When the magic treasure clock had passed a quarter of an hour, meaning half the time had already elapsed.
Many alchemists could wait no longer. They lit their furnace fires and began refining the mortal pill according to their own methods.
Yet Ling Xiao still had not emerged from his visualization state.
Although he had delayed for so long, it must be said that his efforts were extremely effective.
More than half of the required auxiliary herb components had already been extracted and created through simulation.
One thing he was absolutely confident about was that whatever he could accomplish in the visualization state, he could definitely accomplish in reality.
For him, there was no possibility of unexpected failure.
However, the remaining components would involve more complex and difficult creation processes. With only a quarter of an hour left, he had to speed up and be even more careful.
“Just showing off mysteriously!”
Dan Qing’s pill was already in the refining stage. It would only take a little more time to complete and come out of the furnace, allowing him to pass the assessment smoothly.
So when he saw that a quarter of an hour had passed for Ling Xiao without even lighting the cauldron, he felt a touch of schadenfreude.
Ji Luoyu also shook her head lightly. Although she did not know what Ling Xiao was doing, she was very clear that if he did not start refining properly soon, there would not be enough time.
According to the standard of a yellow-grade alchemist, refining one mortal pill would take at least ten minutes.
Ling Xiao was merely a high-level yellow-grade alchemist. Even if one overestimated him, time was already running short.
At this moment, she was helpless too, since she had no idea what Ling Xiao was doing.
“This visualization simulation process would be fine in ordinary times, but in an assessment, it is a bit too time-consuming.”
Ji Qing was also starting to worry.
“Indeed. If time runs out, even if I favour him, I cannot bend the rules.”
Elder Chang Le said helplessly.
Yet the Ling Xiao who was the centre of attention paid no heed to external influences. No matter how many people were eliminated at that moment, no matter how many were staring at him, he had only one thing to do right now, and that was to complete the task at hand.
Another five minutes passed.
Time entered the final ten minutes.
Ling Xiao finally opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face.
He slowly descended to the ground and did not forget to glance at the results of the two geniuses nearby.
From the fragrance alone, he could tell that Dan Qing and Ji Luoyu’s mortal pills were about to emerge from the furnace, and their efficacy might reach seventy to eighty percent, which was already very impressive.
The arrogance of these two clearly had some basis. At the very least, among the more than ten thousand participants, they were currently among the top.
After exhaling a deep breath of turbid air, Ling Xiao stopped paying attention to others and turned his gaze to his own alchemy platform, while also checking the clock.
“Ten minutes, huh? Faster than I expected.”
He smiled faintly. Instead of immediately starting to refine, he sat down on the White Bone Throne, closed his eyes, and rested for three minutes to keep his condition at absolute peak.
“Although sharpening the axe does not delay the chopping of wood, this lad is perhaps a bit too calm. Seven minutes left. Even if he has a method to refine the pill, can he succeed?”
Ji Qing frowned. At this point, even he could no longer understand Ling Xiao’s thinking.
Drug King Sun Ran’s brows were also tightly knit, because he likewise did not understand what Ling Xiao was planning. Precisely because he did not understand, he felt even more nervous.
That fellow Ling Xiao often did things beyond expectations.
Just then, Ling Xiao suddenly raised his hand. All the main herbs listed in the prescription were thrown entirely into the cauldron by him. At the same time, a ball of flame emerged from his palm.
This flame was merely mortal fire. There was no need yet to use sacred fire.
“What is he doing? Isn’t this exactly the same as what those eliminated fellows did?”
The spectators could not clearly see Ling Xiao’s actions in detail, so they could not understand this approach.
Even Drug King Sun Ran did not comprehend it.
“He is simply giving up on himself! After busying himself for so long, he still could not find a reliable method.”
Ji Qing wanted to refute, but could find no reason to do so.
What Ling Xiao was doing now did indeed seem like giving up.
They had thought this was crazy enough.
But what Ling Xiao did next was even more insane than they had imagined!
After the furnace fire had burned for a while, Ling Xiao suddenly lifted the lid and poured all the remaining herbs inside.
“He’s mad! Messing around like this will cause the cauldron to explode!”
In the audience seats, an already eliminated alchemist cried out in shock.
“Truly mad. He may have realised those herbs can substitute for the auxiliary ones, but they absolutely cannot be thrown in directly. They need to be quenched first before they can substitute, otherwise the cauldron will definitely explode.”
Drug King Sun Ran also revealed a cold smile.
He suddenly felt he might have worried too much. This Ling Xiao was not as clever as he had imagined.
On the contrary, this fellow was a reckless brute, an idiot.
“Perhaps he has some other idea.”
Elder Chang Le also lacked confidence in his heart, but still tried to find an excuse for Ling Xiao.
“Chirp chirp!”
At that moment, a mechanism bird emitted a clear and pleasant call, indicating someone had successfully completed refining the mortal pill and passed the assessment.
“It’s Dan Qing!”
Dan Qing opened the furnace lid. A perfectly round and lustrous pill appeared before everyone’s eyes. The medicinal fragrance wafted through the air, and great pride could be seen on Dan Qing’s face.
Almost at the same time, Ji Luoyu’s pill was also successfully refined.
From appearance alone, the quality of the two pills was nearly identical.
However, the final score would still depend on the mechanism bird’s evaluation.
For the first round of assessment, there was no need for the judges to score personally yet.
These two were the earliest to complete.
After them, five minutes passed. With only two minutes left until the end of the first round, the mechanism birds’ calls came one after another.
There were shrill cries, indicating elimination.
There were also clear and pleasant calls, indicating successful passage.
On the judges’ platform, all ten people except Ling Xiao had already fully passed.
“Hehe, Elder Chang Le, it seems you have overthought things. Ling Xiao does not have the special qualities you imagined.”
Looking at the time and then at Ling Xiao, Drug King Sun Ran said with great satisfaction.
“But at the very least, his cauldron has not exploded.”
Elder Chang Le could only counter with this kind of reason.
“True, it has not exploded, but if he has not completed refining the pill by the time limit, he will still be eliminated.”
Drug King Sun Ran chuckled lightly, wishing that huge magic treasure clock would instantly reach the thirty-minute mark.
He had originally been thinking of some traceless way to make Ling Xiao lose face, but now it seemed somewhat unnecessary.
Ling Xiao’s performance was far worse than he had imagined.
