Elder Fan’s face held a smug curl as he sent a voice-transmission back to the vice dean. “Found her on the trip to the Western Continent. Don’t you think she’s impressive?”
“She’s hiding something,” the vice dean replied without pretense. “If I’m not mistaken, she’s far more familiar with those formations than she lets on—familiar enough to manipulate them at will.”
A jolt passed through Fan’s chest. “Are you certain?”
“Certain.” The vice dean’s tone was steady. “Do whatever it takes to keep her. Even if her alchemy isn’t outstanding, I can find a seat for her among the elders.”
Fan bristled. “What—are you saying she lied about her alchemy?”
The vice dean hastened to explain. “Not at all. I’d be thrilled if she were a great alchemist. But she’s young; energy and talent are finite. If her alchemy isn’t the top, yet her mastery of formations is this advanced, she’s already at genius level.”
“So you still don’t believe she can beat Jiang Chengyun,” Fan snorted.
“Did she say she wanted to be an elder of the Alchemy Hall?” the vice dean asked.
“Yes. She claimed her alchemy was no worse than our Alchemy Hall elders’,” Fan answered.
Silence hung for a moment, then the vice dean conceded, “She doesn’t sound like someone who’d lie. Looks like Jiang Chengyun might be in trouble.”
Fan chuckled coldly. “He’s been too arrogant. Maybe someone needs to show him the Alchemy Hall isn’t his private domain.”
Outside, the pressure of whispered conspiracies had barely faded when Feng Yuxin finished another checkpoint. The assembled crowd froze.
Before anyone could react, she had already stepped into the final formation.
“Master,” Little Shadow piped up, curious, “how long will you take for this last trial?”
Feng Yuxin paused, calculating the time spent on the previous stages. “One hour,” she said.
Little Shadow immediately understood—this wasn’t a cautious estimate but a declaration: she meant to make a show of her skill.
Nobody outside knew what that meant yet. Jiang Chengyun and his supporters were convinced she would fail the third stage—that was how most of them thought. But when an hour passed, Feng Yuxin emerged triumphant from the final array.
Tian Hongkai’s excitement burst out. “A true prodigy… a monster.” He was nearly breathless.
Others were rendered speechless. Jiang and his circle, however, turned pale when they saw her enter the alchemy chamber.
Formations were one thing—Feng had shown restraint there—but alchemy was another, and she no longer bothered to conceal anything. Before anyone outside could process her choice, she had set about refining a pill.
Alchemy trials differ from formation trials. There are three stages, yes, but the contestant can choose an ordinary route or attempt the single most difficult formula. Feng chose the latter.
When Jiang saw which formula she’d picked, a cold laugh escaped him. “Outrageous,” he scoffed. “Not even the Grand Elder can refine that one. I refuse to believe she can do it.”
Elder Fan answered quietly, “If she chose it, she can do it.”
After all, Feng had told him she was strong in alchemy, and Fan had seen the Night Pavilion’s concoctions before. But even with that, the crowd expected arrogance more than success.
This time she didn’t even need half an hour. The pill was completed—its quality rating registered at seventy percent, and the yield at ninety percent. Those figures were unheard-of since Saint Heaven Academy’s foundation.
Faces around the viewing screen twisted into disbelief. Jiang Chengyun could not find words that matched how he felt. “This can’t be…” he muttered, refusing the thought of losing so easily.
A soft, ethereal voice rolled from the very back of the academy: “Who has refined the Ancient formula successfully?”
“Grand Elder’s voice…” the vice dean blurted.
At the sound of that name, Jiang sagged as if the floor had fallen away.
“Master Jiang—honor the wager,” Elder Fan called, laughing.
Moments later, Feng Yuxin stepped out of the testing arena, and the Grand Elder appeared at the edge of everyone’s view. He scanned the room, then fixed his gaze on Jiang. “Did you refine the pill?”
Though the Grand Elder often retreated into seclusion, he kept abreast of the academy’s affairs. He assumed—reasonably enough—that Jiang Chengyun, whose alchemy was renowned, must be the one who had succeeded.
Elder Fan pointed to the young woman who had just left the arena. “Grand Elder, it was Feng Yuxin.”
The Grand Elder turned toward the name, then took in Feng’s astonishing face and froze. When he probed her with his spirit, he stiffened again at the evidence of her youth—her bones marked her as exceptionally young.
He reached instinctively to draw her spirit away, intending to question her further. He wanted to know how she had managed such a result when his own success rate with that formula had never been so high.
To his shock, he could not seize her. He could not move her. A sensation of disbelief spread across his features.
“What is your cultivation?” he demanded bluntly.
Feng Yuxin smiled, half-amused and half-mocking. “Are you sure you want me to answer that with so many people listening?”
The Grand Elder understood at once—she did not want her true strength exposed to a crowd. He looked at the vice dean. “Have them disperse,” he ordered.
“Wait.” Elder Fan wasn’t done. He addressed the Grand Elder: “Tell me plainly—Feng Yuxin passed. Her alchemy has met the assessment?”
The Grand Elder’s impatience flared. “She refined the Ancient formula. Of course she passed.”
Fan pushed further, “Compared to Jiang Chengyun—who’s the stronger alchemist?”
The Grand Elder shot Fan a sharp look. “Are you blind? Jiang is competent, yes, but this girl—at her age—far surpasses him. There's no comparison.”
Before Fan could argue, the Grand Elder waved him away in annoyance. “Her alchemy even exceeds mine. That settles it. Now all of you—leave.”
That single sentence hoisted Feng Yuxin to a dizzying height. Jiang Chengyun’s face drained of color to the shade of earth. He raised his head and shot her a cold, vengeful glance.
Feng’s eyes narrowed, and the corner of her mouth curled into a contemptuous smile. She had known from the start that Jiang had been waiting—praying, even—for her to fail. How could she not relish the look in his eyes now?
In a few breaths, the hall emptied. Only the Grand Elder, Feng Yuxin, and a handful who had been granted leave to stay remained.