"First place this round is definitely mine. No matter how hard you Jia Ma Empire people struggle, it's useless. Watch me trample you all!"
Yan Li watched as Xiao Jietian placed his pill inside, then looked up at the sky, a mocking sneer on his lips.
"Wow, such dazzling light! I'm going blind!"
Yan Li's words were cut short by a series of gasps and exclamations.
The machine in front of Xiao Jietian erupted with an intensely brilliant green light, so vibrant it seemed to flow like liquid jade. Compared to it, Yan Li's green light instantly paled into insignificance.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I don't believe it!"
Yan Li's face instantly turned ashen. His eyes fixed on the green light erupting from Xiao Jietian's pill, he roared in disbelief.
"Xiao Jietian (Young Master), that's amazing!"
Ya Fei and the two other women stood up excitedly, their faces filled with joy and pride.
"Hahahaha, good, good, good!"
Fa Ma was so excited he repeated "good" three times in a row.
"Congratulations, Mr. Xiao Jietian. I didn't expect you to not only be the fastest to refine but also to produce the highest quality pill. Princess Yao Yue concedes defeat."
Princess Yao Yue's beautiful eyes regarded the brilliant green light in front of Xiao Jietian with surprise, then she shook her head and spoke.
"It was just luck, nothing worth mentioning."
Xiao Jietian smiled slightly and waved his hand dismissively.
Xiao Yan, on the other hand, was brimming with fighting spirit: "Tian Ge, is this your true strength? It truly makes one's blood boil."
Yao Lao, inside the Bone Ring, had initially worried Xiao Yan might be disheartened, but sensing the fire in his eyes, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Keep laughing. Why aren't you laughing now?" Xiao Jietian looked at Yan Li, mouthing the words silently to him, his eyes full of playful mockery and provocation.
Yan Li naturally understood what Xiao Jietian's lip movements meant. His face instantly darkened further, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably, and sparks of anger flashed in his eyes.
"We'll see about that..." Yan Li's chest heaved violently as he tried to calm his rage, mouthing the words back at Xiao Jietian.
"I'll be waiting." After replying to him, Xiao Jietian paid him no further attention.
...
On the VIP stand, Fa Ma reined in his joy and spoke with a calm authority.
"Congratulations on passing the second round of tests. The third and final round will now begin. Please press the red button on the bottom left of your stone platform."
Hearing this, the advancing contestants moved their fingers to the red button and pressed it.
The stone platform trembled slightly. The testing device gradually retracted, and in its place, a stack of neatly arranged medicinal ingredients and a scroll containing a pill formula appeared.
"This time, the pill formula is an orthodox one, which our guild spent several months perfecting."
"The requirement of this assessment is that the medicinal ingredients before you are sufficient for two attempts. You must refine the pill within the allotted time. If both attempts fail, you are eliminated."
The remaining contestants were all taken aback by this announcement.
Xiao Yan frowned slightly: "Refining strictly according to an orthodox formula? Isn't that a bit too straightforward?"
Xiao Jietian picked up the formula on the platform, quickly scanning it. 'Sure enough, it's the Third-Tier Wind-Chasing Pill,' he thought.
He knew the trick to this round. Fa Ma's words were not wrong; the formula was indeed orthodox, but it didn't say that everything in it was 100% correct.
This was clearly a verbal trap.
A knowing smile played on his lips.
However, he was not in a hurry to start refining, nor did he plan to intentionally fail once. There was no need to play the "hiding one's strength" game here.
"Why does this young man look so strange? Has he noticed something wrong?"
At the front of the VIP stand, Fa Ma looked down from above, his gaze deliberately observing Xiao Jietian.
In the huge plaza, most alchemists thought this round of assessment would be very easy. Joy showed on their faces as they quickly summoned their flames and began refining, all eager to be the first to finish.
"First place this time will definitely be mine."
Only a small number of cautious alchemists, sensing the assessment couldn't be that simple, repeatedly examined the formula. Yet, finding no apparent problems, they gradually lowered their guard and carefully began warming their cauldrons.
As most people began refining, the clamor from the audience also quickly subsided, their eyes looking enviously at the various-colored flames dancing in the arena.
Everyone in the arena had started refining—only Xiao Jietian still held the formula, slowly closing his eyes.
"Why hasn't he started refining? He's closing his eyes instead?"
"...I don't know."
Subtle discussions could be heard from below the stage.
Xiao Jietian, on the stage, finally opened his eyes and began refining. This time, he didn't choose to refine everything at once but processed one herb at a time.
As time slowly passed, Xiao Jietian had finished preparing the refined medicinal ingredients, except for the Thick Earth Lingzhi.
Just as he completed this step, a muffled thud echoed. A Third-Tier Alchemist was staring blankly at the black ash at the bottom of his cauldron. Clearly, this person had failed.
"How can this be? I followed the formula exactly, not a single step missed. My performance was even exceptional."
Xiao Jietian turned his head and immediately chuckled inwardly. Wasn't this the guy who had boasted earlier about taking first place?
It seemed he had indeed achieved a "first"—he was the first to fail.
Xiao Yan sensed something was amiss and looked suspiciously at the nine jade bottles in his hand.
Then, a series of muffled thuds began to sound, including from Liu Ling and Princess Yao Yue.
"Sister Xian'er, Sister Ya Fei, what's going on? Why are so many people failing?" Qing Lin's confused voice rang out.
"Will Young Master also..."
"Something is indeed wrong. It seems this assessment is not as simple as we thought; there might be hidden complexities," Ya Fei observed.
She looked at Xiao Jietian in the arena with a hint of worry, then her expression softened. "Trust your Young Master. He is very strong."
Ya Fei seemed to recall something, and a faint blush colored her pretty face. "He's not just strong in alchemy... he's incredibly strong in all other aspects too. Sister Xian'er and I, even working together, were utterly defeated."
"Mhm, mhm. In my heart, Young Master is the most amazing."
Qing Lin nodded heavily, her eyes gleaming with unwavering faith.
Her adorable appearance made Little Fairy Doctor and Ya Fei unable to resist gently stroking her hair.
During this time, quite a few unlucky and overconfident alchemists also failed their second batch of medicinal ingredients.
Well, that guy from before was one of them. Now he had achieved another "first": the first to be eliminated.
"Is this all the strength the alchemists of the Jia Ma Empire have? Too useless, aren't you?"
In the quiet plaza, a mocking chuckle suddenly rang out, drawing angry glares from everyone.
There was also a pile of black ash in the cauldron in front of him—clearly, he had failed once.
He then placed his remaining set of medicinal ingredients into the cauldron and began refining, a faint, confident smile on his face. He had clearly discovered the problem.
Back in the arena, Xiao Jietian also began the fusion of medicinal ingredients.
He placed eight refined ingredients—all except the unprocessed Thick Earth Lingzhi—into the cauldron and began the fusion process.
"As expected, he noticed it." Fa Ma watched the Thick Earth Lingzhi that Xiao Jietian had specifically set aside, his eyes narrowing slightly in approval. "What a keen young man."
As time gradually passed, a muffled thud also came from Xiao Yan's cauldron, clearly indicating a failed refinement.
He looked down at the black ash, lost in thought for a few seconds. Then he looked up, saw Xiao Jietian in the midst of fusion, and noticed the Thick Earth Lingzhi still on Xiao Jietian's table.
"The formula indeed has a problem."
Xiao Yan had already suspected the Thick Earth Lingzhi was the issue during his previous fusion. Now, seeing the evidence on Xiao Jietian's table, he was even more certain. He immediately began refining again.
This time, Xiao Yan directly used the Green Lotus Core Flame. The change from purple to green flames immediately caused another stir of exclamations.
A long time later...
With a wave of Xiao Jietian's hand, the cauldron lid flew up. A smooth, lustrous pill instantly shot out and was caught in his palm as the lid settled back into place.
About ten minutes after Xiao Jietian finished, Yan Li also completed his pill.
Seeing that Xiao Jietian had finished before him, his face immediately darkened (Truly incompetent)."
Xiao Jietian moved his lips at Yan Li, making the latter's face turn even uglier.
Yan Li's face was ashen, his lips moving in silent reply: "Don't get cocky. In the final round, we'll compete again! By then, I won't hold back in the slightest!"
Xiao Jietian ignored his furious glare, instead sensing the eager, questioning gazes of the other alchemists seeking answers.