The Three Layered Red Yin Yang Pill was both one of the most advanced and sought after alchemy pills for cultivators trying to break into the Human Limit Realm. It required ingredients that were exceedingly rare for a tier 4 pill. Not only were the ingredients rare, but they were difficult to refine, requiring a vast amount of time and chi.

Zhou Lihua didn’t know how much time had passed, but it must have been several hours, and yet she was still refining the first ingredient.

This particular pill used over fifty ingredients. The two most important were the Yin Flower and Yang Flower. They were what stabilized the entire thing and helped form the pill. Those were refined last.

Right now, she was refining a twenty year lotus root. It was a hardy plant and very resistant to fire. To complicate matters, she had to slowly refine it on a low heat or the materials would spoil.

At this point, all of her focus was on refining her potion and nothing else.

The lotus root was eventually refined. Zhou Lihua tossed the next ingredient into the cauldron.

What she threw in was a silver vine known as a celestial vine, and while the name sounded divine, it was just a vine that had absorbed a lot of yin chi. These vines only grew in caves located at high altitudes. What made them so rare was that a celestial vine could not be touched by the sun. They had to absorb just moonlight, but it was almost impossible to absorb moonlight and not sunlight.

This one required her to turn up the heat. After wrapping the refined liquid from the lotus root in her chi to protect it, Zhou Lihua made a tiger hand seal and her chi erupted. The flames grew hot as they engulfed the cauldron. The celestial vine was quickly purified, and its liquefied remains were wrapped in chi to protect it from the flames.

She tossed in another ingredient, refined it, then tossed in another, and another, and another.

What made the Three Layered Yin Yang Pill so hard to refine was a combination of factors, but the biggest two would be the difficulty required to refine each ingredient and the number of ingredients required. Many of these ingredients required a different temperature to properly refine, so she had to adjust the flame’s heat every time she refined a new one. Not only did she have to constantly adjust her flame’s temperature, but she also had to protect the previous ingredients she had refined, thus diverting more chi. It was fine when she had only refined five to ten ingredients. It became difficult once she had refined twenty. By the time she had refined thirty, she was drenched in sweat and her body felt like a wet rag that had been rung dry.

She wasn’t the only one who had decided to refine the Three Layered Red Yin Yang Pill. At least two other participants had somehow found the necessary ingredients, but one of them had already ruined several of the components, meaning he was out of the running. Lili Ling was the other person refining a Three Layered Red Yin Yang Pill. Unlike the man who had failed, she was doing an admirable job. She hadn’t even broken a sweat despite refining as many ingredients as Zhou Lihua.

“Hah! I see you’re trying to refine the same pill as me,” called out Lili Ling. The fact that she could speak was a credit to her confidence. It was taking all Zhou Lihua had just to maintain focus. How could this girl even speak when she had so many ingredients to protect.

“So what?” asked Zhou Lihua.

Lili Ling grinned as if she could tell her “rival” was struggling. “I was just thinking we should make a bet. If I win, I want you to stay away from Cì Chuān. He’s far too good for you.”

Zhou Lihua wanted to facepalm. This girl was an idiot.

“Even if I win, you can have him. I don’t want him,” Zhou Lihua grunted.

Lili Ling’s eyebrows twitched. “What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying my prince isn’t good enough for you?!”

If it was simply a matter of status and appearances, then sure, maybe Cì Chuān was good enough, but those weren’t the only factors to consider. Cì Chuān was a horrible man. He was so used to getting his way that he refused to take no for an answer. There were also rumors going around that he bought women and turned them into sex slaves. His vast reserves of chi were from him dual cultivating, further substantiating the rumors about his libidinous activities. How anyone could like a man like that was beyond her.

“… Yes.”

“Ooooh! That does it! I’m gonna show you! I’ll beat you so badly you’ll be crying to your master by the time this is all over!”

Lili Ling was getting fired up. Her chi flared and the flames around her cauldron exploded. Her actions attracted the attention of several other participants, but unfortunately for them, they were so distracted by her that they forgot about their own ingredients. Several wails of despair echoed around the platform as two more people were forced to drop out.

Zhou Lihua once more ignored everyone and everything else. All that mattered to her was refining this pill. She refined an ingredient, wrapped it in chi, then refined another one. Day soon turned to night, and yet the tournament did not end.

Some of the people who had been observing left. There were quite a few normal humans amongst the crowd, and they needed sleep, unlike a cultivator who could go days without. The ones who remained behind were cultivators themselves. Most of them were probably alchemists who had a vested interest in watching the competition. Quite a few alchemists would study others to increase their understanding into the Dao of Alchemy.

After what felt like forever, Zhou Lihua had finally refined all but the last two ingredients. She wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her sleeve. The amount of chi she had expended was vast. She was almost out. Did she have enough to refine these last two ingredients? They were the hardest among all the ingredients to refine. She wished she could take time to recover, but she couldn’t do that when she was protecting all the other ingredients.

“Haaaaaaaah…”

Zhou Lihua took a deep breath. She was just about to toss the Yin and Yang Flowers into the cauldron… when Lili Ling shouted in triumph.

***

“It looks like my apprentice was the first to refine her pill,” said Yun Che.

“You don’t sound too happy, old man,” Ruo Chong raised an eyebrow.

Said old man sighed. “While I’m sure her pill is fine, it is clear to me that she rushed the refining process. I’ll have to scold her later.”

“My Xaio Wei would never rush like that,” Ruo Chong said, thrusting out her sizable chest.

“Hmph.”

Wu Jian was doing his best to ignore the pair now. He had no desire to speak with either of them. They were on his shit list now that he knew they coveted Zhou Lihua.

He still didn’t know what he should do about that, but it wasn’t something he needed to deal with right now, and in either event, Zhou Lihua was the one who would ultimately decide for herself. Even though he wanted her to remain by his side, he knew he had no right to stop her from doing what she wanted.

“It’s bad to rush the refining process, right?” Wu Jian asked Master Wong Jiu.

“Hmmm.” The old man nodded as he stroked his beard. “Refining ingredients is simply the act of using your alchemy flames to burn away the impurities and transform the pure ingredients left over into a liquid. To do that, you must accurately temper your flames specifically for each ingredient. Too hot and you’ll burn away what you need. Too cold and your ingredients won’t be as pure. Lili Ling raised the temperature of her flames to refine her ingredients faster, which has likely resulted in a decreased potency. Her pill won’t be as powerful as it could be.”

Wu Jian showed he understood with a simple nod. Alchemy was a very complicated process. It was so much harder than martial arts. Anyone could learn to throw a punch, and while cultivating was difficult, it was something anyone could learn to do if they reached the Hunger Realm. Alchemy not only required someone with the fire and wood elements but also someone who was willing to put in the time, effort, and practice. You had to learn about and memerize ingredients, recipes, and the theories of alchemy. Then you had to practice refining pills. It sounded like a lot more work than just cultivating.

“Looks like Xaio Wei has also successfully refined his pill,” Master Wong Jiu muttered.

Wu Jian turned his attention away from Zhou Lihua to briefly glance at Xaio Wei. The young man held a pure white pill that looked like it contained a fire inside. This was not a pill he had ever seen before.

“White Flame Ascension Pill,” Master Wong Jiu muttered. “And it’s very high quality at that. I’m pretty sure he just beat Lili Ling with that pill.”

Wu Jian didn’t know if the two arguing masters had heard them, but both Yun Che and Ruo Chong turned back to the contest. While Yun Che looked like he had swallowed a lemon, Ruo Chong was clapping as she crowed in delight.

“Would you look at that! My apprentice has refined a high-quality pill, and it was every bit as complex and difficult to refine as the one your apprentice attempted. Oh, me. Oh, my. It looks like my little Wei’er might be taking home that grand prize.”

“Che,” Yun Che spat in anger.

***

Only three people actually managed to refine their pills. Xaio Wei, Lili Ling, and one other young man had successfully refined a pill. Zhou Lihua was the only one still working. The rest had failed.

Zhou Lihua was doing her best to refine the Yin and Yang Flowers. This pill required that she refine both at the same time, and each ingredient needed to be refined at a different temperature, so on top of protecting the other forty-eight ingredients with her chi, she was also controlling two separate flames. Splitting her attention in so many directions was difficult. Her mind felt strained.

Nobody was speaking during this time, fortunately. Even Lili Ling was not so disrespectful that she would say something when Zhou Lihua was at the most critical part of the process. This meant she could focus entirely on her refining.

Because her eyes were useless right now, Zhou Lihua had closed them. She focused only on her sense of smell. Ingredients had a peculiar scent when they were being refined. Someone who trained their nose could smell the impurities as they left through the vents on a cauldron, and people with an even stronger sense could smell when the ingredient was completely purified. She wasn’t that good yet, but she could at least tell when the impurities were gone.

Both the yin flower and yang flower were melting away. Acrid black smoke poured off the petals and flew into the vents, which released them into the atmosphere. Zhou Lihua’s nose twitched.

“There are only thirty minutes left,” Sao Yong announced.

Zhou Lihua almost lost her composure. Just thirty minutes left?! She could have sworn she had more time! How much time had passed?!

While she needed to hurry, Zhou Lihua also knew she couldn’t rush things. She continued to refine the ingredients, until both flowers had been fully purified and refined. There was no time to celebrate, however. Clapping her hands, Zhou Lihua forced the flames to expand, until they engulfed the entire cauldron, then brought all the ingredients together.

She merged the first forty-eight ingredients, forming a tightly packed ball. The reason this pill was called the Three Layered Red Yin Yang Pill was because there were three layers to it. The first layer was the main group of ingredients, the second layer was from the yin flower, and the final layer was the yang flower. The yang flower was bright red and so the outer casing was crimson. This was where the pill derided its name from.

The first layer was formed. She coated it in the yin flower, thus forming the second layer, then, finally, added the third layer. Zhou Lihua gritted her teeth as Sao Yong announced there were only five minutes left. Sweat dripped over her closed eyes. The heat from her flames caused it to evaporate.

“Sixty seconds.”

When the third layer finally settled, Zhou Lihua slammed her hands together.

“Form!”

An explosion of searing heat erupted from her cauldron, but it was different from when her cauldron’s blew up. This was a shockwave that traveled across the platform. Lili Ling and Xaio Wei both stumbled back as it slammed into them. Zhou Lihua was almost sent flying, too, but she dug her heels in and formed another hand seal. When the shockwave died down, she waved her hand to open the lid.

A pill flew out and landed in her palm. A perfectly shaped sphere, it was bright red and shone like a ball of flames. Small lines like veins ran across its surface.

“Time!” Sao Yong announced.