Meanwhile, inside the venue, upon witnessing the scene of Lin Xiao being admired by various beautiful women, Wu Gong instantly felt a sense of imbalance in his heart.
Originally, he had come to compete for the championship, but he hadn’t expected that before the alchemy competition even began, Lin Xiao had already stolen the spotlight. In his heart, he resentfully muttered to himself, “Hmph, once I win the championship, let’s see who outshines whom and who truly becomes the most prominent figure in this youth spirit master alchemy competition!”
Ye Yu also frowned. Feng Huo had indeed subtly expressed her admiration for him numerous times in the past. Although he didn’t have much interest in her, this matter was widely known. Now, seeing her suddenly turn her attention to Lin Xiao made him feel a slight insult to his dignity…
Taking a step forward, Ye Yu quickly walked out of the crowd and chuckled, “Heh, to have won the deep affection of Miss Feng Huo, Young Master Heimu is truly blessed with great fortune!”
“I just wonder if you’ll have the corresponding strength in the alchemy competition?” Ye Yu asked with a sarcastic tone.
“That’s not something for Young Master Ye to worry about,” Lin Xiao replied indifferently.
“I’m really looking forward to little brother Heimu’s performance,” Feng Huo said with a seductive smile before turning and walking away.
“Hahaha, it seems I’ve missed something, haven’t I?”
At that moment, a burst of hearty laughter rang out. A golden carriage soared through the air, its dazzling golden light shimmering brilliantly in the slowly rising morning glow, catching everyone’s attention.
A carriage seat entirely made of gold—this was simply too ostentatious! In the entire imperial city, only one person possessed such a thing: Prince Meng Sheng!
Prince Meng Sheng finally made a grand entrance at the last moment. Normally, such an arrival would have been eye-catching, but by now, much of the attention had already been snatched away by Lin Xiao.
“This disciple of mine just loves these superficial displays,” Le Zheng Hongmao, seated at the back of the VIP platform, shook his head with a wry smile. This golden carriage was famous throughout the imperial city, and Meng Sheng always loved making a dramatic entrance at the end… Though Le Zheng Hongmao knew this was Meng Sheng’s habit, he had still quietly worried when Meng Sheng hadn’t arrived earlier.
“Compared to the other princes, this brother of yours could be worth nurturing. However, he’s a bit too vain and lacks a solid foundation,” Emperor Meng also shook his head. He had once considered choosing Meng Sheng, but compared to Meng Ying’s composure, Meng Sheng fell far short.
“His mentality is decent, but he’s too straightforward and not suited to wield imperial power,” Meng Ying offered her assessment.
At that moment, the golden carriage landed outside the stone platform. Meng Sheng, clad in his handsome imperial robes, flew toward the centre of the venue.
Though his spotlight had been greatly diminished by Lin Xiao’s presence, his arrival still elicited excited screams from a group of young women.
“Brother Meng Sheng!” Seeing Meng Sheng land nearby, Zhou Ruoyi’s face lit up with excitement.
“Hmm!” Nodding at Zhou Ruoyi, Meng Sheng’s gaze settled on Lin Xiao. With a hearty laugh, he said, “As expected of a young talent from our Lanlan Empire—exceptional gifts and the affection of beauties. Brother Heimu, you truly make us all envious.”
“Surely Prince Meng Sheng has no fewer admirers than anyone present here,” Lin Xiao responded calmly.
“Not at all, not at all. Heh, Brother Ye Yu, Miss Wusha, I wish you all the best in the competition!” Meng Sheng saluted a few people, his gaze lingering on Wusha, which immediately displeased Zhou Ruoyi again.
“Ahem!” At that moment, a voice came from the VIP platform—it was Ye Fenghua. “Alright, have you all finished talking? If so, the first round of the competition begins now.”
As soon as he spoke, the previously noisy scene fell silent. Everyone knew that what had happened so far was merely a prelude; the real spectacle would unfold in the alchemy competition.
“Please take your seats, judges overseeing the competition,” Ye Fenghua said, his gaze shifting forward calmly.
At that moment, several figures flew in from the sky. Each was dressed in spirit master attire, with colours starting from standard yellow and above. Two of them wore light green robes, marking them as spirit masters.
In total, there were over a dozen of them, landing one after another below the VIP platform, on the seats in front of the stone platform venue. The two in the centre, dressed in light green robes, were none other than fourth-rank junior spirit masters.
This revelation caused another wave of astonishment among the crowd. Even the chief judges were fourth-rank junior spirit masters, underscoring the importance of this alchemy competition.
Lin Xiao was also slightly surprised. These two were indeed the fourth-rank junior spirit masters from the Spirit Master Alliance. On the surface, the Lanlan Empire only had two such individuals.
His gaze swept over them, but Lin Xiao couldn’t discern whether one of them might have been the assassin who targeted Meng Ying.
Once all dozen or so had taken their seats, Ye Fenghua scanned the crowd once more and spoke again:
“As I said, the first round tests the basics of alchemy. The task is to refine an ordinary healing pill. You may use your own ingredients or those provided by the Spirit Master Alliance. You can refine a first-rank pill or a third-rank pill—what we’ll assess is the pill’s grade and potency.”
“By ‘grade and potency,’ I mean how effective the pill is at healing a corresponding level of injury. For example, healing an injury from a Yuan Martial Realm strike with a first-rank pill versus healing an injury from a Xuan Martial Realm strike with a second-rank pill—which has the greater effect?”
“Ultimately, we’ll use a special testing stone to measure the strength of the pill’s grade and potency.”
“As long as it’s a high-quality healing pill, placing it on the testing stone will make it emit light—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Red indicates relatively weak potency, while violet is the strongest. Emitting orange light means you pass; anything less, and you’re eliminated.”
“Moreover, you only have half an hour to refine your pill. Now, prepare to begin.”
Upon hearing this, the crowd was visibly shocked. Most people focused on refining higher-rank pills rather than the potency of healing effects.
No one had expected the first round of the alchemy competition to test this, and only pills with high potency would emit light—orange light, at that, to pass.
The difficulty of this first round was undeniable. Truly, this was the alchemy competition; the challenges weren’t set lightly.
This so-called “basic alchemy” demanded an exceptionally high standard.
As Ye Fenghua spoke, wheelbarrows filled with spirit wood and various herbs were pushed in by a large team of prepared attendants. They lined up neatly across the plaza.
Each participant could freely choose a cart.
At this point, the previously scattered young participants each stood beside a cart, forming dozens of orderly rows.
Once the team delivering the carts left the plaza, Ye Fenghua scanned the prepared youths and said, “Now, begin.”
With those words, some couldn’t hold back and started working immediately. After all, time for refining was tight, and their first thought was to choose the healing pill they were most familiar with.
