Meng Hao's expression was calm as he began to use the Alchemy Dao Transmutation Incantation1. In the blink of an eye, the flame in his palm split into two sections. Deep inside of him, a vast array of various medicinal pill variations flitted about. He began to make adjustments, and as he did, the pill furnace slowly began to turn bright red.

Meng Hao's eyes glittered as he repeatedly performed various incantation gestures with his hand and then pushed onto the pill furnace. Every time he touched it, the pill furnace would rumble, and loud cracking sounds could be heard from within. Soon, a medicinal aroma began to emanate out. Strangest of all, almost as soon as the aroma emanated out, people tried to smell it, but couldn't!

The aroma was right there in front of them, but they couldn't smell it! This bizarre phenomenon caused all of the surrounding Cultivators' expressions to change. The four Grand Elders stared with wide eyes.

"What's going on? What pill is this guy concocting? You can sense that there's a medicinal aroma, but it's like it doesn't exist at all!"

"What a bizarre pill. This alchemist may be young, but obviously can't be looked down upon."

"Ah, it's not a big deal. It's probably some kind of illusion magic. Just look at Grandmaster Zhou, he obviously knows what's going on."

Zhou Dekun was inwardly dumbstruck, but without even thinking about it, he smiled, as if all of this was part of his strategy. He seemed to be offering his praise to a member of the junior generation.

He had practiced this expression to the point where the proverbial furnace flame had grown green. It had reached the pinnacle of perfection. At this point, it was as if Mt. Tai was crumbling in front of his very eyes, but even as it did, he calmly let everyone know that it was his doing.

This was one of the reasons he had been able to rise to prominence in the Black Lands. By being able to display an expression like this without even thinking about it, he left all onlookers scared stiff.

Yan Song's expression was one of extreme concentration as he gazed at Meng Hao's pill furnace. Slowly, his eyes began to fill with disbelief.

"That's… Self-Contained Pill Aroma! The pill is not yet complete, so the aroma of the pill is illusory. It emanates out for the purpose of absorbing the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth! Everyone can sense it, but are unable to actually smell it! This is a realm of pill concocting that exists in legend! This guy…." The more Yan Song thought about it, the more shocked he became. He glanced over at Zhou Dekun. Seeing the man's deep, unfathomable expression caused his heart to pound.

"Just how profound is this Zhou Dekun's Dao of alchemy?" he thought.

As the onlookers continued to be overwhelmed with shock, Meng Hao waved his left hand to produce some more medicinal plants. This time, he did not crush them into powder, but rather, collected sap, twigs, and the like, which he then fed into the pill furnace. The red glow of the pill furnace grew even more intense. Soon, an hour had passed, whereupon Meng Hao finally slapped the pill furnace.

A booming sound filled the air, causing everyone to assume that the pill was finally fully concocted. It was at this time that the ground began to tremble, and suddenly, something like a screaming wind kicked up. However, it only took a moment for everyone to realize that this was no wind!

It was spiritual energy!

All of the spiritual energy in Holy Snow City began to rush in, forming something like a massive vortex.

The nucleus of this raging vortex of spiritual energy was none other than the pill furnace in Meng Hao's hand.

"This…." First Elder strode forward slowly, panting. He had never before heard of such an upheaval of spiritual energy occurring because of pill concoction.

The other Grand Elders watched on dumbstruck, filled with shock. The other Frigid Snow Clan members, including Hanxue Shan, all watched on with expressions of disbelief.

Everyone was equally shocked, including the hundreds of other Cultivators that made up the audience. Their breaths came in ragged pants, and soon, a buzz of conversation filled the air.

"Can pill concocting really cause such an influx in spiritual energy? What… what pill is this?"

"Just what pill is he concocting, exactly? This is almost completely unbelievable!"

As the conversations filled the air, Zhou Dekun continued to watch on proudly. He even lifted up his hand to slowly stroke his beard, exuding a look of admiration. It seemed as if the incredible goings-on were all meticulously planned by he himself.

Of course, inside, Zhou Dekun's heart wouldn't stop racing, and he was on the verge of screaming.

"Inhuman," he thought. "Bizarre! I never imagined that there could be someone besides Fang Mu who is such a freak when it comes to the Dao of alchemy. Just what exactly is he doing? What pill is he concocting…?" As his nervousness grew, his look of pride and complacency continued to emanate out.

When people saw his expression, Yan Song included, it only served to increase his standing in their eyes.

"There's no Pill Tribulation," thought Yan Song, looking up into the sky. "This medicinal pill seems shocking, but actually isn't that amazing." He felt a little bit better because of this.

It was at this point that Meng Hao casually said, "Ladies and Gentleman, I'm afraid you'll have to wait just a little bit longer. This pill is still lacking the final important ingredient." The pill furnace was bright crimson, and the air around it twisted and distorted. Vast amounts of spiritual energy continued to pour in from all directions, sucked into the pill furnace. It was so bright now that it looked like Meng Hao was holding a small sun in his hand.

As of this moment, Meng Hao looked wildly impressive.

The audience was instantly astonished.

"It's missing the final main ingredient? What's that supposed to mean? Why doesn't he just put the final ingredient in right now?"

"Something seems off. Could it be that he's waiting for someone to come deliver the final ingredient?"

The four Grand Elders frowned in confusion and then looked over at Zhou Dekun.

It wasn't just them. Yan Song looked over at him with complete perplexity.

In addition, Hanxue Zong, as well as the late Nascent Soul stage Cultivator, who hadn't spoken a single word so far, were both looking at Zhou Dekun.

Zhou Dekun gave an indifferent smile as he continued to stroke his beard. He looked calm and enigmatic, as if he were enjoying watching his plans play out. His ability to project this air of superiority really had been perfected to the limit.

Inside, though, he was nervously cursing everything including Heaven, Earth, and even the audience. Two alchemists had appeared, each one seemingly more inhuman than the other; and yet, everyone who was watching assumed that he was the strongest of all.

Only someone with quite a strong will would be able to prevent themselves from collapsing. Zhou Dekun cleared his throat. Everyone was looking at him, awaiting his explanation.

"Grandmaster Zhou, please clear things up for us."

"Yeah! Grandmaster Zhou, what's the final main ingredient that this guy needs for his concoction? Will it be here soon?"

Even Yan Song clasped hands toward Zhou Dekun and earnestly said, "Grandmaster Zhou, please clear up this confusion."

"I'll clear up your sister's confusion! How the hell would I know what the final ingredient is!" Of course, this was merely what Zhou Dekun said in his heart. His face remained as proud as ever. He smiled slightly and looked up toward the sky.

"In my estimation," he said, "the final ingredient is incredibly extraordinary in nature. It is simple, and yet mysterious. It is extraordinary in its ordinariness. The Dao of alchemy which requires such an ingredient is not something that the likes of you could understand. Since you can't understand, why do you request an explanation?" Zhou Dekun maintained his air of superiority as he made this vague explanation. If everyone hadn't already decided that he was an amazing Grandmaster, they would definitely take such an explanation to be poppycock.

However, because of their preconceptions, it actually seemed profound and enigmatic.

In fact, the reason Zhou Dekun looked up into the sky as he made his explanation was because he had the feeling whatever this final main ingredient was, if it was missing, that meant someone would have to deliver it. And if someone were to deliver it, they would definitely do so by flying over with it.

Even if it wasn't delivered by someone via flight, he had another reason for looking up into the sky. Medicinal plants were a product of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, looking up toward the Heavens could not possibly be an incorrect strategy.

Meng Hao noticed what Zhou Dekun was doing, and suddenly got a strange feeling. All of a sudden he realized that Zhou Dekun was far more amusing in the Black Lands than he had been in the Violet Fate Sect.

Meng Hao also glanced up at the sky and then thought, "I've been here for about seven or eight days. According to my calculations, the time should be close. I shouldn't have to wait much longer." Even as he was thinking this, his expression suddenly changed. It was without hesitation that he slapped his bag of holding. The Li Clan Patriarch suddenly appeared, flung up high into the air.

A boom rang out as a lightning bolt shockingly appeared in the middle of the boundless blue sky. The deafening sound it made far exceeded that of the Pill Tribulation. It slammed down onto the Li Clan Patriarch, who instantly let out a miserable shriek. The lightning bolt immediately began to weaken, and before the Li Clan Patriarch could even begin to curse, Meng Hao put him back into his bag of holding. Then, he redirected the weakened lightning bolt directly into the pill furnace.

The final main ingredient Meng Hao had been waiting for was none other than Tribulation Lightning!

A boom echoed out of the pill furnace. The lightning danced, sending out shocking peals of deafening thunder. The pill furnace began to tremble, and then the lid flew off of it. A medicinal pill shot out, which was surrounded by lightning.

The instant the pill appeared, the sky filled with dense black clouds. These were not Tribulation clouds, but rather naturally occurring ones. It seemed as if this medicinal pill could attract natural thunder and lightning. Up above, the clouds roiled, causing the very earth to quake.

The medicinal aroma which had been emanating out suddenly roiled and was sucked into the medicinal pill, congealing therein. The pill instantly turned translucent and began to emanate blinding light. It was clearly far beyond ordinary.

At the same time, all of the spiritual energy in the area surged like tidewaters. The pill seemed to suddenly give birth to a huge vortex that sucked in all of the spiritual energy. The thunder from up above grew even louder.

Just as it seemed that the lightning was about to begin falling, Meng Hao reached out and grabbed the lightning-covered medicinal pill. He gave it a close look and then nodded.

This was the first time he had attempted to concoct something like this. After seeing Yan Song use his five elements concocting technique, he had been inspired to fuse that method with his own. Although he hadn't completely succeeded, it had opened up a new branch of thought within his mind.

"Using this method to concoct pills actually leads to better results," he thought. "Furthermore, the variations within the five elements make it possible to concoct pills according to the theory of creating something from nothing…." With a final glance at the pill, he looked calmly over at Yan Song.

Everyone in the audience was panting, including the four Grand Elders. They stared at the pill surrounded by lightning, as did all of the hundreds of Cultivators in the square.

Yan Song was watching on, stupefied. When Meng Hao had started his concocting, Yan Song had looked down on him. But as the process continued, his attitude gradually changed. When the illusory pill aroma appeared, astonishment took root in his heart. By the time the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth began to surge toward it, he was thoroughly shaken. When the lightning appeared, he was positively, absolutely stunned.

His breathing was ragged and his eyes wide as he stared at the medicinal pill and realized that the technique used to create it was above and beyond his own five elements concocting technique. This new technique was a true fusion.

Meng Hao learned the Alchemy Dao Transmutation Incantationin chapter 242, after he became a Furnace Lord