Four hours passed quickly. By now, everyone knew there was no need to guess—the Alchemy Saint Hand had won. After Elder Shaw finished competing, he realized the gap between himself and his opponent was huge. The other side barely exerted any effort, and their fire control was especially unique.
"Although our Human World has beaten your Fiend Realm, you guys aren't bad either. This young man has already scored two consecutive wins, so some people from Sacred Mountain want to challenge him one-on-one. This isn't on behalf of either side." The Alchemy Saint Hand smiled, then turned his gaze to Evan Yang.
Nobody expected the Alchemy Saint Hand to say this at such a moment. Evan Yang had already anticipated they would make such a move, but not at this exact time. He just smiled and didn't say much, but Elder Shaw was shocked and exclaimed, "I'm afraid that's not appropriate."
"I already said, this is purely a personal act. One Immortal pill recipe and precious herbs—if he wins, they're his to keep." The Alchemy Saint Hand smiled.
Everyone could see that Sacred Mountain had issues with this Fiend Realm alchemist and wanted to humble him a bit.
Just as Elder Shaw was about to speak up for Evan Yang, Evan smiled and said, "Elder Shaw, I've already accepted. Let's just stay one more day here and continue tomorrow—is that alright?"
"That's fine." The Alchemy Saint Hand smiled at Evan Yang.
Elder Shaw didn't expect Evan Yang to agree, nor did Faye Gale. Only the Old Beggar knew in advance and muttered helplessly, "Such a pity."
"Is it the Saint Hand's junior brother?" Evan Yang asked with a smile.
"That's right." The Alchemy Saint Hand nodded.
After the exchange between the Alchemy Saint Hand and Evan Yang, everyone was stunned—it turned out the Saint Hand's Junior Brother would be facing Evan Yang in the duel.
Thinking of the Saint Hand's Junior Brother's record, the crowd silently mourned for Evan Yang, but they were also eager to watch, so many people stayed.
On the way back to their rooms, Elder Shaw and Faye Gale kept pestering Evan Yang with questions, but Evan just waved his hand and smiled, "Don't worry, it's fine."
"Kid, didn't you see how impressive that Saint Hand was today?" Elder Shaw sighed.
"He's himself, not his junior brother," Evan Yang replied with a smile.
"You don't know, some say that junior brother is almost as good as the Saint Hand—they're both alchemy geniuses," Elder Shaw said.
"That's fine too. I don't really lose anything. They didn't say what happens if I lose—only that if I win, I get herbs and a precious Immortal pill recipe. Isn't that great?" Evan Yang smiled.
Hearing this, Elder Shaw and Faye Gale looked at each other. It did seem to be the case—Sacred Mountain hadn't set any penalty for losing.
That helped Elder Shaw and Faye Gale relax as they waited for the next day to arrive.
Evan Yang returned to his room and started preparing. The next day, the grand hall filled up again—this time, everyone was here to watch Evan Yang, and even the Old Beggar hadn't left.
The Old Beggar watched Evan Yang suspiciously. When Evan started his next moves, he caught the Old Beggar's attention, because Evan was using his own pill-refining method—and it looked a lot like the Old Beggar's.
"Strange, how does he know this pill-refining method?" The Old Beggar was shocked to see Evan Yang's process so similar to his own.
Although Evan Yang tweaked a few moves, to the Old Beggar—who had used this method many times—it was all too familiar.
As for everyone else, only a handful had seen the Old Beggar refine pills long ago, so they didn't recognize the method. When a Fiend Realm person used it, no one connected it to the Old Beggar.
Rex Yale saw Evan Yang's techniques and sneered, "You call that pill-refining? Ridiculous."
Elder Shaw noticed Evan Yang's pill-refining method was different from the previous days and became suspicious. "Is he using his own method?"
"Elder Shaw, what method is he using?" Faye Gale asked curiously.
"Nothing, just keep watching." Elder Shaw decided to keep Evan Yang's secret.
For the pseudo-Immortal pill, Rex Yale also used fire. His flame was high-grade, but compared to the Saint Hand's, it was a bit weaker—still strong, though, and his pill-refining style was similar to the Saint Hand's.
Both controlled their flames; seeing Rex Yale do the same, Evan Yang left a few strands of divine sense locked on him, while the rest focused entirely on pill-refining.
Nobody realized Evan Yang had multiple strands of divine sense, so they all assumed he was just concentrating, not wanting to lose too badly.
This pill-refining round was also limited to four hours. Rex Yale acted like he barely cared, looked down on Evan Yang, and even joked and smiled at him now and then.
Evan Yang ignored him and kept refining his pills. "I'll just make nine," he thought.
Nobody knew what Evan Yang was planning. If they did, neither the Saint Hand nor Rex Yale would be so dismissive.
"Saint Hand, how many do you think this kid can make?" Cao Pin asked, standing next to the Saint Hand.
"Last time you competed with him, he made four. This time, maybe five at most—but that's already impressive." The Saint Hand smiled.
"Then he's doomed. Rex Yale has a record of making eight, and even his worst is seven." Cao Pin laughed.
"Right. Once my junior brother wins, you know what to do, right?" The Saint Hand smiled.
"Of course. Even if he's from the Fiend Realm, the rules still apply." Cao Pin sneered.
"Exactly. Sacred Mountain doesn't allow anyone to win—not even the Fiend Realm." The Saint Hand smiled.
Cao Pin nodded.
The hall was silent until the four-hour limit approached. Rex Yale finished first, while Evan Yang was still dispersing his flame and wrapping up.
The crowd grew nervous. "Kid, you're not done yet? Are you going to burn it? Using this method to refine pills? What do you think this is, brewing medicine?"
Evan Yang had heard these comments countless times, so he didn't care and kept refining his pills.
Finally, Evan Yang said, "Done." He finished refining his pills.
The Alchemy Saint Hand walked over. "Alright, open your furnaces together."
Rex Yale opened his furnace with a broad smile—seven pills, his worst result, since he hadn't really focused. But when Evan Yang opened his, the crowd was stunned.
"Nine pills!" someone shouted.
"It really is nine!" someone ran over to check and exclaimed in disbelief.
The Alchemy Saint Hand, Rex Yale, and the others all looked uneasy—especially Rex Yale, who had never lost publicly, and now he'd lost to someone he looked down on.
Evan Yang smiled, "I was lucky to win. Where's the reward?"
The Alchemy Saint Hand hadn't expected Evan Yang to win, so he said to Cao Pin, "Go get the reward."
Cao Pin snapped out of it and quickly left.
"Young man, what's your name?" The Alchemy Saint Hand asked, his expression returning to normal.
Evan Yang smiled, "Mu Han."
"Excellent. I didn't expect the Fiend Realm to have such a genius." The Alchemy Saint Hand said to Elder Shaw.
Elder Shaw finally recovered and said, a bit incredulously, "Heh, I didn't expect it either."
The hall was noisy and chaotic. The Alchemy Saint Hand didn't want to stay any longer—staying would only be more embarrassing. He smiled, "The contest between the Fiend Realm and Human World ends here. As for his duel with my junior brother, Sacred Mountain will honor the reward and give it to him shortly."
"Alright, we'll leave once we get the reward." Elder Shaw smiled. He didn't want to stay either, since Evan Yang's sudden win made him a bit nervous.
The Alchemy Saint Hand left, but the Old Beggar sent Evan Yang a voice transmission: "Who taught you that technique?"
"Senior, haven't you figured it out yet?" Evan Yang replied with a strange smile.
Hearing this, the Old Beggar finally understood. His odd expression turned into a broad smile—he almost wanted to laugh out loud, but held back. "Kid, you tricked me. Why didn't you tell me?"
"This is Sacred Mountain, and you're being watched. I didn't want to drag you into it. You know the Fenn Family is still hunting me." Evan Yang smiled.
"So you went to the Fiend Realm. When are you leaving?" The Old Beggar asked curiously.
"Probably soon, but I'll be back before long," Evan Yang smiled.
The Old Beggar laughed, "I'll look forward to your return."
Then the Old Beggar turned and left with a cheerful smile. The crowd watched him, unsure if he hated Sacred Mountain so much, or if he was just happy a Fiend Realm cultivator had beaten Sacred Mountain.
Cao Pin had already packed the reward and handed it to Evan Yang, reluctantly. Seeing Cao Pin's look, Evan Yang smiled, "Thanks."
Then Evan Yang turned and signaled Elder Shaw and the others to leave.
Elder Shaw nodded, and led Faye Gale and the rest away from Sacred Mountain.
So the Sacred Mountain's pill duel between the two realms ended, but not everyone was willing to let it go.
"Why haven't you made your move yet?" Second Young Master Fenn asked his guards.