Chapter 157: The Duel

The elders of the Alchemist Association were utterly dumbfounded.

The original purpose of the second round was to test whether alchemists had the courage and boldness to question the pill recipe. By directly revealing the answer like this, what was even the point of testing anymore?!

Questioning a pill recipe required considerable courage and boldness. Some traditional alchemists placed too much faith in the orthodoxy of established recipes. No matter how many times they failed, they found it difficult to attribute the problem to the recipe itself, thus failing to innovate.

They would only think that they must have made mistakes somewhere in the timing or ingredient extraction process. Those who held such beliefs were undoubtedly destined for complete failure.

While Xiao Yan indeed possessed courage and boldness, before that, he possessed absolute strength!

In the face of absolute strength, everything else had to step aside.

Now, upon hearing his words, even if the other alchemists were reluctant to accept this 'cheating' information, they had already heard it. What else could they do?

Liu Ling and the Little Princess looked at each other helplessly and finally shook their heads. Although they might have eventually discovered the problem on their own, they could only follow what Xiao Yan had said now.

Since they already knew the answer, what else could they do?

The surrounding alchemists were initially stunned upon hearing Xiao Yan's words. After a moment, expressions of sheer joy gradually spread across their faces. They cast grateful glances at Xiao Yan and then hurriedly resumed their refining with renewed vigor.

Seeing the participants eagerly resuming their work, Xiao Yan calmly placed the Wind Walking Pill on the testing platform. Unsurprisingly, it passed with perfect results once again.

Afterward, he sat down on a chair, waiting for the sand in the hourglass to run out.

Before long, a beam of green light soared into the sky. Xiao Yan didn't even need to look to know it was definitely that mysterious black-robed man. Moreover, judging by the speed, he must have started his second refinement before Xiao Yan's pill was completed, having deduced the issue with the Thick-soil Ganoderma without hearing the answer first.

Although the other party had refined twice, Xiao Yan had essentially done the same to succeed. His first attempt at pill formation had also failed; it was just that Mao Wu had swallowed it, preventing the cauldron from exploding.

Half an hour later, green lights lit up in front of the Little Princess and Liu Ling. The two placed their pills into jade bottles, glanced at each other, and both breathed a sigh of relief.

When they glanced at Xiao Yan again, the look in their eyes had completely changed, no longer harboring any fighting spirit or hostility.

Liu Ling raised his head to look at Nalan Yanran's position in the VIP seats. At this moment, her gaze was fixed on Xiao Yan rather than him.

It was painfully clear that he had lost utterly and completely. Even though the Alchemist Grand Meeting had not yet concluded, for him, it was essentially over.

After the first and second rounds, some of the more perceptive alchemists had already discovered that this monstrous Xiao Yan was a 4th-tier alchemist!

An eighteen-year-old 4th-tier alchemist—this level of talent completely shattered Liu Ling's pride.

Moreover, Xiao Yan hadn't even used his Heavenly Flame yet!

Following these two, green lights began flashing one after another, but more were still red glows.

Even though Xiao Yan had told everyone the answer, those capable of refining a tier 3 medicinal pill with just one set of ingredients were still a minority.

By the time the sand in the hourglass hanging on the wall had completely run out, only a little over thirty people remained in the spacious plaza. The others had all been eliminated over the course of these two rounds.

Over a thousand participants were reduced to just thirty!

However, these thirty individuals represented the most talented alchemists under thirty years old in the Jia Ma Empire.

Of course, the vast majority were close to thirty. Those under twenty, like Xiao Yan, included only the Little Princess and that mysterious black-robed man.

"Everyone, let's conclude today's competition here," Fa Ma announced with a hearty laugh. "Please rest well tonight. Tomorrow will be the final round of the Grand Meeting, the crucial match that will determine the champion. So, I urge all of you not to miss it for any reason, or you'll regret it for life."

Xiao Yan frowned slightly upon hearing Fa Ma announce the end of today's test. He glanced at the sky; with the current daylight, they could have finished everything today.

Looking over at the mysterious man's position, he said meaningfully, "So that's how it is. It's because of this guy."

He didn't mind; resting for a night was fine. The championship would still be his regardless.

The frenzied screaming girls in the spectator stand kept throwing things at him as he slowly walked toward the passageway. Most of them were love letters filled with affectionate words or flowers. The most outrageous even threw their underwear at him.

Xiao Yan was so frightened that he hurriedly ran into the passageway. Women were truly terrifying when they went wild.

The moment he entered the rest area, he saw a large group of people waiting for him, especially three beauties, each with distinct temperaments. Even Xiao Yan couldn't help but take a few extra glances at this beautiful sight.

"Congratulations, Little Brother Xiao Yan," Ya Fei offered her felicitations with a gentle laugh.

Xiao Yan smiled faintly. "Just a bit of luck."

Princess Yao Ye shook her head. "If such strength could be achieved through mere luck, I think many people wouldn't need to painstakingly practice alchemy every day."

Xiao Yan just smiled mildly without denying it. Glancing around and noticing that Hai Bodong was absent, he asked, "Where is Old Hai?"

Ya Fei replied, "Elder Hai left earlier with Elder Jia and Chairman Fa Ma for some matters."

Xiao Yan understood upon hearing this. They must have gone to handle issues related to the mysterious black-robed man.

"Mr. Xiao Yan, the imperial family will be hosting a banquet tonight for the alchemists who advanced to the third round. Would you honor us with your presence?" Princess Yao Ye asked with a faint smile.

Xiao Yan was taken aback, then shook his head with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Princess Yao Ye. I'm really quite exhausted today. The final test is tomorrow, so I'm afraid I won't be able to spare the time to attend the banquet. I appreciate Your Highness's kind invitation."

Yao Ye nodded slightly. She knew it wouldn't be easy to invite Xiao Yan. Tonight's banquet was actually an olive branch extended by the imperial family. The alchemists who made it to the final round were undoubtedly one-in-a-million geniuses.

Xiao Yan naturally understood the implication, but he had no desire to join the imperial family, so he directly declined.

"I'll escort you back," Nalan Yanran suddenly spoke up.

Ya Fei, who was aware of the history between Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran, had quite a remarkable expression on her face.

Xiao Yan was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected Nalan Yanran to say that. After a brief consideration, he nodded. After all, he still needed to return to the Nalan Mansion to rest and prepare for tomorrow's final round.

…

Inside the carriage, the atmosphere was uncomfortably quiet. Apart from the sound of Steward Zhao driving up front, the entire carriage was enveloped in silence.

Even Xiao Yan, who had traversed the Soul Path, seized Heavenly Flames, and battled Dou Emperors, felt somewhat at a loss in this situation.

This was the first time he and Nalan Yanran were alone together, facing each other directly.

Nalan Yanran was the first to break the awkward silence.

"Would you consider joining the Misty Cloud Sect? You would receive the same special treatment and resource allocation as Elder Gu He," she said softly while looking at him.

Unsurprisingly, Xiao Yan shook his head and declined. "I'm sorry, but I have no intention of joining the Misty Cloud Sect."

Nalan Yanran wasn't surprised. She had only asked casually anyway.

"Also, could we postpone our duel by a month or two? I'll be entering the sect's special training ground in a few days."

Based on the date Nalan Yanran had come to annul the engagement back then, the three-year deadline was just about up, just a few days after the Grand Meeting concluded.