Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Phantom Pill Cauldron, Liu Xuan’s Prowess

The platform above the lake was vast enough for 200 people to stand with room between them.

To ensure the spectators could see clearly, water screens rose on all sides, projecting every face and robe in sharp detail.

Once the adjudicator disciples activated their artifact and a deep bell tone rolled out, the 200 Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators sat down and closed their eyes.

Formations surrounded the platform; noise from below could not disturb it in the slightest.

When everyone entered meditation, Fang Du Nian formed a seal with one hand, pointed forward, and barked, “Suppress!”

No one beneath the platform dared to laugh. These Foundation Establishment Stage disciples were the carefully selected elites of their sects, and the pressure they faced came from a Profound Division Stage cultivator. It was not something to mock.

Zhao Chun had been in the sect for four years and had never once seen Sect Master Tu Sheng. Fang Du Nian of the Zhi Yue Sect was the first Profound Division Stage cultivator she had ever witnessed. Even from this distance, with three Essence Condensation Stage elders present as protection, that pressure—deep as the sea—still surged toward her.

Qiu Silhouette and Li Shu were late Essence Condensation Stage cultivators, yet compared to Fang Du Nian, they felt like fireflies before the moon.

If Zhao Chun felt it so sharply, how could those on the platform, facing it head-on, not suffer?

Beside the adjudicators, a massive incense stick burned steadily. By the time one full stick had burned down, only half of the 200 remained.

Among the Ling Zhen Sect’s three, one was eliminated. He returned to his seat with frustration written all over his face. Huo Zi Xun murmured a few words to steady him and urged him to regulate his breath—there were still the second and third trials ahead, and he couldn’t afford to let his mind tilt.

Besides Liu Xuan, the other Ling Zhen Sect disciple was also eliminated when the second incense stick had burned halfway. After a few hurried words, everyone understood why: the longer it lasted, the heavier the pressure became. The second stick’s suppression was fully twice the first.

He didn’t linger to talk. After sharing what he could, he sat back down and returned to meditation to stabilize the true qi within him.

The platform grew emptier, and the few remaining cultivators stood out more and more.

When the third incense stick burned down, only five people remained.

Liu Xuan was one. The Chi Shou Sect disciple who had ridden in on a peng bird was another. Two Rong Qing Mountain disciples held on as well. The fifth was someone Zhao Chun hadn’t heard Liu Xuan mention at all—likely from a minor sect.

Anyone with eyes could tell these five were the top tier of this trial. But who would take the crown was still unclear.

For the spectators, time flowed like water. For those caught under suppression, every breath stretched into an eternity.

Then someone moved.

It was the Chi Shou Sect disciple. At last, he could no longer bear the wave-like pressure. He broke out of meditation drenched in sweat, lips pale and bloodless.

His eyes snapped open. Seeing four others still seated, he realized he was not first. The shock of disappointment hollowed him out—then an invisible force seized him and dragged him off the platform.

Once one fell, others followed. A Rong Qing Mountain disciple and the minor-sect disciple broke in quick succession and were taken away.

Only two figures remained—Liu Xuan in lake-blue, and a Rong Qing Mountain disciple in green and white—seated at opposite ends of the platform.

Li Shu watched without blinking. Without realizing it, the hand stroking his beard slowed.

Liu Xuan was his personal disciple, yet she was obsessed with alchemy. He could not teach her much; their master-disciple bond was thin. Even her Foundation Establishment Stage had come in a way he barely understood—one day she returned, reported that she’d found a spiritual treasure outside, and announced that she’d established her Spiritual Foundation.

He had not been involved at all. He had not even served as protector. He had only sensed, faintly, that her foundation was unusual and her alchemy methods exceptional.

But he had never imagined her foundation could already rival the top disciples of the three great sects—let alone rank among the best.

When she finally stepped down, Li Shu’s lips parted as if to speak. In the end, no words came.

Everyone had their own fate. He could only let her walk her path.

“Congratulations, Senior Sister,” Zhao Chun said as she rose to meet her.

The other Qi Refining Stage disciples nearby immediately followed with eager congratulations, pride warming their faces.

“Don’t congratulate me too early,” Liu Xuan replied, calm and composed. “Wait until the Three Trials are finished. Then we’ll talk.”

Confident, she tugged Zhao Chun back down to sit. Her expression remained relaxed, with only a thin sheen of sweat on her brow. Knowing the next trial would be harsher, she closed her eyes and began to meditate, recovering her strength.

There were only two hours between trials—a disadvantage for anyone who lasted deep into the first one.

But Liu Xuan was an alchemist. She took out a bottle of restorative pills and held one under her tongue. Zhao Chun immediately sensed spiritual qi rushing toward Liu Xuan in a steady tide.

Other eliminated disciples used pills to recover as well, but their effects were nowhere near Liu Xuan’s. Zhao Chun suspected the formula had been refined by Liu Xuan herself—and that outsiders still knew nothing about it.

Then the bell rang again. Two hours had passed. The 200 cultivators had to take the field once more.

After the first trial, the spectators already knew who the true standouts were. Eyes gathered on those few, eager to see how their comprehension would fare.

The second trial was the conjured phantom: a test of comprehension.

If a solid foundation could be built through relentless effort, then comprehension was what separated most cultivators from the realm of genius.

For Zhao Chun, it was the sword Dao. For Liu Xuan, the Dao of alchemy. A cultivator might seem ordinary at first, but once they found a path that truly suited them, comprehension revealed itself.

Phantoms appeared across the platform—some holding blades and whips and an array of artifacts, others empty-handed, forming seals and casting spells.

Only Liu Xuan’s scene was strange.

Beside her stood a slender, indistinct figure, its face blurred. Suspended above it was a massive cauldron.

“She’s going to do a pill duel!”

The exclamation came from a Dan Cheng Sect elder—an Essence Condensation Stage cultivator and a Yellow Rank First Grade alchemist. He half rose from his seat, eyes wide with shock.