Chapter 178: An Outlier Out of Control?

A faint cold stream quietly weaved its way through the air.

After a while, it imperceptibly tangled above the mysterious gray-robed man's head, like a few invisible ice snakes silently revealing themselves.

At this moment, the gray-robed man was slowly tidying up items on the stone platform.

Suddenly, his moving hand abruptly halted, his blue eyes beneath the bamboo hat narrowing sharply. Stepping heavily on the ground, his body prepared to retreat explosively.

"Hmph, where do you think you're going?" Seeing the gray-robed man who seemed to have detected the chill, Hai Bodong was slightly surprised. He then sneered, clenching his fist sharply, "Shatter!"

Bang!

As Hai Bodong clenched his palm, the bamboo hat above the gray-robed man, who was just about to move, trembled abruptly, turning into a cloud of powder that sprinkled down.

With the disappearance of the bamboo hat, the youthful face hidden beneath it was instantly exposed to numerous gazes.

Gasp~

Immediately, the entire square echoed with gasps.

Evidently, no one had expected that the dark horse who had suddenly emerged at the last moment, possessing the strength to vie for the first position, would be such a youthful boy.

A commotion spread across the crowd.

The boy with the peculiar blue eyes reached up to touch the now-absent bamboo hat on his head.

Moments later, he suddenly raised his head, casting a cold gaze towards Hai Bodong in the front row of the VIP seats.

"This guy is not simple. Not only can he detect my concealed chill, but he can also use it to trace my position."

Narrowing his eyes slightly at the gray-robed boy, Hai Bodong touched his chin, sneering, "If he's really seventeen as the data says, then I'll write my name backwards from now on."

Fama and Jia Xingtian also narrowed their eyes, nodding slowly.

"An old spirit taking over a young body, deviating from the original plot, huh? Interesting, interesting..." Wei Yang's eyes took on a mysterious gleam, a hint of murderous intent emerging in his heart.

It seemed as though unknown, out-of-control changes were occurring beyond his control!

...

All eyes in the venue were basically attracted to the youthful face of the gray-robed boy.

In the many sessions of the Alchemist Grand Meeting, this was probably the youngest contestant ever.

The gray-robed boy raised his hand, lightly brushing off the remnants of ice fragments on his shoulder. He lifted his head, casting a cold sneer at Hai Bodong and others on the VIP seats.

His lips moved silently, and from the mouth shape, Wei Yang and others could clearly discern that he said: "I want to win the championship in this meeting!"

In truth, what he sought was not the championship but the recipe for the Melting Spirit Pill.

Fama and others' eyebrows twitched.

"Very arrogant, quite interesting." Wei Yang's eyes also narrowed slightly.

Things seemed somewhat out of control, deviating from the original course?

"Could it be that our previous trip to the Netherworld Swamp led to some unknown subsequent changes?" Wei Yang mused rapidly in his mind.

During that trip, they indeed killed a few insignificant characters who never appeared in the original work.

The biggest change was that they took away the Netherworld Poison Fire.

Could this have triggered some butterfly effect?

However, even if it deviated slightly, so what?

No harm.

At least minor characters like this couldn't affect the main plot significantly.

Even if there was some influence...

Wei Yang's hand slowly clenched, a trace of icy murderous intent gliding through his eyes.

This was one of the rare occasions in many years when he felt a genuine surge of intense killing intent.

Since it's off track, why not correct it and make things return to how they originally should be?

As for this anomaly causing a slight plot deviation, just send him to his death.

In this regard, Wei Yang was extremely cautious. He absolutely wouldn't allow even the slightest error in any plot related to the main storyline.

That's his bottom line.

Those uncontrollable unknown changes, and people, require forceful correction!

...

"That guy is so young?!"

Xian'er, Xiao Yan, and the other four were a bit shocked to see the youthful face of the gray-robed boy.

Among them, Xiao Yan and the Little Princess were the youngest, at eighteen.

They didn't have the keen eyesight of Wei Yang, Fama, or Yao Lao and failed to notice the slight sense of discordance from the gray-robed boy.

"That guy's from the Empire of Mist!" The Little Princess, sharp-eyed, suddenly noticed the badge on the chest of the gray-robed boy.

On the badge, a sun was gently rising from the horizon.

And this image was exactly the emblem of the Empire of Mist.

"Empire of Mist." Xian'er raised an eyebrow.

Having accompanied Wei Yang to the Empire of Mist before, she was familiar with this emblem.

Even though she possessed the Difficult Poison Body, it didn't hinder her disdain for the profession of poison masters and the Empire of Mist.

Xiao Yan also frowned slightly, instinctively harboring little goodwill towards a country rife with poison masters.

"Being from the Empire of Mist, this is going to be interesting," Liu Ling also murmured in slight surprise.

As a direct disciple of the Alchemy King, coming from a proper alchemist background, he was very aware of the grievances and entanglements between the Jia Ma Empire's alchemist world and the Empire of Mist.

"Whoever loses or wins between us is fine, but we mustn't let him win the championship!" Liu Ling said in a deep voice, looking at Xian'er, Xiao Yan, and the Little Princess.

Xian'er and Xiao Yan showed little reaction.

As a member of the royal family, the Little Princess nodded seriously.

At this time.

Wei Yang's voice transmission also whispered in the ears of Xian'er and Xiao Yan, "Your task is to pin down that boy. If necessary, you can join forces. Either of you can take the championship, but you mustn't let that boy win... This concerns the face of the Jia Ma Empire's alchemist world."

This was also a request from President Fama to Wei Yang.

Fama absolutely would not allow the championship to fall into the hands of the Empire of Mist.

If necessary, Wei Yang himself could take action.

Because, at twenty-one this year, Wei Yang was still under thirty, and his participation would adhere to the meeting's rules, even though he might appear somewhat shameless.

Of course, this was a last-resort measure.

If all else failed in the end, Wei Yang would personally step in and exert his superior power.

Besides, only Xian'er and Xiao Yan on site had the strength to barely confront the gray-robed boy.

"If you can't do it, I'll handle it myself at the last moment," Wei Yang directly transmitted his voice.

As the honorary elder of the guild, he was willing to lend a small favor.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan and Xian'er both narrowed their pupils.

If Wei Yang had to take the stage himself, there was no point in continuing, and everyone might as well pack up and leave, as there would be no competition left.

But this also proved, from another angle, the guild's importance placed on the matter and their bottom line.

"Understood!" Xian'er and Xiao Yan exchanged a look, took a deep breath, and nodded.

In order to avoid eventually facing the direct crushing power of Wei Yang, the big boss, they had to join forces to tackle the minor boss—the gray-robed boy.

...

On the VIP seats.

After getting Wei Yang's assurance, all the big shots relaxed completely, sitting back comfortably.

They were not worried at all now.

Fama let out a slow breath, his cloudy eyes filled with a slight chill as he looked at the gray-robed boy in the corner of the square below.

"Since you choose not to play by the rules, don't blame us for being shameless."

After a while, he stood up, walked to the edge of the platform, placed his hand on the railing, and swept his gaze over the square. His calm voice once again resonated in everyone's ears.

"Alright, since everyone has completed the test, let's begin the second round of assessment."

"Now, move your fingers and press the small red button on the lower left of the stone platform."