Hearing the ear piercing muffled sound, the Little Princess, Liu Ling, and Yan Li who had been deeply focused on the step of fusing the ingredients into a pill were also stunned. They immediately turned their heads over and eyed the direction that Xiao Yan was in. When they saw the black colored ashes pouring out from the medicinal cauldron, each of their expressions were a little different.

“Ah.” The Little Princess sighed softly. Xiao Yan was originally the one with the greatest ability to fight with the grey-robed young man from the Chu Yun Empire during this Grand Meeting. However, seeing this unexpected situation, it appeared that...

“Since you have withdrawn, then it all relies on me. I will represent the Jia Ma Empire’s Alchemist scene and defeat that fellow. I will let everyone know that even if you aren’t up the task, that fellow will not be able to snatch away the champion’s spot!” Liu Ling tightly pressed his mouth together and tightened his fist. Although he felt some pity in his heart, most of his feelings were joy. Ever since Xiao Yan had arrived on the stage, he and that mysterious grey-robed young man had undoubtedly become the competitors that had received the most attention during this Grand Meeting. Given Liu Ling’s haughty character, he did indeed feel a little resentful.

“Hei, you seem to have run out of steam. Since you have been defeated, there is no longer anyone who can stop me during this Grand Meeting! The champion spot belongs to me!” The corner of Yan Li’s mouth was lifted into a cold smile. He waved his palm and the black colored flame within the medicinal cauldron once again surged. Different medicinal ingredients were gradually beginning to perfectly merge together under the grilling of the flame.

“He has failed?” On the high platform, Hai Bodong’s expression changed slightly as he turned his head toward Fa Ma and asked softly.

“Yes.” Fa Ma nodded his head and sighed softly. Immediately, he forcefully cheered himself up and smiled as he said, “But it doesn’t matter. He still has other chances.”

Although Fa Ma spoke in this manner, his emotions was overcast and filled with with bitterness. As an alchemist grandmaster who had a vast amount of experience, he clearly understood just how great a difficulty it was for Xiao Yan to obtain victory under such a situation. From the manner in which he changed the flames just now, it was clear that he was extremely unfamiliar with the means of changing the flame in use with another. If this was his limit, then it was likely that the result of the remaining two tries would not be much better.

Moreover, Xiao Yan only had three tries, which meant that the pressure he was under was already quite great. After this failure, the pressure that he carried would undoubtedly be multiplied. Even some of those very experienced high tier alchemists would have difficulty recovering their composure in such a short time when they were under this kind of high degree of pressure.

However, this was a competition and not an ordinary refining of medicine. Currently, time was extremely precious. It could not accommodate one to waste it. Therefore, if Xiao Yan were to drown in this failure for too long, it represented that the him who did not have sufficient time would lose his qualification to fight for the champion spot.

Therefore, the current Fa Ma could only pray in his heart, hoping that this young man who had been performing quite well could have the admirable ability to withstand a blow. As long as he could swiftly pull himself back to his peak condition from his failure, his chances would not completely disappear. At the very least, with the blessing from the heavens, some strange thing may happen. The chances of such a thing happening may be so small, to the point that it would make everyone speechless, but at the very least, it was like a wisp of a dying flame light within the darkness, giving people a kind of expectation and hope.

“Ah, little fellow, currently you can really only rely completely on yourself. Additionally, this is a barrier on your path to refining pills. If you break through it, the benefit it will have on you in the future will be beyond what you can imagine, but if you fail, you might end up being forever stalled at your current level in the future.” Fa Ma softly muttered as he eyed the young man who was staring at the dark black ashes on the rock table with a gaze that was filled with low morale.

“Break through and change for the better, or sink into the abyss. Paradise or hell is completely dependent on your thoughts.”

The gazes of everyone present were currently eyeing that young man in the middle who did not do any other actions. After a long while, they discovered that he did not even make the slightest movement. It appeared that this person, who was the greatest hope in everyone’s heart to contend with the mysterious alchemist from the Chu Yun Empire had currently descended into the dead end of his failure. Therefore, waves of disappointed sighs were involuntarily emitted from the audience seats.

“Looks like the blow of this failure is quite a great one for him. Ah, but it is not unexpected. He’s a young person...” When he heard the hissing sound from the surrounding, Nalan Jie shook his head and softly sighed.

Nalan Yanran knit her eyebrows slightly together. A moment later, she softly said, “From the way he appears, it doesn’t look like... he doesn’t look like someone who is extremely impatient. Perhaps he has some other plans?” The words of Nalan Yanran were clearly something that even she was uncertain off. Therefore, she paused for a couple of times as she spoke and did not dare to use any affirmative words.

“I also hope that’s true, but...” Nalan Jie fondled his beard and bitterly laughed. However, he did not complete his sentence.

Xiao Yan’s body was stiffened as he stood in front of the rock table. His dark pupils were staring at the black colored soot that was pouring out. His originally intelligent and calm eyes currently appeared somewhat at a loss. Ever since he had lost Yao Lao, this was the first time that he had met a difficult problem that took him by surprise. He did not expect that the equilibrium point needed when changing flames would actually be this difficult to grasp. In the past, he appeared to have overestimated his abilities.

“This time around, it’s going to be troublesome. Teacher, what should I do now.” As Xiao Yan’s mouth trembled, a soft inaudible voice that contained a perplexity was softly emitted from it.

Unfortunately, Yao Lao was currently in a deep slumber. He did not know of the difficult problem and the feeling of loss that Xiao Yan faced. Therefore, as Fa Ma had mentioned, Xiao Yan really have to rely on himself for everything.

Transform and evolve or sink into destruction?

Although Xiao Yan had become silent, the time for the competition did not stop just because of his importance to the competition.

A short distance away, Yan Li, Little Princess, and Liu Ling were gradually progressing into the steps where they intensified the heat. The wisps of pill fragrance that were emitted from the medicinal cauldrons also pulled over the gazes of the audience, who were originally focused on Xiao Yan.

When nearly half the time allocated for the competition had passed, the medicinal cauldrons of the three of them had a medicinal pill that had taken an initial shape and were already gradually being solidified. After a while, a dense medicinal fragrance was first emitted from the Little Princess’ medicinal cauldron. When they sniffed the richness of the medicinal fragrance, the alchemists who still remained behind the rock tables immediately exclaimed, “Tier four medicinal pill?”

When she heard the waves of astonished voices sounding around her, a proud expression involuntarily appeared on the Little Princess’s pretty face. The medicinal pill in the cauldron was the only tier four medicinal pill that she was confident in refining. Moreover, it still possessed some chances of failure. It was fortunate that her luck today was quite good and she had actually succeeded in refining it on her first attempt. If one were to discuss about luck, she appeared to have much more than Xiao Yan.

However, the shocked sounds did not persisted for very long. The medicinal cauldron on the other side belonging to Liu Ling quickly followed her’s and emitted an even richer and more attractive medicinal fragrance. Two pill fragrances were individually rising from each medicinal cauldron and finally blended together on the open ground, making it difficult to tell them apart.

Despite this, the alchemists with a strong perception would be able to differentiate these two pill fragrances apart immediately. The grade of the medicinal pill that Liu Ling was refining was a little higher than the one Little Princess was refining.

“This fellow.” The Little Princess who had quite a good perception was similarly able to differentiate the pros and cons of the two kinds of medicinal pills. Immediately, she frowned slightly. With her eyes, she violently cut Liu Ling who was smiling at her.

“Haha, Yue-er, I’m sorry. Allow me to take the lead today.” When faced with the depressed eyes of Little Princess, Liu Ling faced her and cupped his hands together as he replied with a smile.

“Two kinds of tier four medicinal pill. These two little fellows are also quite good.” On the high platform, Fa Ma’s heavy heart was a little better when he sensed the pill fragrances that were rising from the medicinal cauldrons belonging to Little Princess and Liu Ling. He nodded his head and spoke.

“Ha ha, you two little fellows who are wet behind their ears. Isn’t it a little too early to be actually preparing to celebrate at this time?” A strange laughter suddenly sounded from the side. It swiftly pulled over the Little Princess’s and Liu Ling’s furious eyes, only for them to discover that the flame was burning intensely within Yan Li’s cauldron. After a while, a fragrance that actually carried a pale-purple color was quietly rising like that of smoke.

“A colored pill fragrance?” As they eyed the pale purple pill fragrance, almost all the alchemists in the open ground began to cry out involuntarily, clearly understanding what this represented.

“He is actually able to refine a medicinal pill that produces a colored pill fragrance? This bastard. He had really come prepared.” The smile on Fa Ma’s face, which had surfaced only a short while ago, had instantly become overcast under the pale-purple pill fragrance.

“What’s a colored pill fragrance?” On the high platform, Hai Bodong hurriedly asked as he saw Fa Ma’s expression suddenly become extremely ugly.

“A colored pill fragrance is usually only produced by a tier five medicinal pill. Of course, some of the peak tier four medicinal pills can also create such a thing. Seeing the richness of his pill fragrance, I think that the medicinal pill that he is refining belongs to the latter.” Fa Ma’s face was dark as he said, “Compared to his, the tier four medicinal pills that Yue-er and Liu Ling are refining are undoubtedly inferior.”

“This time around, I’m afraid that we will definitely lose.”

In the open ground, Little Princess and Liu Ling were dully staring at the colored pill fragrance that was rising from Yan Li’s medicinal cauldron. Their expressions instantly became despondent and pale as they bitterly laughed. In the face of absolute superiority, any excuses would appear to be extremely weak.

“That is yet to be certain.” A young clear faint laughter suddenly sounded.

The sudden faint laughter caused Little Princess and Liu Ling to become stunned. Immediately, they turned around, only to find that Xiao Yan, who was standing like a wooden pillar behind the stone table had unknowingly raised his head once again. That face which usually appeared very cold, currently had an extremely rare gentle smile.

The Little Princess and Liu Ling stared at the smile. For some unknown reason, they were somewhat in a trance as they discovered that the current Xiao Yan appeared to have something more compared to the past. There appeared to be some sort of change in his temperament and self-confidence.

“I’m sorry. Chairman Fa Ma.” Xiao Yan turned his body around and bowed toward Fa Ma on the high platform as his lips move slightly. He knew that with the latter’s ability, he would definitely know what was being said.

“Ke ke, it is good that you can recover.” Fa Ma was momentarily at a loss as he eyed the soft smile on the young man’s face below. Immediately, he nodded, feeling comforted.

Xiao Yan smiled gently and turned his body around. He tilted his head and eyed Yan Li, who was staring at him in a dark and cold manner. With a smile, he lifted his thumb, only to invert it under the full view of everyone.

“I am going to be the champion!”