The Tournament Begins

Looking at the Crimson Pill in his hand, Ye Chen's heart surged with excitement.

"To succeed after only two tries... looks like I performed beyond my usual level this time..."

To be honest, after his first failure, he had felt a little worried. After all, refining the Spirit Weaving Pill was more than just a bit harder than refining the Spirit Nurturing Pill.

The first time he refined it, he had failed at the pill-forming step even though Ye Chen had focused with every ounce of concentration he had. All the medicinal liquid he had extracted was completely ruined...

With the experience of that first failure, Ye Chen found the second attempt much smoother, and the final step also fused successfully, producing the complete pill now in his hand.

He gently sniffed the rich pill fragrance, recalling in his mind the appraisal method for the Spirit Weaving Pill that Old Ancestor Ye Xun had introduced to him back then. He discovered that although this pill of his had succeeded, its quality was not the best. It could even be said to be very poor...

It barely reached the Fifth Grade Peak level. If he were using it himself, Ye Chen absolutely would not take a Spirit Weaving Pill of this quality.

After thinking it over briefly, he only had three portions of Medicinal Materials for the Spirit Weaving Pill left. In the final round of the Alchemist Tournament, contestants had to prepare their own Medicinal Materials and refine their own pills. In the end, whoever refined the pill with the highest grade and quality would win, so he planned to save all three portions of materials for use during the tournament.

After all, the tournament would only give contestants three chances. If they failed all three times, they would directly lose the qualification to continue competing...

"Forget it. There are only a few days left. I'll just refine some simple pills to keep my touch," Ye Chen finally decided.

Over the next few days, Ye Chen refined several more Fifth Grade low-level and Fifth Grade Mid-level pills.

On the day before the tournament began, Hu Tian, who had gone out to break through, finally returned...

Looking at the faint fluctuation that unintentionally emanated from him, which alone made Ye Chen feel his heart pounding with alarm, Ye Chen knew that Hu Tian had successfully broken through.

"Young Master, I did not fail you. I finally broke through!" Hu Tian was clearly extremely excited, and this caused the aura he had already been unable to fully restrain to surge even more violently.

Ye Chen was directly forced three steps back by this imposing pressure, but he did not seem angry. On the contrary, he was very happy right now.

Hu Tian's breakthrough not only meant that he had gained a Dou Zong-level bodyguard at his side, but also that the Ye Family had gained another Dou Zong-level strong person...

For the current Ye Family, which had suffered a large loss of Retainers and strong people, this could be considered no small assistance!

The next day was the day the tournament began.

Ye Chen and Hu Tian left their residence early and began walking toward the square at the center of the city.

Fang Yu, who had disappeared for more than ten days, appeared in front of Ye Chen's door again. He had originally planned to go watch the competition with Ye Chen, but then he saw that Ye Chen had already changed into an alchemist's robe, as well as the Alchemist Badge on his chest that represented his rank.

Although the Middle Continent also had quite a few alchemist organizations, and they also possessed their own rank badges, just like Xiao Yan's original Jia Ma Empire Alchemist Badge...

The ranks represented by those badges were not acknowledged by the Pill Tower.

Across the entire continent, the most prestigious Alchemist Badges were naturally those issued by the Pill Tower...

As for the Pill Domain Five Great Families, as direct subordinate forces of the Pill Tower, they possessed the qualification to conduct alchemist assessments and issue badges on the Pill Tower's behalf, and these were all acknowledged by the Pill Tower.

This badge was emerald green throughout. Flames coiled around it, and within the flames stood a Giant Tower that pierced the sky. On the body of the tower, three dazzling Purple-Gold stars flickered.

This was the unique color of the Alchemist Badge issued by the Ye Family. The other four families—Cao, Dan, Bai, and Qiu—also had their own colors, distinguishing them from the dark-gold badges issued directly by the Pill Tower and also indicating the badge's origin.

Unfortunately, the highest rank these badges with the special markings of each family could reach was Fifth Grade Peak Alchemist. If one wanted to take the assessment for Sixth Grade Alchemist, one could only go to Sacred Pill City.

However, Ye Chen was not worried that wearing an Alchemist Badge issued by the Ye Family would expose his identity. After all, countless alchemists passed assessments through the Ye Family every year, and they could not all possibly be members of the Ye Family.

Of course, many people did not know such details. For example, Fang Yu, who was already stunned at this moment...

To him, alchemists were all lofty "lords," worlds apart from a bumpkin like himself. In this lifetime, he would never have imagined having any connection with them.

But now, he had suddenly discovered that a "friend" he knew was actually an alchemist, and for a moment, he could not accept it...

"Heh, Brother Fang Yu, what are you looking at? Let's go," Ye Chen greeted him with the same smile as before.

Unfortunately, after hearing how Ye Chen addressed him, Fang Yu not only failed to feel happy, but immediately looked fearful and overwhelmed. He bent deeply at the waist and bowed, saying in panic, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. Lord Song... Lord Alchemist, please don't address this lowly one like that. This lowly one cannot bear it!"

Seeing this, Ye Chen sighed inwardly and shook his head.

It seemed this "friend" of his had come to an end as well...

But he only felt a small regret. After all, from the very beginning, the two of them had been people from completely different worlds. Faced with an alchemist of such lofty status, not everyone could treat him as an equal.

This was especially true for someone like Fang Yu, who had grown up in a city ruled by two alchemist families. His reverence toward alchemists was naturally even more obvious!

After thinking for a moment, Ye Chen took three Third Grade pills that aided cultivation from his Storage Ring and tossed them to Fang Yu, smiling as he said, "These three Qing Wu Pills can help with your cultivation. Consider them payment for Brother Fang's help earlier. I still have to attend the Alchemist Tournament, so I'll be leaving first..."

He tossed the pills into Fang Yu's arms while Fang Yu was still in a daze, then Ye Chen headed straight toward the square.

Only after his figure had completely disappeared around the corner of the street did Fang Yu come back to his senses. Then he saw the green Jade Bottle in his arms.

Ye Chen's words from just now echoed beside his ears, and Fang Yu immediately revealed a look of wild joy.

"Many thanks for your reward, Lord Song... Lord Alchemist!"

Although Ye Chen could no longer see or hear him, Fang Yu still bowed deeply toward the place where he had disappeared.

Perhaps to Ye Chen, the Qing Wu Pill, which was only a Third Grade pill, was nothing at all. As long as he had the Medicinal Materials, he could refine as many as he wanted...

But to an ordinary person like Fang Yu, who had no power, no influence, and no money, a single Qing Wu Pill might be a precious pill he could not obtain even after risking his life for an entire year!

As time gradually passed, the moment for the tournament to begin finally arrived under the attention of countless eyes...

When a clear bell chime rang out over the square, the clamor that had originally surged into the sky above the square abruptly fell silent!