Chapter 2664: Harder Than Ascending to Heaven!

"Full! It's... actually full!"

"How is this possible? Someone can actually fill the Cloud Mountain Stone Mother to the brim!"

"What level of cultivation does it take to achieve such a feat!"

...

Including Zhao Xun and Wu Ji'an, everyone in the great hall was shocked beyond words.

Compared to Ye Yuan's ninth-grade ultimate, Zhao Xun and Wu Ji'an, though also ninth-grade superior, were still somewhat lacking.

"Two hall masters, if you think you can achieve ninth-grade ultimate, why not give it a try? Not to mention second-grade celestial pills; if it's too difficult, you could even refine first-grade celestial pills! As long as you reach ninth-grade ultimate, I will show you the genuine article," Ye Yuan said with a faint smile.

Zhao Xun frowned slightly and snorted, "I have refined countless pills; I simply refuse to believe I can't cross this half-step gap!"

Wu Ji'an also said, "Ninth-grade ultimate? Hmph, what does that prove? Even if we can't refine the genuine article, can't we at least refine ninth-grade ultimate?"

For a master of the Dao of alchemy like Zhao Xun, refining ninth-grade superior was nothing special.

However, they had never seriously studied how to achieve ninth-grade ultimate.

Once at ninth-grade superior, going a step further in celestial pills was actually of little significance.

In terms of medicinal efficacy alone, ninth-grade ultimate was better than ninth-grade superior, but only marginally.

And achieving ninth-grade ultimate required far too much effort, making it somewhat not worth the cost.

Nevertheless, both Zhao Xun and Wu Ji'an were already peak fourth-rank grandmasters.

In their view, ninth-grade ultimate was nothing.

Perhaps refining fourth-grade celestial pills was somewhat difficult, but for first-grade celestial pills, as long as they put their minds to it, they could surely achieve it.

Unconvinced, the two struck again.

Half an hour later, Zhao Xun and Wu Ji'an stared at the Cloud Mountain Stone Mother with grim expressions.

This time, they were still a hair's breadth away from ninth-grade ultimate!

"Again!"

How could these two, with their lofty pride, yield at the ninth-grade level?

But they struck three times in a row, and each time they were just a hair's breadth away!

Their readings each time, though within ninth-grade superior, fluctuated up and down.

They were always a bit short of ninth-grade ultimate.

The big shots in the hall were all stunned.

They too had thought that with the strength of two peak fourth-rank celestial alchemists, refining ninth-grade ultimate would be a piece of cake.

But unexpectedly, they simply could not cross that half-step gap!

"Is ninth-grade ultimate really that difficult?" Sun Yunjing frowned.

Beside him, Jiang Li nodded, "It's not just difficult; it's harder than ascending to heaven! I sought advice from Master Ye, and he told me to first refine ninth-grade ultimate. I tried with first-grade celestial pills no fewer than several hundred times, and not once did I succeed!"

Sun Yunjing nearly jumped up, exclaiming, "What! This... how is this possible?"

Jiang Li smiled bitterly, "Nothing is impossible. But the ninth-grade superior I refined still falls far short of the Grand Hall Master and my master! However, even though they are very skilled, I suspect that if they switched to first-grade celestial pills, they still wouldn't reach ninth-grade ultimate!"

The big shots present were all speechless with shock.

"Switch to first-grade celestial pills!" Sure enough, at that moment, Zhao Xun suddenly spoke.

Everyone was startled—the Grand Hall Master had given up!

Clearly, he felt that second-grade celestial pills were hopeless!

But, as Jiang Li had said, would even first-grade celestial pills fail to reach ninth-grade ultimate?

So, Zhao Xun directly chose the simplest first-grade Foundation Establishment Celestial Pill!

The first-grade Foundation Establishment Celestial Pill could be said to be the most basic of basics, the simplest celestial pill.

"If even this fails to reach ninth-grade ultimate, I, the Grand Hall Master, will never again mention the genuine article!" Zhao Xun snorted.

The crowd exchanged glances, while Ye Yuan just smiled it off.

Ninth-grade ultimate was not something that could be achieved simply by having a high cultivation level.

Even if you could refine fifth-grade or sixth-grade celestial pills, you might not achieve ninth-grade ultimate when refining first-grade celestial pills.

Achieving ninth-grade ultimate required just one word: 'perfection'!

During the refining process, there could not be the slightest flaw.

Even a tiny flaw would lead to failure.

But saying it was easy; doing it was as hard as ascending to heaven!

It was like drawing a circle: no matter how round you drew it, seemingly flawless, you could never draw a perfect circle.

One could say that a true circle exists only in theory.

And to achieve ninth-grade ultimate was to turn that theory into reality!

One could imagine how difficult that was.

Although Zhao Xun's celestial pills were of extremely high quality, he still had a considerable gap from perfection.

And it was this gap that prevented him from reaching consummation.

Zhao Xun and Wu Ji'an's refining appeared flawless and should have reached ninth-grade ultimate.

But in reality, they were like drawing a circle.

It looked perfectly round, a perfect circle.

Yet there were still flaws!

This step, a hair's breadth away, was exceedingly difficult.

Switching to the first-grade Foundation Establishment Celestial Pill, the two refined more smoothly.

In less than a quarter of an hour, a celestial pill was出炉.

They eagerly placed it on the Cloud Mountain Stone Mother, while the others watched nervously, awaiting the final result.

The scale rose rapidly, soon reaching ninth-grade superior and heading toward ninth-grade ultimate.

"Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise for me!"

Even Zhao Xun, who was highly esteemed and a giant in his field, was now red-faced and gritting his teeth.

Indeed, with the first-grade Foundation Establishment Celestial Pill, the two showed greater skill!

The scale clearly surpassed that of the second-grade Foundation Establishment Celestial Pill.

Zhao Xun and Wu Ji'an were both excited; they saw hope.

They were only a tiny bit away from full scale!

"Go up! Go up for me!" Zhao Xun gritted his teeth.

The other experts in the hall were also silently cheering them on.

But things turned out contrary to their wishes.

The scale stopped at the very last bit.

It was not full!

Zhao Xun stared at the Cloud Mountain Stone Mother, utterly dejected, and said, "How... how can this be?"

Ye Yuan smiled and said, "Grand Hall Master, I know you're unwilling. You can continue."

Zhao Xun suddenly turned his head, staring fixedly at Ye Yuan, his eyes bloodshot.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, again!"

But no matter how hard he tried, the first-grade Foundation Establishment Celestial Pill always fell a hair's breadth short of true ninth-grade ultimate.

That hair's breadth on the scale felt as distant as an ant gazing at the heavens.

No matter how you struggled, you could not touch the sky!

Finally, Zhao Xun slumped to the ground, his face full of bewilderment, muttering to himself, "Why? Why is it always a hair short? Where, exactly, is the problem?"

He had given up!

He asked himself, in every detail of the refining, he had grasped it.

Yet the final result was always unsatisfactory.

He simply could not figure out where the problem lay.

Seeing this, Jiang Li could not help but shake his head and sigh, "I never thought the Grand Hall Master's reaction would be exactly the same as mine! This feeling of frustration is truly indescribable!"