Odd and Goofy, Overly Cautious?

The stands buzzed with discussion.

Yet the many alchemists all kept silent, heads down as they busied themselves.

Their performances, however, were worlds apart.

Some were all flustered, their expressions tense, terrified of making even the slightest mistake.

Others were exceptionally calm, their movements flowing like drifting clouds and running water, effortless and elegant, faces brimming with confidence as though everything lay within their grasp.

Xiao Ling'er had been observing carefully all along, especially the parts involving spiritual herbs she had never handled before. However, she did not watch just anyone.

She paid no attention at all to those who were fumbling about in panic.

Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on those who remained composed and unhurried...

Stealing their craft!

About the time it took an incense stick to burn passed. Xiao Ling'er closed her eyes, and everything she had just seen seemed to come alive in her mind, replaying over and over like scenes flashing past on horseback.

"So that's how it is."

"The key to raising the pill completion rate with these supplementary ingredients is the Five-Colored Flower."

She murmured softly, "Extract the essence of the Five-Colored Flower, then use its nature of containing the five elements—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—to fuse the other supplementary ingredients in an almost perfect state, achieving mutual generation among the five elements."

"Then use that mutual generation of the five elements to assist in forming the pill. Although it lowers the medicinal efficacy slightly, the pill completion rate truly increases greatly."

"Looking at it this way, it really isn't difficult. One only needs to maintain the five-element balance of these supplementary ingredients."

"At least, it isn't much of a problem for me."

Xiao Ling'er finally moved.

Bang!

With a casual slap against the pill furnace, its lid immediately flew up.

The movement was swift and dashing, drawing quite a few sidelong glances from those around her.

But Xiao Ling'er suddenly froze and stuck out her tongue.

"I almost forgot that I need to hide my abilities."

Thus, she began to put on a performance.

She should have used her vital energy to hold up the furnace lid, then let it cover itself after she threw in the herbs. Not only would that have been efficient, it would have looked incredibly cool.

But now, she dispersed her vital energy and allowed the lid to crash to the ground with a clanging rattle.

The surrounding alchemists: "(⊙o⊙)..."

"Boo~"

A wave of jeering immediately rose.

Xiao Ling'er held back a blush, hurriedly picked up the furnace lid, and only then began tossing herbs into the pill furnace in a fluster.

Seeing this, everyone immediately lost interest in watching her.

With that kind of performance, she would not even make it through the first round!

But Xiao Ling'er was delighted by this. Though she appeared frantic, in truth, she had everything firmly under control.

During this process, she could even spare attention to chat with Liang Danxia. "Teacher, in your opinion, are there any among these alchemists who could become formidable rivals for me?"

"Of course there are."

Liang Danxia spoke with ease. "Among a million alchemists, even if the vast majority are ordinary, there are bound to be some outstanding individuals."

"Your teacher has been silent for many years and does not know too much about the specifics of the current generation. But judging by their performances right now, there are three people worth noting."

"Oh?!"

"Please tell me, Teacher!"

Xiao Ling'er was intrigued.

"Follow my guidance with your divine sense. Do you see him? The man wearing a Feather Crown to your left-front."

"His entire pill-refining process has been as fluid as drifting clouds and running water. His control over the various herbs and his grasp of the heat are both exceptional. He should be a formidable rival!"

"And the red-haired woman in red behind you. If I am not mistaken, she cultivates the Fire Virtue Sect's foundational cultivation technique. The Fire Virtue Sect is renowned throughout the world for its artifact-refining arts, yet this woman has opened up another path. She has turned fire control into an art form and has already entered the halls of mastery on the path of alchemy."

"Her control over herbs may still be lacking by a point or two, but when it comes to playing with fire, even you are still inferior to her."

"It's them!"

Xiao Ling'er suddenly understood. She had noticed them before as well!

"And the third person is...?"

"To your right—the one who looks none too bright and is even more flustered than you."

"Ah?!"

Xiao Ling'er paused, then quickly understood. "Teacher, you mean he is also showing weakness to the enemy, Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger?!"

She observed him carefully, only to find that she could not spot any flaw at all.

"This disciple cannot tell."

Liang Danxia's expression turned solemn. "It is precisely because you cannot tell that he is even more worthy of vigilance."

"That boy hides himself deeply and his acting is excellent."

"But your teacher is certain that his overall ability in alchemy is not much weaker than yours. Moreover, this boy is extremely strange. His cultivation... is questionable."

"His cultivation is questionable?"

Xiao Ling'er took several more careful looks, only to find that the man who clearly looked "honest and simple-minded" and "not too bright" was plainly at the first layer of the Core Condensation Realm.

Had he concealed his cultivation?

But even if that were the case, it should not be enough to prevent even her teacher from seeing through him, to the point of describing it as "questionable," right?

"This person..."

She frowned slightly. "He truly is rather strange."

Though she did not know the reason, since her teacher had said so, there could be no mistake.

"He is indeed strange. Just remember to be wary of him!"

"Yes, Teacher."

Very soon, more than half an hour passed.

One person after another formed pills, and pill fragrance filled the air.

At first, most of those who opened their furnaces succeeded.

They had sufficient ability, and that was precisely why they became the first batch to open their furnaces. Only a small number failed, capsizing in a gutter, filled with bitter regret.

But as time passed, the failure rate rose in a straight line.

Some formed pills, but they did not reach Third Grade.

Others could not even form pills at all.

Some even...

Blew up their furnaces outright, and there were quite a few of them.

Xiao Ling'er waited until only a dozen or so breaths remained before she opened her furnace with great "difficulty," refining three Third Grade Core Condensation Pills.

It was truly very "difficult," but it was enough to enter the second round.

Afterward, she looked toward that "odd and goofy" alchemist, only to discover that he was still refining.

Moreover, his Alchemical Fire seemed to have gone out of control, and he was frantically trying to put it out!

Only on the final breath did he finally extinguish the Alchemical Fire, open the furnace, and retrieve the pills.

Two Core Condensation Pills... whether they were Second Grade or Third Grade was unclear. Xiao Ling'er's mouth twitched uncontrollably at the sight.

The halos around those pills were extremely unstable. Two halos were normal enough, but the third was actually flickering, blinking in and out...

It seemed as though it might light up, yet also as though it could go out at any moment.

In the end, it finally "stabilized," but it was clearly much dimmer than the other two halos.

"Playing the Pig to Eat the Tiger—wasn't he taking the act a little too far?"

Xiao Ling'er was utterly speechless. If Teacher had not warned me, he really would have fooled me!

Logically speaking, pretending to be like me should already be enough to avoid attention, shouldn't it? But him...?

Wasn't he being overly cautious?!

Hmm???

Wait, overly... cautious?!

"It sounds very familiar. It seems I heard about someone being this cautious somewhere recently?"

Yet no matter how she racked her brains, she could not recall where she had heard of such a cautious person. She could only give up.

At that moment, the Great Cultivator of the Dao Harmony Realm stepped onto the stage once more. "Those who advance, remain. Those eliminated, leave."

Those simple ten words instantly divided the million alchemists into two camps.

What Xiao Ling'er had not expected was that the first round alone eliminated nine out of every ten!

Fewer than a hundred thousand alchemists remained.

That "odd and goofy" fellow was among them.