……

Of course, while connections are important, one’s own strength is also very important. Otherwise, so-called connections are nothing but a joke.

After all, fundamentally speaking, connections are built on the basis of mutual exchange of interests. If you have no ability or potential, who would take you seriously?

Just like now.

Everyone present was shrewd enough to guess that Wang’s Clan must have taken someone’s help, making it difficult for the Dan Ding elder to refuse and give face.

But, so what?

Wang’s Clan was just a newly promoted seventh-grade noble family. Even if they had made some connections with great effort, who among those present, unless they knew some inside information, would truly take Wang’s Clan seriously?

Wang Shouzhe, having experienced two lifetimes, saw through these people’s thoughts completely.

Previously, he used his connections simply because he didn’t want to be suppressed and bullied. Now that the other party had come to him, it was natural to show some strength and let others see the prowess of Wang’s Clan of Changning.

Seeing that everyone’s gaze was focused on him, he calmly put down his teacup, glanced at Wang Shouye, and said indifferently, “Shouye, since that’s the case, why don’t you have a friendly competition with him?”

“Yes, Fourth Brother,” Wang Shouye replied respectfully, bowing his hands.

He took a deep breath and braced himself. Since his fourth brother had agreed, he could only compete and do his best, no matter what.

Dongfang Yuxi’s face lit up with joy.

He didn’t expect the head of Wang’s Clan to be so easily provoked and actually agree to the competition.

He immediately struck while the iron was hot and said to Wang Shouye, “Little Brother Shouye, since we are both Lingtai realm alchemists, why don’t we refine a third-grade spirit pill? How about that?”

Wang Shouye politely replied, “Brother Dongfang, among the third-grade pills, I can only refine the Solidifying Yuan Pill, the Awakening Spirit Pill, and the Great Solidifying Yuan Pill.”

In fact, there were many formulas for third-grade pills, but alchemists had limited energy, and most could not master all the formulas. After all, it was not easy to become proficient in refining a particular pill.

Wang Shouye focused on refining these few pills according to the needs of his family.

“I didn’t expect Little Brother Shouye, at such a young age, to be able to refine the Great Solidifying Yuan Pill,” Dongfang Yuxi said with an “admiring” expression on his face. “The Great Solidifying Yuan Pill is a good thing with a wide range of applications, and it’s quite profitable if refined well. Coincidentally, I also have some understanding of it. How about we take the Great Solidifying Yuan Pill as the topic for our friendly competition, Little Brother Shouye? What do you think?”

Hearing this, Qian Xuefu’s expression changed slightly, and he was about to stop him, but he saw Wang Shouye had already nodded in agreement.

“Then let’s do as Brother Dongfang wishes.”

Qian Xuefu couldn’t help but sigh with regret, “Little Brother Shouye, you agreed too quickly. You’ve been tricked~ Dongfang Yuxi has been relying on refining the Great Solidifying Yuan Pill to make money and support his family because they’re poor. Competing with him in this is surely a loss for you~”

The Great Solidifying Yuan Pill was one of the more expensive third-grade spirit pills. The cost of materials and other expenses for refining a batch was about one thousand five hundred Top Gold. The normal selling price of a Great Solidifying Yuan Pill was three hundred Top Gold each. Therefore, only by producing five pills per batch could one barely break even.

Because of the high cost, a third-tier alchemist had limited opportunities to master it within a year. Even if the alchemist carefully pondered and digested each refining session to fully understand the gains and losses, the speed of progress was not fast.

“Dongfang Yuxi, you’re much older than Shouye, right?” Yuwen Nianjing couldn’t help but speak up, “The Great Solidifying Yuan Pill is difficult to refine and requires accumulation of time and age. With Shouye’s age, the number of times he has refined the Great Solidifying Yuan Pill is probably not even a fraction of yours, right?”

Although she had also been eliminated, she was born into the strong sixth-grade Yuwen’s Clan and would not have too small a space for future development, so she didn’t care too much about being eliminated.

“Master Qian, Miss Yuwen,” Dongfang Yuxi didn’t dare to offend the strong sixth-grade and fifth-grade families, so he played it cool and said, “Little Brother Shouye has been favored by the Dan Ding elder, so he must have his unique strengths. Yuxi just wants to learn a thing or two.”

Yuwen Nianjing was about to say something more when Wang Shouye bowed his hands and said, “Brother Qian, Miss Yuwen, thank you for your righteous words. However, first, victory and defeat are common in military affairs, and even if I lose, I can know where I am lacking. Second, I also have some insights into the Great Solidifying Yuan Pill, and I might not necessarily win with other pills.”

Wang Shouzhe nodded secretly from the side. His seventh brother had always been gentle and jade-like in character, not fond of confronting others. However, he was extremely persistent in the way of alchemy and had great patience.

“Little Brother Shouye is right,” Dongfang Yuxi said with a smile, “It’s just an exchange, please start as soon as possible.”

Since both parties had agreed, Gu Hanyu negotiated with Tianyuan Danfang.

Tianyuan Danfang was huge, and the Great Solidifying Yuan Pill was a pill that needed to be refined regularly. The manager of the Danfang said that the preliminary work for two batches of the Great Solidifying Yuan Pill was about to be completed and was entering the final stage.

It often took several days to prepare and refine a batch of pills, but the final stage only required an hour. This hour, however, was the most testing moment for an alchemist’s skill, with the success or failure of the pill, and the quality of the pill, mostly determined within this hour.

Thus, Gu Hanyu let them directly compete in the final stage.

Under the arrangement of the head of Tianyuan Danfang, the two entered the pill furnace room, each with a furnace attendant to assist them.

It was just an hour after all.

The Qian’s Clan, Yuwen’s Clan, and the young alchemists present were unwilling to leave and went to watch, eager to witness the final result.

……

An hour later, the doors of the two alchemy rooms opened almost simultaneously, and Dongfang Yuxi and Wang Shouye walked out.

Refining the Great Solidifying Yuan Pill was extremely draining on one’s energy and spiritual consciousness. Even though they were only collecting the pills, they were already very tired after more than an hour, and both looked weary.

The big shots had been waiting for a long time and immediately surrounded them.

“How did it go, Yuxi?”

Ancestor Bo Hua asked in a low voice.

“Ancestor, rest assured, I performed well this time and will surely win,” Dongfang Yuxi said with a slight smile, confident as if victory was already in his grasp.

Ancestor Bo Hua immediately felt relieved.

Hearing this, Wang Shouye looked ashamed and didn’t even dare to look at Wang Shouzhe, “Fourth Brother, I didn’t perform well this time, worse than usual, I’m sure I’ll embarrass you… Maybe I was too nervous.”

Wang Shouzhe paused, then consoled, “It’s okay, you’re still young, and there’s plenty of room for growth in the future.”

Wang Shouye, however, was not comforted at all by his words and hung his head even lower. He blamed himself for failing at a critical moment.

“Hmph~”

Dongfang Yuxi heard the conversation between the two and let out an almost imperceptible snort.

If it weren’t for the need to maintain the demeanor of a noble family in public, he would have loved to mock Wang Shouye thoroughly. Without strength, he dared to make a fool of himself, thinking that anyone could be an alchemist?

Defeating the “disciple” of the Dan Ding elder this time would be enough to prove that the Dan Ding elder was blind, and it would also elevate his own value, Dongfang Yuxi.

In fact, he usually could only produce five to six pills per batch, and sometimes, when his condition was poor, he could even end up with only four pills. Being able to produce seven pills today meant that both his state and luck were at their peak, showing that even the heavens were helping him.

The big shots present were also amazed, not expecting Dongfang Yuxi to have such strength.

“Producing seven pills is a capability of a mature third-grade alchemist. He’s so young and yet so skilled, truly remarkable,” Yuwen’s Clan elder Yuwen Jinghong couldn’t help but sigh, “If we had known he had such strength…”

He sighed, remembering that this was the Dan Ding elder’s territory, and ultimately did not finish his sentence.

But the big shots present were all shrewd and understood his meaning.

If the Dan Ding elder knew about this, he would probably regret not taking Dongfang Yuxi as a disciple.

The big shots’ followers, Qian Xuefu, and Situ Nianjing also shook their heads with regret.

“Ah, what a pity~” Qian Xuefu said with a look of regret, “Dongfang Yuxi usually doesn’t have this level of skill. Today, I don’t know what kind of luck he stumbled upon.”

Situ Nianjing was also wringing her hands with anxiety, “If Dongfang Yuxi had performed a little worse, Shouye might still have had a chance. Now like this, isn’t Shouye doomed to lose?”

The two were full of regret and couldn’t help but look at Wang Shouye’s expression, only to see Wang Shouye also full of shock and bewilderment, as if he had encountered something incomprehensible, “This… something seems off.”

“Brother Shouye.”

Qian Xuefu thought Wang Shouye couldn’t accept the fact that he had lost and was about to comfort him, but he was interrupted by Dongfang Yuxi.

“Little Brother Shouye, it’s your turn.”

Dongfang Yuxi gestured to Wang Shouye with a graceful salute, seemingly elegant, but unable to hide the smugness and anticipation in his eyes.

Wang Shouye then came to his senses, hurriedly took out his own pill box, and presented it to Gu Hanyu with both hands, “Sister Hanyu, please inspect it.”

Gu Hanyu, having seen Dongfang Yuxi’s seven Great Solidifying Yuan Pills, had already lost much hope for Wang Shouye.

But to consider Wang Shouye’s feelings, she didn’t say anything and took his pill box just like before, opening it casually. When she left Changning Guard, Wang Shouye had just started working with the Great Solidifying Yuan Pill.

Suddenly!

A box full of neatly arranged Great Solidifying Yuan Pills just pierced her eyes,

Gu Hanyu was immediately stunned, her beautiful eyes involuntarily widened, and for a moment, she felt as if she was living in a dream.

Dongfang Yuxi’s expression also froze instantly, his eyes bulging, how could this be? Impossible, no, this must be fake…

“Miss Gu, how many pills were produced?” A few big shots who were further away and had their view blocked by Dongfang Yuxi couldn’t help but ask curiously.

If it weren’t for the fact that it was inappropriate to use spiritual sense in the Danfang for fear of causing misunderstandings, they would have wanted to probe with their spiritual sense.

“Produced…” Gu Hanyu said, looking up at Wang Shouye with a strange look, “Eight pills. Quality, excellent.”

“What?! Eight pills?! And excellent quality…”

The big shots present exploded in an instant.

Yuwen Jinghong, Qian Jingde, and other big shots looked at each other, then all looked at Wang Shouye with strange eyes.

Producing eight pills was something that only a veteran third-grade alchemist could achieve.

Dongfang Yuxi being able to produce seven pills at the age of thirty-seven or thirty-eight was already considered a genius, but Wang Shouye, even younger, was able to achieve eight pills, which seemed a bit too impressive, right?

How exactly did Wang’s Clan of Changning cultivate such a talent?

“Impossible!! There must be a problem!”

At this moment, Dongfang Yuxi finally recovered from the huge shock brought by the eight pills.

He snatched the pill box and skeptically examined each pill.

However, the pill in his hand was lustrous, with a faint light circulating, and even faintly emitting a fragrance, clearly just out of the furnace!

He neurotically checked one pill after another but could not find any problems, and his face finally collapsed bit by bit.

He lost his composure and roared at Wang Shouye, “You, you… didn’t you say you didn’t perform well?””This… I indeed didn’t perform well…” Wang Shouye scratched his head, looking aggrieved in the face of the roaring questions, “Usually, when I’m in good form, there’s a high probability of producing nine pills. But this time, I was too nervous during the collection, which affected my performance, and I only produced eight.”

Performing poorly and still producing eight pills, and he says “only”?

Hearing this, everyone present, except for Wang Shouzhe, had rather strange expressions on their faces.

Dongfang Yuxi was so angry that his hands trembled, nearly spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Producing nine pills in one go, that’s the standard of a top-tier third-grade alchemist!

With such skills, at his age and level of cultivation, as long as he announced his achievements, not to mention the Pill Cauldron Elders, any alchemy grandmaster would scramble to take him as a disciple.

Yet he still pretended to be on the verge of losing, deliberately playing him. Is it fun to play with people? Huh?!! Is it interesting?

“Cough~ Brother Shouye, that’s enough.” Seeing Dongfang Yuxi in such a state, Qian Xuefu couldn’t help but feel sympathy for him and nudged Wang Shouye quietly, “That kid Dongfang Yuxi is about to cough up blood from anger, stop provoking him on purpose. If you really anger him to death, be careful the Dongfang family will come after you.”

“Brother Qian, it’s not that I want to anger him on purpose…” Wang Shouye said weakly, “All these years I’ve been focused on alchemy, and no one has ever told me about the level of other people’s alchemy… I really didn’t expect his strength to be so weak.”

“…” Qian Xuefu’s mouth twitched uncontrollably, truly shocked. Could such a thing really happen? This kid, practicing and practicing, suddenly became invincible without even realizing it.

For a moment, Qian Xuefu truly felt sympathy for Dongfang Yuxi.

Poor Dongfang Yuxi, if he hadn’t insisted on this competition, wherever he went, he would have been praised and it would have been said that it was a pity someone else took his spot.

But who could have expected that Wang Shouye, who seemed a bit simple and weak, turned out to be an extremely tough nut to crack. Dongfang Yuxi’s kick landed on him, only to break his own foot.

Once today’s events spread, everyone would only say that the Pill Cauldron Elder had a discerning eye, recognizing the true talent. They would also say that Dongfang Yuxi overestimated himself, clearly no match for his opponent, yet he stubbornly refused to admit defeat.

Dongfang Yuxi’s hard-earned reputation was ruined in an instant.

What left Qian Xuefu speechless was that the kid didn’t even know his own strength…

Only Wang Shouzhe remained as calm as ever.

What a joke, his seventh brother Wang Shouye now possessed the triple Li Fire Bloodline, and he had been refining over a hundred batches of the Great Consolidation Pill every year, with the raw materials costing nearly two hundred thousand Top Gold!

Moreover, he had been refining for several years now and was still far from making up for the losses. It goes without saying that with such resources poured into him, even a pig would learn alchemy!

Apart from Wang’s Clan, which family could afford to spend so much money to cultivate an alchemist?

…