This competition had been the result of the Pill Doyen’s direction, and yet no one had known beforehand. Even Ye Qian was confused. It had clearly been him that had challenged Long Chen. No one had told him to do so.

The Pill Doyen smiled. “No need to be surprised. I arranged for Qian-er to go to the treasury.”

“But…” The division head started.

“It’s very simple. I know Qian-er and Long Chen’s characters. As long as they ran into each other, things would naturally develop to this result.”

Suddenly, the Pill Doyen’s smile vanished, and it was replaced with frost. “When I came out of seclusion this time, I saw that the Divine Pill Division was filled with arrogance and hot tempers. There was not a single person who had the character of a true alchemist. I said that to refine pills is to refine the heart. By opening the heart, it is possible to walk further on the Pill Dao. Ask yourselves, are you really a true alchemist in your current state? Fawning and sweet-talking those amongst you, while acting high and mighty to others? Is that capable of improving yourselves? Is that enough to allow your alchemy to progress? If that was the case, I don’t know which great god was able to find such an amazing approach. Who was it that created this miraculous cultivation style? Stand up and show yourself so our eyes can be opened to the world.”

Everyone was silent. They knew that the Pill Doyen was truly angry. However, his anger didn’t explode thunderously like some people. His anger was contained, which was precisely why everyone was starting to feel uneasy. Usually, it was possible to judge how angry someone was by their tone, but they were unable to judge the Pill Doyen. They had no idea just how angry he was.

“Senior Pill Doyen, it was my fault. I know where I was wrong.” The division head actually knelt toward the Pill Doyen in front of everyone.

The Pill Doyen didn’t look at him. “Where were you wrong?”

“It was my lack of discipline toward my students that resulted in the Divine Pill Division’s atmosphere. I cannot escape my responsibility for this.”

“It wasn’t your lack of discipline to your students but your lack of discipline to yourself. How can you guide others when your own heart is astray? Before going into seclusion, you were not like this. I didn’t expect a single talented disciple in the shape of Ye Qian to cause you to turn into this. Your entire focus is now on him. Are his accomplishments your accomplishments? Tell me, ever since accepting him as a disciple, have you ever seriously refined pills?” demanded the Pill Doyen.

“I…” The division head became covered in cold sweat. It seemed that he had never truly refined pills since accepting Ye Qian.

“To refine pills is to refine the heart. When you stopped refining your heart, your heart became unrestrained like a wild beast. Think back to the old you and the current you. Just how great of a change has occurred during these years?” The Pill Doyen shook his head disappointedly.

“Disciple knows his wrong.”

“Go into seclusion. Find your heart again. The position of division head will temporarily be granted to Jiang Fei,” said the Pill Doyen.

Everyone’s heart shook. The Pill Doyen had actually removed the division head from his position. That was huge. Normally, removing someone from that post required a deliberation from the divine families, but the Pill Doyen had actually directly made the order.

The disciples, as well as the senior Elders, were apprehensive. They had never seen the Pill Doyen dole out such a heavy punishment. Furthermore, it was in front of the entire Divine Pill Division. He wasn’t giving any face to the division head.

The division head was pale but silently accepted it. He didn’t dare to resist. The Pill Doyen was someone with top authority within the divine families. Even the leader of the divine families had to be respectful toward him.

“Senior Pill Doyen, it was my mistake. If there is to be a punishment, I should bear it along with my master.” At this moment, Ye Qian suddenly knelt as well. The division head was moved and was about to tell him to back off when the Pill Doyen laughed.

“Is this a punishment?”

Ye Qian looked at the Pill Doyen in confusion.

The Pill Doyen continued, “Your master’s heart has deviated from the Pill Dao. He needs to find his heart again to return to his old self. What is more important, the Pill Dao or some empty title?”

“Many thanks for the reminder. Disciple understands,” said the division head before Ye Qian could reply.

The Pill Doyen nodded. He laughed. “You can get up now. As long as you understand, this tuition fee wasn’t bad for nothing. To strike for personal fame and profit is the foundation of human desires. Even gods and devils are like that, let alone mortals like us. Desires can be controlled, but they cannot be obliterated. The extent of how far you are willing to let your desires go depends on each individual. That is why you must find your old heart. You must compose yourselves. Do not let your desires control you. Only then can you focus on the Pill Dao.”

“Many thanks for your teachings. Disciple understands,” said the division head.

“You shouldn’t thank me. I wasn’t the one teaching you,” laughed the Pill Doyen.

“Are we supposed to thank Long Chen?” demanded the division head in a daze.

“We already paid him his fee, so why would we have to thank him? If you want to thank someone, thank your disciple. The Heavenly Flame Orb was his. He paid the price all by himself, but everyone is profiting,” said the Pill Doyen.

Ye Qian blushed, not knowing what to say.

“Alright, everyone listen well. This pill is extraordinary. Even I cannot refine it,” announced the Pill Doyen, putting away his smile and turning to the Hundred Dao Merger Spirit Pill.

“What? Even the Pill Doyen is unable to refine it?!”

Everyone was shocked. The Pill Doyen was someone above the Netherpassage realm, the strongest alchemist within the divine families. They could not believe that even he was unable to refine it.

“Can’t you refine heaven rank top grade pills? The earth tier should be nothing to you,” exclaimed the division head. Of everyone present, only he knew the Pill Doyen’s power.

High grade pills were ranked according to how many rings they had, while top grade pills were split into heaven, earth, and mortal ranks. Essentially all pills floating throughout the marketplace were mortal rank. The earth rank’s pills were essentially impossible to buy, let alone heaven rank.

Even amongst the Divine Pill Division, only a few disciples had managed to see an earth rank pill. Meanwhile, only a portion of the Elders were qualified to study them.

“I can refine a heaven rank top grade pill, but I am unable to refine this Hundred Dao Merger Spirit Pill. That is because Long Chen’s Dao is different from mine and different from everyone’s here as well. He allowed his imagination to run rampant and created an entirely new way to refine this pill. Qian-er’s defeat cannot be blamed on him. Qian-er, don’t hate me either. You had gone astray and needed someone to knock you back,” said the Pill Doyen.

“Disciple understands,” said Ye Qian immediately. His resentment toward Long Chen had faded. If it was someone that even the Pill Doyen admired, then competing with him was purely courting death. He couldn’t blame someone else.

The Pill Doyen nodded. “Let us discuss the Hundred Dao Merger Spirit Pill. When refining it, you gather the energy of the Heavenly Daos. That is up to the heavens. When Long Chen refined this pill, what he took was everyone’s Dao. Do you remember the wave of light that swept past you?”

This reminder made everyone think of the light that had suddenly rippled out of Long Chen’s furnace. At that moment, it had felt like their souls were being peered into.

“Could it be…?” wondered Ye Qian.

“Yes. Everyone’s Dao is different. Darkness, greed, laziness, and other emotions are all a kind of Dao. Long Chen gathered your negative emotions to combine into the ninety-nine Daos and in the end added the heavenly tribulation’s Dao of Annihilation to create the hundred Daos,” explained the Pill Doyen.

“But that doesn’t make sense either. How can the Dao of Annihilation enter a pill? Furthermore, if Long Chen gathered our negative emotions, then why are there no negative emotions within the pill?” asked one person.

The Pill Doyen answered, “That was where Long Chen was smart. He used the Dao of Annihilation to suppress those negative emotions, balancing it with them to form a very contradictory merger. This is part of the Heavenly Daos and also part of the Human Dao. The Human Dao will never be perfect, and because it is not perfect, there is room for change. However, even I cannot tell what the core of this Hundred Dao Merger Spirit Pill is. Hence, I also must keep my heart humble when it comes to the Pill Dao. There are always more things to learn.”

Everyone nodded along with the Pill Doyen. They hadn’t expected an alchemist from the Martial Heaven Continent to have such abilities. Their eyes had truly been opened.

“This pill is not to be consumed. It is used to comprehend the Heavenly Daos. To Qian-er, its value is even greater than the Heavenly Flame Orb,” said the Pill Doyen. To Ye Qian, he said, “Your talent is the best of everyone I’ve seen, but your path has been too smooth. There has always been someone sweeping obstacles out of your way, resulting in you lacking perceptiveness. Suffering this blow now is recoverable, but if you had continued growing more arrogant, this blow might have been fatal to you. That’s why you shouldn’t hate Long Chen. Without him, this life of yours would essentially have been crippled. To pay a tuition fee and learn a lesson is worth it. You also don’t need to feel inferior or bad. Long Chen has definitely paid far greater tuition fees in blood. That is why he is stronger than you.”

“Disciple understands. I don’t hate him. I’m very grateful to him.” Ye Qian nodded.

“Good. Then everyone can leave now. If you’ve gained some insight, then go into seclusion to think it over. If you didn’t gain anything, then do whatever work you have to do.”

Once everyone was gone, the Pill Doyen looked in the direction where Long Chen had left. He muttered to himself, “I almost misjudged. That wasn’t the Nine Cycle Pill Light, it was the Pill Sovereign’s Divine Radiance. But the Martial Heaven Continent has never produced a Sovereign of the Pill Dao.”