No—
The red-clothed male cultivator's expression suddenly changed, his face full of shock.
When he counted the number of pills on the tray, his eyes widened even more.
Four! Exactly four pills, all neatly arranged!
She actually managed the same as himself!
His heart began to waver.
His mind went somewhat blank. Even the praise from the Fourth Elder didn't fully register.
He just stared at Song Wanníng.
"Song Wanníng, four Wuyou Pills, all of top grade."
The Fourth Elder held Song Wanníng's pills, her gaze burning with amazement. Song Wanníng returned a smile, sensing the Fourth Elder's goodwill.
"Hiss—"
A sharp intake of breath spread around.
Top-grade pills!
They were truly top-grade pills!
Only one older alchemist present had produced pills of this quality before. No one expected Song Wanníng to have such strength at such a young age. Those who had mocked her moments ago were now silenced, eyes wide in disbelief.
The Fourth Elder never lied.
Song Wanníng was indeed a genius!
"Hahaha. I won. I won. I bet on Song Wanníng winning!"
"Me too, I won as well, hahaha!"
"See? I have sharp eyes. You wouldn't believe it before, but now you look foolish, right?"
After what happened with the Tianmu List, some disciples had high hopes for Song Wanníng. They gambled on her success and were pleasantly surprised. They happily accepted their earned spirit stones, grinning with pride, which only infuriated those who lost.
"You—You're really this powerful?"
The red-clothed male cultivator was completely stunned. After a long pause and blushing, he forced out a few words.
Song Wanníng only smiled and said nothing more. If she said anything, others would think she was showing off, so it was better to stay silent.
"Fifty people eliminated after the first round."
The Fourth Elder directly selected the fifty weakest participants for elimination.
The remaining fifty continued to the second round. Having succeeded in the first round, Song Wanníng became the center of attention. She operated steadily, finishing her alchemy first.
No one dared to criticize her now. Instead, they looked forward to seeing if she could produce another batch of top-grade pills. Her speed put immense pressure on the other alchemists. Some with weaker mental strength lost control and blew up their furnaces.
Luo Hantian shook his head at the sight. The sect's alchemists were always extremely confident, often arrogant. It was about time someone taught them a lesson. He couldn't help but smile. It was time to stir things up a bit.
The Fourth Elder clearly thought the same, smiling slyly. After this battle, these alchemists would train fiercely, and the sect would gain many more pills. In the following rounds, Song Wanníng showed no intention to hide her true strength.
Only by creating enough value would she earn the sect's attention and protection in future conflicts with the Medicine King Sect. Her speed was fast, her pill success rate high, and every pill was top-grade without error.
At first, the red-clothed male cultivator had been affected by her and nearly performed poorly. Luckily, he quickly calmed down and fought hard, managing to squeeze into the top three.
Even he was surprised by this.
"The selection contest ends here for today. Prepare well for the next stage. We depart in one month!"
The Fourth Elder, acting as team leader, carefully reminded the three contestants one more time before leaving with the pills.
The sect master also left with the elders, while the watching disciples lingered.
Many actively apologized to Song Wanníng, hoping she would not hold grudges. After all, no matter who you offend, you can't afford to offend an alchemist.
You never knew when you might need a pill to save your life.
Song Wanníng did not hold any grudges. After a long while, she finally squeezed through the crowd. She exhaled deeply. Being surrounded by so many people was uncomfortable. She realized she needed to improve her strength quickly.
Once strong enough, those people would only watch from a distance and not crowd around her.
"Congratulations, Senior Sister Song!"
Yue Lin and the others smiled and cupped their hands toward Song Wanníng. They weren't surprised by the result. They even knew her true strength far surpassed what she had shown. But the selection contest was not the time to reveal all her cards.
Qin Ming and Feng Xue looked at Song Wanníng with shining eyes.
"Tsk, I can't even imagine how happy Master will be when he comes out of seclusion and sees you…"
Qin Ming clicked his tongue in admiration.
Master usually scolded them all for being lazy and disappointing.
Now that there was a genius disciple grandchild, the old man would be overjoyed!
Feng Xue chuckled, saying it wasn't easy for Master to handle their lot either.
Song Wanníng laughed along as the group prepared to leave, but suddenly the red-clothed male cultivator blocked her path. His face was red. Without looking at Song Wanníng, he quickly muttered "Sorry" and ran off.
He came and left in a flash.
"This guy is Lu Yi. Though usually a bit arrogant, he's not a bad person,"
Yue Lin explained in case Song Wanníng didn't know.
"And his alchemy is pretty good. At a young age, he's already a famous alchemist in the sect!"
He paused before adding, "Though compared to Senior Sister Song, he's not so young…"
Senior Sister Song was not even one hundred and thirty years old, but Lu Yi was over one hundred and fifty.
Song Wanníng didn't react much, as long as he didn't cause trouble.
The three would be traveling together to the Alchemy contest and would need to help each other. Thinking of this, Song Wanníng's eyes gleamed with ideas.
There was still one month left—plenty of time to prepare.
Since she was determined to cause trouble for the Medicine King Sect, she might as well put in more effort and give them a surprise. She also recognized Lu Yi's potential—being able to breakthrough in alchemy under pressure made him a talent.
Once the alchemy selection contest ended, Song Wanníng's reputation spread throughout Guhan Sect. Even disciples outside the sect heard about the extremely young alchemist. She was even likely to become an alchemy grandmaster early.
Song Wanníng was no longer just "Junior Sister Song" but had become "Senior Sister Song."
Wherever she went, disciples greeted her respectfully.
The sect master and Fourth Elder met her privately and granted her privileges, opening all the sect's alchemy scriptures and records for her to study freely.
The Fourth Elder repeatedly held her hand and lamented how great it would be to have her as her disciple.
Feeling the warmth from everyone, Song Wanníng was naturally pleased. But she didn't forget her plan. She took the initiative to seek out Lu Yi and another alchemist, Wu Feng.
When Lu Yi saw Song Wanníng approach, his expression turned somewhat awkward.
===
If you have doubt about Tianmu and Baimu list. The Author seems to change the term. At fist, I also thought that Tianmu and Baimu list are different kind of rank as it have different hanzi.