Progress 100%! The Awesome Pharmacist

Under the gaze of the masses, Chen Rui looked at the vial in his hand, walked over to Master Aldas, let the master sniff it, and after receiving a few whispered instructions, he clumsily concocted an antidote. He drank it first, then gritted his teeth and downed the poison from Sandru's vial.

One second, two seconds... a minute, two minutes passed, and the human still hadn't collapsed. Instead, he looked pleasantly surprised, as if the antidote suggested by Master Aldas had worked. The audience erupted into cheers; no matter what, at least they had saved face for Darkmoon City. Only those who had bet on the human dying of poison wore bitter expressions.

Chen Rui was naturally surprised, because the Super System's startup progress, which had been struggling to advance, had finally begun to climb: 91.5%!

The effect was quite good; it had actually jumped by 1.5% despite the progress being so high already!

The two master judges looked at the unscathed Chen Rui in astonishment, then turned their gazes toward Sandru. Sandru was greatly taken aback; he hadn't expected Aldas to be so formidable, analyzing the components of the poison just by sniffing it.

"Hmph, just a stroke of luck." Sandru's surprise lasted only a few seconds before he immediately began concocting again. The previous round was merely a probe, and since the human apprentice was clearly a novice, he didn't need to worry about speed and could focus on brewing a complex poison.

Ten minutes later, Sandru's new concoction was ready, while Chen Rui had barely managed to mix a portion of his formula. Even the laymen in the audience could tell from Aldas's anxious expression that the situation was dire.

Just like the first time, Chen Rui nervously accepted the potion, received Aldas's analysis and guidance, drank the prepared antidote first, and then downed Sandru's poison.

The result once again left the genius pharmacist and the masters stunned. After some time had passed, the human was still lively and kicking. Amidst the roaring cheers of the audience, the system's startup progress had reached 94%.

Chen Rui struggled to hide the excitement in his heart: Let the storm rage even harder!

To provoke Sandru's desire to win, during the third test, Chen Rui put on a pained expression, clutched his stomach, and slowly sank to the ground. His body trembled slightly, and with a subtle and delicate performance, he had the audience on the edge of their seats—even Athena couldn't help but stand up in worry.

Under the focus of everyone's gaze, the human wobbled back to his feet, stumbled a few steps, and finally steadied himself. He panted as he walked toward the table, looking like a man who had narrowly escaped death.

Athena and the crowd cheered together, but only the little loli on the side calmly shook her head: To use that human's own fresh terminology, this kind of acting lacks depth; it's at best 'extra' level. If this Princess were to take the stage, I would at least earn a Best Nomination from that Oscar...

"This is impossible!" Sandru shouted through gritted teeth, his face full of disbelief.

He had worn the halo of a genius for nearly a hundred years. When he first made a name for himself in the empire, that down-and-out Dark Elf didn't even know where he was apprenticing. If not for his vow regarding the new poison, he would have become a master long ago; even those master pharmacists held him in high regard.

How could a mediocre person who only managed to pass the master examination through the support and funding of the eldest princess possibly crack a new, highly toxic poison that he, a master-level genius, had spent years secretly perfecting!

As everyone knew, creating an antidote was far more difficult than creating a poison, and under these circumstances, one was also restricted by time and materials. Could it be that someone had leaked his secret, years-in-the-making new poison to Aldas in advance, allowing the other party to research an antidote? This hypothesis was clearly impossible.

Like many cities in the Demon Realm, the residents of the Darkmoon Territory had a strong sense of regional identity. Even though Chen Rui was a human and was also viewed with hostility, in the eyes of the current audience, this apprentice represented Darkmoon, while those people from the Imperial Capital were the outsiders. Thus, they began to jeer at Sandru.

"With that weak constitution, you still want to challenge Master Aldas!"

"That so-called genius can't even beat our weakest apprentice in Darkmoon. Go back to the Imperial Capital and drink your mother's milk!"

"I think the poison he brewed couldn't even kill a worm. If it were me up there, it would definitely be easier than that human!"

"..."

Having worn the halo of the number one genius for years, Sandru had never suffered such contempt and was so angry his face turned blue. The most powerful retort now was to poison that human until not even his bones remained, which would finally shut those damn spectators up.

Sandru took a deep breath, his arrogance fading as he finally calmed his mind. Since this Aldas was a master hiding his true strength, he should also go all out, unleash his full power, and defeat his opponent.

This time, Sandru intended to brew his greatest achievement from these past years: the Soul-Devouring Poison. After its successful development, he had tested this poison on a naturally venomous Wyvern, and even the Wyvern had been unable to withstand the toxicity and died. The difficulty of brewing the Soul-Devouring Poison was extremely high; even at Sandru's current level, there was a certain chance of failure, accompanied by great danger, but Sandru could no longer care about that. He wanted to prove to everyone that he, Sandru, was the most outstanding genius pharmacist, and all other geniuses were merely stepping stones beneath his feet!

The way Sandru was panting earlier made Chen Rui worry that this guy might suddenly have a heart attack, or perhaps, like Aldas back then, trigger a "suicidal" explosion. Now, the Super System's progress had reached 98%, just a tiny bit more to go... Brother Sandru, the revolution is not yet successful, comrade, you must keep working hard. You have to hold on!

If Sandru knew that Chen Rui was still cheering him on in his mind, he would surely be moved to the point of vomiting blood from all seven orifices, but at this moment, the Servant Demon was fully focused on the blending and fusion of the potion. One had to admit that this Servant Demon, who should have been proficient in magic, truly possessed extraordinary talent as a pharmacist. Once he entered the zone, his agitation and anger gradually subsided, leaving only focus.

Master Kamp fixed his gaze on Chen Rui, keenly sensing that something was wrong, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly what the problem was.

Ever since Sandru's poison failed for the second time, Master Kamp had begun to pay attention to the human apprentice's actions. Judging by the clumsy movements and unskilled techniques, this Chen Rui was definitely a novice. The "poison" he was slowly concocting seemed to be nothing more than a few basic formulas, which couldn't possibly be used in a life-or-death duel of this level. And the "antidote" this guy brewed was even more chaotic and illogical—some of it was even poisonous. He really didn't know what kind of guidance Aldas was giving, yet it somehow managed to neutralize Sandru's deadly toxins!

Just as Master Kamp was left completely baffled, Sandru finally finished brewing the Soul-Devouring Poison. The genius pharmacist, his fighting spirit ignited, performed perfectly this time, succeeding on the first attempt.

Sandru carefully cradled the potion in his hands, feeling the powerful confidence of a genius return to him. He was convinced that even if a true dragon were to drink this bottle of potion completely, it would be impossible to remain unaffected!

It was just that Sandru seemed to have forgotten that there was a type of dragon that was the very "ancestor" of all toxins. Although the Soul-Devouring Poison was powerful, it was still far from reaching that height—and besides, even the terrifying toxicity of that kind of dragon couldn't do anything to a certain rookie apprentice!

When Chen Rui took the potion and followed the script to approach Aldas again, Sandru spoke up: "Wait!"

"Before the two of you die, I have something to say." Sandru looked at Aldas and Chen Rui with a sinister expression. "Aldas, I know you aren't injured! The only reason you let this apprentice take the stage is because you are jealous of my talent and want to humiliate me in public!"

Sandru used a magic echo, and his voice resounded throughout the entire arena. The surroundings suddenly went quiet.

"Aldas, first of all, I must admit that you are an underestimated genius. You used an apprentice to crack my first two deadly poisons. With your talent, you shouldn't be staying in this poor, ugly little town! It's a pity you are so stupid that you actually rejected the invitations of the two masters and the good intentions of the Regent. Therefore, you have only one path today: death!"

These words were already extremely arrogant, completely disregarding the presence of the eldest princess, Shea. The audience, hearing Sandru show such contempt for Darkmoon City, all revealed expressions of anger.

Joseph narrowed his eyes slightly. Sandru coming to Darkmoon City to challenge them was indeed under the instruction of Regent Kamp. It was not only to drive away and eliminate Aldas but also to send a warning to that eldest princess. It seemed that Princess Shea's movements over the years had gradually attracted the attention of the Regent. Regent Kamp needed a piece of livestock that could be slaughtered at will, not a beast that might bite back at any moment!

Joseph's gaze secretly shifted to Shea's face. The eldest princess did not show any anger or panic; like eternal, unmeltable ice, she continued to watch the stage quietly.

"Your death alone is not enough to repay the humiliation you've caused me. I want everyone close to you to suffer unimaginable pain!" Sandru's tone was incredibly chilling. "Aldas, you should drink this bottle of Soul-Devouring Poison yourself. I will spare your apprentice's life, but I will have him castrated and then gifted to a demon who fancies men, so he will wish he were dead..."

! Chen Rui's hair stood on end. He hadn't expected Sandru to be so vicious. Since his soul had transmigrated, this was the first time he had felt such intense murderous intent toward a person. No matter what, he had to kill this bastard!

Sandru's expression became increasingly ferocious, and he suddenly grinned: "Oh, right, don't you have a sister who was lost since childhood? I will do everything in my power to find her and train her to be the most base... Once I'm tired of playing with her, I can even use her as a subject for testing poisons. Just thinking about it is a wonderful idea."

Aldas's eyes instantly turned sharp, and blue electric sparks emerged from his body—clearly the precursor to an outburst.

Sandru showed no fear. The Servant Demon race was naturally gifted in magic, and besides, if Aldas were to attack someone, this life-or-death challenge would be ruled a loss, which would be equivalent to sentencing the Dark Elf to death.

The vast majority of the audience didn't understand the rules. Seeing this situation, which seemed to be turning into a physical fight, their interest surged, and the shouting became even more enthusiastic.

"Master!" Chen Rui saw that the situation was wrong, went to Aldas's side, and whispered: "If you want this bastard to die, listen to me. I have a way!"

Aldas snapped out of it and temporarily suppressed the anger in his heart: "What way do you have?"

Chen Rui leaned close to Aldas's ear and told him the plan he had just come up with. Aldas's originally angry expression turned strange, and he looked at Chen Rui with a bewildered face. The human apprentice nodded firmly at him, pretended to be listening to the master's instructions, and then walked a few steps to Sandru, saying loudly: "The Master just said that you are nothing but a piece of trash who has been posing as a genius for years to deceive the entire empire. He could kill you with a fart! As for this bottle of 'medicine'... it's about the same as a tonic; it has no toxicity at all."

As he spoke, he walked to the table, casually poured a few bottles of medicine together, drank them as an antidote, and then tilted his head back and downed the bottle of Soul-Devouring Poison completely.

The eyes of everyone in the arena instantly focused on the human apprentice. They saw Chen Rui's body tremble slightly, and the expression on his face became strange.

What kind of expression was that? He actually looked excited? Even Sandru himself was stunned. Could that really have been a tonic?

Chen Rui was naturally not excited for that reason, but because the Soul-Devouring Poison was indeed very effective! The progress of that Super System had finally reached one hundred percent!