With Wei Chengzong's declaration of "Begin," Ning Fa immediately entered the zone.
His expression became incredibly focused, as if he had returned to the state of ceaseless alchemy he experienced at home. His eyes saw only the alchemy furnace and spiritual materials, casting aside all external distractions.
Ning Shaohong glanced at Ning Fa with a hint of surprise, then a smile curved her lips. For the first time, she felt a flicker of confidence that Ning Fa might actually pass this assessment.
Meanwhile, Wei Chengzong merely pouted. He had absolutely no faith in Ning Fa's ability to pass.
After all, he was very familiar with Ning Fa's alchemy skills. In his estimation, even with four or five chances to refine pills each month, Ning Fa would need at least another five years before he had even a slight chance of truly passing the assessment.
However, Wei Chengzong could never have imagined that Ning Fa possessed a heaven-defying item like the Mysterious Scroll. In the past month, Ning Fa had already opened his furnace hundreds of times.
Ning Ruiming also watched Ning Fa with lingering anger and disdain, clearly waiting for Ning Fa to embarrass himself publicly once again.
Liu Qinghui, on the other hand, quietly observed Ning Fa, her beautiful eyes filled with an unreadable emotion. For some reason, she felt that Ning Fa might actually pass this time.
The last time she saw Ning Fa on Jinchang Island, she felt he had changed somehow. That's why she told Ning Ruiming that a miracle might happen.
Today, upon learning that Ning Fa was attempting the assessment again, she had inexplicably come to witness it firsthand.
As Ning Fa began extracting the spiritual grass into spiritual liquid, the expressions of the three alchemists—Wei Chengzong, Ning Ruiming, and Liu Qinghui—changed.
Ning Fa's movements were fluid and seamless, without a single wasted motion. He was fast, precise, and decisive, giving off an aesthetically pleasing aura, completely free of any sloppiness.
Wei Chengzong and the other two couldn't help but ask themselves if they could achieve this level of skill when extracting spiritual liquid. They quickly gave themselves a negative answer.
This wasn't to say that Ning Fa's skill in extracting spiritual liquid surpassed theirs, but it could definitely be said that his skill in extracting the spiritual grass for the Essence Replenishing Pill was superior to theirs.
Ning Ruiming's dismissive smile vanished, and his expression turned grim.
Soon, Ning Fa had extracted all seven types of spiritual grass into spiritual liquid.
Wei Chengzong narrowed his eyes, having noticed that the time Ning Fa took to complete this step was nearly sixty breaths less than normal.
Furthermore, judging by the color, purity, and quality of these spiritual liquids, the extraction was exceptionally good. This made him feel for the first time that Ning Fa might actually have a chance to pass the assessment today.
A spark seemed to flash in Liu Qinghui's eyes, and she watched Ning Fa's alchemy with even greater focus.
Ning Fa had now begun the next stage: pill formation.
This process was highly demanding, testing the order and timing of adding various spiritual liquids to the alchemy furnace, as well as the control of hand seals on the furnace, to ensure the smooth fusion of the spiritual liquids from the various medicinal ingredients.
Ning Fa remained unhurried, his actions orderly. Various colored hand seals emanated from his hands, a testament to the confidence gained from extensive practice.
However, as this step progressed, Ning Fa's brow furrowed slightly.
He sensed that the feedback from this white alchemy furnace was different from his own.
It wasn't that the furnace was of poor quality, but it was like someone accustomed to driving one car suddenly driving another; there was always a slight discomfort.
Fortunately, Ning Fa was already very proficient in refining the Essence Replenishing Pill, and he managed to control it forcefully. However, his movements were inevitably a bit uncoordinated.
The sense of proficiency and flawlessness he displayed during spiritual liquid extraction had vanished, replaced by a hint of disarray.
Seeing this, Wei Chengzong and Ning Ruiming breathed a sigh of relief. This was the normal performance of a low-level alchemist. Ning Fa's earlier extraction had truly startled them.
Ning Fa smoothly completed the pill formation stage and moved on to the next, the pill solidification stage, which was the most crucial.
After pill solidification came the final stage: opening the furnace.
As Ning Fa struck the alchemy furnace with the last yellow hand seal, he shouted, "Rise!"
The alchemy furnace flew out automatically, emitting a swirling mist of auspicious light, accompanied by a fragrant aroma.
Wei Chengzong cast Ning Fa a surprised glance. Based on his experience, this batch had definitely produced solidified pills, though he wasn't sure how many.
Moreover, judging by the aura when opening the furnace, the quality of the solidified pills was likely to be good.
Ning Fa had attempted the assessment more than ten times before, and only on two or three occasions had he managed to luck out and refine a single solidified pill in the final batch, and even then, the quality was average, barely meeting the standard for a solidified pill.
Ning Shaohong and Ning Xiuying, standing beside her, stared intently at the alchemy furnace. Although they didn't understand alchemy, they could vaguely sense that Ning Fa's refinement this time was likely successful.
Ning Ruiming stared fixedly at the alchemy furnace. He naturally saw that Ning Fa had definitely produced solidified pills this time. He desperately prayed that there would be only one.
Liu Qinghui subtly assessed Ning Fa, and the premonition in her heart grew stronger.
Ning Fa's expression was blank, but inwardly, he felt a touch of annoyance.
Although he hadn't seen the inside of the alchemy furnace, his experience told him that the result of this refinement had not reached his true level.
At this moment, Wei Chengzong stepped forward and approached the alchemy furnace. He first peered into it, then stroked his beard and nodded.
Then, with a wave of his hand, a ball of auspicious light flew to him. Within the light were five finger-sized, milky-white pills.
Two were perfectly round and full, with a lustrous sheen and no cracks, their surfaces subtly shimmering.
The other three were irregularly shaped circles, and their surfaces all bore cracks to varying degrees, clearly all failed pills.
"Two solidified pills, three failed pills."
Wei Chengzong announced to the crowd, then said kindly to Ning Fa, "Ning Fa, you've done well. If you maintain this level in the next two batches, you will pass the assessment today."
Everyone present possessed divine sense and could naturally confirm the results of this refinement.
Ning Shaohong glanced at Ning Fa, her beautiful eyes filled with a deepening smile.
Ning Ruiming's gaze was dark, and the armrest of his wooden chair was being squeezed to the point of deforming.
After a brief rest of fifteen minutes, Ning Fa began his second refinement.
This time, Ning Fa took less time than the first, and the result was three solidified pills and three failed pills.
This meant he had refined a total of five solidified pills across two batches. As long as he refined one more solidified pill in the third batch, he would pass the assessment.