In the VIP seats, Moon Maiden chuckled and shook her head. “This fellow, why does he always steal the spotlight no matter what? Whether it is drawing hatred or love, he is simply the combination of a devil and a fairy god.”
“My master is always the most outstanding. The ignorant Medicine King Sun Ran has done something utterly foolish.”
Leng Mei thought to herself.
“Tell me, you really did not do that on purpose. That was simply too cool!”
Ji Luoyu’s eyes shone with mad worship and admiration.
It seemed Ling Xiao’s recent move had completely captivated this young girl.
Hua Lüeying and Hua Fuguang exchanged smiles, their faces full of delight.
Choosing to follow Ling Xiao had been the most difficult, yet the most correct decision the sisters had ever made.
Especially today, they felt this even more strongly.
Yun Ya shook her head with a wry smile. “Good heavens, little fellow, could you not restrain yourself a bit? If you keep this up, all the good girls under heaven will become your fangirls. Then you will be hated by even more people.”
Only Sun Ran’s expression kept shifting unpredictably.
…
Entering the venue was merely the beginning.
After all, with over ten thousand people, it would take about a quarter of an hour. Only then would the real competition start.
Ling Xiao paid no attention to the boiling excitement of the crowd. He quickly focused on his own alchemy platform.
The alchemy platform was very simple.
A platform made of bluestone slabs, with some medicinal herbs placed on it, along with a pill formula.
Beside it was an alchemy furnace. It was neither too good nor too bad, just a standard type.
This alchemy conference did not allow participants to bring their own furnaces, precisely for fairness.
What drew the most attention was a mechanical bird on the bluestone slab.
It crouched there, its eyes fixed on Ling Xiao. He was not sure what it was, but every bluestone slab had one.
Ling Xiao glanced at the mechanical bird, suspecting it was probably used to monitor the alchemists, and perhaps to record scores at the same time.
Then he turned his attention to the pill formula.
Since the alchemists had not finished entering yet, he could study the assessment topic for this alchemy conference in advance.
This did not violate the rules.
In fact, quite a few shared the same idea.
Hmm?
Upon seeing the pill formula, Ling Xiao’s brows immediately furrowed.
The formula itself was quite standard, but strangely, some of the herbs listed on it were simply not present at the venue!
In other words, the herbs were incomplete!
And the rules stipulated that personally carried herbs could not be used.
What to do about this?
How could one refine pills like this?
If one forcibly used incomplete herbs, the resulting pill would definitely be imperfect and of poor quality.
Though the missing herbs were only auxiliary and would not prevent the pill from forming, they would absolutely affect its efficacy.
Ling Xiao frowned slightly. He was pondering what the purpose of this assessment really was.
The biggest problem was not just that.
The biggest problem was that there was only one portion of herbs on the bluestone slab.
That meant you had to succeed in one attempt. For Ling Xiao, this was naturally not an issue, but for many alchemists, it was extremely difficult.
Of course, the pill for this first round was not highly difficult to refine. As long as one was a genuine ranked alchemist and not a fraud, succeeding on the first try should not be a problem.
Those who failed would definitely be the ones who usually slacked off in their pill refining.
This topic was quite interesting.
Ling Xiao released his soul force. Without looking, he knew that many alchemists in the venue had turned very ugly.
There existed a type of alchemist in this world who, despite being yellow-grade, had never actually refined a pill.
This clearly defied common sense, yet it was a fact.
After all, the Mysterious Realm was not a completely fair world. Many illogical things happened, which was perfectly normal.
However, there were also plenty of truly capable people. At the very least, the ten participants on the main stage all appeared very calm.
Dan Qing and Ji Luoyu even showed expressions of disdain.
Clearly, they thought nothing of such a topic.
Perhaps under Medicine King Sun Ran, they had done assessments like this more than once.
Ling Xiao smiled faintly.
The more difficult the question, the more challenging it was.
Refining the pill was not hard, but if he wanted to produce one with better effects, he would need to think of a way.
“Brother Ling, no need to panic. As long as you succeed in refining it, you pass. You do not have to be like us and produce an outstanding pill.”
Dan Qing suddenly looked at Ling Xiao and said with a smile.
At first glance, his words seemed caring, but upon closer inspection, they clearly carried a hint of pride and mockery.
“Brother Dan Qing seems to have forgotten the results of the internal test.”
Ling Xiao replied calmly. “Does getting slapped in the face feel good? Do you have to come over just so I can slap you again?”
“Nonsense! What does the internal test count for? I was merely careless then. In this official assessment, I will definitely make you understand what a true alchemist is. It is absolutely not something a heretic like you can comprehend!
In short, I will make you lose face. Do not think that just because you are popular with women and admired now, when you fail later, your fall will be even harder!”
Regarding this first round, Dan Qing indeed had reasons for his confidence.
He had spent some time under Medicine King Sun Ran, undergoing such assessments dozens of times if not more.
Because of this, he was certain he would outperform Ling Xiao!
He wanted to win the championship of the alchemy conference. He wanted to seize all the glory Ling Xiao currently possessed!
He even fantasised that Moon Maiden would cast appreciative glances at him and then ruthlessly abandon Ling Xiao.
Thinking of this, he could not help but reveal a disgusting smile.
Ling Xiao gently shook his head.
He did not know what Dan Qing was thinking, but he was equally confident.
As all the alchemists finally entered, another five minutes or so passed.
This was to give the later entrants some time to observe their alchemy platforms and prepare.
Overall, about a quarter of an hour had passed when the huge magical treasure clock rang out clearly once more.
The alchemists all looked towards the judges’ seats.
This time, the speaker was not the Changle Ancestor, but Medicine King Sun Ran.
He did not stand up. He simply sat there and said in a calm voice, “The assessment for the first round is very simple. Use the items in front of you to refine one mortal pill!
A mortal pill is an unranked pill. If you truly have real skill, you will naturally succeed in refining it.
However, I must remind you that some herbs listed in the formula are not available at the venue. You must find a way, without breaking the rules, to refine a mortal pill with at least sixty percent efficacy.
If you cannot, you are eliminated!”
His voice carried an tone that brooked no argument.
As the Medicine King Sun Ran from the White Tiger Continent, every word he spoke held immense authority.
Aside from madmen like Ling Xiao, few would dare to confront him.
.
