Liu Ling's Insight! The Green Lotus Core Flame Appears!

As the alchemists in the plaza suddenly stared at one another dumbly, whispers began to rise from the audience stands.

Bang, bang!

Another faint muffled sound came from beside Xiao Yan. He turned his head and happened to see Princess Yao Yue's ugly expression. He slowly let out a breath.

"Something seems wrong?"

In the VIP seats, Princess Yao Ye stared in astonishment at the dazed Princess Yao Yue, whose fusion had failed.

"It is indeed wrong... Although I am not an alchemist, even I know that refining according to a prescription should greatly increase the chances of success. Yet everyone below, including the little princess, has failed!" Ya Fei said, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.

"There seems to be something hidden within this test!" Princess Yao Ye said, crossing her slender right leg over her left as she gazed at the strangely tense plaza.

"Why hasn't that boy Liu Ling begun refining the medicinal ingredients yet?"

"Could it be that he has already discovered some clue?"

On the high platform, after seeing so many people fail their fusions, Fa Ma, Jia Xing Tian, Hai Bodong, and the others all focused their gazes on the seemingly strange Liu Ling.

Bang!

Another muffled sound suddenly came from not far ahead of Xiao Yan. The Third-grade Alchemist who had failed earlier had once again ended in failure during this fusion attempt. His face was livid as he stared at the black ash spilling from the bottom of his medicine cauldron.

After that sound rang out, the jade mirror before this Third-grade Alchemist's stone platform abruptly lit up with a red glow. Clearly, having exhausted two portions of ingredients, he had lost his final chance.

In the plaza, countless gazes turned toward this first alchemist to be eliminated. Seeing his fate, some who had impulsively planned to immediately begin refining again were frightened into calming down, no longer daring to casually waste their final portion of ingredients.

His whole body trembling, the alchemist who had failed twice put away his medicine cauldron with a livid face. Then, filled with confusion and fury, he stormed toward the edge of the plaza.

Those standing closer could vaguely hear his unwilling muttering.

"Damn it, how could I fail again? I clearly controlled the heat perfectly. Why won't they fuse?"

Watching the alchemist leave, Xiao Yan gently stroked the warm jade bottle and narrowed his eyes. After a long while, he suddenly poured the ingredients from the bottle into his medicine cauldron. He needed to experience it himself and find out exactly why none of the contestants could successfully refine the pill.

His gaze fixed tightly upon the surging Purple Flame, Xiao Yan calmly placed the ingredients from the nine jade bottles before him into the medicine cauldron one after another. He controlled the flames to keep them separated, then drew a deep breath and began the fusion with extreme care.

With so many others serving as cautionary examples, Xiao Yan was more meticulous and cautious than anyone else this time. His soul force surged out, covering every inch of the pill flame, ensuring that every effect and reaction produced when the medicinal ingredients fused would be relayed back to his mind with utmost precision.

At this moment, Liu Ling, who had achieved the best result in the first round, had yet to begin refining his ingredients. Xiao Yi Xian, ranked second, had also finished refining hers but had not immediately started fusing them, instead continuing to observe. Thus, when the alchemists in the plaza saw Xiao Yan begin attempting the fusion, they all looked over curiously.

Xiao Yan controlled the pill flame with complete concentration. Under its scorching heat, the various ingredients were gradually fusing together smoothly.

"Three-Tailed Wind Leaf, fusion successful!"

"Cloud Grass, fusion successful!"

"Earth-Leaving Fruit, fusion successful!"

One ingredient after another fused smoothly, showing no resistance under the sensitive perception of Xiao Yan's soul force.

"Thick Earth Ganoderma."

Xiao Yan's brows suddenly furrowed slightly. Then his expression abruptly changed. The flames rising within the medicine cauldron churned violently, followed by a faint muffled sound as a little black ash scattered down.

Sigh!

Hearing the muffled sound, everyone nearby sighed in disappointment.

Seeing Xiao Yan looking as dejected as everyone else after his refining failure, Liu Ling suddenly turned back and grinned at him. In a quiet voice that only those within two or three meters could hear, he said, "Hehe, kid, haven't you found the problem yet? That prescription may not necessarily be accurate."

"The prescription!"

Hearing Liu Ling's neither light nor heavy remark, Xiao Yan suddenly felt enlightened.

He carefully recalled what had happened just now. When fusing the Thick Earth Ganoderma, his soul force had seemed to detect a trace of abnormality.

"So the Thick Earth Ganoderma does not need to be added at all. Once its medicinal property is introduced, the fusion will fail."

Damn it, even the pill formula has a problem. The Alchemist Association really knows how to disgust people! Xiao Yan viciously cursed the Alchemist Association in his heart before looking at Liu Ling with some shock.

From the look of it, he seems to have known all along. But why has he delayed starting the pill refinement? And why did he remind me? Xiao Yan wondered inwardly.

At this moment, Princess Yao Yue, who had been closely watching Xiao Yan's side, also revealed a thoughtful look after noticing the movement of Liu Ling's lips.

If Xiao Yan had known that Liu Ling had done this partly to keep too many people from being inspired by him, thereby disrupting the competition's order and rendering the second round meaningless, and partly because he simply wanted to show off...

At this moment, while Xiao Yan was still puzzled, an elegant, ethereal green flame suddenly emerged from Liu Ling's palm amid countless shocked gazes.

The instant the green flame appeared, the temperature throughout the entire plaza soared to an extremely uncomfortable level. Had Liu Ling not deliberately restrained it, some of the alchemists around him would likely have been forced to leave their original positions.

"Green flame! What an intense temperature!"

As everyone looked at the green flame in Liu Ling's hand, waves of astonished exclamations rang out.

It was not only the alchemists in the plaza who were shocked. Even the three Dou Emperors standing on the high platform could no longer remain calm.

"The green flame in Liu Ling's hand does not seem to be an ordinary flame," Jia Xing Tian muttered.

"Why does this aura feel so familiar... This seems to be the aura of the Green Lotus Core Flame!" A trace of recollection appeared in Hai Bodong's eyes. He murmured a few times before speaking with certainty.

"Old Hai, your guess is right. This is indeed the Green Lotus Core Flame!" After sensing the aura of the green flame, Fa Ma said with absolute certainty.