Yun Yun took a liking to Ning Su

"Damn, the quality exceeded the limit!"

Ning Su himself was startled by the pillar of light.

He had intended not to draw too much attention, but he had forgotten to control the quality of the pill.

With the skill of a Fourth-Rank Peak Alchemist, even pills he refined casually were superior to those made by some second- or third-rank alchemists.

It was simply that Ning Su lacked experience and had forgotten to regulate the heat.

By accident, he had refined the highest-quality pill in the entire venue.

Everyone outside the arena turned to look.

"What a rich color! Its quality is actually higher than Liu Ling's and the Little Princess's pills??"

"Who is this guy? I've never seen him before."

Jia Xing Tian, Yun Yun, and the others immediately fixed their eyes on Ning Su.

They had no impression whatsoever of that unfamiliar young face.

He was certainly not an alchemist from the Gama Holy Capital.

And he looked so young—perhaps only fifteen or sixteen.

Where had this genius young alchemist come from?

A young alchemist was not surprising.

What astonished them was that Ning Su had reached such a level in alchemy at such a young age.

It was truly terrifying!

Fa Ma immediately had someone retrieve the information—all contestants had to leave their details when registering.

"This youth is called Ning Su. He comes from Mo City, near the Tagor Desert."

"So he's an alchemist from our Jia Ma Empire?" Jia Xing Tian immediately grew interested.

"Sure enough, true masters are found among the common folk. It seems our Jia Ma Empire still has quite a few hidden geniuses."

As long as he was not an alchemist from another empire, they could accept it.

"It seems holding the Alchemist Competition really can attract quite a few gifted alchemists." Yun Yun also looked at the youth on the stage with great interest.

"Could it be that Sect Master Yun has taken a fancy to this youth?" Mu Chen, the head of the Mu family, said with a smile.

Yun Yun smiled beautifully, without trying to conceal it. "I doubt I'm the only one who's taken a fancy to him."

A genius alchemist was naturally someone all major factions sought to recruit.

The Alchemist Competition was not only a stage for alchemists from all sides to challenge themselves.

It was also a good opportunity for the various factions to recruit talent.

If they encountered a suitable alchemist, they were more than willing to extend an olive branch.

For example, Gu He, the Champion of the previous Alchemist Competition, had been recruited by the Misty Cloud Sect.

"Sect Master Yun, your Misty Cloud Sect already has Pill King Gu He. Don't compete with us for this youth," Mittel Teng Shan said with a chuckle.

Yun Yun merely smiled without replying.

But clearly, they had all taken notice of the youth on the stage.

"Teacher, do you know who that guy is?"

The pillar of light caused by Ning Su's pill also drew Xiao Yan's attention.

He had originally only been watching Liu Ling and the Little Princess, the two people who could pose a threat to him.

But now an unexpected contender had appeared, forcing him to take notice as well.

"I'm not a fortune-teller. How would I know who he is?"

"Still, judging from the quality of the pill he refined, he's at least a third-rank alchemist. Little Yanzi, you have another competitor this time," Yao Lao teased.

"One more makes no difference, and one less makes no difference. I'm not afraid of him." Xiao Yan did not take Ning Su seriously.

This was only the first round.

It would be a long time before victory or defeat was decided!

"The first round of trials has ended. Congratulations to those of you who remain on the stage."

After the brief commotion, Fa Ma stood and presided over the competition.

"Next is the second round."

"The requirements for this round are simple. The pill formulas placed before you are standard formulas developed by more than a dozen alchemists from our Alchemist Guild."

"You only need to refine the pills listed on the formulas."

"The requirements remain the same: you have two chances. Successfully refine them within the allotted time, and you will pass."

Fa Ma announced the requirements for the second round.

Quite a few people were left stunned.

The formula and ingredients had all been provided. As long as they successfully refined the pill, they would pass.

Could there really be such a simple test?

But after examining the formula, they found that it was indeed a legitimate one.

The only difference was that this time, they had to refine a third-tier pill.

Was this meant to test how solid their alchemy skills were?

"Alright, the rules have been explained. The second round begins!"

Fa Ma did not give them much time to think before announcing the start of the second round.

Everyone immediately began refining pills.

"President Fa Ma, what is the main difficulty being tested in this round?" Yun Yun asked curiously.

Though she was now one of the judges, she was not aware of the arrangements for the assessment.

After all, she was only here to lend the event some prestige.

"This round is very simple. We added an ingredient to the formula whose properties conflict with those of the other ingredients."

"Any alchemist with even a little experience will be able to identify the problem after failing once."

"But as I said earlier, this formula was specially developed by more than a dozen alchemists from our Alchemist Guild."

"To question the formula is to question the dozen or so alchemists of our guild. Let us see whether you have the courage to challenge authority," Fa Ma explained.

This round tested not only their alchemy skills, but also their confidence.

To become a qualified alchemist, alchemy skills alone were not enough.

"This is a good test. Let us see who can pass it first." Jia Xing Tian also approved of Fa Ma's arrangement.

Now this was an interesting test.

As expected.

Nearly everyone failed the first time they refined the pill according to the formula.

Dull explosions from furnaces rang out one after another across the plaza.

The alchemists on the platforms were left dumbfounded.

Their procedures had clearly been normal, so why had they failed?

The people below the stage did not understand either.

It would have been one thing if only some of them had failed.

But now, nearly everyone had failed. It could not be that all their alchemy skills were half-baked, could it??

Everyone was utterly confused.

"Teacher, what is going on? I was clearly very careful with every step," Xiao Yan said in confusion.

"There is something wrong with the formula."

"There's something wrong with the formula? The Alchemist Guild came up with it. What could possibly be wrong with it?"

"One of the ingredients is unnecessary. That is the real test—find that extra ingredient," Yao Lao reminded him.

Although Xiao Yan did not understand why the Alchemist Guild had set such a test.

He trusted Yao Lao without question.

The others also began preparing anew.

Some had vaguely spotted the issue as well. As for whether they dared to question the formula, that depended on themselves.

Time continued to pass.

Not many dared to question the formula, but several people successfully refined the pill.

Ning Su, Xiao Yan, the Little Princess, and Liu Ling all succeeded.

Moreover, each of them had left one ingredient untouched on their platforms.

The others immediately confirmed their suspicions and began removing the ingredients they believed were wrong, hurrying to refine the pills.

In the end, the second round of the trial also came to an end...