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!”
Violet Furnace Lord Ye Yuntian chuckled. He looked at Ye Feimu with an expression of deep praise. The other Violet Furnace Lords also looked at him with similar approval. They nodded, slight smiles on their faces.
Their praise grew even more obvious when they saw Ye Feimu once again crush the medicinal pill. The 4,000 stairs disappeared.
“Striving for perfection is Ye Feimu’s weakness, and also his strength,” said Ye Yuntian, smiling. “This kid’s determination is something you rarely see in others. I hope that after becoming a Violet Furnace Lord, he will retain his tenacity, and use it to tread into realms we have not.”
As they discussed the matter, An Zaihai sat there silently. He wasn’t looking at any of the other candidates, only Meng Hao. Slowly, the shock in his eyes grew more intense.
Fatty gave an inward sigh as he looked at the screen with Meng Hao on it. “There’s no way to compare. Ah, Meng Hao, why did you have to encounter somebody so inhuman? How can you possibly compare to this Ye guy…?”
As the discussions proceeded, the other alchemists on Violet East Mountain continued to produce medicinal pills, Meng Hao included. When Meng Hao’s pill was completed, a roaring sound filled the air, and a second stair appeared. This immediately caused muffled laughter to rise up from the Cultivators on the outside world. They seemed to find the appearance of a single stone step to be quite amusing.