Mo Qi found himself in a predicament. Firstly, without being able to take a pulse, he wouldn't know if the other party was ill. Secondly, the tester was a male cultivator. If it were a female cultivator, he could offer her a youth-preserving pill or a skin-beautifying pill, which would yield immediate and visible results, leaving no room for doubt. While these could also be used by male cultivators, they might not be as satisfied with the outcome.
Ultimately, it would still depend on the other party to vocalize any changes in their body. If he wasn't satisfied, how could he possibly mention any changes?
Furthermore, the testers were all individuals chosen by the opposing side. Before coming, the students must have thoroughly instructed them, ensuring they would deny any changes even under duress!
Therefore, in the end, it all came down to the perseverance of those two testers.
Who on earth had come up with such a terrible idea?
He thought of the Soul Suppressing Technique, but there was a bright eye in the sky observing everything. His little trick would surely not escape her notice, and not only hers, but also that of many others present.
Thus, he stood there frozen.
A chorus of jeers rose from the surroundings: "Can you even do it?"
"Finally showing your true colors, huh? Where did that intimidating aura from before go? Go on, keep bluffing!"
Ying Dansheng also joined the clamor, occasionally casting glances at Xing Mian, thinking to himself, "See? You arranged this incorrectly. If you had arranged for me to go up, I could have diagnosed and handled it. Alas, your stubbornness has harmed you."
Mo Qi could no longer bear the barrage of jeers. Gritting his teeth, he walked up to the white-robed tester and asked him to extend his hand. The white-robed tester obligingly stretched out his hand, a look of disdain on his face, as if clearly saying, "Go ahead and try whatever you want. No matter what you do, I simply won't say there are any changes or benefits."
Mo Qi feigned seriousness as he took the pulse, concocting a counter-strategy as he did so.
"Are you suffering from kidney deficiency?" Mo Qi asked.
"I am not deficient," the white-robed tester replied with absolute certainty.
"Is your endocrine system imbalanced?"
"It is not imbalanced."
"Are you lacking vital energy?"
"I'll kick you to death, believe it or not!" the white-robed tester finally lost his patience and roared.
At this moment, a sudden idea struck Mo Qi. He put on an air of confidence, returned to the center, sorted through the materials, and refined a pill for soothing muscles and activating meridians. He did so cleanly and efficiently, quickly producing a pill and handing it to the white-robed tester.
The white-robed tester, looking a bit nervous, asked, "What kind of pill is this?"
Mo Qi shook his head. "This is a pill to soothe your muscles and activate your meridians."
The white-robed tester looked suspicious, clearly not believing him.
"Aren't you here to test pills?" Mo Qi said, leaving no room for refusal.
The white-robed tester finally swallowed the pill.
A sinister smile spread across Mo Qi's face, making the white-robed tester's heart pound.
Mo Qi transmitted his voice, saying, "Listen carefully to what I'm about to say. Don't panic, and don't make a sound. Just do as I say, and all your problems will be solved."
The white-robed tester felt no discomfort, but he subconsciously transmitted back, "Tell me, what exactly did you give me?"
Mo Qi winked and transmitted, "Lift your sleeve a little and look at your wrist."
The white-robed tester gently pulled up his sleeve and saw a red thread coiled around his wrist.
He turned pale with fright, immediately convinced that Mo Qi had given him some kind of poison.
"You, you... what pill did you give me?"
"The Death Pill! This red circle will keep climbing upwards. When it reaches your shoulder, you will explode and die. This is a unique pill I refined; only I have the antidote," Mo Qi transmitted.
The white-robed tester was so terrified he almost fainted.
"Stay calm," Mo Qi transmitted again. "Don't worry, as long as you speak properly later, I'll give you the antidote."
"You are truly audacious! There are deities watching from above. Why should I be at your mercy? Aren't you afraid I'll expose this?" the white-robed tester transmitted angrily.
Mo Qi appeared nonchalant. "Say whatever you want. If you do, I'll simply withdraw from the competition. But you, you will pay with your life."
The white-robed tester hesitated for a moment before finally agreeing.
Meanwhile, after a round of diagnosis, Zhang Chen determined that the blue-robed tester had insufficient qi and blood and refined several pills to replenish them.
Since there was no time limit, he also refined some spirit-enhancing pills to boost spiritual power. He then gave both to the blue-robed tester.
Once both sides announced that they had finished administering the pills to their testers, the melodious voice from the sky echoed again: "Blue-robed tester, what changes have you experienced after taking the pill? What aspects are you satisfied with?"
The blue-robed tester loudly declared, "There are no changes whatsoever."
Zhang Chen was so enraged he almost spat blood. "You, you are dishonest! You are speaking against your conscience."
However, he quickly reconsidered, thinking that his own tester's answer would likely be the same. At worst, it would be a draw.
Thus, he stopped dwelling on it and quietly watched the white-robed tester.
Everyone around also turned their gaze towards him, some with anticipation, others with nervousness.
The voice from the sky asked again, "White-robed tester, what changes have you experienced after taking the pill? What aspects are you satisfied with?"
"I originally suffered from kidney deficiency, lack of vital energy, and endocrine imbalance. Your pill cured all of them, and my internal spiritual power has also increased. I am satisfied, completely satisfied," the white-robed tester replied.
His words caused a huge stir.
What kind of pill was this magical?
It must have been so effective that the other party felt too embarrassed to lie!
The people from Heavenly God Academy were all filled with disappointment and astonishment. "What are you talking about? Are you crazy?"
The white-robed tester nodded with absolute certainty. "This pill is indeed miraculous, and I am indeed satisfied."
"Hopeless, they must be crazy!"
Ying Dansheng was also full of surprise and doubt. Did he know how to take a pulse? How did he diagnose? Was that a universal pill?
Regardless of their murmurs, the celestial maiden announced, "The second round of alchemy competition, Heavenly Steps Academy wins!"
A thunderous applause erupted.
The Heavenly Steps Academy students watching the magical power duel felt disbelief. "What? We won? We won again?"
"What's going on here? Those we had high hopes for lost, while those we didn't expect anything from actually won."
Yuwen Yan couldn't help but ask Mo Qi out of curiosity, "What exactly did you give him?"
Mo Qi shook his head enigmatically. "It cannot be said, it cannot be said."
"What a death wish!"
"Hey, when did you start acting like Du Gu Jun?"
"Is he learning well from us?"
Mo Qi's side had a break, and as he was about to go watch the magical power duel, Zhuang Shaokun had already been defeated. The opponents from the other faction were stronger than one another.
Since it was a complete annihilation, no matter how you arranged them, they would always start with the weaker ones and progress to the stronger ones, from low to high.
Mo Qi thought to himself, "What a waste! I finally won two matches, and you've gone and lost it all."
At this point, Dean Xing Mian's face was also contorted. If things continued at this pace, even if Mo Qi won all three alchemy matches, their side would still lose.
After Mo Qi had rested for a while, the announcement for the third alchemy competition began.
Originally, seventy percent of the Heavenly Steps Academy students were focused on the magical power duel. This was partly because alchemy was a niche subject, and partly because they didn't hold much hope for winning through alchemy.
Seeing that Mo Qi's side had won two consecutive matches, they became interested in the alchemy competition. Thus, in an instant, seventy percent of the crowd shifted to this side.
The Divine Maiden pointed out that both sides had to refine high-quality healing pills within an hour.
Refining healing pills was not inherently difficult; the challenge lay in the time limit. They had to refine high-quality pills within an hour, something Mo Qi had never attempted before.
But he had to try now.
He stole a glance at Cheng Guzhi from Heavenly God Academy, who was competing against him. Cheng Guzhi appeared confident, which made Mo Qi even more uncertain.
To save time, he could only start from the preparation phase.
When the referee announced the start, Mo Qi immediately began cleaning and purifying, his movements clean, fluid, and astonishingly fast. From the audience's perspective, it looked as if he only performed two actions: pick up, put down.
Then he moved to another ingredient, picked it up, and put it down.
At this point, the Heavenly Steps Academy students watching were filled with excitement, cheering for Mo Qi wholeheartedly: "Come on, Mo Xin, you can do it."
"Come on, beat him, crush him!"
Some female cultivators even shouted, "Come on, Mo Xin, if you win, I'll be your Dao companion."
Lu Xiaoyue frowned repeatedly upon hearing this!
Meanwhile, Xue Nu had already stepped onto the stage to compete. Xing Mian had originally arranged for Lu Xiaoyue to compete, but Lu Xiaoyue felt she was being toyed with and was a bit angry, refusing to go up.
With no other choice, Xing Mian had to let Xue Nu compete.
Lu Xiaoyue now felt that watching Mo Qi compete seemed more meaningful than competing herself!
In contrast, Cheng Guzhi's speed was much slower. However, he was fully immersed in his own competition and had no time to pay attention to Mo Qi, thus maintaining an expression of calm readiness.
From the perspective of the Heavenly God Academy's spectators, he was steadily progressing, full of confidence.
"Senior Brother Cheng is so amazing! Look at his unhurried demeanor; he's definitely going to win!"
"Yes, slow work yields fine results. He will surely refine a pill that meets the requirements."
"Look at the one from Heavenly Steps Academy over there, so flustered. You can tell he's panicking. What's the use of panicking in such a situation? You can't rush things."
"See, he's definitely going to lose. He's already lost in terms of mindset."
"He's still too young; a few more failures will do him good."
At this moment, Mo Qi had finished organizing the materials and was placing them into the furnace one by one.
He had to speed up, but he couldn't neglect the heat control. Mo Qi first slowly stoked the furnace fire, allowing the medicinal properties to be fully released. Once the pill core began to form in the furnace, he intensified the heat. The furnace rumbled and reacted violently, but he dared not reduce the flame, continuing to refine with fierce heat.
To prevent the furnace from exploding, he would place one hand on the pill furnace, absorbing the excess and stray spiritual energy, while his other hand continued to vigorously fan the flames.
Ying Dansheng, who had been watching Mo Qi from afar, showed infinite disdain, shaking his head repeatedly. "Too impatient, not good enough. Still too young!"
"I could also manage the material processing speed he showed, but his fire control is too poor. You can't just brute force it."
On the other side, Cheng Guzhi turned to look at Mo Qi at a certain point. Seeing that his alchemy had reached a fever pitch, he was greatly astonished. How could it be so fast?
He hadn't even finished processing his own materials yet. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he began to feel a little flustered, immediately speeding up his pace.
The Heavenly God Academy students watching nearby couldn't help but marvel. "Senior Brother Cheng is in his element! Look at how his speed has suddenly increased; this is the result of skill honed through countless trials!"
"Yes, it's truly miraculous. He can speed up when he wants to and slow down when he wants to. It's truly like lifting a heavy weight with ease."
"Perhaps we can never reach that level in our lifetime."
Cheng Guzhi finally finished organizing and pushed all the ingredients into the pill furnace at once, immediately igniting the fire to begin refining.
He had watched Mo Qi's first match and knew that he might be at a disadvantage in terms of material preparation, but he believed he could make up for it in fire control.