Inside the Alchemist Hall, silence hung like a thick veil.
Not a single breath dared to break it as the attendants carefully distributed the cauldrons to the four contestants.
Every eye in the hall was fixed on them, their anticipation almost tangible.
When Zhen Xi and Qiao Lian received their cauldron, their faces darkened imdiately.
Their brows furrowed as if they had just been handed sothing offensive.
They exchanged a brief glance before they simultaneously reached out to touch the bronze cauldron.
The audience was full of confusion.
"Why are they touching the cauldron?" soone whispered.
"Are they inspecting it?" another asked.
Murmurs spread through the crowd like ripples in still water, growing louder with each passing second.
The Chief Judge, noticing the confusion, rose from his seat to clarify.
His authoritative voice echoed across the vast hall.
"For this final round," he declared, his gaze stern and direct.
"All contestants will use the sa cauldron provided by the Alchemist Hall. This is the Bronze Temper Cauldron, and it is more than sufficient to refine a Tier-1 pill."
Many nodded in agreent. The Bronze Tempered Cauldron was enough to refine a Tier-1 Pill. Although there are better cauldrons, this was still a competition.
But the frown on Zhen Xi and Qiao Lian’s faces did not fade.
Ignoring the curious gaze directed at them, Qiao Lian bent down and began examining every inch of the cauldron.
She traced her fingers along the edges, tapped the lid, inspected the base, and even sniffed the rim faintly, all while muttering under her breath.
Finally, after a long mont, she stood upright and turned to Zhen Xi with a solemn expression.
"Senior Sister, we can’t use this cauldron." She said quietly.
Although her voice was quiet, under the silent hall, everyone heard her clearly.
"What?!"
A wave of astonished gasps spread across the audience.
The alchemists among the audience exchanged bewildered looks.
"What does she an they can’t use it?"
"Isn’t the Bronze Temper Cauldron standard issue?"
"Are they trying to make excuses?"
The judges’ faces grew visibly darker.
To suggest that the official cauldrons chosen by them were bad was not just disrespectful.
It was an accusation and their reputations were at stake.
Tian Lei, standing confidently at the side, smirked.
"What?" he sneered, his tone dripping with mockery. "Don’t tell the famous disciples of the Dust Valley Sect are too scared to use a common cauldron?"
His voice carried across the hall, eliciting a few chuckles from the crowd.
Zhen Xi’s expression hardened, and Qiao Lian’s eyes flashed coldly.
They had their reasons for refusing to use the cauldron, but Tian Lei’s words were deliberately twisting what they ant.
Calling them cowards.
And worse, he was tarnishing their sect’s na.
Tian Lei’s sneer deepened.
As the best disciple of the Capital Alchemist Hall’s Master, his arrogance was known to all.
Many once believed he would one day follow in the footsteps of the Silent Pill Sect’s master.
But everything changed when the Dust Valley Sect appeared.
Their rise had crushed his pride, and he bore a deep seethed resentnt toward them.
"Did I lie?" he continued sharply. "Everyone can see there’s nothing wrong with the cauldron. Yet here you are, making excuses." He clicked his tongue.
"If you can’t refine the Bone nding Pill, just say so instead of wasting everyone’s ti."
A few heads nodded in agreent, while others hesitated, curious to see how the two girls would respond.
The Capital Alchemist Hall Master and the Silent Pill Sect Master remained motionless, their expressions unreadable.
All eyes turned to Zhen Xi and Qiao Lian, waiting for their response but their silence stretched too long.
"Maybe Tian Lei is right," soone whispered.
"Could it be that they don’t actually know how to refine it?"
"I thought Dust Valley was a top sect."
The murmurs grew bolder until....
"Hahahahaha!"
A sudden burst of laughter broke through the hall like a thunderclap.
Every head turned in shock.
Zhen Xi and Qiao Lian were laughing uncontrollably, clutching their stomachs, tears streaming down their cheeks.
"What in the heavens..." soone muttered.
The sight baffled everyone.
Their sect’s reputation was being questioned, and yet they were laughing?
More so, at such an important event.
The crowd’s confusion deepened when they turned toward the Dust Valley Sect’s seats.
The elders and disciples there weren’t angry either—they were smiling, so even chuckling quietly.
Now, even a fool among them could sense sothing was off.
Clearly, the Dust Valley Sect knew sothing.
Tian Lei’s face darkened. This wasn’t the reaction he expected.
"What are you laughing at?" he shouted furiously. "If you can’t refine the pill, get out!"
"Fool," Qiao Lian muttered, wiping away the tears from the corner of her eyes.
Then she exhaled dramatically, shaking her head with exaggerated pity.
"Now I understand why there are so many failed alchemists in the capital."
The hall froze.
Her words struck like a hamr blow.
Even the Hall Master and the Silent Pill Sect Master frowned.
Did she just call them...failed alchemists?
"Watch your tongue," said Si Yu coldly, stepping forward. Her tone was chilling, her expression like ice.
Normally, Si Yu disliked exchanging words with others.
But Qiao Lian’s words were too much.
She wasn’t just insulting the judges.
She was indirectly mocking her master, the Silent Pill Sect Master herself.
Qiao Lian looked at her with visible disdain.
"Why? Just because I spoke the truth?"
She clicked her tongue as if too bored to argue, then added, "I suppose your brain’s too frozen to comprehend. Perhaps you think being a cold beauty helps you refine pills. Empty brain."
Gasps echoed through the crowd.
Si Yu trembled with rage.
She was the most talented genius of the Silent Pill Sect in a hundred years and yet, she was mocked, called an empty brain.
Her eyes burned with fury, and even her master’s composed face turned grim.
Before Si Yu could lash out her anger Zhen Xi stepped in with a calm smile, her deanor that of a Senior Sister.
"Enough, Junior Sister," she said, though her tone carried a faint, cutting amusent.
"Let’s enlighten them about the judges’ mistake in selecting this cauldron. After all, this wasn’t the first mistake they’ve made. They’ve make hundred"
A sharp hiss swept through the hall.
"The judges made... mistakes?"
"Hundreds of them?"
Every gaze turned toward the five judges at the front.
The pressure of so many eyes made them swallow the lumps in their throat.
The Chief Judge, however, recovered quickly.
His expression turned cold.
"Kid, watch what you say." He said sternly. "If you can’t point out the mistake in this cauldron, the Dust Valley Sect will lose all its points and be banned from participating in this competition for the next hundred years."
The tension in the air thickened instantly.
A hundred-year ban?
Everyone held their breath, afraid to breathe too loudly.
No one expected the final to turn out like this.
Yet, instead of being frightened, Zhen Xi turned toward the Dust Valley Sect location and smiled brightly.
"Young Master," she called sweetly. "They’re questioning us and threatening to ban our sect. Should we teach them a lesson?"
Young Master?
A ripple of surprise spread through the crowd. Everyone turned toward the Dust Valley Sect searching for their Young Master.
Mo Jian stepped forward.
His expression was calm and indifferent.
"You can teach them," Mo Jian said evenly, his voice deep but calm. "But make sure they realize their mistake. As for their threat—threaten them back ten tis their threat. Let’s see if they have the courage to stand by their words."
Boom.
The entire hall went still.
The sheer arrogance.
The confidence was suffocating.
Qiao Lian grinned. "I knew the Young Master would say that." She turned to her Senior Sister.
"Senior Sister, what are you waiting for?"
Zhen Xi nodded slowly, then turned to the Chief Judge. Her tone was calm but her words were sharp as a blade.
"You intend to ban us for a hundred years and erase all our points simply because we announced that we can’t use the cauldron?" she said. "Then what about you, Chief Judge? What if we point out the mistake, what are you going to do?
The Chief Judge’s face twitched, but she didn’t stop.
"I could demand your life for this insult," she said lightly. "But honestly, your life ans nothing to us."
The hall fell completely silent.
Her next words were like a thunderclap.
"Since you’re a senile old man who cannot even understand what’s happening, here’s my request. You will shatter your dantian and serve my sect for the next hundred years as a pill servant if we can point out the mistake"
Various gasps echoed inside the hall. All the various masters wore an ugly expression.
"What did she just say?"
"She wants the Chief Judge to cripple himself?"
"This is insane!"
The Dust Valley Sect were not rely questioning the Chief Judge but were demanding his life.
But the real question was...
What would the Chief Judge do?
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