The Third Plateau of the Nine Cauldrons was a world away from the mud and smog of the First. Here, the air was perpetually scented with sandalwood and ozone. The buildings were constructed from polished jade-stone, and the floating carriages were pulled by cranes with feathers of pure silver. This was the territory of the Grand Alchemy Guild, the organization that held a monopoly on the lifeblood of every cultivator: Medicinal Pills.
Qin Feng stood before the guild's massive entrance, a gate shaped like a roaring dragon's maw. Beside him, Ye Chen wore a veil of enchanted silk, her presence suppressed, yet she still drew the lingering gazes of passing nobles.
"The entrance exam for the Alchemy Guild requires a 'Spirit Flame' demonstration," Ye Chen whispered. "Most use refined fire techniques passed down through generations. You... you only have the raw heat of the Eclipse."
"Heat is heat, Ye Chen," Qin Feng replied, his eyes fixed on the long line of arrogant young masters waiting for their turn. "In the mines, we didn't have fancy techniques. We had to melt spirit-iron with nothing but our own Qi and a prayer. I'll make do."
[DING! New Quest: 'The Alchemist's Gambit'.] [Objective: Pass the Grade 1 Alchemist Exam with a 'Perfect' score.] [Reward: Access to Tier 3 Cauldrons & 25,000 EXP.]
As they reached the front of the line, a middle-aged proctor with a thin mustache and a gold-trimmed robe looked at Qin Feng's calloused hands and dusty cloak. He let out a loud, mocking snort.
"A miner? Seeking to join the Guild of Flame?" the proctor laughed, loud enough for the other candidates to hear. "Boy, do you even know the difference between a Spirit Herb and a common weed? This is a place of refinement, not a hole in the ground."
A young man behind them, dressed in shimmering red robes and holding a high-grade jade fan, chimed in. This was Young Master Huo, a genius from a local alchemy clan. "Proctor, don't be too hard on him. Perhaps he wants to apply as a charcoal-carrier? Though even for that, he looks a bit... grimy."
The crowd erupted in refined, condescending laughter. Qin Feng didn't flinch. He simply looked the proctor in the eye.
"I'm here for the exam," Qin Feng said, his voice cutting through the laughter like a cold wind. "Is the Guild for those who can refine, or for those who can talk?"
The proctor's face flushed with anger. "Fine. If you wish to waste your tokens and your dignity, step inside. But don't expect the furnace to be as forgiving as your pickaxe."
The exam hall was a vast chamber filled with thirty individual stone furnaces, each connected to the Third Plateau's central Qi vein. The task was simple: Refine a 'Clear Spirit Pill', a basic Grade 1 medicine used to stabilize Qi.
While the other candidates, including Young Master Huo, began to perform elegant, complex hand-seals to summon their refined "True Fires," Qin Feng simply stood before his furnace. He didn't use a hand-seal. He didn't recite a mantra.
He placed his hand on the cold stone of the furnace.
[ACTIVATE: Vein Seeker (Alchemy Mode).]
In Qin Feng's vision, the furnace became transparent. He saw the chaotic flow of the fire-Qi within the stone. To everyone else, it looked like he was just touching the stove, but in reality, he was using his Eclipse Overlord Qi to seize control of the plateau's ley lines.
"Look at him," Huo whispered to his neighbors while expertly hovering a 'Blue-Leaf Grass' over his flame. "He's trying to warm his hands. He hasn't even started his fire."
Suddenly, Qin Feng's furnace didn't just light up; it roared. A pillar of violet-gold flame erupted within the chamber, so intense that the nearby candidates had to shield their eyes. It wasn't the "refined" fire of a scholar; it was the Primal Fire of the deep earth.
Qin Feng didn't gently place his herbs. He tossed them in all at once, a move that should have resulted in an instant explosion.
"He's a madman!" the proctor shouted, stepping forward to intervene. "He'll blow the roof off the"
The proctor stopped. The smell of burning grass didn't fill the room. Instead, a fragrance so pure and sweet it made the candidates' Qi hum began to radiate from Qin Feng's furnace.
Inside, Qin Feng was using the Eclipse Sunderer's "Shatter" principle. Instead of slowly cooking the herbs, he was using microscopic pulses of Qi to shatter the molecular bonds of the impurities, leaving only the pure essence. It was a "Mining" approach to Alchemy, brutal, efficient, and perfect.
CLANG.
The furnace door flew open. A single pill drifted out, glowing with a soft, pearlescent light. It didn't have the typical rough texture of a Grade 1 pill; it was as smooth as a raindrop and marked with three silver clouds.
"Three... Three Cloud Veins?" Young Master Huo stammered, his own pill turning into a charred lump in his shock. "That's a Perfect Grade! Even my father can only produce two veins!"
Qin Feng caught the pill and tossed it casually to the stunned proctor.
"I believe that's a pass," Qin Feng said, wiping a bit of soot from his sleeve. "Now, where do I find the Tier 3 Cauldrons? I have a wife to heal and no more time for talk."
[DING! Quest Completed!] [Score: Perfect (100/100).] [Relationship Resonance: 99% — Ye Chen is feeling 'Immense Pride'.] [Face-Slapping Bonus: x30 Multiplier!]
Ye Chen stepped forward, her veil fluttering. She didn't say anything, but the look she gave Young Master Huo was more devastating than any physical blow. It was the look of someone who knew the world had just shifted beneath their feet.
The "Miner of the Dark" had just become the most talked-about Alchemist on the Third Plateau, and the elite of the City of Nine Cauldrons were about to realize that their "refinement" was nothing more than a thin coat of paint over a hollow structure.