His face was expressionless. As the Star Steel and Void Silver Sand hovered in his palm, he slammed his hand against the side of the Pill Furnace.

BANG!

Two black-and-white Flood Dragon Spirit Bodies flew out of the Pill Furnace.

Before the furnace fire had died down, Qin Xuan’s figure had already flitted like a phantom to the Artifact Domain.

His face was slightly pale, a clear sign he had consumed a great deal of Divine Sense and Magical Power, but his gaze remained as tranquil as an abyss.

’Hmph. He’s a spent force.’

Sunx Miao glimpsed this from afar and sneered inwardly.

But then, with a flick of his sleeve, Qin Xuan unleashed the True Sun Fire from within his body. The furnace’s flames turned from pure cyan to a brilliant gold!

Star Steel, Void Silver Sand, and a small piece of Wind Breath Stone...

The materials rapidly melted and were purified in the furnace fire, their impurities purged away.

"Divine Sense is the hammer, Magical Power the anvil!"

The Cyan-robed Little Daoist Child’s command rang out, concise and powerful, within his Sea of Consciousness.

Qin Xuan was fully concentrated. His Divine Sense transformed into countless, intricate hammer-shadows, continuously pounding the fused liquid mass.

At the same time, his hands flew through a series of seals, instilling concepts: sharpness, breaking the sky, resilience...

He skillfully hammered one Tier Three Artifact Rune after another into the liquid mass.

The entire process was as fluid as moving clouds and flowing water.

Although it wasn’t as spectacular as Liu Mobai’s forging of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, it possessed a steady poise, an effortless grace that made a difficult task look simple.

Finally, under the control of his Divine Sense, the liquid mass slowly stretched and solidified, transforming into seven palm-sized flying knives that shimmered with starlight and a silver glow!

HUMMM!

The moment the seven flying knives took form, they emitted a clear, sonorous hum.

"A Tier Three Low-Grade Magical Treasure—the Seven-Star Sky-Breaking Blade! Success!" Ming Zhan’s voice rang out at the perfect moment.

Outside, the expressions of the watching Demon Monarchs were varied.

Ma Miaoyin was the first to chuckle. Her gaze drifted to the gauze-clad, barefoot Wei Jieyue beside her, her tone laced with a hint of playful mockery.

"Senior Sister Wei, it seems your little Qingyi has met her match this time."

"They both produced a Tier Three Low-Grade elixir, but this Qin Xuan also forged an entire set of Tier Three Low-Grade flying knife Magical Treasures..."

Her words trailed off, but her meaning was obvious.

Though Qin Xuan wasn’t as dazzling as Liu Mobai, he was clearly a cut above Wei Qingyi, who had only refined an elixir!

Ji Boyan shook his head. "Forging a set of flying knives is more mentally taxing than a single Magical Treasure, and its value is also slightly higher. Although they’re Tier Three Low-Grade, when you really get down to it, they might not be inferior to Liu Mobai’s Tier Three Middle-Grade Ten Thousand Souls Banner..."

The golden bells on Wei Jieyue’s ankles were silent. Her stunning face was a mask of frost as she snorted, "Junior Sister Ma, you seem awfully concerned. Pursuing Pill and Artifact Dual Cultivation means biting off more than you can chew; it’s not necessarily a good thing. Besides, the final judgment isn’t based on quantity alone."

"If he wants to pass, he’ll still need our votes."

"Don’t tell me you’re planning to cast your vote for Qin Xuan?"

Just as the atmosphere grew tense, an aged, somber voice spoke up.

Sunx Youhai chuckled. "Everyone, isn’t it a bit too early to be drawing conclusions? My unworthy grandson hasn’t finished his demonstration yet."

At his words, the Demon Monarchs all turned their gazes to the area on the light curtain where Sunx Miao was located.

Could there be another twist?

Sunx Miao’s Purple Mansion Sixth Level Cultivation didn’t particularly stand out among the crowd of Purple Mansion Seventh Level cultivators like Qin Xuan and Jiang Cheng.

The Demon Monarchs’ attention had mostly been on Liu Mobai, Qin Xuan, and the others.

Only now, after Sunx Youhai’s reminder, did they take a closer look.

In Sunx Miao’s area, a dense Corpse Aura billowed toward the sky, where a towering skeleton stood erect.

The entire skeleton was a bizarre dark-gold color, with a faint silvery light flowing across it.

Various Yin Attribute Spiritual Materials and a viscous Corpse Evil Liquid were continuously being absorbed into the skeleton.

"Hm?" Ma Miaoyin, who specialized in the White Bone Soul Dao, was the first to notice something was amiss. Her lovely eyes narrowed, her voice tinged with astonishment.

"That’s not right! Senior Brother Sunx, your grandson is incredibly ambitious! He’s not refining an ordinary Silver Corpse—he’s using a Secret Technique to force its development, attempting to create a Golden Armor Silver Corpse!"

"That’s a Corpse Puppet on par with the Purple Mansion Peak!"

"...A Corpse Puppet at the Purple Mansion Peak?"

Ji Boyan frowned slightly, a look of doubt on his face.

’Refining something two whole tiers above his own level, with only a Purple Mansion Sixth Level Cultivation and Divine Sense?’

’Who the hell is he trying to kid!’

Wei Jieyue’s expression grew complicated, and her heart leaped into her throat.

If Sunx Miao could truly succeed in refining a Corpse Puppet at the Purple Mansion Peak, the difficulty and value of the feat would far surpass Liu Mobai’s Tier Three Middle-Grade Magical Treasure.

That would require not only a masterful Corpse Refining Technique but also absolute mastery over Corpse Evil Qi and the backing of a powerful Divine Sense.

In the face of someone refining a creation so many tiers above their own level, even Qin Xuan’s dual accomplishment in Pills and Artifacts would likely be overshadowed.

If that happened, Wei Qingyi would be pushed out of the top three!

Sunx Youhai’s aged voice carried a hint of smugness. "Miao’er may be a bit slow, but when it comes to the path of Corpse Refining, he has a certain tenacity and has had some lucky encounters. Whether he succeeds or not... well, we’ll just have to see what fate has in store for him."

All eyes were fixed on Sunx Miao.

His face was deathly pale, and sweat poured down like rain. His body trembled slightly; he had clearly reached his limit.

But the silvery radiance on the Dark Gold Skeleton grew ever brighter, and a terrifying pressure was slowly taking shape...

Who would have thought that the unassuming Sunx Miao could actually become the competition’s dark horse.

The slight advantage Wei Qingyi had established with her Tier Three elixir was suddenly in jeopardy.

The situation suddenly became crystal clear to all the observers.

’What an old fox,’ they thought. ’He claims Sunx Miao is doing the refining, but there’s definitely some trick involved. We’ll have to wait and see how the Sect Leader rules on this.’

The Demon Monarchs all adopted impassive expressions, each one keeping their opinions to themselves. Not a single one of them cast a vote.

They quietly awaited the arrival of Dugu Hong’s projection.