The pill furnace was illusory; the Nine Treasures Pearl Curtain Plant was also illusory. Therefore, the pill that was produced was obviously not real. Despite that, it could be held in hand, and it could be crushed.
This was one of the bizarre, miraculous aspects of the Celestial Land, a magic that could create something from nothing!
Meng Hao looked at the bluish-green medicinal pill in his hand, then lifted his head. Further up, the mountain path began to buzz. Suddenly, out of thin-air appeared… a step.
A single step!
Meng Hao’s face was the same as ever, without the slightest hint of change. Much earlier, he had predicted that this would happen. He looked back down at the Nine Treasures Pearl Curtain Plant’s crimson flower, grabbed it, and began to concoct.
Seeing this caused a buzz to immediately rise up among the audience on the mountaintop. Of course, the Violet Furnace Lords didn’t participate, nor did the Patriarch-level Cultivators from the outside Sects. They only looked on in silent thought. Based on their concentration, their age, and their experiences in life, eccentrics like this wouldn’t easily show what they were thinking.
However, the disciples who had accompanied them had not reached such a level. Seeing what happened instantly caused astonished exclamations and discussions to fill the air.
“Alchemist Fang Mu only created a single stair…! That’s simply too few! Is he really a Furnace Lord?”
“At the very least, the other candidates created a few hundred stairs. Furnace Lord Ye created the most, 2,000, and wasn’t even satisfied with that. But Fang Mu… he doesn’t look even the least bit embarrassed!”
“Maybe he has some special plan….”
Such discussions couldn’t be avoided. Meng Hao’s medicinal pill, and the one stair it had produced, was immediately divisive. Everyone could clearly see what had happened, and it was only natural that people immediately began to make comparisons.
Han Bei frowned. She couldn’t believe that Fang Mu’s skill in the Dao of alchemy was so limited. After her interactions with him in the Black Sieve Sect, she knew of his extreme cunning, and was convinced that he must be pulling off some clever trick.
Zhou Jie’s expression was normal, without the slightest reaction whatsoever. It seemed as if nothing would cause him any surprise whatsoever.
Fatty was secretly clenching his fists. He knew that Fang Mu was Meng Hao, which caused him extreme anxiety inside, especially considering that he could not possibly charge forward and warn Meng Hao about what was happening.
Li Shiqi’s eyes glittered slightly as she watched Fang Mu on the screen. She then glanced at Ye Feimu, and frowned, as if she wasn’t quite sure the meaning of everything that was happening.
Of course, Meng Hao couldn’t hear any of the commotion which he had caused on the outside, nor would he pay it any heed if he could. He was thoroughly engrossed in concocting his second medicinal pill. Again, his bearing was completely different from before in the second region.
However, the more earnestly he worked, the more derision rose up from the outsiders.
A day later, Chu Yuyan finished her second medicinal pill. Just the same as before, 1,111 stairs appeared. Ye Feimu’s second pill also was completed. When it appeared, a great roaring shook the Heavens and rocked the Earth.
“4,000 stairs!! He’s… he’s no Furnace Lord! This Violet Furnace Lord Promotion definitely belongs to him!”