What exactly had happened?
The same question lingered in the minds of the senior students who had arrived late. They could not understand why Qin Yuan, with his strength, had lost in such a short time.
After asking around and piecing together the scattered accounts, they finally gained a rough understanding.
As everyone knew, many Alchemists possessed a method of controlling flames with powerful soul perception to fight their enemies. They called it the Pill Flame Art.
The power of the Pill Flame Art depended primarily on three key factors: control over the flames, soul perception, and the quality of the flames.
As an Alchemist, Qin Yuan had absolute confidence in his Pill Flame Art. Nothing else came close.
Facing Chen Cang, who was much younger but only one star below him in strength, Qin Yuan had not let down his guard in the slightest. The instant he entered the ring, he launched his attack with the Pill Flame Art.
Yet that was also where his tragedy began.
Facing Qin Yuan's attack, Chen Cang responded with the Pill Flame Art as well, turning his own methods back against him.
The result...
Was plain to see. Qin Yuan crumbled at the first clash.
It was a crushing defeat, as effortless as snapping rotten wood and sweeping away withered leaves.
Being crushed in the very field he was most confident in dealt Qin Yuan a tremendous blow.
What he found hardest to accept was that he could clearly sense Chen Cang's beast flame was merely fourth-tier, while his own was sixth-tier!
That comparison made the gulf between their soul perception and flame control all the more apparent.
"Is that really a fourth-tier beast flame?"
"Perhaps it no longer counts as one. These days, I prefer to call it an origin qi flame."