The Undisputed First Place

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the camera on the big screen focused on Huang Xuan.

Huang Xuan took a breath. "I want to challenge the Winter Solstice Mixture. Organizers, give me the materials for a Tier 2, Level 7 Potion."

Bai Xiaowen's Winter Solstice Mixture is extremely pure. Even if Huang Xuan knew the formula and production process, it would be difficult for him to surpass Bai Xiaowen in purity. He would have to take the second path—to make a bottle of a higher-grade elixir!

Huang Xuan had never made a Tier 2 high-level potion before, and only knew one Tier 7 recipe. The success rate of forcibly making it was extremely slim.

However, Huang Xuan still wanted to try his best, even if there was only a one percent or one in a thousand chance of success. After all, it wasn't his own medicinal herbs, Huang Xuan didn't care.

The herbs needed for Tier 2, Level 7 Potion are generally very precious and would not be given to inexperienced Alchemist to try.

Yang Haogu sighed, "Huang Xuan, are you sure you want to force us to concoct Tier 2, Level 7 Potion?"

"That's right," Huang Xuan said with a sneer, "Does the wealthy and powerful Huaxia Pharmaceutical Development Commission really care about a single level 7 medicinal herb?"

Yang Haogu shook his head. "It's not a problem with the medicinal herbs... Never mind, I doubt you'll listen to anything I say now."

The staff took Huang Xuan to fetch the medicinal herbs.

After retrieving the medicinal herbs, Huang Xuan began to prepare Tier 2, Level 7 Potion.

However, Huang Xuan failed at just the fourth step of the pharmaceutical process; the beaker Burst.

Huang Xuan's face suddenly turned pale, and he collapsed to the ground, clutching his head and retching.

On the judges' panel, a blond, blue-eyed elderly man shook his head and spoke a string of English. Bai Xiaowen understood; the foreign master was saying, "It is not rational to force oneself to do things beyond one's capabilities."

Yang Haogu sighed, "Huang Xuan, it's fortunate that you failed at the very beginning of the process. If you had failed when the potion was almost finished, the backlash you suffered would have been much more severe."

When Yang Haogu uttered those words, he was punished by the Spirit Realm Rules, losing a sum of Psionic Points. Fortunately, the message was only classified as level 0, so the amount of Psionic Points deducted was not much.

Huang Xuan helped himself to his feet, supported by the pharmaceutical counter. He felt both ashamed and angry at having embarrassed himself on the international stage.

Huang Xuan lowered his head, his eyes fixed on Yang Haogu through his messy hair.

[Why didn't you say so earlier? You had to wait until I suffered the backlash before you told me... You clearly wanted to embarrass me!]

On the other side, Bai Xiaowen could vaguely guess Huang Xuan's thoughts from his expression.

"I finally understand why Master Yang only taught me level 2, level 6 potion making. It turns out making level 7 or higher potions is so dangerous. This Huang Xuan is a bit ungrateful. Master Yang isn't your biological father, why should he always put you first?"

"Next, please welcome contestant Bai Xiaowen to take on the challenge." Xia Ke's voice rang out, finally freeing Huang Xuan from his awkward situation. The focus of the arena shifted to Bai Xiaowen.

"I challenge White Radiance Potion. Also, please prepare a more accurate weighing instrument for me," Bai Xiaowen said.

Bai Xiaowen's request caused a murmur among the people present. Experienced Alchemist are very sensitive to weight itself and have no need for a weighing device at all—not that a weighing device is not as accurate as grasping by hand, but that in the process of making high-end potions, discretion changes in an instant, and there is simply no time to use a weighing device.

Over time, the weighing scale became a symbol of low-level apprenticeship...

But given the strength Bai Xiaowen demonstrated with his Winter Solstice Mixture, no one considered him a low-level apprentice anymore.

After obtaining the medicinal herbs, Bai Xiaowen activated his Insight, carefully weighing them and then meticulously cutting off small portions from each herb to calculate the proportions of their active ingredients.

This process was extremely time-consuming. It took Bai Xiaowen several minutes to accurately weigh the first medicinal herb— the Dreamleaf. He placed it in a small dish, carefully covered it, as if afraid of letting even a speck of dust fall in...

"Contestant Bai Xiaowen, you can have your assistant do the weighing of the medicinal herbs. Do you need any help from the staff?" Xia Ke, who had been left waiting for several minutes, asked Bai Xiaowen for his opinion.

As the host, Xia Ke felt very frustrated in this situation. When the Alchemist was making medicine, although he couldn't see the specific ingredients and steps, he could still make conversation, such as praising the contestant's composure, steady movements, and focused mind, while also casually mentioning the contestant's past achievements.

But Bai Xiaowen is out of the question. He has no past honors, so he can't exactly bring up his Hero Class achievements in the Alchemist Competition, can he?

Moreover, Bai Xiaowen isn't officially manufacturing medicine right now, so Xia Ke can't find anything to say. She can't very well exaggerate and say that when Bai Xiaowen is weighing medicinal herbs, his focused gaze, the slightly boyish downy hair on his lips, and his incredibly skillful surgical techniques are like fireflies in the night—so bright, so outstanding...

This is an international competition, not a nonsensical movie... Anyone can weigh medicinal herbs with a weighing scale; there's no point in trying to find something to praise.

"No need, thank you."

Bai Xiaowen began weighing the second batch of medicinal herbs, and Xia Ke, feeling frustrated by the rejection of his kind offer, felt a wave of resentment.

Fortunately, we are now at the most crucial moment of the entire match. Both the audience at the stadium and those watching on television are eagerly awaiting the result, and no one will leave midway.

"The medicinal herbs won't be needed for long anyway... It doesn't matter if I just ramble on a bit, it'll help me get through this period of inactivity," Xia Ke thought to herself.

The idea itself wasn't wrong, but what she didn't expect was that Bai Xiaowen took one hour and seventeen minutes to weigh the medicinal herbs...

Xia Ke was devastated. She wondered if Bai Xiaowen was deliberately dawdling and stalling for time.

Not only did she have this thought, but the audience felt the same way. Waiting itself isn't scary; what's scary is not knowing how long the wait will be. Many viewers in front of their televisions considered changing the channel and switching back later, but were afraid of missing the ending...

"I'm ready." Bai Xiaowen breathed a sigh of relief and raised his hand to signal. He wasn't deliberately delaying the time. Calculating the effective ingredients and adjusting the weight of the herbs bit by bit was extremely time-consuming, and the types of herbs in the second-tier formula were even more complex than those in the first-tier formula.

If Bai Xiaowen hadn't been familiar with this weighing and calculation method, and if his Super Brain hadn't been adept at calculation, it would have taken even longer.

Xia Ke also let out a long sigh of relief, "Alright, please begin your performance... Just a reminder, you only have forty-three minutes left."

Bai Xiaowen nodded slightly.

Huang Xuan had recovered from the backlash; after all, he was an Awakened, and an ordinary person would probably be dead. At this moment, his face was still a little pale, and he was a bit weak. His eyes were fixed on Bai Xiaowen's movements.

"Who exactly is this guy? Judging from the medicinal herbs he chose, he actually knows the recipe for White Radiance Potion!"

"Why did he spend so much time weighing the herbs before even starting the preparation? What's going on here...?"

"His preparation technique wasn't very skillful; it was clearly his first time... But why was every step so precise? Compared to my preparation process, it simplified many of the discretionary steps..."

As a high-end Alchemist, Huang Xuan certainly knew that the Alchemist's discretionary measures during the potion-making process were merely a "remedial" measure. No matter how excellent the remedial measure was, it was never as good as not having created redundant components in the first place.

The saying "the greatest truths are the simplest" perfectly illustrates this principle.

"Why is he so accurate in understanding the effective components of medicinal herbs?"

"Could it be that during the preparation stage, he was constantly observing the age and quality of the medicinal materials, calculating based on the amount of effective ingredients, and making corresponding adjustments?" Huang Xuan recalled Bai Xiaowen's delicate, surgical-like movements in cutting the medicinal materials.

The incredibly precise movements, down to the milligram, are unimaginable for Alchemist.

Huang Xuan wasn't the only one with this question; even the masters on the judging panel were whispering and discussing it. Their guesses were basically the same as Huang Xuan's.

"Yang, another pharmaceutical genius has emerged in China!"

"If the effective ingredients are indeed calculated based on the appearance of the medicinal materials, then this contestant Bai's observation and calculation abilities are undoubtedly top-notch. His actual operation seems a bit clumsy, indicating that this is his first time making White Radiance Potion, but his hand movements are very steady, indicating that his operational skills are not bad."

"I think his only deficiency is theoretical knowledge. After all, he is an Awakened who specializes in combat, and his time studying pharmaceuticals has been short. He probably has very limited time to spend on pharmaceutical theory."

Yang Haogu smiled but did not speak, nor did he mention the role played by Bai Xiaowen's Insight Talent.

However, Yang Haogu also knew that after this competition, Bai Xiaowen's detailed information would definitely be known to people in the potion industry, and it was possible that others would speculate on the role of the Insight Talent in potion making.

But this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Talented abilities are different from equipment-bearing abilities and even combat skills; they are innate talents that awakened individuals possess. Even if others know that Bai Xiaowen's Insight Talent allows him to see through the active ingredients of medicinal herbs, they won't belittle Bai Xiaowen's abilities in pharmacology because of this; they can only envy him.

Thanks to thorough preparation, Bai Xiaowen's pharmaceutical manufacturing process proceeded without any unexpected incidents.

Finally, the white light of the liquid subsided, and the White Radiance Potion, shimmering with a soft white glow, was successfully made!

Bai Xiaowen's White Radiance Potion was examined by several master judges. Ultimately, the masters reached a consensus.

"The purity of this potion is... 91%," Yang Haogu said. "It's hard to believe this is the work of a young Alchemist. Even if I made it myself, it would be difficult to exceed 90% purity, but Bai Xiaowen did it."

"An amazing pharmacology genius."

"His future is limitless; he has the potential to usher in a new era in pharmaceutics."

Several renowned masters from abroad nearby also spared no praise.

Huang Xuan's face darkened instantly. 91% purity, nearly ten percentage points higher than his own White Radiance Potion, was a huge difference that could not be explained by luck alone.

Xia Ke understood the masters' words and said with a smile, "Then, Bai Xiaowen's challenge is successful... He has earned 100 points."

"Now, it's time for the final settlement."

"Of the five potions, only Bai Xiaowen's Winter Solstice Mixture remained unbroken; the potions of the other four contestants were all successfully broken. Their scores will be halved, while Bai Xiaowen's score will be doubled."

"The final results will now be announced."

"Contestant number 1, Huang Xuan, 100 points."

"Contestant number 2, Bai Xiaowen, 400 points."

"Contestant number 3 Monica Gray, 50 points."

"Contestant number 4, Ebner Pétain, 100 points."

"Contestant number 5, Zhou Ziwang, 100 points."

"Due to the points distribution, Huang Xuan, Ebner Pétain, and Zhou Ziwang are tied, and their rankings will be decided by a public vote of the master judges. Bai Xiaowen, however, will undoubtedly win first place in this Alchemist Conference Youth Exhibition Match..."

Wow!

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause.

The vast majority of the audience in the venue were China, and naturally felt a strong sense of national pride in Bai Xiaowen, who was also China. Some Alchemist had initially been somewhat skeptical were also won over by Bai Xiaowen's outstanding performance and applauded in congratulations.

The inner field, the front stands.

"Yay!" Chen Guowei and Feng Zi'ang high-fived in celebration, and all the University Team of the Jinghai University team stood up excitedly, their palms almost red from clapping. Qiao Qi also stood up excitedly at the same time.

Qiao Rui smiled and clapped gently. Her smile was happy, but two tears slowly slid down her cheeks.

Click! A reporter snapped a photo of this moment.

Secretary Xu glanced at Qiao Xiangdong, quickly stood up, and walked towards the reporter.

Qiao Xiangdong turned his head, and his previously gloomy and stern expression softened to reveal an undisguised smile, "This Bai Xiaowen, you found him, right? Not bad, very good."

Qiao Qi was extremely proud. "I was the first one to find her! How about that, aren't I amazing?"

However, Qiao Xiangdong was looking at Qiao Rui. He had little trust in his good-for-nothing son. If it weren't for his niece Qiao Rui's strong recommendation, he wouldn't have made the decision without even meeting Bai Xiaowen Bai Xiaowen —who had missed the training course.

"Alright, sit down quickly... Si'er, what's wrong?" Qiao Xiangdong noticed the tears on Qiao Rui's face and was slightly taken aback.

"Ah, it's nothing." Qiao Rui wiped away her tears.

"Sister, you seem to treat Bai Xiaowen a little differently. You were like this when we first met, even trying to call him your brother. I, as his younger brother, wasn't happy about it." Qiao Qi remembered it very clearly.

"Qiao Qi, shut up!" Qiao Rui said angrily.

Qiao Xiangdong frowned, taking the matter to heart. Just then, Secretary Xu returned, and he said, "Wen Chuan, I'd like to see Bai Xiaowen. Please make the arrangements."

"Yes, Secretary Qiao." Secretary Xu Wenchuan nodded.

At this point, the masters on the judging panel, after discussion, also decided on the winners of second through fourth place.

Updates have been slow lately! Sorry!