At the prestigious family seat, Tang Chen slumped back in his chair, seemingly unable to bear what was unfolding behind him.

He could sense the subtle glances from other family Clan Leader.

Below the stage, Qirong suddenly clapped his hands sharply. “I always said that my Thunderstorm Sphere had such a great name. Why didn’t Big Brother Tang use it? Turns out, we once thought alike!”

Qin Ruqing’s lips twitched slightly. “So, Tang Zifeng had a phase of being rather juvenile, only changing his naming style after being kicked out of the house. He went from a teenage phase to being creatively challenged.”

Onstage, Tang Zifeng looked at Tang Biao with a calm gaze. “Even though you removed the Thunder Powder, this spiritual tool can still be salvaged. If the fuel isn’t enough, you need to find other ways. But you haven’t—your two fuel-storing spheres are the same size.”

Tang Zifeng raised the spiritual tool crafted by Tang Biao, revealing connected spheres of identical size.

This was the most distinctive feature distinguishing their respective spiritual tools.

The screen zoomed in on their tools, highlighting Tang Zifeng’s three spheres, progressively increasing in size.

“I initially designed the schematics with another issue in mind,” Tang Zifeng continued, “insufficient firepower of the spiritual tool. Tang Biao must have realized this issue during his research, so his solution was to add another sphere. He thought increasing the fuel would increase the power.”

At this, the grandmasters chuckled.

Increasing power through sheer quantity was indeed a method, but also the most foolish, far from achieving the desired effect.

Tang Zifeng turned to Tang Biao. “You see, even if you add ten more spheres, you can never breach the defense of a Nascent Soul cultivator. It’s no longer about quantity but about causing a qualitative change.”

Turning to demonstrate his own spiritual tool, Tang Zifeng continued, “The significance of these spheres lies in their progression and overlap, not just in their sheer number.”

Master Minghua, now smiling, remarked, “So you thought of separating all the fuels, each igniting and promoting each other. What fuel did you use for the final sphere?”

Tang Zifeng lowered his head. “Impurity Dust.”

This admission surprised the four master craftsmen.

Master Luming exclaimed, “You actually thought of using Impurity Dust for its ability to actively mix and adhere during the explosion process, causing a qualitative change.”

Impurity Dust was a very common and inexpensive material, yet paired in this way, it produced an outstanding effect.

Master Minghua nodded approvingly. “You have a profound understanding of equipment matching. I’ve always said that the materials for crafting don’t have to be precious; the key lies in suitability and mutual compatibility. Tang Zifeng, you…”

“Very well.”

At the family seat, Clan Chief Lin lightly tapped her daughter Lin Yijun’s head. “See that? Look at how materials are used! Who else, like you, would extravagantly use nine Void Spirit Stones just for a whip and still not accept Master Minghua’s Intermediate grade evaluation!”

Lin Yijun gazed at Tang Zifeng on the stage above, lips pursed slightly, deeply moved.

After hearing Master Minghua’s praise, Tang Zifeng remained composed.

He lowered his head slightly. “There’s one last thing I haven’t mentioned.”

Master Minghua nodded.

“The spiritual tool crafted by me today, in fact, isn’t truly completed,” Tang Zifeng calmly stated amidst the murmurs below.

“It lacks the final quenching process. Using ordinary mundane fire for tempering would prevent the Starfall Bursting Sphere from achieving its best effect. Currently, the Bursting Sphere can barely breach the defense of a Nascent Soul cultivator, without any chance of causing serious harm. Only using terrestrial fire or higher can truly complete its crafting.”

Master Minghua chuckled in understanding.

It made sense.

Nearby, Master Qishan teased, “Why are you so honest, kid? If you hadn’t said, we wouldn’t have nitpicked at you. Now that you’ve said it, how can we even score you later?”

“Scoring!” The audience below caught onto the term sharply.

Hadn’t the large screen earlier stated that without certainty in creation, scoring was impossible?

Now, with Master Qishan mentioning scoring, it meant… the verdict was already clear.

They all turned to look at Tang Biao on the stage, his face grim.

After staring blankly for so long, what more was there to understand?

Well done, plagiarizing his nephew’s diagrams, committing murder, and then here he was, trying to deflect blame even in the face of death.

He was just performing on stage earlier.

Reputation had always been a double-edged sword!

Those who had once admired Tang Biao were now filled with anger.

“You shameless scum! How dare you deceive people like that!”

“I said after that refining contest, he couldn’t produce anything decent. He’s been living off his past achievements. Turns out, those things weren’t even his, oh my god!”

“Laughable! He spent four years mulling over a plagiarized diagram, and this is the crap he came up with. He even created a genius persona for himself. I can’t believe I fell for his lies back then. Now I just want to wring out the nonsense that was in my head!”

“Plagiarizing murderer, get down from there. You don’t deserve to stand up there!”

“Trash, get lost!”

Tang Biao’s fans immediately lost their cool, preparing to throw rotten eggs at the Tang family’s door.

Onstage, Master Minghua looked coldly at Tang Biao. “Do you have anything else to say?”

After a moment of silence, Tang Biao burst into laughter.

His eyes were bloodshot, filled with hatred as he looked at Tang Zifeng, almost demonic.

“Plagiarize diagrams? So what! Your mother went crazy and called off the wedding, causing the foundational pill I was about to obtain to disappear.

My bright future was shattered. I plagiarized your diagrams, so what! That was supposed to be mine. It’s your mother, your brat who owes me!”

“I shouldn’t have been soft-hearted back then. I should’ve killed this little bastard!”

With a hint of madness in his eyes, he lunged directly at Tang Zifeng!

He dared to attack on stage!”

The four grandmasters were furious.

Fifth Lingyu was already squinting, ready to subdue him on the spot.

However, Tang Biao was cunning.

Pretending to attack Tang Zifeng, he used the opportunity to escape.

Tang Zifeng was positioned on the outer edge.

When Tang Biao lunged towards him, he instinctively dodged, unwittingly clearing a path for Tang Biao.

Feigning madness, Tang Biao created an opportunity for himself to escape.

He quickly slapped a Thunderbolt Talisman on himself and vanished in a few swift movements.

Fifth Lingyu narrowed his eyes, watching Tang Biao escape.

A flash of killing intent crossed his gaze.

Not many dared to play tricks in his presence. Yet, he refrained from chasing directly, unwilling to soil his hands personally.

Tang Chen slammed the armrest of his chair, stood up abruptly, and shouted, “You vile creature!”

He bowed quickly towards the direction of the stage, then turned swiftly. “Wait until I personally capture that villain and then apologize to the four grandmasters!” With that, he too disappeared in a flash.

Director Fifth Lingyu lightly tapped the table with his fingertip and spoke after a pause. “Spread the word: anyone in Xiling City who dares to shelter Tang Biao will be treated as an accomplice.”

The four grandmasters, now steadied from the recent turmoil, gathered their thoughts.

Master Minghua’s face was extraordinarily grave.

She closed her eyes slightly and stated, “From this day forth, Tang Biao of the Tang Clan in Xiling is expelled from our Alchemy Guild. He shall never again bear the title of Weapon Refiner.”

“Tang Clan’s harboring of criminals and its poor judgment must also be punished. Therefore, for three years, no members of the Tang Clan shall be allowed entry into the Forging Guild. During these three years, the Tang Clan must undergo internal restructuring and purge, or else the Guild will permanently subject the Tang Clan of Xiling to qualification reviews, never to pass.”

Master Minghua held authority not only as the head of the Guild.

The Weapon Refiner Guild was an official institution jointly established by the Celestial families of the Fifth and Feng clans.

All registered Refiners in the Heavenly Domain were listed under the Alchemy Guild, receiving support in rare alchemical materials and technical training.

With Master Minghua’s declaration, a buzzing vibration filled the room. To restrict the Tang Clan’s alchemical qualifications to such an extent was severe.

At the family seat, Clan Chief Lin wore a pleased expression.

Very good, indeed. A small rat’s mischief has spoiled the entire pot. Originally, the Lin Clan intended to catch up with the Tang Clan, which would have required considerable effort. Now, with the shocking scandal from the Tang Clan and the restriction of their alchemical qualifications by the Alchemy Guild, the Lin Clan could easily seize the opportunity to become the undisputed top alchemical family in Xiling.

After delivering the punishments, Master Minghua looked towards Tang Zifeng. Her expression softened slightly. She stood up directly, walked to Tang Zifeng’s side, and said, “I now officially invite you to join the Immortal-grade Bureau’s spaceship construction project. Are you willing? Do you have the ambition to build a spaceship capable of leaping over Mount Duanmai and flying into the sky for thousands of miles?”

Tang Zifeng’s heart raced suddenly. He steadied himself, kneeled on one knee, and spoke solemnly

“Zifeng is willing!”

“Good!” Master Minghua helped him up, growing more satisfied as she looked at him.

Suddenly, someone from below shouted, “Master Minghua, what about the evaluation of the spiritual weapon! Don’t forget!”

Master Minghua appeared to realize something, “I almost forgot. We can’t delay the progress of the Alchemy Competition because of a scumbag.”

She took out another sheet of paper. In fact, they had already written Tang Zifeng’s evaluation of the spiritual weapon from the beginning. Handing it to the steward, the steward took a quick look, showing a look of surprise. He quickly moved with the Imperial pen to record the final result of this alchemy conference.

No. 68 Tang Zifeng: Grade A, Grade A, Grade A, Grade A.

Four Top Grade!

In all the Realm’s Alchemy Conventions combined, there have been no more than two hands’ worth of Four Top Grade achievements. These alchemists later made outstanding contributions to the Qianyuan Continent and became revered masters of the craft!

There’s no doubt that after this Alchemy Convention, Tang Zifeng will surely surpass the name of Tang Biao and become the most promising young alchemist in Xiling and even across all the Realms!

According to the rules of the Alchemy Convention, as the champion, Tang Zifeng needs to give a speech.

Generally, champions’ speeches are quite cliché, thanking their family, thanking the judges who awarded them the championship, and mentioning the hardships they’ve endured in their alchemy journey, promising to work even harder in the future.

But when it came to Tang Zifeng, he inexplicably glanced in the direction of three people led by the woman in red robes, who were looking at him with anticipation.

Thinking of the words she said to him that night, and her last cheerful muttering about wanting the Tang family to serve her Qin family as underlings… whether he could really be her underling was another matter, but Tang Zifeng felt he owed her thanks for brainstorming strategies for him.

So he used the artifact’s amplification function and slowly began, “The ones I most want to thank are our official cooperative family in Xiling, the Southern Ridge’s Qin family. It was the Qin family that took me in when I was down and out, providing me with alchemical materials and a stable environment, allowing me to continue improving my alchemy skills after being driven out of my home…”

In the audience, Qirong’s mouth formed an “O” shape.

Lu Wei was initially surprised, but then couldn’t help but laugh. She nudged Qin Ruqing beside her, “Xiao Wu, did you teach him this?”

Qin Ruqing almost burst out laughing but managed to control herself, knowing they were in public. She quickly pinched her mouth shut to stifle her laughter and said seriously, “How could I have? He knows himself how well the Qin family has treated him. It’s his sincere gratitude. What can I do about it?”

In other words, Xiao Tang, you’re too polite. This sudden full-page advertisement across the Four Realms without a heads-up has made us feel awkward.

Qin Ruqing covered her mouth and chuckled like a mouse that had stolen oil.

It seems that this little fat lamb has really influenced her.