Showing Off Before an Expert

"Fine, I accept your challenge!"

Since the other party had produced a High-Profound Tier fire-control Dou Technique, Su Heng would not hold back. Such a grand gift had been delivered right to his door—wouldn't refusing it be foolish?

One had to know that High-Profound Tier Dou Techniques were already ceiling-level treasures within the Jia Ma Empire. Even a powerhouse like the Misty Cloud Sect only possessed High-Profound Tier cultivation arts and Dou Techniques; they could not even produce a single Earth Tier Dou Technique.

Once he obtained this Dou Technique, Su Heng would have everything settled in one step. He would even save himself the travel expenses to the Imperial Capital.

Hearing Su Heng accept his challenge, the purple-faced Liu Ling finally relaxed somewhat. He quickly put on an expression of assured victory, his eyes brimming with contempt.

The meaning was clear: Get ready to kneel before Nalan Yanran and beg forgiveness!

When dealing with people like this, Su Heng's attitude was simple: If I don't beat your face into a riot of color, you'll never understand why flowers are so red!

"Liu Ling, this is Black Rock City. You are our guest, so I won't take advantage of you. You can choose the subject of this contest."

Su Heng spoke first, handing Liu Ling the initiative. This time, he wanted a complete victory.

You choose the subject, then I'll grind you into the ground and make you lose so thoroughly that you'll have nowhere to hide!

"You are already doomed to lose, yet you still dare let me choose the subject? Since you are so eager to die, I'll grant your wish."

Liu Ling sneered. His handsome face twisted slightly as he took out two portions of medicinal ingredients from his Storage Ring and said proudly.

"How about we compete in refining medicinal ingredients? These are two portions of Ironwood Spirit Leaves. We'll have two hours. Once the hourglass is turned over, the results will be tested. Whoever has the higher ingredient purity wins!"

Upon hearing Liu Ling's words, Su Heng hurriedly grabbed Lin Fei beside him to stop her from bursting out laughing.

We're professionals. We usually don't laugh at people—unless we can't help it...

Liu Ling had come to challenge Su Heng in refining medicinal ingredients...

Su Heng could only say this: Your courage is commendable, but your blindness is truly unmatched, Liu Ling.

"Fine... we'll compete in refining medicinal ingredients. Heaven and earth shall bear witness to our match. The loser shall have no complaints!"

Suppressing his laughter, Su Heng finalized the wager with Liu Ling.

The two agreed to hold the contest in the Alchemy Hall of the Black Rock City Alchemist Guild. Afterward, the Alchemist Guild's specially made medicinal ingredient purity tester would determine the result.

Liu Ling had specifically considered this method. Since he was challenging someone on their home turf, only a contest unaffected by human interference could be considered fair and impartial.

The Alchemist Guild's medicinal ingredient purity tester had been crafted by specialized artisans. Even Pill King Gu He would be unable to interfere with its evaluation.

The testing device used a ten-point scale, with ten being the highest and one the lowest. Only ingredients scoring four points or above were considered qualified.

Among the younger generation of Alchemists, Liu Ling was the strongest at refining medicinal ingredients. Under normal circumstances, he could refine ingredients to seven points. If he went all out, Liu Ling was confident he could produce ingredients with eight-point purity.

With the agreement made, Liu Ling needed to first go to the Black Rock City Alchemist Guild and submit an application to President Frank, so he left ahead of them.

Watching Liu Ling and his servants depart, Lin Fei and Su Heng, who could no longer hold it in, finally erupted.

The two laughed so hard they bent over, their stomach muscles aching as laughter echoed through the courtyard for a long time.

Since Qing Lin had gone out to deliver gifts, Su Heng waited until she returned home before heading to the Alchemy Hall for the appointment.

The moment he entered, he found the place already packed with Alchemists and apprentices from the Black Rock City Guild.

It was clear that Liu Ling had deliberately spread the news after leaving, making the matter known to everyone.

Even Otto and Frank had been alerted and personally come to oversee the contest.

However, all Su Heng saw on Otto's face was barely restrained amusement and a gaze of near-pity toward Liu Ling.

"Ahem! Mister Liu Ling, you came to the Black Rock City Alchemist Guild and requested a contest. Since Su Heng has agreed, we will provide the necessary assistance and serve as witnesses. Do you have any objections?"

Although Frank was Liu Ling's elder, Liu Ling was Pill King Gu He's disciple and a Third-grade Alchemist. Even Frank could not speak to him in the tone of an elder.

"Master Frank, thank you for your assistance. Since you wish to observe this contest, this junior naturally has no objections."

To be fair, Liu Ling understood etiquette well enough. At the very least, he showed Frank sufficient respect.

"Very well... for this contest, the Black Rock City Alchemist Guild will provide the cauldrons and medicinal ingredient testing apparatus. Before the contest begins, both of you may inspect the cauldrons and equipment. Only after confirming that there are no issues may the contest begin."

The stakes of this contest were extremely high, so it naturally had to be as fair as possible. Moreover, this was Black Rock City. If they failed to ensure fairness and impartiality, they would be ridiculed by their peers.

Liu Ling and Su Heng were each assigned a dual-fire-port medicinal cauldron. Though they were still ordinary standardized cauldrons, their materials and workmanship far surpassed the cauldrons used by apprentices. They were equivalent to second-tier standardized cauldrons.

Liu Ling carefully inspected every detail of the cauldron. He released his soul force and examined it for any possible flaws.

After checking it three times, Liu Ling confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the cauldron and nodded in satisfaction.

"I have no objections. The contest may begin!"

Since Liu Ling had no objections, Su Heng naturally had none either. After receiving confirmation from both of them, Frank motioned for the spectators to step back and announced loudly.

"Today's contest will be refining Ironwood Spirit Leaves. The time limit is two hours. Whoever refines the ingredients to a higher purity will be the winner!"

"I now declare the contest begun!"

At Frank's command, a flame swiftly rose within Liu Ling's cauldron.

He had lit the fire first and did not even need to preheat the cauldron. At the same time, everyone noticed that Liu Ling's flame was orange-yellow.

"He's using a Dou Qi flame, not Beast Flame?"

The surrounding crowd cried out in surprise, and even Su Heng was taken aback.

An Alchemist's flame changed color as their cultivation and Alchemist rank increased. Unless they possessed Beast Flame or Heavenly Flames, Alchemists below the fourth grade all had yellow flames, differing only in shade.

"I never expected him to become a Third-grade Alchemist in his twenties using only a Dou Qi flame. Such talent and strength are truly impressive."

Staring at the flame before him, Su Heng immediately felt respect for Liu Ling.

Liu Ling might have been a pathetic simp, but his talent and ability in alchemy truly ranked among the top three of the Jia Ma Empire's younger generation. It was genuinely regrettable that someone like him was so obsessed with Nalan Yanran.

"You are worthy of respect, but not pity!"

"I will offer you my respect by going all out, then prove your sorrow through your crushing defeat!"

With his mind made up, Su Heng released both colors of Beast Flame, igniting a violent dark-purple blaze within his cauldron.

For a simp, only utter defeat could make him truly wake up!

Su Heng focused completely, calming his breath and mind as he tossed the Ironwood Spirit Leaves into the cauldron.

Ironwood Spirit Leaves had extremely high resistance to flames, but before two types of Six-tier Beast Flame, they were nothing more than child's play, easily handled.

Fine grains of sand slowly fell through the hourglass on the table. Amid the surging flames in the two cauldrons, the Ironwood Spirit Leaves gradually turned into dark-green powder.

Su Heng's soul force clearly sensed the familiar black particles within the dark-green powder. To increase the ingredient's purity, he had to remove those troublesome impurities.

Su Heng slowly manipulated the two-colored Beast Flame. The dark-green powder that had originally gathered into a lump gradually spread out, forming a medicinal powder vortex resembling a Dou Qi Whirlpool, and began spinning rapidly.

The Profound Flame came from a snake-type magical beast and leaned toward cold yin, while the Purple Flame came from a lion-type magical beast and leaned toward blazing yang.

When yin and yang converged, a vortex naturally formed.

Large amounts of black impurities sank downward as the dark-green vortex rotated. They were then automatically expelled through the cauldron's internal mechanism, transforming into wisps of black smoke.

On ordinary days, this method of manipulating flames to spread medicinal powder would seem more like entertainment.

Many Alchemist Apprentices would freely shape the ingredients within their cauldrons into all sorts of forms to show off their alchemy skills, but this was the first time they had seen someone refine ingredients in such a manner.

If anyone else had done this, they might have been mocked for overestimating themselves. But the person doing it was Su Heng, so no one in Black Rock City dared question him.

When you were an absolute powerhouse, outsiders would assume that even your unconventional actions carried deeper meaning.

The sand in the hourglass gradually ran out, signaling that the time limit was nearly over.

Su Heng sensed that the impurities in the Ironwood Spirit Leaves had been completely removed, so he stopped refining. He dispersed the medicinal powder vortex and gathered it back into a clump of deep-green powder.

Then Su Heng slowly removed his hands from the cauldron's fire ports, and the dark-purple flames within gradually went out.

There were still twenty minutes left before the time limit expired.

Su Heng had already completed his refinement, while Liu Ling on the other side remained fully focused, continuing to refine his ingredients. Only when the bell signaling the end rang did Liu Ling reluctantly remove the ingredients.

To secure victory, Liu Ling fought until the very last moment. Unfortunately, such effort could only move himself.

If Nalan Yanran herself had been present, all of Liu Ling's efforts would have earned nothing more than a dismissive snort. That woman would walk toward the victorious Su Heng, not Liu Ling, who had given everything he had.

Frank accepted the ingredients refined by the two of them and frowned faintly. Liu Ling had refined his ingredients a full eight times, but even from their luster alone, the gap between them and Su Heng's was obvious.

If it was so apparent to the naked eye, what need was there to mention machine analysis?

"Mister Liu Ling, shall we test the ingredients you refined first? Do you agree?"

"Of course, Master Frank. Please proceed!"

Liu Ling remained calm and smiled, as though he had absolute confidence in himself.

Frank placed Liu Ling's refined ingredients into the testing groove. After the machine's light flashed several times, a large "eight" appeared on the screen at the top.

"Mister Liu Ling's refined ingredients: eight points!"

Eight points meant the medicinal potency of the ingredients could be utilized to eighty percent. For an Alchemist, ingredients of such quality would certainly produce a high-grade pill so long as the pill formation succeeded.

"Eight points... Liu Ling really does have some skill. If it were me, I could probably only barely reach six points..."

Although she did not have a good impression of Liu Ling, Lin Fei still acknowledged his strength. If she had not met Su Heng first, she might even have developed a little favorable impression toward this fellow who had gone all out.

"Unfortunately, you're showing off before an expert. You're about to kick an iron plate!"

Xue Mei also felt rather sorry for Liu Ling. Looking at this man who had given everything for his "beloved," she only found him deeply tragic.

"Now, we will test Su Heng's ingredients!"

Master Frank's voice rang out, pulling everyone's thoughts back to the contest.

As the machine's light flashed, Su Heng's ingredients began to be tested and scored. At that moment, the Alchemy Hall became deathly silent. Only the machine's blinking lights remained, along with the score that would shock everyone present.

A massive crimson "ten" suddenly appeared on the testing machine's screen!

"Ten... ten points... it's actually a perfect score... He refined ingredients with a perfect score!!!"

"Su Heng... are you even human?"

Liu Ling's face was filled with disbelief. As though he had witnessed a miracle, he stood frozen in place with his mouth agape.

Even the other Alchemists and apprentices in the Alchemy Hall desperately rubbed their eyes, terrified that they had misread what they saw.

Yet that enormous "ten" remained there, radiating dazzling light and stunning everyone present.

"Su Heng... Su Heng's refined ingredients scored ten points! A perfect score!"

After the oppressive silence in the Alchemy Hall persisted for a long while, thunderous cheers finally erupted. Countless gazes filled with awe and admiration locked onto the smiling Su Heng.

Liu Ling looked as though he had been struck by lightning. He stood there blankly before rushing to the testing machine after a long time. He picked up the ingredients refined by both of them and compared them.

After only one glance, the light vanished from Liu Ling's eyes. The difference between them was visible to the naked eye. Even without the machine's score, victory and defeat were already clear.

Liu Ling curled up in a corner in a daze, his body trembling uncontrollably. Several Liu Clan servants hurried to their young master's side to comfort him.

The hall was filled with applause, yet none of it belonged to me. Liu Ling had lost—lost so completely that he had nowhere to hide, lost every shred of face.

The piercing cheers nearly drove Liu Ling mad. Su Heng's heart-piercing words echoed repeatedly in his ears.

Losers had no right to set terms. Now, Liu Ling had not only lost the high-grade Dou Technique passed down by his master, but also a man's dignity.

But Liu Ling was Gu He's disciple, after all. He was a man who could afford to lose.

After a long while, Liu Ling struggled to his feet and staggered toward Su Heng.

"Brother Su, I lost..."

Liu Ling held out the scroll of the Thousand Flames Art with both hands and offered it to Su Heng.

Su Heng did not stand on ceremony. He directly accepted the scroll, briefly inspected it, then placed it into his Storage Ring with a satisfied smile.

"Brother Su, I will remember today's defeat. I will return and continue cultivating bitterly. The next time we meet, I will not lose to you."

Liu Ling was unwilling, but his bearing was indeed extraordinary. Despite such a humiliating loss, he had adjusted his emotions so quickly.

"Brother Liu, Nalan Yanran is not a good match. I say this sincerely. I hope you will think it over carefully and not degrade yourself."

Before parting, Su Heng still decided to advise Liu Ling once more. After all, Su Heng sincerely respected this man, who still dared to face defeat even after suffering such a setback.

"Thank you for the reminder, Brother Su. I will remember it. Farewell!"

Liu Ling gave a miserable smile. He could say nothing and refute nothing. He only wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.

He had been full of spirit when they first met, yet utterly dejected when they parted. Su Heng was not sure whether he had truly awakened a simp, but he knew he had genuinely done his best.

From now on, it would depend on Liu Ling's own fate!