Chapter 9: One Surprise After Another

Tan Changhuo, who was skilled at controlling flames, also sensed something unusual. When he looked proudly at the audience, he found that everyone’s gaze was fixed on Qu Yi.
Tan Changhuo’s heart skipped a beat; he even grew panicked. He had thought Qu Yi possessed extraordinary refining skills and was surely demonstrating masterful craftsmanship.
So, Tan Changhuo turned to look at the competition platform beside him.
“What… Qu Yi is sleeping?”
At the shocking sight, Tan Changhuo was momentarily stunned. The Black Tide Divine Fire in the refining pot suddenly erupted, spewing out all the materials that had just been broken down.
Initially, Tan Changhuo had assumed Qu Yi had a mysterious background and had agreed to his competition terms, meaning he must have some hidden refining techniques. But seeing Qu Yi sleeping during the competition was completely beyond his expectations, leaving him stunned.
The eruption of the Black Tide Divine Fire woke Tan Changhuo up. He immediately realized that Qu Yi must have done this on purpose—to disrupt his refining process. “This Qu Yi… knowing he can’t create a divine artifact, he tried to interfere with my refining. Hmph! Now that I know your plan, how could I be affected by you again?” Tan Changhuo calmed his displeasure and thought calmly.
Thus, he decided to stop looking at the audience or Qu Yi and focused entirely on creating the divine artifact.
Restarting the fire and adding more refining materials, Tan Changhuo began refining again.
The hundred thousand spectators in the audience surely saw Tan Changhuo’s ridiculous moment earlier and burst into laughter. They found this refining competition truly unforgettable and exciting—Qu Yi sleeping while Tan Changhuo, unable to control the flames, had to start over. Such a scene was probably unprecedented in the Divine Realm’s refining competitions.
Of course, all the refiners now believed that Qu Yi couldn’t create a divine artifact in a hundred years, so he deliberately used this method to disrupt Tan Changhuo’s process and tie the match. In this way, Qu Yi’s “successful” performance would bring great fame to the Fang Qi Pavilion.
Fang Xinfei and Fang Mo also shared this view.

“It seems I wronged Master Qu Yi. He’s been bearing such great pressure all by himself to revive our Fangqi Pavilion, and yet he still has to be mocked by these people like a clown.” Fang Xinfei reproached herself in her heart.
“Master Qu Yi, I wronged you. You’ve been thinking so much of our Fangqi Pavilion, while I even suspected you of being a spy sent by the Xiaoding Hall.” Fang Mo was filled with remorse.
In the audience, countless alchemists thought that Qu Yi should get up and start refining now—after all, Tan Changhuo had already been deceived and couldn’t fall for it again, so there was no need to pretend to sleep anymore.
But Qu Yi was still sleeping.
It was truly strange. All the spectators couldn’t figure out Qu Yi’s thoughts; he exuded a sense of mystery.
“Pavilion Master, why is Master Qu Yi still sleeping? He no longer needs to pretend and can start refining now.” Fang Mo, anxious, sent a message to Fang Xinfei through his spiritual sense.
“Don’t rush… We must trust Master Qu Yi.” Fang Xinfei replied, trying to stay calm despite her own confusion.
In the audience, seeing Qu Yi still asleep, countless mocking voices arose, especially from the thousand alchemists of the Xiaoding Hall, who did their best to mock him.
Yet Qu Yi paid no attention and continued to sleep.
A year passed. Qu Yi remained motionless, sleeping on the wooden bed.
Ten years passed. His body didn’t move at all; he was still lying on the wooden bed.
Fifty years passed. The hundred thousand spectators kept watching him intently, hoping he would leave that annoying wooden bed, but Qu Yi didn’t fulfill their wishes.
Eighty years passed. All the spectators had lost hope, as Qu Yi was still stuck on the wooden bed, as if he intended to sleep through the entire refining competition.
The hundred thousand alchemists were dissatisfied.
“What’s the matter with this Qu Yi? Does he plan to sleep through the entire refining competition? Does he have any sense of shame as an alchemist? Does he even want to stay in Huobao Town?”
“A hundred years may seem short, but being tormented by Qu Yi makes it feel like ten thousand years. After this competition, I’m going to smash Fangqi Pavilion’s shop.”
“What a strange alchemist from the Divine Realm—sleeping openly in the Alchemy Guild. Does Qu Yi not want to stay in the alchemy world? If I get the chance, I’ll humiliate him thoroughly.”
“Having an alchemist like Qu Yi is a shame for all of us alchemists.”
…

Countless alchemists, no longer hiding, began to curse openly. The entire “Who Can Win” competition venue had turned into a contest of vicious insults, with each one more fierce than the last—far surpassing their actual alchemical skills. As two representatives of the Fanggu Pavilion, Fang Xinfei and Fang Mo buried their heads between their legs, refusing to show their faces, causing the nearby alchemists to gaze at them strangely, wondering why they acted that way. Fang Xinfei and Fang Mo were not often seen, and many alchemists didn’t even know them. “Master Qu Yi, you’ve tortured me,” Fang Xinfei and Fang Mo thought, feeling heartbroken. Despite the torrent of curses outside, Qu Yi remained calm as a mountain, maintaining his comfortable sleeping posture. The cursing continued for ten years. With no such opportunity, setting, or atmosphere in normal times, the hundred thousand alchemists unleashed every filthy insult they could think of, inventing new ways to curse endlessly. The overwhelming noise spread outside the “Who Can Win” competition venue as well, igniting even more enthusiasm in those alchemists who wanted to enter and witness such an exciting scene. What was more frustrating for the members of the Alchemists’ Guild was that what should have been a competition venue had turned into a battlefield of insults—yet still full of energy and passion. Faced with these hundred thousand alchemists, the guild members could only remain silent, allowing them to vent freely. The most distressed was the referee, Bo Tianping. Standing between the two competition platforms, surrounded by waves of increasingly vicious insults from the hundred thousand alchemists, Bo Tianping felt as if everyone around him was cursing at him. Though he knew the insults were aimed at Qu Yi, he couldn’t help but take them personally. Under the onslaught of insults, Bo Tianping felt his body on the verge of collapse, realizing for the first time that his heart wasn’t strong enough. Just as he was about to lose control in anger, the hundred thousand alchemists suddenly stood up together, and all eyes turned toward Qu Yi’s platform. Curious, Bo Tianping looked over at Qu Yi.

At this moment, Qu Yi actually stood up from the wooden bed, smiled generously, and bowed to the alchemists in the audience around him, continuously offering his regards.
“What does Qu Yi want?” Countless spectators were speechless, but this thought arose in their minds at the same time.
Fang Xinfei and Fang Mo sensed something unusual around them and carefully raised their heads buried between their legs. Seeing Qu Yi get up, they immediately stood up excitedly, looking at him with enthusiasm.
Tan Changhuo, who was also on the competition platform, noticed the strange behavior of the hundred thousand spectators. But this time he learned his lesson and stopped distracting himself with Qu Yi’s actions. Over these ninety years, Tan Changhuo had spent ten years refining the artifact core and had been working on forming the array for it ever since.
There could be no slightest mistake during the array formation process; otherwise, the divine artifact would be ruined.
“Hmph, you despicable Qu Yi! You still try to create a scene to disrupt me. My array is almost complete. Soon I’ll be able to refine a divine artifact, and then your Fang Guild will have to leave Fire Treasure Town,” Tan Changhuo thought with extreme pride.
Indeed, Tan Changhuo continued to form the array for the artifact core with even greater care and precision.
After greeting the audience in all directions, Qu Yi suddenly took out the Three-Sided Cauldron and a platform for holding objects, seemingly ready to begin refining.
The hundred thousand alchemists already seated saw Qu Yi take out the refining tools and prepare to start, so they stood up in surprise again, their eyes filled with astonishment.
Of course, the group of alchemists from the Thousand Sky Cauldron Hall began to mock him right away.
“Qu Yi, stop playing tricks. Do you really think you can refine a divine artifact in ten years?”
“Qu Yi, we know your goal. You just want to create a false impression to distract Elder Tan Changhuo, causing him to fail in forming the array, so that you can be on equal terms with him.”
“As expected, a showoff. As an alchemist, I shame you.”
“Elder Tan Changhuo is about to succeed in forming the array. Qu Yi, stop being foolish and just admit defeat.”
…
The thousand alchemists from the Sky Cauldron Hall naturally did their best to mock Qu Yi, constantly sneering at him.
Faced with this situation, the two representatives of the Fang Guild, Fang Xinfei and Fang Mo, chose to stay silent. With fewer people, they had no advantage, so it was better to remain quiet.

Qu Yi, of course, wasn’t affected by external noises. At that moment, he infused chaotic energy, instantly summoning the Black Tide Divine Fire within the Tri-Party Cauldron. The stability of that flame was even more gentle than Tan Changhuo’s.

This move immediately caught the attention of the hundred thousand alchemists, and all the negative voices fell silent.

“There’s potential here,” some alchemists thought to themselves.

Qu Yi didn’t disappoint those alchemists who had high hopes for him. As soon as the Black Tide Divine Fire appeared, all the materials for crafting were thrown into the Tri-Party Cauldron, where they quickly began to decompose.

Stable, graceful, harmonious, and beautiful.

The hundred thousand alchemists, watching Qu Yi’s crafting process, couldn’t help but feel such thoughts—they automatically considered his technique to be on par with that of a master alchemist.

A year passed.

Qu Yi had actually crafted a core artifact, shaped exactly like Tan Changhuo’s Flying Fire Sword. Now, the core artifact flew out of the Tri-Party Cauldron and landed on the platform. Qu Yi then began to form arrays around it.

Whoa!

When Qu Yi took out the core artifact, the hundred thousand alchemists stood up again, once more in collective astonishment.

A core artifact created in just one year!

This was an extremely rare occurrence even in the entire alchemist community of the Divine Realm. Apart from alchemists at the Divine Marshal or Divine King levels, those at other ranks simply couldn’t craft a core artifact in a year.

But Qu Yi had done it, right before everyone’s eyes.

The hundred thousand alchemists secretly thought that Qu Yi might indeed be able to craft a divine artifact within ten years.

Unperturbed by the outside world, Qu Yi smiled as he began to form arrays around the core artifact.

Chaos energy immediately appeared in his palm and was injected into the core artifact.