More and more sects arrived one after another. Even the demon and beast clans, rarely seen in normal times, strode in proudly.
Usually, the Four Domains were locked in constant rivalry. The Southern Domain and Eastern Domain were both human realms, so relations were relatively better. But with the demon and beast clans, it was always a case of "no peace between them."
After all, to them, each other was a "chance" to gain power or life itself. When they met, it meant a fight to the death. Naturally, their relationships could never improve.
Only at great cultivation world events like the alchemy competition could these factions put aside grudges and prejudices to participate together.
"Hiss, that's the demon clan's young master leading them, right?"
"Yes, I heard he is the reincarnation of the Demon Star. His cultivation advances a thousand stages a day. At barely over a hundred years old, he already reached Divine Soul."
"But I also heard he is cruel and ruthless. Definitely not someone to be trifled with."
Many in the city had their eyes on a purple-haired youth from the demon clan.
The boy's aura was long-lasting. His purple eyes shimmered with seductive light. His phoenix-shaped eyes held a deep mystery and coldness. He was clearly not someone to be taken lightly.
"Young master, you must personally participate in this competition and teach these humans a lesson!"
"Yes, those humans were very arrogant in the last competition. We cannot let them succeed again!"
"Hahaha, with our young master on the field, they'll be crushed. Hahaha..."
Their voices were loud and shameless, provoking many humans nearby to darken their faces.
"Bah, just a weak demon clan and they think they can defeat us humans? What a joke!"
"Exactly. Medicine King Sect alone could crush them all!"
Someone spat quietly in the crowd.
The purple-clad youth suddenly shot a glance at him.
Their eyes met, and the man's vision suddenly blurred with pain, tears streaming down his face. His sea of consciousness trembled violently, his Primordial Soul becoming unstable. Blood spat from his mouth.
"Pfft—"
Terrified, he quickly dodged the youth's gaze and hid behind others, narrowly escaping harm.
The purple-haired youth's cold gaze swept over the crowd, and the noisy street corner instantly fell silent.
Only then did he turn and walk toward the inn.
The other demon cultivators followed without haste. The group moved with imposing momentum.
Xiao Heyun mixed in the crowd, watching the purple-haired youth leave with a shadow crossing his eyes. He clenched tightly the treasure he had just found at a stall, his desire to become stronger growing.
An identity like the demon clan young master—this was what men yearned for...
Power, wealth, talent...
Each one was top tier.
Yet this body he crossed into forced him to live by licking women's favor.
The more Xiao Heyun thought, the more bitter he felt.
...
Boom—
Another furnace explosion.
People inside Wuyang Inn barely lifted their eyelids at the sound.
These days, there was a furnace explosion every day from the fifth floor. It was said to be caused by a disciple from Guhan Sect.
At first, people talked and teased about it. After getting used to it, they found the disciple quite diligent but simply lacked talent, causing frequent furnace bursts.
The Fourth Elder was often teased by elders of other sects, so to avoid affecting Lu Yi and Wu Feng's moods, he let them stay in their rooms, focusing on alchemy.
Just as everyone gathered chatting in the inn's main hall, the demon clan young master and his group arrived.
Everyone's expressions shifted as they looked at the purple-haired youth. When they saw his bone age and cultivation level, they were stunned.
The youth glanced coldly at a few of them before looking toward the fifth floor.
The furnace explosion had come from that very room.
He reined in the depth in his eyes, then strode inside, opened a room, and went straight in without sparing the Divine Soul elders in the hall a glance.
"Hmph, this demon clan young master is really arrogant, not even bothering to acknowledge us!"
"This kid achieved such success at such a young age. No wonder he's so full of himself. But to act so arrogantly on human territory—he's crossing the line!"
"With the demon clan young master personally here, the demon clan will surely dominate this alchemy competition!"
The elders were wary of the demon clan young master. His talent was simply too extraordinary. They had trained for hundreds of years to reach Divine Soul. This kid reached it at barely over a hundred.
Just as the words fell, the beast clan members arrived one after another.
The demon clan and beast clan came together. After all, if anything happened in human territory, they had each other's backs. Most of the great beasts had already taken human form and looked no different from humans, though many kept physical traits like tails or ears.
Among them, a half-beast caught everyone's attention.
"Even a half-transformed beast?"
The beast's upper body was human, but the lower body remained beast-like. It looked very strange.
Usually, half-transformed ones were those who failed to fully take human form.
Everyone fell into deep thought and concealed their intentions.
Now that all forces had gathered, the alchemy competition would start in three days. All that remained was for the Central Domain's people to show up!
...
Buzz—
A violent tremor.
Song Wanníng's eyes narrowed sharply. She immediately pressed down on the restless furnace lid and poured spiritual energy inside.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind.
Besides spiritual energy, she also had demonic energy within her.
Spiritual energy in the furnace always wandered uncontrollably.
If she added demonic energy to suppress it...
Song Wanníng's face lit up. Without hesitation, she started channeling her demonic energy into the Immortal Furnace.
The restless spiritual energy became even more violent upon seeing the demonic energy, as if wanting to fight it.
But quickly, as the demonic energy increased, the spiritual energy calmed down and settled into its own space, each guarding its own territory, unwilling to be taken by the other.
In this brief moment, the pill liquid at the furnace's bottom rapidly fused and compressed.
Within a dozen breaths, perfectly round pills had formed.
Song Wanníng calmly stopped, opened the furnace lid, and a special medicinal fragrance immediately spread out.
Looking down, she saw five Grade Eight pills.
The pills' surfaces bore faint patterns, barely visible without close inspection.
"Not top-grade pills?"
Song Wanníng was a little surprised. After all, these were Immortal Furnace creations. The grade should not be low.
But after consuming the pills, a torrent of medicinal power instantly spread through her body. The effect was swift and intense, surpassing that of top-grade pills.
Her eyes darkened.
It seemed the fusion and changes in her alchemy system had altered the nature of the pills.
But the effect was definitely better than top-grade pills.