Two Dark Horses Appear Together

When Otto saw Xiao Yan come out, his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died—no, it was relieved.

Otherwise, if one of the two people I recommended fails the initial test, it would be incredibly embarrassing.

Then, analyst Liu Ling gave Little Princess Yao Yue thorough analysis.

With Xiao Tian's strength, he naturally heard the previous analysis of himself, and he also heard the current analysis of Xiao Yan.

I just don't know if Yao Yue will still believe his analysis after being slapped in the face twice at the same time, or even worse.

"Tian Ge, what's wrong?"

Standing beside Xiao Yan Xiao Tian, Xiao Yan noticed a fleeting, barely suppressed smile on Xiao Tian's face.

"Gibberish." Xiao Tian used his Soul Power to briefly recount the whole incident to Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan's expression remained calm upon hearing this, but the occasional smile in his eyes betrayed his true feelings.

"Now that the results are out, let's begin the testing."

Mitchell stepped forward and lifted a black cloth covering a section of the platform, revealing a very sophisticated-looking machine.

"You place the refined medicinal materials one by one into the groove of the machine, and it will automatically detect them. The results will be displayed directly on the screen, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, 1 being the lowest, and 4 being the passing grade."

The Second Grade Alchemist closest to the machine gritted his teeth, placed the Jade Bottle into the slot, and said, "Vice President Mitchell, my abilities are limited; I only refined it three times."

The screen flashed several times before finally displaying a large number five.

Five points, passing grade.

"Next."

Three points, failing grade.

As time passed, everyone before her had finished their tests, and it was Liu Ling's turn. Before leaving, she gave Xiao Yan a provocative look.

"My abilities are limited; I only refined it six times."

After saying this, Liu Ling carefully placed the Jade Bottle into the groove.

"Seven points, congratulations, you passed." Mitchell smiled slightly and gave him an approving look.

"Truly a worthy disciple of Gu He, surpassing his master indeed."

An elderly couple also kept praising it, giving Gu He face.

Next up was the Little Princess, who had undergone five refinements, 0.5 points less than Liu Ling.

"Ahem, it's your turn, you two." Mitchell coughed a few times to remind the two who were almost asleep standing up.

Xiao Tian stepped forward, determined to be the first to show off, and shielded Xiao Yan in front of him as he was about to be attacked.

"How many times did you refine it?" Mitchell had a good impression of Xiao Tian and asked with a smile.

"I don't know how many times, but it should be around ten."

Xiao Tian didn't really know how many times he had refined it. It was mainly because the repetitive refining was quite boring and not difficult. So he just kept thinking about other things while refining.

The entire hall fell into an eerie silence.

"What an idiot! How can you just report something like that? We'll see how you get out of this mess later." Liu Ling snapped out of her daze, remembering how this guy had stolen her thunder earlier, and sneered.

Even a Third Grade Alchemist wants to refine it ten times, while his own teacher can only refine it ten times at a time.

What a ridiculous guy.

Xiao Tian ignored it and placed the Jade Bottle directly into the groove. Instantly, the screen shone brightly with golden light, and finally the screen froze, displaying a dazzling golden "+" symbol.

Liu Ling's sneer instantly froze on her face. The clown was herself.

"Very."

Looking at the golden words, Mitchell felt as if his heart was being squeezed, making it hard to breathe.

It's remarkable that someone under twenty years old could refine Black Iron Spirit Leaf to this extent; even Gu He couldn't do that.

"I've gotten old, I misjudged you. It seems you're the biggest Dark Horse this year. I'm really looking forward to your performance later on."

Mitchell chuckled as he sized up Xiao Tian.

"Vice President Mitchell is still going strong, he's not old at all."

Xiao Tian smiled slightly.

"Haha... Young Friend Xiao Tian is indeed extraordinary."

Xiao Tian calmly returned to his original position, not even glancing at Liu Ling. Liu Ling stared at the machine with a gloomy expression, her fist clenched tightly inside her sleeve. Although it seemed like they were only three points apart, that three-point difference felt like an insurmountable chasm.

When it was Xiao Yan's turn, he finally scored nine points.

The entire hall was completely silent. The shock brought by Xiao Yan was no less than that brought by Xiao Tian, because Xian Yan's identity was second-rank.

"How can this guy be so good at hiding things?" The Little Princess first turned to look at Liu Ling, and because of her analysis, she actually believed it, causing her to miss a good opportunity to befriend her.

"Impossible! I don't believe it! This can't be true!"

Xiao Yan's nine-tenths blow left Liu Ling devastated and heartbroken.

The other people's expressions varied, but most of them were quite unpleasant.

The surrounding elders couldn't help but shake their heads; Gu He's disciple didn't seem to be as extraordinary as the legends suggested.

As if struck by a sudden thought, Liu Ling's expression improved considerably.

"Old Ao, you have a sharp eye! You've got two such promising talents on your side."

Mitchell patted Otto on the shoulder and said approvingly.

He then delivered a passionate speech. Under Mitchell's patriotic rhetoric about bringing glory to the Jia Ma Empire, the young Alchemist around him were all filled with enthusiasm, their faces flushed with excitement, and some even wanted to compete with people from other countries right then and there.

Mitchell turned to look at Xiao Tian and Xiao Yan, whose expressions remained calm, his eyes narrowing slightly, his regard for the two growing even stronger.

"Results of this test: Xiao Tian first, Yan Xiao second, Liu Ling third, Yao Yue fourth. All others who scored four or above passed."

"That concludes today's testing. Tomorrow is the official start of the Alchemist Convention, so don't lose your qualification for being late, or you'll have to wait another eight years."

As always, Liu Ling bombarded Xiao Yan, her rival in love, with a barrage of questions.

Xiao Yan ignored him and simply followed Xiao Tian outside, leaving Liu Ling there in a helpless rage.

"Master Otto, what are you trying to say by staring at us like that?"

Xiao Tian noticed that Otto's gaze kept lingering on the two of them.

"The guild wants me to find out about your master's identity."

"My teacher has retired to a secluded life and warned me not to reveal his identity to avoid being disturbed."

Xiao Tian casually made up a reason.

Xiao Yan nodded silently.

"I'm just going through the motions. Anyway, you guys are the hope of our Black Rock City Guild now."

Otto had originally planned to just give them a perfunctory answer. This was the hope of his guild, and he couldn't afford to ruin things over such a small matter. Asking for clarification wouldn't do him any good either.

"Master Otto, please help me handle my identity issue. If my identity is exposed, I might not be able to continue participating in the competition, and it might even implicate Tian Ge."

Xiao Yan felt that Xiao Tian was very strong, but the Misty Cloud Sect had Dou Emperor, so he couldn't let his own affairs implicate Xiao Tian.

"That serious?" Master Otto's expression turned grave. After a moment's thought, he said, "I'll help you conceal your identity. Just focus on the competition. I'll handle the rest."

"Master Otto."

Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and bowed gratefully to Otto.

"You guys are some of the strongest seeded players I've found with great difficulty, and this might be my peak performance yet. We're all in this together now, sharing both glory and loss."

Otto waved his hand, indicating that it was his duty.

"Otto, how did the competition go? Did it pass?"

At the fork in the road, Xiao Tian and his two companions encountered Fu Ke Lan and his two companions.

"Luckily, we passed."