The Final Showdown Between Two People

Ebna challenges Monica.

The reason was simple: he only recognized Monica's Greater Volcano Potion, while the other three potions... he didn't recognize any of them!

The first choice, of course, should be the one you're most confident about.

On the judging panel, after several masters had examined Monica's potion, the host, Master Yang Haogu, spoke:

"This is Greater Volcano Potion, grade 2, level 4, belonging to the combat potion category. Drinking it will amplify fire damage. The judges have unanimously determined the purity of this potion to be 88%."

Yang Haogu paused, then continued, "Ebna Betain, the potion you made in the finals wasn't of a higher grade than Greater Volcano Potion. Therefore, you need to prepare another one, one with a purity exceeding 88% or a grade exceeding Tier 2, Level 4."

Ebna nodded. "I've decided to make a Greater Volcano Potion. However, I didn't bring enough ingredients."

The beautiful host, Xia Ke, quickly stepped forward and said, "I apologize, I may not have explained it clearly before. The organizers can provide the medicinal materials that the contestants lack in the points challenge. However, the finished medicine will belong to the organizers, and of course, the organizers will pay the corresponding production costs."

Ebner didn't care who got the potion; what he wanted was fame and fortune.

Ebna followed the staff to retrieve the medicinal herbs, and within 10 minutes, the missing herbs were obtained. He then began the preparation.

It must be said that the first challenger had a significant advantage; Ebna successfully crafted a bottle of Greater Volcano Potion with 91% purity, surpassing Monica. His score jumped to 200 points.

Monica, who was next to go up, was a little annoyed. Her potion had been broken, which meant that her score would be halved in the final settlement, almost certainly eliminating her chances of winning first place. She would have to make up for the lost points, otherwise she would likely end up at the bottom.

Monica retaliates by challenging Ebner Pétain's Dragon Breath Mixture.

Unfortunately, the challenge failed. Ebna's Dragon Breath Mixture had a purity of 86%, while Monica's result was only 74%, not even reaching the level of a good product.

Ebna deliberately chose the relatively uncommon Dragon Breath Mixture, which many Tier 2 Alchemist wouldn't be able to make.

Next up is Zhou Ziwang, the bookworm.

"I choose number 4, Dragon Breath Mixture."

The judges exchanged glances, and finally, it was Master Yang Haogu who spoke:

"Your ' Iron Wall ' combat potion is already of a higher level than a Tier 2, Level 4 Dragon Breath Mixture. Therefore, you have won this challenge outright."

Applause erupted from the stands. Master Yang's comment meant that Zhou Ziwang's Iron Wall Potion was at least Tier 2, Level 5.

Zhou Ziwang's points have also increased to 200.

Huang Xuan was next.

At this point, including Huang Xuan's own potion, there were still three potions left on the field that had not been destroyed.

Huang Xuan narrowed his eyes. He had been carefully examining the potion Bai Xiaowen had made, but he still couldn't recognize its name.

"Did Teacher Yang teach him an extremely obscure Tier 2 formula on short notice, and the kid learned it in just a few days? Although it seems like a fantasy, we can't take the risk! Anyway, although I don't know the specific preparation process of Zhou Ziwang's Iron Wall Potion, I've heard of its grade, which happens to be Tier 2, Level 5... My White Radiance Potion will definitely succeed in the challenge!"

Huang Xuan decided to play it safe and get 100 points first.

His choice to play it safe was absolutely correct. Yang Haogu calmly gave the verdict of "pass directly," and said with some emotion, "Huang Xuan, your progress is indeed astonishingly fast."

Master Yang had something else he didn't say: Zhou Ziwang, the bookworm, was already a young Alchemist who was progressing very quickly. He could make level 2, grade 5 potions, which was a breakthrough from his previous achievements. Originally, Zhou Ziwang was a young Alchemist at the same level as Ebna and Monica, but now he had surpassed the latter two.

Unexpectedly, Huang Xuan also made a breakthrough, once again surpassing Zhou Ziwang.

Huang Xuan sneered at Yang Haogu's sentiments, feeling a secret sense of triumph while a sense of revenge gradually spread through his heart.

It's too late to appease me now. Once I get first place, I'll tear off the hypocritical mask of the Huaxia Pharmaceutical Development Commission and slap Qiao Xiangdong twice across the face—that shameless old bureaucrat!

With this in mind, Huang Xuan did not respond positively to Yang Haogu's words. After a cold laugh, he gave a perfunctory thank you, not forgetting to sarcastically remark to Yang Haogu, "I have to thank you for your 'guidance' to get me to where I am today."

Bai Xiaowen watched this scene, and the casual conversation between Yang Haogu and him came back to mind.

"Huang Xuan must also harbor resentment towards me."

"The reason is quite simple. He always felt he had been oppressed and that I hadn't stood up for him..."

"Don't find it unbelievable. Although Huang Xuan is very talented, he ultimately has very low emotional intelligence and can't handle being wronged... Actually, from an outsider's perspective, the little grievance he suffered wasn't serious. Who can live a life without some ups and downs? However, his decision to directly immigrate to Japan and renounce his Huaxia Country was too willful, and this matter is now difficult to undo..."

Xia Ke's sweet, cloying voice interrupted Bai Xiaowen's recollection.

"Now, Bai Xiaowen will take on the challenge. There is still one unsolved White Radiance Potion, made by contestant number 1 Huang Xuan, and another unknown potion made by contestant number 2 Bai Xiaowen herself. Both are available for challenge. According to the rules, Bai Xiaowen can only choose Huang Xuan's White Radiance Potion as her challenge target."

Those around Bai Xiaowen looked at him with a hint of pity, while only a few sour-smelling Alchemist gloated. "Serves you right for postponing your challenge to show off, now you have no choice, do you?"

After Master Yang announced that Huang Xuan had directly defeated the level 5 Iron Wall Potion of Tier 2, everyone knew the rules: Huang Xuan's White Radiance Potion was at least level 6 of Tier 2.

Every three levels is considered a hurdle for potions. Among the ten sub-levels of Tier 2 potions, levels 4-6 belong to Tier 2 intermediate potions. Above that, they fall into the category of Tier 2 advanced potions, with a significant increase in crafting difficulty and complexity.

Unless Bai Xiaowen can create a Tier 2, Level 7 high-grade potion, he would have to create White Radiance Potion with a purity higher than Huang Xuan's to win. Both of these options seem incredibly difficult, especially for a novice Alchemist with less than a year of experience...

"Can I postpone the challenge again?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

At this moment, Bai Xiaowen was mentally rehearsing and improving the preparation steps of White Radiance Potion. He had already made minor adjustments to the medicinal ingredients for Huang Xuan, resulting in a more reasonable ratio.

However, under such reasonable medicinal material ratios, Bai Xiaowen's and Huang Xuan's pharmaceutical manufacturing processes will obviously differ, and those redundant discretionary operations can be eliminated.

Bai Xiaowen needs some more time.

"Postponed again?" Xia Ke was slightly taken aback. After going through the rules in her mind, she smiled and said:

"Okay, I haven't encountered this kind of request before, but it's within the rules. Next, the other Alchemist will continue to challenge the two remaining potions on the field. If these two potions are also defeated, Bai Xiaowen will face a situation where there are no more potions to challenge, and the match will automatically end and the final settlement will begin. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Bai Xiaowen was not worried. He had confidence in the potions he made, and he also had confidence in the potions Huang Xuan made.

Europa League player Ebner took on the challenge again, shrugged, and chose the unknown potion made by Bai Xiaowen.

He certainly wouldn't choose Huang Xuan's White Radiance Potion; that's a Tier 2, Level 6 potion! Running into it would be tantamount to suicide.

However, the next second, equally devastating news arrived: Master Yang Haogu spoke:

"You have chosen Winter Solstice Mixture, Grade 2, Level 6, a permanent enhancement potion that, upon consumption, permanently increases your Expert Tier Ice Spell Mastery by 3 points. The purity of this Winter Solstice Mixture is... 89%."

"WHAT?" Ebner repeated incredulously, "Tier 2, Level 6? 89% purity? A newbie?"

This can be seen in the "staring blank" Shiba Inu meme.

Seeing Yang Haogu and the other judges nod in agreement, Ebner-Bétain finally understood.

It turns out that out of the five, this kid is the most ruthless... He's really hiding his true strength.

Why did this kid keep giving up on challenges? With his Tier 2, Level 6 potion, he could easily Overwhelming Crush everyone except Huang Xuan! He could at least grab 100 points first!

Ebna couldn't understand Bai Xiaowen's thought process at all.

"Would you like to continue the challenge, Ebner-Bétain?" Host Xia Ke quickly recovered from her astonishment.

Xia Ke secretly glanced at Bai Xiaowen.

"Uh... sorry to bother you. I'm giving up the challenge..."

Next up, the beautiful Alchemist Monica also gave up the challenge.

These two are only capable of crafting Tier 2, Level 4 potions. Their skill level is insufficient for creating potions of a higher tier, with a very high failure rate... let alone attempting to advance two levels at once.

After Monica, it was Zhou Ziwang.

"I want to challenge number one, White Radiance Potion."

Huang Xuan narrowed his eyes. It was only natural that Zhou Ziwang to challenge him.

This bookworm knew the obscure formula and preparation steps of White Radiance Potion, which didn't surprise Huang Xuan.

Knowing the recipe is one thing, but actually being able to make it is another. Even when cooking according to a recipe, there are always culinary disasters and Flash dishes, let alone potion making, which is a hundred times more complicated. Without strong preparation skills, the chances of failure are extremely high.

Huang Xuan's current concern is not Zhou Ziwang, but Bai Xiaowen —to be honest, Bai Xiaowen's creation of a Tier 2, Level 6 Winter Solstice Mixture, and with such high purity, completely exceeded his expectations.

How to break through Bai Xiaowen's Winter Solstice Mixture?

Impossible. Huang Xuan simply cannot produce a Tier 2, Level 7 high-grade potion, so there's no way he can win in terms of level. As for winning in terms of purity? Huang Xuan doesn't even know the recipe for Winter Solstice Mixture, let alone the specific production process.

Meanwhile, Zhou Ziwang, led by staff, briefly disappeared from the venue and reappeared about ten minutes later, having retrieved the medicinal materials for making White Radiance Potion.

The bookworm was indeed erudite; even the uncommon White Radiance Potion was made by him with great skill and precision.

Bai Xiaowen had finished his mental deduction of White Radiance Potion. Seeing Zhou Ziwang challenge White Radiance Potion, he became interested and began to observe carefully.

It should be noted that this time, when Bai Xiaowen looked at Zhou Ziwang's workbench, there was no longer the light of the Spirit Realm Rules obscuring his view, because Bai Xiaowen had already learned the entire process of making White Radiance Potion.

"The composition of the materials used is acceptable, with not much redundancy."

"In actual operation... he's clearly a step behind Huang Xuan; he lacks that smoothness, and he's accumulated some problems in handling certain small steps."

In pharmaceutical preparation, if there aren't too many minor issues, the formulation can still be successfully completed, albeit with lower purity. However, if too many issues accumulate, it will lead to pharmaceutical failure.

"The distilled water added in this step was about 15 milliliters too much... That's really going too far. Zhou Ziwang's calculation ability is indeed weaker than Huang Xuan's, which results in his discretionary power being inferior to Huang Xuan's..."

"Oh no, the juice concentration of the White Jade Tree Fruit is not high enough. We should adjust the heat to medium and heat it for another 4-5 seconds... Why did Zhou Ziwang start adding the Dreamleaf extract directly? This is bad."

Just as this thought flashed through Bai Xiaowen's mind, Zhou Ziwang's beaker began to shake violently.

The concentration of the White Jade Tree Fruit was insufficient, which conflicted with the extract of Dreamleaf. The entire unfinished reagent was bubbling and bubbling, with a large amount of foam overflowing.

Pop!

With a crisp crack, the beaker shattered into pieces.

Pharmaceutical failure!

Zhou Ziwang's face was calm, appearing blank and expressionless. He turned his head and raised his hand to signal to the judges. "I lost."

Yang Haogu said gently, "It's okay if the drug manufacturing failed. Go and rest for a while, think carefully about where you went wrong, and do a post-mortem analysis."

"Yes, teacher."

Zhou Ziwang left, only scattered applause followed.

Even those in the audience who are not pharmacists can clearly see the current situation.

Currently, Europa League players Ebna Pétain, Zhou Ziwang, and Huang Xuan all have 200 points. Monica and Bai Xiaowen both have 100 points.

Although Ebna and Zhou Ziwang had the same score as Huang Xuan, their potions had been broken, so their final scores were halved and could be considered as 100 points.

Now, surprisingly, Huang Xuan, who has naturalized in Japan, is in the lead.

Unbeknownst to many, the audience has already noticed a problem... The only one who can now rival Huang Xuan for first place is Bai Xiaowen, a newcomer to the pharmaceutical industry who has been in the business for less than a year.

Now it's a decisive battle between the two.

Huang Xuan will take the challenge first. If he succeeds in defeating Bai Xiaowen's Winter Solstice Mixture, he will directly secure first place.

Even if Huang Xuan fails the challenge, it doesn't matter. As long as Bai Xiaowen can't break through his White Radiance Potion, he will still be number one.

It seems that Huang Xuan's victory is a foregone conclusion.

In conclusion, the ending will only be rewritten if Huang Xuan fails in his challenge while Bai Xiaowen succeeds!

A tense atmosphere quietly permeated the venue.