"I'm definitely taking first place this round. No matter how much you Jia Ma Empire people struggle, it's useless. Watch me trample you!"
Yan Li watched Xiao Tian place the 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 exclamations.
The machine in front of Xiao Tian flashed with an extremely brilliant green light, so vibrant it seemed to flow. Compared to it, Yan Li's green light instantly became insignificant.
"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 Tian's pill, and he roared.
"Xiao Tian (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.
"Congratulations, Mr. Xiao Tian. I didn't expect you to not only be the fastest to refine but also to have the highest quality. Princess Yao Yue concedes defeat."
Princess Yao Yue's beautiful eyes looked at the brilliant green light in front of Xiao Tian in surprise, then shook her head and spoke.
"It was just luck, nothing worth mentioning."
Xiao Tian smiled slightly and waved his hand dismissively.
Xiao Yan, on the other hand, was full of fighting spirit: "Tian Ge, is this your strength? It truly makes one's blood boil."
Yao Lao, inside the bone flame ring, had initially thought Xiao Yan would be disheartened, but sensing the fighting spirit in his eyes, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Keep laughing, why aren't you laughing now?" Xiao Tian looked at Yan Li and mouthed the words to him, his eyes full of playful mockery and provocation.
Yan Li naturally understood what Xiao Tian's mouth movements meant, and his face instantly turned ashen, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably, and sparks of anger flashing in his eyes.
"We'll see about that..." Yan Li's chest heaved violently as he tried to calm his anger, mouthing words back at Xiao Tian.
"I'll be waiting." After Xiao Tian replied to him, he no longer looked at him.
...
On the VIP stand, Fa Ma reined in the joy on his face and spoke calmly.
"Congratulations on passing the first round of tests. The second round of tests will now begin. Please press the red button on the bottom left of your stone platform."
Upon hearing this, the advancing contestants moved their fingers to the red button and pressed it.
The stone platform trembled slightly, the machine used for testing gradually lowered, and then a stack of neatly arranged medicinal ingredients and a scroll with a medicinal formula appeared in the machine's original position.
"This time, the medicinal formula is an orthodox one, which our guild spent several months to create."
"The content of this assessment is that the medicinal ingredients in front of you are enough for you to refine twice. You need to refine the pill within the specified time. If you fail both times, it means you are eliminated."
The remaining people were all stunned upon hearing this.
Xiao Yan frowned slightly: "Refining strictly according to an orthodox medicinal formula, isn't that a bit too easy?"
Xiao Tian picked up the medicinal formula on the platform, quickly scanned it, and thought to himself,'Sure enough, it's this Third-Rank Wind-Chasing Pill.'
He knew the trick to this round. Fa Ma's words were not wrong; the formula was indeed an orthodox one, but it didn't say that everything in the formula was 100% correct.
This was clearly a word trap.
A knowing smile played on his lips.
However, he was not in a hurry to refine, nor did he plan to intentionally fail once. There was no need to play such a hidden-strength trick.
"Why does this little fellow 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 Tian.
In the huge plaza, most Alchemists thought this round of assessment would be very easy, showing some joy on their faces, quickly summoning their flames and starting to refine, all wanting to be the first.
"First place this time will definitely be mine."
Only a small number of cautious Alchemists, realizing that the assessment couldn't be that simple, but after repeatedly examining the formula and finding no problems, gradually lowered their guard and carefully began to warm their cauldrons.
As most people began refining pills, the clamor from the audience also quickly subsided, their eyes looking enviously at the substantial flames in the arena.
Everyone in the arena had started refining, only Xiao Tian still held the medicinal formula, slowly closing his eyes.
"Why isn't he starting to refine? Instead, he's closing his eyes?"
"...I don't know."
Subtle discussions could be heard from below the stage.
Xiao Tian, below the stage, now opened his eyes and began to refine. This time, he didn't choose to refine everything at once, but rather one herb at a time.
As time slowly passed, Xiao Tian had prepared the refined medicinal ingredients, except for the Thick Earth Ganoderma.
Just as he finished, a muffled thud sounded. A Third-Rank Alchemist was staring blankly at the black ash at the bottom of his cauldron. Clearly, this person had failed the refinement.
"How can this be? I followed the formula exactly, not a single step missed. I even performed exceptionally well."
Xiao Tian turned his head and immediately chuckled. Wasn't this the guy who had boasted earlier about taking first place?
It seemed he indeed achieved first place, as he was the first to fail.
Xiao Yan sensed that something was wrong and looked at the nine jade bottles in his hand with suspicion.
Then, a series of muffled thuds began to sound, including those 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 looked at Xiao Tian in the arena with a hint of worry: "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 power; 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 determination.
Her adorable appearance made Xiao Yi Xian 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, add another first: the first to be eliminated.
"Is this all the strength the Alchemists of the Jia Ma Empire have? Too useless, aren't they?"
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 indicating he had failed once.
He then placed the remaining set of medicinal ingredients into the cauldron and began refining, a faint smile on his face, full of confidence, clearly having discovered the problem.
Xiao Tian in the arena also began the fusion of medicinal ingredients.
He placed eight medicinal ingredients, excluding the unrefined Thick Earth Ganoderma, into the cauldron and began the fusion.
"As expected, he noticed it." Fa Ma watched the Thick Earth Ganoderma that Xiao Tian had specifically left out, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"What a keen little fellow."
As time gradually passed, Xiao Yan's cauldron also let out a muffled thud, clearly indicating a failed refinement.
He looked down at the black ash powder, lost in thought for a few seconds, then looked up and saw Xiao Tian in the midst of fusion, and then noticed the Thick Earth Ganoderma left on Xiao Tian's table.
"The medicinal formula indeed has a problem."
Xiao Yan had already felt that the Thick Earth Ganoderma was the problem during his previous fusion. Now, seeing what was on Xiao Tian's table, he was even more certain and immediately began to refine again.
This time, Xiao Yan directly used the Green Lotus Core Flame, changing from purple flames to green flames, which immediately caused a stir of exclamations.
A long time later.
With a wave of Xiao Tian's hand, the cauldron lid flew up, and a smooth pill instantly flew out of the cauldron, caught in his hand, as the lid fell back to its original position.
About ten minutes after Xiao Tian finished refining, Yan Li also finished his pill.
Seeing Xiao Tian finish before him, his face immediately darkened.
You're truly bad at this."
Xiao Tian moved his lips at Yan Li, making Yan Li's face turn even uglier.
Yan Li's face was ashen, his lips moving: "Don't get cocky. In the final round, we'll compete again! By then, I won't hold back in the slightest!"
Xiao Tian ignored his exasperated look, feeling the eager gazes of other Alchemists seeking answers.