I Want to Compete with You Again

Due to flaws in its formula, no one had ever successfully produced a White Rhino Gene Enhancer of Perfect Quality. Yet now, a Young Man who looked only around fifteen had accomplished it. Every pharmacist present wondered at the same moment whether they were dreaming.

Among the crowd, some troublemakers had recorded Gu Ding's entire refining process and secretly uploaded it for sharing on Medicine King Valley's unsecured network.

Although Sea Emperor saw the video immediately, he did nothing to stop it. He did not think it was necessary to tell Gu Ding about it either. In his view, the pursuit of fame and fortune was meaningless; only true strength was eternal. Once one became an expert at the level of a god, they could practically determine the rise and fall of an entire Universe Country alone. He had not intervened because Gu Ding currently lacked a great deal of resources. If a powerful faction chose to support him, his early development would proceed much more smoothly.

Gu Ding knew nothing of Sea Emperor's thoughts or the spread of the video.

This round of refining took Gu Ding more than twenty minutes, mainly because it was his first time using microscopic equipment and he needed time to adapt. Moreover, since it was his first time refining a Gene Serum, he did not dare relax in the slightest throughout the process. He would rather take it slowly and succeed than hasten the process out of competitiveness and ruin the serum.

Refining a White Rhino Enhancer of Perfect Quality on his first attempt was an unexpected surprise even to Gu Ding. His original goal had merely been to produce a qualified product with everything he had. During the process, he had been afraid that even the slightest mistake would turn the serum into a defective product.

Seeing the color of the serum in Gu Ding's hand, Sa Ze could not help but feel emotional. The fact that his opponent could refine a White Rhino Enhancer of Perfect Quality meant that he possessed the correct formula. If Sa Ze had the correct formula as well, perhaps he too would have had a certain chance of refining a White Rhino Enhancer of Perfect Quality.

But what concerned Sa Ze even more was that his opponent seemed to be younger than him. Furthermore, judging from what had just happened, the other party appeared never to have used microscopic equipment before and was refining a White Rhino Enhancer for the first time. Perfect Quality on the first try?! Sa Ze suspected it was luck. Yet he had watched the entire process. Though slow, Gu Ding's refining technique had been terrifyingly steady, and the process was nearly flawless. Sa Ze vaguely felt that Gu Ding's White Rhino Enhancer of Perfect Quality had not been a coincidence.

After finishing the serum, Gu Ding stood motionless and carefully replayed the entire refining process in his mind. Aside from being somewhat slow at the beginning, he found no mistakes elsewhere. If he refined it a second time, he was confident he could keep the time under twelve minutes. However, to finish in under ten minutes like Sa Ze, he would probably need more than ten practice runs.

Of course, refining a White Rhino Enhancer of Perfect Quality meant that Gu Ding had won the challenge. But he was not satisfied with the result. This had not been a fair contest. He had received the complete formula, while Sa Ze had used a flawed one. Gu Ding had watched Sa Ze's refining process earlier as well. If Sa Ze had been more careful, slowed his refining speed, and obtained the complete formula, he would also have had a certain chance of refining a White Rhino Enhancer of Perfect Quality.

Seeing Gu Ding look over, Sa Ze smiled helplessly and nodded. "I lost this round."

"This round doesn't count. The formula I have is complete, but yours is flawed." Gu Ding shook his head, then grinned. "Let's compete again!"

Sa Ze had not expected Gu Ding to want another match. Over the years, he had followed his teacher to many places and met many pharmacists. Usually, the winner would never agree to a second match. Hearing Gu Ding propose another round, delight immediately rose in his heart.

The White Rhino Enhancer's formula itself was flawed, and it was not even the serum Sa Ze was best at refining. He truly had been unwilling to accept his defeat in the previous round. For one thing, he was not certain whether Gu Ding had merely gotten lucky in refining a Perfect Quality serum. For another, he had not actually displayed his full strength.

"The serum I'm best at refining is the Swift Wing Enhancer. I have roughly an eight percent chance of producing one of Perfect Quality," Sa Ze said. "I noticed your refining process just now, and it seems you have only recently started using microscopic equipment. So this time, we won't compete in speed. We'll compare the overall quality of the serums we refine. Since this is the serum I'm most skilled at, I'm more familiar with the refining process. I'll refine twenty bottles, while you may refine twenty-five. Choose the best twenty from yours and compare them against the serums I refine. What do you think?"

"I don't agree." Gu Ding shook his head.

Sa Ze froze. He had suggested that Gu Ding refine five extra bottles because refining Swift Wing Enhancers was more advantageous for him, and he wanted to let the other party select the best ones for comparison. If Gu Ding truly was a monstrously talented pharmacist with talent comparable to his own, then he would need at most two or three bottles to get a feel for the process. Offering him five additional bottles was simply meant to keep him from being disadvantaged.

"Then how do you want to compete?" Sa Ze frowned slightly. He had thought his proposal was fair, but Gu Ding, who had taken the initiative to propose another match, had rejected it.

"Twenty bottles each is enough. I don't need five extra bottles," Gu Ding stated his objection. In his view, since the other party had already proposed no time limit and said they would only compare the overall quality of the final twenty serums, there was no need for him to rush. Familiarizing himself with the entire process during the first bottle would be enough. Moreover, although the Swift Wing Enhancer was also a Gene Serum, it was not as difficult to refine as the White Rhino Enhancer. Since he could refine the White Rhino Enhancer to Perfect Quality, then as long as he made no operational mistakes and remained careful, refining a Swift Wing Enhancer of Perfect Quality should not be difficult.

Many of the watching pharmacists felt that Gu Ding was being overly arrogant. Sa Ze had already admitted that he was extremely familiar with this serum and had an eight percent chance of refining one of Perfect Quality. That probability already exceeded the rate at which ordinary C-rank Gene Serum pharmacists could produce Perfect Quality products, proving that Sa Ze possessed monstrous talent in serum refinement.

By comparison, Gu Ding was a newcomer who had only just started using microscopic equipment and needed more than twenty minutes to refine a single bottle. No matter how they looked at it, his previous refinement of a White Rhino Enhancer of Perfect Quality seemed to contain an element of luck. Many other pharmacists believed such a miracle would not happen a second time. The Tianhe Star Region probably still could not escape the fate of being swept aside by Sa Ze's victory.

"Suit yourself. I'm giving you the chance to refine five extra bottles. Whether you use it or not is your choice. I won't interfere or force you," Sa Ze said. He thought the previous victory might have come too easily and caused Gu Ding's confidence to swell excessively. Secretly, he resolved to suppress the other party's arrogant spirit.

But Gu Ding was not being arrogant at all. He simply felt there was no need to refine more. "Then let's begin!"

(Ah, I'm late again. I'm sorry, everyone... How do I deal with writer's block? At least it's not past midnight yet. Please give me some recommendation votes to comfort me.)

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