Cultivation of immortality begins with an eighty-year-old eunuch.

Chapter 592 Did you just explode?! Number 1 in Alchemy!

Chen Fan cupped his hands in a salute and said calmly, "Thank you, Elder Han." After saying that, he turned and walked out of the alchemy room.

The moment he pushed open the door to the alchemy room, all the noise in the inner hall of the offering room came to an abrupt halt.

The cultivators from the six factions all turned their heads at once, and hundreds of eyes fell on him simultaneously.

Those gazes contained curiosity, scrutiny, but mostly schadenfreude!

Keep in mind that the alchemy selection process had only been underway for less than an hour and a half when this eunuch appeared. In everyone's eyes, this meant either the furnace had exploded, the alchemy was ruined, or he was eliminated.

"Oh, isn't this Chen, the great alchemist from Yu the Great?" Yan Yunfei of the Great Yan was the first to speak in a sarcastic tone, his fleshy face full of schadenfreude. "Why are you out so quickly? Did you finish refining the pills? Did the furnace explode? Well, that's right, alchemy isn't that easy. Explosions are normal. Don't be discouraged, try again next time..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Fan had already walked past him without even lifting his eyelids, heading straight towards Qin Zhan.

That attitude was the same as when facing Song Tianren's provocation yesterday—a complete and undisguised disregard.

Yan Yunfei's smile froze, and a hint of annoyance flashed in his eyes.

Qin Zhan strode forward and asked in a low voice, "How is it?" Although he appeared calm, his clenched fists betrayed his nervousness.

Just as Chen Fan was about to speak, a sarcastic snort suddenly came from behind him.

"What else can he do? He ruined it." The speaker was Chu Nanfeng of the Great Chu Dynasty. He strolled over, fanning himself with a folding fan, a half-smile playing on his lips. "A eunuch at the Core Formation stage, isn't this just humiliating himself? Brother Qin, don't be too harsh on him, after all..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Suddenly, a dazzling golden light shone from the selection stele, which was three zhang tall and located directly north of the main hall.

The stone tablet was carved entirely from white spirit jade, and its surface was covered with densely packed names and numbers, which were the real-time rankings of the six participating forces.

Golden light gathered at the top of the stele, slowly transforming into a line of ancient seal script characters:

"The alchemy selection is temporarily ranked first—Da Yu, Chen Fan. Grade 5 Returning Origin Pill, six pill patterns."

The hall was deathly silent.

The line of golden characters at the top of the stone tablet shone brightly, like a heavy hammer slamming into everyone's chest.

Yan Yunfei opened his mouth, his face twitching, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Chu Nanfeng's folding fan froze in mid-air, his narrow eyes filled with disbelief.

Even Jiang Yuanxiu, who had been silent and reserved in Qi, couldn't help but change his expression slightly, and his gaze towards Chen Fan became more solemn.

On the high platform, Zhao Yu was leisurely sipping tea when he saw the line of golden characters on the stone tablet. His teacup fell to the ground with a clatter and shattered.

He suddenly stood up, staring intently at the stone tablet. His previously nonchalant expression had vanished, replaced by shock, anger, and a hint of inexplicable embarrassment.

He had just been publicly mocking this eunuch for being arrogant and incompetent, but in the blink of an eye, the eunuch won first place in the alchemy selection. This slap in the face was louder than anyone else's.

"This...how is this possible?" Zhao Yu gritted his teeth and whispered, "How could a eunuch possibly be a fifth-grade alchemist?"

No one answered him.

The gold lettering on the stone tablet does not lie, and the judges of the temple would not fabricate anything.

Hahahaha!

Qin Zhan looked up at the line of golden characters on the stone tablet, paused for a moment, and then burst into a hearty laugh.

The laughter shook the entire inner hall, filled with long-suppressed pleasure and triumph.

He slapped Chen Fan hard on the shoulder, the force almost making Chen Fan stumble: "Fifth rank! Six-line pill patterns! First place in the alchemy selection! Chen Fan, you've kept this from me for so long!"

Chen Fan's shoulder ached from the pat, but a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips as he cupped his hands and said, "Just a fluke."

"Lucky my ass!" Qin Zhan grinned from ear to ear, turning to look at Yan Yunfei and Chu Nanfeng, his face full of smug satisfaction. "Fatty Yan, Scholar Chu, what did you just say? 'Exploded furnace'? 'Failed to refine'? 'Brought shame upon themselves'? This old man's hearing isn't what it used to be, would you please repeat that?"

Yan Yunfei's face turned ashen, and though his lips moved, he couldn't utter a single word.

Chu Nanfeng snapped his fan shut, turned and left with a dark face, not even bothering to say a few polite words.

Qin Zhan didn't chase after him, but just laughed even louder.

A fifth-grade alchemist, ranked number one in alchemy selection!

This honor belongs not only to Chen Fan personally, but also to the entire Great Yu Cultivation Kingdom.

Now that we've returned, who would dare say that Yu the Great was incompetent?

Meanwhile, in the martial arts arena outside the Hall of Worship, a competition to select participants based on their cultivation level was underway.

Song Tianren stood with his hands behind his back at the edge of the arena, with the corpse of a contestant he had just killed lying at his feet.

That was a Nascent Soul cultivator at the Great Perfection stage from the Great Yan Dynasty. He couldn't even withstand three moves before being cleaved in two by a demonic light.

Fresh blood slowly flowed through the cracks in the bluestone of the arena, and the air was filled with a pungent smell of blood.

He lowered his head and wiped the blood from his fingertips, his indifferent black eyes showing no emotion, as if he had just killed nothing more than an ant.

Just then, a dazzling golden light suddenly shone on the selection stele at the edge of the training ground, which was connected to the inner hall.

Song Tianren slowly raised his head, his gaze falling on the line of golden characters, and for the first time, a genuine surprise flashed in his dark pupils.

"Da Yu, Chen Fan. First place in the selection of alchemists."

Song Tianren stared at the line of gold characters for a moment, and a slow smile appeared on his lips.

The smile no longer held the playfulness and disdain of before, but rather the excitement that only a hunter would show when encountering prey truly worth fighting for.

"A fifth-grade alchemist, with six pill patterns." He muttered to himself, the bloodstains on his fingertips evaporated by demonic energy. "I really misjudged him. But that's fine too; it's no fun killing prey that's too weak."

He withdrew his gaze, turned and walked off the stage, his black robe fluttering in the wind, leaving behind a trail of blood.

Chen Fan ignored the complicated gazes around him and didn't look at the golden characters on the stone tablet.

He simply cupped his hands in greeting to Qin Zhan and said calmly, "Your Highness, the formation selection is about to begin. I still need to go to the formation platform."

Qin Zhan waved his hand dismissively: "Go! Go ahead! I'll stay here and watch over the stone tablet for you, waiting for you to come back with another first place!"

Chen Fan nodded slightly and turned to walk towards the array platform on the other side of the offering hall.

Behind him, hundreds of eyes followed the gray-blue figure, each with a different expression!

Zhao Yu, sitting in the main seat on the high platform, stared at Chen Fan's receding figure, his face so gloomy it was almost dripping with water.

He, the fourth prince of Zhao, was humiliated by a eunuch. He could not swallow this insult.

However, the selection rules were set in stone, and Chen Fan had rightfully won first place, so no matter how unhappy he was, he had no right to interfere.

All he could do was wait for the results of the formation selection and the final ranking of the cultivation selection.

If Chen Fan fails in the formation selection, he still has a chance to turn the tide.

But for some reason, looking at that composed figure, Zhao Yu had a vague sense of foreboding.