At this moment, Sun Hua could only endure his immense anger, as the opponent was in the midst of the Great Alchemy Competition, making it impossible for him to apprehend him. However, when Sun Hua saw how the other was performing alchemy, he couldn't help but scoff inwardly. Although he himself wasn't an alchemist, he could clearly see the differences between the opponent and other alchemists.

Sun Hua didn't believe the opponent was some eccentric genius. Knowing that the other was so young, he figured that even if he was an alchemist, he would just be average, or even less than average—nothing but trash.

At this time, one of Sun Hua's subordinates caught sight of Sun Hua's expression. Following Sun Hua's gaze, he also noticed the alchemy cauldron Ding Fan was using, which was exactly the one the Young Master Sun Hua coveted, causing this cultivator to feel extremely angry. He then said to Sun Hua:

"Young Master, it's that guy! Let's go teach him a lesson!"

The cultivator speaking was the one who had been blown away by Ding Fan's Wind Blade the other day. His eyes were filled with anger, recalling the previous incident, feeling utterly ashamed. Despite being at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, he was unexpectedly sent flying by an Emergence Stage cultivator's mere Wind Blade, which was incredibly humiliating.

However, this cultivator wasn't blindly eager to kill the opponent, as he realized that the other wasn't simple at all. Clearly, someone who could defeat him with just one move at the Early Nascent Soul Stage wasn't trivial. Yet, this cultivator no longer feared Ding Fan.

After all, it wasn't just him facing the opponent but also the Young Master. The Young Master, who was at the Late Nascent Soul Stage, was also the son of the Vice City Lord of Dancheng. Clearly, he could easily summon powerful experts from the City Lord Mansion, and calling upon an Emergence Stage expert would be a breeze.

In this cultivator's mind, that guy was doomed to die today!

"No! Wait until the Great Alchemy Competition is over; that waste will probably be eliminated soon!"

"Heh heh, at that point, it will definitely be his time to die! Those who oppose you, Young Master, never have a good end!"

The middle-aged cultivator felt extremely pleased after hearing Sun Hua's words, and didn't miss the opportunity to flatter him, clearly having already marked Ding Fan for death in his heart.

...

The Great Alchemy Competition continued, with numerous spectators occasionally watching Ding Fan, evidently waiting to see him make a fool of himself. They thought to themselves that he was just causing trouble, and yet he created such a spectacle, as if afraid that the whole world wouldn't know he was an utterly useless troublemaker! It was downright ridiculous!

He Qianyao, too, was looking at Ding Fan with deep concern, unsure if he could succeed. Many people doubted Ding Fan, and any mishap on his part would ruin his reputation publicly. With over ten thousand attendees at this competition, nothing could escape so many pairs of eyes.

If Ding Fan were to fail, he'd certainly become the biggest laughingstock on the Donglai Continent, and everyone would soon recognize him as such.

Not only were the outside audience and He Qianyao focused on Ding Fan, but the participating alchemists frequently glanced his way as well. Ding Fan's series of actions had drawn considerable attention from these alchemists. To them, Ding Fan was exceedingly peculiar; none had expected him to not only start the refinement process so swiftly but to also produce such a potent medicinal aroma, making it all quite strange. Many fellow alchemists couldn't help but reveal amused expressions.

It wasn't just the competitors; even the elders in the judge area kept casting glances at Ding Fan, as his behavior seemed highly unusual. In some judges' eyes, these strange actions had the appearance of attention-seeking antics.

Ding Fan, however, remained indifferent, focused solely on pill refinement. After refining the spiritual materials in the alchemy cauldron for some time, Ding Fan carefully assessed the situation and decided it was about time. He then proceeded to pour all the remaining materials into the cauldron. Normally, when refining pills, one shouldn't put all the materials into the cauldron at once at this stage.

There were already many materials at an advanced refinement stage, and adding everything in at this point was a foolish move for most alchemists. Each spiritual material required a different temperature, and some were incompatible with one another, increasing the risk of an alchemy cauldron explosion.

Such incompatible materials could react violently, posing significant danger to the alchemist's life. Yet, Ding Fan unhesitatingly tossed everything in together.

This move left everyone utterly dumbfounded! When had anyone ever seen pills refined in such a manner? Was he treating this like a stew or playing house? What a joke!

Many cultivators in the audience were closely watching Ding Fan's attempts at alchemy, eager to witness his embarrassment, expecting it to be hilariously amusing. Ding Fan's actions had already been peculiar, leading everyone to expect him to continue down this bizarre path, ending with a highly entertaining conclusion. However, they hadn't anticipated Ding Fan to be this eccentric.

Even though many in the audience were not alchemists, it was clear that there were many alchemist spectators present. After all, many of the audience members at this Great Alchemy Competition were alchemists attending with the intent to learn. They were well aware of how dangerous it was to pour a pile of Spiritual Materials together. It wasn't just the alchemy that might fail; more importantly, there was a high risk of the alchemy cauldron exploding!

Especially with some Spiritual Materials that have very potent properties, if two incompatible materials were accidentally thrown into the cauldron without processing, the resulting explosion wouldn't be trivial. It's estimated that even a cultivator at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage might not withstand such a blow.

This shows just how powerful a cauldron explosion can be!

But no one ever expected that the young man not only placed two Spiritual Materials together but recklessly threw an entire handful into the cauldron. This was practically courting death. In the Cultivation World, many Spiritual Materials are incompatible, so when alchemists refine Medicine Pills, they do so slowly and carefully, adding each material into the cauldron one by one. What this young man did was unheard of. If it wasn't the first time, then Yukimura must have been the only one to ever do this.

"Has this kid gone mad? Is he trying to perish along with the cauldron?"

"Wow! Today I truly witnessed something unbelievable! Someone actually dares to play like this! It's simply suicidal! Could it be that he's risking his life just for fame?"

"May I ask, is doing this very dangerous?"

Obviously, a cultivator who knew little about alchemy saw the terrified expressions all around and couldn't help but curiously ask.

"Dangerous? It's extremely dangerous! It could lead to the destruction of the cauldron and death. Do you think that's serious?"

"Oh my gosh, does this kid have a death wish? It's just an alchemy competition, no need to put his life on the line!"

"..."

...

For a moment, everyone looked at Ding Fan with expressions of extreme fear and began to buzz with discussions. Of course, there were some cultivators who clearly enjoyed the spectacle, keeping their eyes fixed on Ding Fan, afraid of missing out on the explosive and hilarious scene. At this point, quite a few cultivators began to distance themselves from Ding Fan, clearly because they were a bit frightened.

After all, they had heard about how dangerous the explosion of an alchemy cauldron could be, and someone immediately consoled them:

"Rest assured, the alchemists participating in the Great Alchemy Competition are surrounded by protective formations. Obviously, the officials anticipated that cauldron explosions might occur, and have prepared defenses in advance."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt a bit more at ease.

At this moment, He Qianyao, witnessing Ding Fan's actions, couldn't help but feel very anxious. Clearly, she understood a bit about alchemy. After all, growing up in the Dayang Sect, she had seen many alchemists refine Medicine Pills and naturally knew a thing or two about alchemy—she even heard of an alchemist who was blown to death due to a cauldron explosion!

Given these thoughts, how could He Qianyao not be worried? Her heart was undoubtedly filled with concern for Ding Fan, afraid that something might really happen to him. If that were the case, it would certainly be the worst outcome for Ding Fan in this Great Alchemy Competition. However, He Qianyao had some confidence because she knew Ding Fan was quite capable and shouldn't sacrifice himself so easily in this competition.

But still, she couldn't help worrying because Ding Fan threw so many Spiritual Materials into the cauldron all at once. If several of them were incompatible, the explosion would be much more powerful! This thought made He Qianyao very worried about Ding Fan. Clearly, she didn't wish for anything to happen to him.

The ones most frightened, besides He Qianyao, were the alchemists near Ding Fan. Seeing his actions, they were extremely startled. They couldn't imagine someone would dare to do this—throwing numerous Spiritual Materials directly into the cauldron without any processing. Among them, an alchemist rather close to Ding Fan determined that two of these materials were definitely incompatible, and who knows how many more there were!?

Under such circumstances, the alchemists near Ding Fan had no mind to continue their own refinement. Clearly, their primary concern was their own safety, and they even doubted whether the protective formations set up by the officials could withstand the explosion. At this point, the alchemists near Ding Fan couldn't help but envelop themselves with True Qi, clearly hoping not to be collateral damage in the event of an explosion!

Meanwhile, Ding Fan couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the sight of this scene. It seemed like everyone cherished their lives so dearly, but he definitely didn't want to die!