Looking up at the perfectly round pill flying out, Xiao Yan’s expression was calm. With a wave of his hand, a force of suction pulled it into his palm. At the moment the pill was grasped, the last few grains of sand in the giant hourglass finally fell completely. Instantly, on the vast plaza, over a hundred red lights lit up from the stone platforms in front of those alchemists who had not yet successfully produced a finished pill. Looking at the flickering red light before them, the alchemists could only bitterly shake their heads and then put away their cauldrons, walking off with dejected faces. Standing behind the green platform, Xiao Yan watched as the contestants exited one by one. He was surprised to find that even this first round had already eliminated nearly a third of the participants. This made him marvel at the strictness and rigor of the competition. Playing with the pill in his hand, Xiao Yan turned his head and cast his gaze toward Liu Ling. At this moment, the fellow was tossing his own pill with a smile, a look of self-satisfaction on his face. Noticing Xiao Yan looking over, he steadied the pill in his hand and smiled. “Mr. Yan Xiao, your luck is quite good. You managed to finish the pill right at the very last moment… You were the best in the preliminary internal test. If you couldn’t even pass this, it would truly be a great joke.” Glancing at Liu Ling’s smug expression, Xiao Yan gave a faint smile. “As long as the pill is refined, it’s a pass. The first moment or the last, there doesn’t seem to be much difference…” “Mr. Yan Xiao, that’s rather self-deceiving. Being able to refine a pill the fastest in a competition with so many excellent alchemists is an undeniable skill,” Liu Ling said with a laugh, unwilling to have his achievement downplayed by Xiao Yan’s words. “Haha, perhaps…” Shaking his shoulders, Xiao Yan did not bother to argue further. Turning to the little princess beside him, he bowed with a smile, then looked up at Fama on the VIP stand, waiting for his speech.
…
On the VIP stand, Otto let out a heavy sigh, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. Looking at Frank, who was also drenched in sweat, he said with a bitter smile, “This guy, no matter what, always likes to create such a tense situation. Doesn’t he know to think about us old folks? Such a heart-stopping event, we don’t have such a good heart like he does.”
Frank also wore a bitter smile, though he was a bit relieved. “Fortunately, he managed to complete it at the last moment. Otherwise, if the best result from the internal test couldn’t even pass the first round, it would really be a big embarrassment…”
Otto nodded in agreement, thinking that if it had been otherwise, he would have rolled up his bags and returned to Black Rock City.
Fama stood at the forefront, looking down at the vast square. His eyes scanned the crowd, noting that about a third of the participants had already been washed out. He nodded with a light smile, raising his hands slightly. The noisy venue gradually quieted down.
“Congratulations to those of you still standing on the square. You have successfully passed the first round. However, it is not entirely over yet…” Fama said with a smile. “Everyone knows that some cunning little guys always like to do something mysterious. They may have refined pills that look perfect, but without any healing effect, they are basically unrelated to the word ‘pill’… So, next, we will test whether your ‘Bone-Regenerating Pill’ meets the requirements of the formula…”
Fama’s somewhat hoarse voice slowly echoed in everyone’s ears: “Now, please, all the contestants, find the green button in the lower left corner of your stone platform and press it.”
Xiao Yan’s gaze swept over the stone platform, finally stopping at the inconspicuous corner. To his surprise, there were several small buttons of different colors. Placing his finger on the green button, he pressed it lightly.
As the button was pressed, the smooth green stone platform trembled slightly. On the platform, a slab slowly protruded, and after rising a few inches, the surface sunk in, revealing a tiny black hole.
“This is a testing machine. Place your ‘Bone-Regenerating Pill’ inside. If it meets the requirements, the jade mirror in front will light up green. If not, it will light up red, indicating failure, and you will have to leave. Additionally, the greener the light, the more the pill meets the effects recorded in the formula. Conversely, the redder the light, the more it means you have created a useless pill. Of course, if it can fill the stomach, it might still be useful…”
The humorous words resounded in the air, causing laughter in both the audience and VIP seats. However, in the square, the faces of many alchemists changed suddenly.
“Haha, alright, everyone, begin…” Holding the round pill in his fingers, Xiao Yan calmly looked at the dark hole of the testing machine, but did not rush to throw it in. Instead, he looked around.
At this moment, some alchemists had already thrown their pills into the machines. Soon, the open square was filled with a colorful spectacle, with green and red lights interweaving, reflecting joy and gloom.
“Damn, this testing machine…” A second-rank alchemist glared at the jade mirror with a flickering red light. The red light was almost the strongest in the entire square, drawing countless puzzled gazes to the young man with a sullen face.
Punching the stone platform hard, the alchemist put away his cauldron and, under the gazes of many, cursed and left the stage, his face iron-clad, heading out of the square with gritted teeth.
“Damn, this is a mess of a test… Can’t we just make a decent pill? A bunch of old farts… I spent so much effort putting those herbs together, and now you’re testing me? Give a damn formula, with nothing but a name, how the hell am I supposed to make a pill…”
Seeing the second-rank alchemist cursing as he left, Xiao Yan felt a mix of amusement and exasperation, surprised that such a joker could pass the earlier intense test.
With this round of testing, nearly a hundred more alchemists, their faces either green or red, left the square.
“Haha, Mr. Yan Xiao, let’s go together…” The little princess, tossing her pill, suddenly smiled at Xiao Yan.
“Whatever…” Xiao Yan shrugged, indifferent, and glanced at Liu Ling, who was also looking at him. The rivalry in the other’s eyes was evident.
Xiao Yan gave a slight smile, and the three of them simultaneously threw their pills into the dark holes of the testing machines.
Countless gazes turned to the most eye-catching spot, all eager to see which of these three seed-level contestants had produced the better pill…
*Bang, bang, bang…*
The jade mirror was silent for a moment, then a low thud sounded, and three bright green light columns shot out from the stone platforms before the trio. The intensity of the green light was noticeably stronger than any seen before.
The leftmost column was a bit lighter, the right one a bit stronger, while the central column was already green like jade, extremely attractive.
“Wow, such a strong color.”
Staring at the emerald-like light column, the audience on the stands exclaimed in surprise, one after another.
“Haha, Mr. Yan Xiao is indeed confident. Though it took the longest time, the pill has the best special effects. I bow to you,” the little princess said, shaking her head with a sigh as she looked at the emerald light column before Xiao Yan.
“Luck, nothing more,” Xiao Yan replied with a casual smile, turning to see Liu Ling’s slightly gloomy face. He shrugged and smiled, “Sorry, Mr. Liu Ling.”
Liu Ling’s lips twitched, taking a deep breath. He turned his head, staring fiercely at the jade mirror with its flickering green light, feeling an urge to smash it.
…
“Haha, as expected, Yan Xiao is a notch above,” Fama said with a light smile, watching the three bright columns of light in the square.
“If it weren’t for that sudden disappearance of the purple flame, he would have surely completed the pill faster than Liu Ling. Haha, I’ve always said, this boy’s alchemy skills are no match for these inexperienced youths,” Hai Bodong said with a smug smile.
Fama smiled, about to speak, but his expression suddenly changed, muttering softly. His gaze swept over the vast square, finally landing on a secluded corner where a figure wrapped in a gray robe was slowly placing his pill into the testing machine.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing Fama’s reaction, Elder Jia asked, puzzled.
“That person…” Fama’s eyes narrowed, a sharp light flickering. Tapping the railing lightly, he whispered, “That guy seems pretty strong…”
“Oh?” Hearing this, both Hai Bodong and Elder Jia were surprised, their gazes immediately focusing on the gray-robed figure. They frowned, “I don’t see anything wrong?”
“You two aren’t alchemists, so you can’t sense spiritual energy clearly. But in my senses, that guy’s spiritual energy is probably stronger than Liu Ling, Yue, and even Yan Xiao. In the square below, his spiritual energy is the strongest. I remember, when Gu He participated in the Alchemist Grand Assembly, his spiritual energy wasn’t as strong as this…”
Shaking his head, Fama’s brow furrowed, his eyes fixed intently on the gray-robed figure.
Soon, a bright green light column erupted from the stone platform before the gray-robed figure, its brightness almost surpassing the green light from Xiao Yan.
The sudden strong green light instantly drew the attention of the crowd. When everyone saw that the source of the light was a gray-robed figure in a remote corner, they were all astonished.
The sudden appearance of the strong green light also attracted the attention of Xiao Yan and his companions. Staring at the light column, which was even more intense than his own, Xiao Yan was taken aback, then frowned, fixing his gaze on the mysterious figure wrapped in a gray robe.
He hadn’t expected such a formidable contestant to appear at this critical moment, and judging by the figure’s build and position, it was clearly not one of the participants from the internal test…
“Could it be a freelance alchemist?” Xiao Yan muttered, his eyes narrowing. Fixing his gaze on the gray-robed figure, he felt that this mysterious individual might be his most formidable opponent in this grand assembly.
Seemingly sensing Xiao Yan’s gaze, the gray-robed figure lifted his head, revealing half of a pale, youthful face. Under the brim of the hat, a pair of eyes with a faint blue glow, cold and distant, stared back.
“Who is this guy?” The little princess and Liu Ling, equally shocked by the sudden appearance of this powerful opponent, exchanged glances, completely baffled.
…
“Chesele, get his information…” Fama suddenly turned to Chesele on the VIP stand and said sternly.
When Fama had exclaimed, Chesele had already noticed the anomaly, quickly identifying the number of the gray-robed figure’s location, and retrieved a stack of documents from his storage ring, flipping through them rapidly. After a while, he stopped, revealing a thin sheet of paper with the information, along with a portrait of the mysterious gray-robed figure. However, this time, the portrait showed a clear face—a young face with blue eyes, pale and cold, seemingly around sixteen or seventeen years old, strangely young.
Passing the information to Fama, the latter read it carefully, his brows furrowed. After a moment, his expression changed. “An alchemist from the Cloud Empire?”
The Cloud Empire and the Jia Ma Empire were, strictly speaking, often warring enemies. The Cloud Empire’s alchemists were often allied with poisoners, which was an affront to the Jia Ma Empire’s traditional alchemists. Furthermore, whenever the two nations went to war, the poisoners would employ despicable methods, releasing poisons, powders, and liquids, resulting in a staggering number of casualties among the Jia Ma Empire’s forces. In the Cloud Empire, their alchemists often cooperated with poisoners, leading to the Jia Ma Empire’s alchemists harboring resentment and disdain towards these traitors to the alchemy world.
Because of this, when Fama realized the mysterious gray-robed figure was from the Cloud Empire, his face soured.
“Why is it written here that he’s only a second-rank alchemist? Based on the spiritual energy I sensed, that guy is at least a fourth-rank alchemist!” Fama said, frowning at the information.
“A fourth-rank alchemist at seventeen? Do you think that’s possible? No matter how talented, alchemy requires time and experience,” Chesele said with a bitter smile.
“My senses are never wrong…” Fama shook his head, his gaze fixed on the young face. For some reason, he found it a bit odd.
“Could he be in disguise? From the way he handled the pill, it doesn’t seem like something a teenager could do,” Fama muttered.
“Disguise wouldn’t escape our notice,” Elder Jia said with a light smile, his eyes subtly scanning the square below, seemingly noticing Xiao Yan’s own disguise but not revealing it.
“But that guy is hiding himself tightly. We can’t pause the assembly to ask him to remove his hat. Others would say the Jia Ma Empire’s Alchemists Guild is too domineering and rude,” Fama said helplessly, looking at the gray-robed figure with his face fully covered.
“If he won’t remove it, let’s give him a hand…” Hai Bodong stood up, coming to Fama’s side and whispering with a smile.
“Wouldn’t we be discovered?” Fama’s expression changed, hesitating.
“Hehe, though my strength has diminished, I can still freeze that fragile hood into powder without anyone noticing,” Hai Bodong said with a light smile, knowing the embarrassment if a Cloud Empire alchemist won the championship in the Jia Ma Empire’s Alchemist Grand Assembly.
“Such a delicate task, ice-elemental Dou Qi is best suited. My Dou Qi is more brutal, unsuitable for this,” Elder Jia said, shaking his head.
“Alright… count on you,” Fama nodded, considering it.
Hai Bodong smiled, his eyes narrowing, his withered fingers extending from his sleeve, making subtle movements. A faint, peculiar fluctuation quietly spread out.
As Hai Bodong moved, Elder Jia and Fama closed in, pretending to discuss something, blocking the view.
“It seems there’s a change in the assembly,” Yafu said with a meaningful glance, noting Fama’s slightly displeased expression since the appearance of the green light, and Chesele’s actions with the documents confirming something.
“Uh… That mysterious gray-robed figure has disrupted the order,” Yao Ye and Nalan Yanran nodded, noticing the same things as Yafu.
“The gray-robed figure’s ‘Bone-Regenerating Pill’ seems better than Yan Xiao and the others’. Originally, I thought it would be a contest between the three, but now, a dark horse has appeared,” Yafu sighed, her fine brows furrowing.
…
A faint chill secretly flowed through the air, eventually surrounding the mysterious gray-robed figure, like invisible ice snakes ready to strike.
The gray-robed figure was slowly cleaning up the stone platform. Suddenly, his moving hand froze, the blue eyes under the gray hood narrowing, his foot stomping the ground, ready to retreat.
“Hmph, where do you think you’re going?” Seeing the gray-robed figure’s reaction, Hai Bodong was slightly surprised, then sneered, clenching his hand. “Break!”
*Bang!*
As Hai Bodong clenched his hand, the gray-robed figure’s hat turned to dust, falling to the ground.
With the hat gone, the young, blue-eyed face was revealed to the crowd. Gasps of surprise filled the audience and VIP seats, none expecting the top performer to be such a young boy.
The blue-eyed boy touched his vanished hat, then raised his head, his icy gaze fixed on Hai Bodong and the others.
“This guy is not simple. He not only detected my cold aura but also located my position,” Hai Bodong muttered, stroking his chin. “Though I don’t know why he has such a young face, if he’s really only seventeen, I, Hai Bodong, should retire and live out my days in seclusion.”
Fama and Elder Jia’s eyes narrowed, nodding slowly.
“This assembly is getting interesting…”
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