"The finals will last one hour. Each person will refine the pill they are best at. Standard assessment criteria."
From the judges' stand, Dong Ling announced the final rule.
The contestants on the field breathed a sigh of relief.
Finally, something normal! At long last, the competition had returned to the most fundamental test of an alchemist.
And the standard criteria were nothing more than this: whoever produced the highest-grade, highest-quality pill would take the championship.
Time would not be counted.
"It's over. No way to pull any tricks now..."
Among the ten, Xu Xiaoshou was the only one who found that regrettable.
He had probably been hoping to make one last push if the rules allowed it, but the finals format had snuffed out that hope.
With normal alchemy, he could only win normally.
"What are you refining?"
Before entering the array, Xu Xiaoshou asked Yu Chuchu.
If Young Lady Yu had retained even a little competitive spirit before the competition began, she had no delusions left now.
"A sixth-grade Grandmaster Pill," she replied listlessly, not caring whether Young Master Xu's advance knowledge of what she was refining would let him prepare a countermeasure.
"Grandmaster Pills are certainly good, but I'm afraid they won't be enough for a strong result..."
As he spoke, Xu Xiaoshou looked toward the others.
Only ten people remained on the field, yet six of them were sixth-grade grandmasters! One could well imagine how many geniuses from the Five Domains had come to this Alchemy Convention.
Yu Chuchu shrugged indifferently. "I wasn't that impressive to begin with. Switching pills at the last minute is too risky. If I can produce a top-grade Grandmaster Pill, it'll still be more than enough to beat the others' high-grade pills."
Xu Xiaoshou understood.
So Yu Chuchu had specialized in