zenith of the sky, Xiao Yan's slightly closed eyes slowly opened, his expression serious as he gazed intently into the medicinal cauldron. Within the rising flames, three substances—either liquid or powdered—were present. Though seemingly unremarkable, they exuded a dense, profoundly pure medicinal energy that was both impressive and awe-inspiring. These three substances represented Xiao Yan's accomplishments over the past five days. Now that the extraction process was complete, all he needed to do was to perfectly blend them, then refine them into the initial form of a pill, and finally complete the transformation into a finished pill. Integrating the medicinal energies—this step demands an exceptionally rigorous level of control from the alchemist. Any subtle disturbance during the process would inevitably lead to total failure. Thus, this step is of paramount importance. Naturally, Xiao Yan fully understands this, and therefore his spirit is now intensely focused. His vast soul energy permeates every corner of the medicinal cauldron, instantly conveying to his mind any minute fluctuations within. Under such concentrated vigilance, the integration proceeds without major setbacks, albeit at a notably slow pace. After all, who would dare to accelerate it slightly at this stage? Stability remains the foremost priority. The process of integrating medicinal power is the most prolonged among the numerous steps in alchemical refinement. This time, Xiao Yan's integration lasted nearly ten days before it finally concluded... As for this situation, no one felt disappointed, for they knew that the Dan Festival had already begun steadily progressing toward its climax, and the currently crafted pills were now reaching the sixth-rank level—soon, true seventh-rank pills would surely be produced. But before that, there still needed a period of incubation. …… "Boom!" Suddenly, a deep, resonant thunder roared across the slightly heated sky, and instantly, countless eyes turned upward. There, in the heavens, a cloud had appeared at an unknown moment—yet within this cloud, a deep rumbling thunder was now emanating, clearly indicating the formation of a Dan Thunder. "A Dan Thunder! A seventh-rank medicinal herb has emerged!" The sight in the sky caused a wave of astonishment across the plaza. Immediately, people's gazes converged upon a stone platform beneath the sky, where a middle-aged man was gazing with great excitement at the thunder cloud above. He was the first person to witness the emergence of a Dan Thunder. Dan Lei's appearance also caught the attention of Xiao Yan, who was deeply focused on cultivating his medicinal pills. With his eyes slightly widening, he glanced at the distant thunder clouds overhead and then shook his head slightly. Such a weak Dan Lei—likely, the newly formed pill would only be of seventh-tier, basic quality. After this brief glance, Xiao Yan turned his gaze back toward Cao Ying and the others. His heart subtly jumped. This time, he could clearly sense subtle energy fluctuations emanating from the medicine cauldrons of several of them. From the patterns of these fluctuations, it seemed these individuals were preparing pills far beyond ordinary. Just half a day after the first Dan-Thunder appeared, dense thunderclouds began to gather in the sky, and the intensity of these clouds surpassed that of the previous one—clearly indicating that contestants had crafted medicinal pills of superior quality compared to the earlier one. In the days that followed, the scene became truly vibrant, with two to three Dan-Thunder occurrences happening nearly every day. While the concentration of each thunder varied, according to Xiao Yan’s assessment, the highest-tier pills were likely no more than mid-7th rank. Once a rare sight, Dan-Blaze now occurs regularly in the sky, leaving many in awe. As time progresses, the stone platforms still glowing with Dan-fire on the plaza are becoming fewer and fewer, until there are barely fifty left. Yet everyone knows that these remaining few are truly among the elite of the cultivation realm's pharmaceutical world, and barring any surprises, the champion of the Dan-Competition will surely emerge from among them. Gazing at the Dan-fire rising from these dozens of platforms, the atmosphere in the sky has grown steadily more solemn and tense. All present understand that the most intense clashes of the Dan-Competition are about to unfold.