"Clang!"
With the chime signaling completion, Xiao Yan's cauldron lid opened, and a pill shot out, landing in his hand.
"Someone's already finished?"
Seeing that not even a third of the allotted time had passed, everyone present froze.
Aside from those who had failed twice right at the start, the others had not even finished refining their third ingredient.
Even those making rapid progress, such as Liu Ling and Yao Yue, had only reached their fifth ingredient.
Yet in that brief span, Xiao Yan had already finished his pill, drawing the attention of everyone present, including the alchemists.
"Is that guy even human? How was he so fast?"
"He must have known the answer beforehand. Otherwise, there's no way he could be that fast."
"What nonsense are you spouting? Even if he knew the answer, the others haven't even finished refining their ingredients yet."
After all, those eliminated before Xiao Yan finished were all remarkable specimens who had ruined their ingredients through failed refinement.
"Damn it, how could he be so fast?"
Liu Ling stole a glance at Xiao Yan. He was only a third of the way through, yet the other man had already finished.
But then he reconsidered. Speed alone was useless; the final score still depended on whose pill was better. At that speed, even if Xiao Yan had succeeded, his pill would probably only be of low or middling quality.
"This guy really is a monster. I can't fathom who taught him alchemy." Even Princess Yao Yue found Xiao Yan increasingly unfathomable. Perhaps not even a fifth-grade alchemist could work that quickly.
In the VIP seats, Nalan Jie laughed heartily. "Hahaha! See that? That's my grandson-in-law. It's just a shame that old fellow Xiao Lin is no longer around. If he could see what his grandson