671 Chapter 671 Second Round, Test Of Wisdom.
The way the fire flowed, the temperature, the intensity, those were the only things Sasha could think about right now. With the previous tal ingot as proof, Sasha knew that the next ones would only be more difficult, and that would require all of her skill and concentration.
Taking the next ingot and the next dicinal herb, Sasha frowned. The dicinal herb this ti had a strong corrosive essence, and the tal was even denser and heavier than before. A quick guess told Sasha that this particular tal would require extre temperatures to reach its point of slting, which would be difficult to achieve without even affecting the dicinal plant.
Though Qiqi didn’t explain it, Sasha guessed that if she corroded the tal instead of lting it, that would an disqualification, so she had to lt this tal ingot while preventing even the slightest trace of the corrosive plant essence fell on it.
Following Sasha’s will, the fire rose under her oven expanded its petals, and burned with greater intensity. The temperature was so high that the oven itself began to change color, barely being able to tolerate the temperature. At the sa ti, tendrils of barely warm fire carefully wrapped around the dicinal plant, creating a cocoon.
When she was sure that the cocoon had ford without any problem, Sasha poured in even more mana and increased the temperature even more. It took her a couple of seconds, but the tal ingot finally yielded to Sasha’s blazing fire, which was lucky since the furnace couldn’t handle a higher temperature.
The process was lengthy, but Sasha stood her ground, keeping a strong grip on the fire in the oven. Eventually, the ingot completely lted down, and Sasha got the go-ahead to continue.
Relieved, Sasha lowered the temperature and opened the cocoon of fire that held the herb. Seeing the grass mostly intact, soone gave Sasha a thumbs up, declaring that she had made it to the next step.
Even before taking an ingot or a dicinal herb, Sasha already looked worried and tired. Sasha wasn’t naive enough to believe that the test was going to get any easier and that the last part had already taken almost everything she had to complete. Now, Sasha was wondering if it would be necessary to turn her ace up her sleeve.
Before Sasha could make up her mind, a loud whistle interrupted her stream of thoughts, followed by Qiqi’s voice. “Looks like we have the contestants for the next round.”
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Confused, Sasha pulled her attention away from the furnace in front of her and looked around her only to realize that, indeed, half of the participants had already burned their dicinal plants while trying to lt down the tal ingots.
In addition to looking at those who had been disqualified, Sasha also looked at the best alchemists in the place and saw that those people were one step ahead of her in the test. Although that didn’t give her rivals extra points, Sasha felt competitive about it, perhaps because she wanted to show the world that the alchemy skills she learned from her beloved teacher wouldn’t lose to anyone.
Without Qiqi needing to utter a word, mbers of the tournant staff ca over and escorted the losers out. Other than one rebel refusing to accept the results, only to be subdued and kicked out of the venue, nothing of note occurred and the remaining contestants were given a chance to rest.
“You did pretty well.” Ai Zuling’s voice ca from behind Sasha.
Sasha turned around and nodded politely before answering. “I did my best, but I was still a step behind the best. I will try to do better in the following tests.”
Ai Zuling didn’t take Sasha’s words very seriously, she herself had helped Sasha progress so she knew better than anyone that Sasha could have done much better if she had used her Ace up her sleeve from the beginning. “I am sure that you will surprise and the audience.”
Hearing Ai Zuling’s words, Sasha looked in the direction of the audience, seeking and finding Desmond’s face on the balcony. It only took a pair of eyes to realize that Sasha was looking with love and passion at Desmond and Ai Zuling certainly had eyes.
Ai Zuling looked at Desmond for a mont before recognizing him. A distant mory of nights of passion, nothing more and nothing less. Ai Zuling looked at those mories calmly before letting them pass; she had a different life now, which included a good husband; she was not interested in looking back.
As Ai Zuling and Sasha were lost in thought, a person silently approached them. It wasn’t until the person spoke that both girls realized her proximity to them and it was none other than the alchemist nicknad Subli Lotus. “You guys are tough opponents, I won’t lose.” The girl said in a flat voice before leaving.
Sasha and Ai Zuling exchanged a glance, almost as if wondering which of them knew the masked girl, but it seed that neither of them knew her. Before both of them thought about the matter further, Qiqi called the contestants to announce the next round.
“Ladies and gentlen, the first round was about fire and control, the next round is about refinent and wisdom.”
Staff mbers brought on this occasion different cauldrons full of strange substances. In addition to cauldrons of suspicious-looking unknown substances, tournant staff also brought in small work tables and filled them with jars of unmarked and unnumbered herbs.
Once things were in place, Qiqi explained. “This task consists of two parts. The first involves the cauldrons given to each of you. These cauldrons contain an unfinished alchemical mixture, your job is to finish it. Here’s the catch, you don’t know what the mixture is in the cauldron, much less what the missing part is, neither in the ingredients nor in the refining steps. Your task is to identify the mixture and its faults and correct them.
That is where the second part cos in. On their work tables, you will find jars and jars of herbs and unmarked ingredients, it will be their task to use your knowledge, senses, and instincts to identify the herbs you need to complete the mixture.
Of the sixteen remaining people, the only ones who seed calm even now after such an explanation of such a difficult test, were Sasha, Ai Zuling, and Subli Lotus. Even the oldest and most experienced alchemists did not feel one hundred percent sure that they could accomplish the task.
“Oh, one last detail. This is a race against ti, only the first eight to complete the test will advance to the next and final round.” Qiqi said as if she was trying to fan the flas.
In this part, the tournant beca less spectacular than in the previous round. Here there was no fire show or anything like that, but a bunch of people concentrated slling, feeling, and tasting ingredients to complete a concoction; it was frankly quite boring.
Luckily for those who were dying of boredom, things got interesting when soone accidentally added a poisonous herb to the mix thinking it was another herb that was very similar to the previous one. The cloud of poisonous smoke that ca out of the cauldron caused the alchemist in question to vomit non-stop in a humiliating and embarrassing way in front of the entire public.
The next person to fail was soone who misanalyzed the mix. Instead of adding a herb with a strong concentration of soft energy, as he needed, the alchemist added an herb with an aggressive and volatile nature. Unsurprisingly, that alchemist’s cauldron exploded in a rather spectacular fashion, covering the poor alchemist in soot and stinking remains.
So of the mistakes weren’t that spectacular, but the ones entertained the thrill-seeking audience. Desmond and company did not enjoy the misfortune of others like the rest, they focused on Sasha and her progress.
For her part, Sasha was in her elent. Although the denomination and exact characteristics of her race were a bit more special and specific, Sasha was essentially an elf, she could die of sha if she lost in a test related to identifying herbs and elents of nature.
Many didn’t even understand what Sasha was basing her decisions on during that round, as she barely seed to taste the ingredients and formula in the cauldron. However, Sasha was, against many odds, the first to finish the second round of the alchemy tournant.
Just half a dozen seconds later, Subli Lotus ended and two minutes later it was Ai Zuling’s turn. From then on, Sasha didn’t pay attention, at that mont, she only wanted to think about her rivals. Almost fifteen minutes passed since Sasha finished first, but the final eight were ready.
As soon as the final eight were completed, Qiqi stepped in again. “These are our finalists, let’s give them a round of applause, ladies and gentlen. The events this year were less nurous than in other similar tournants, but we have raised the difficulty of the events a lot, so these people deserve our respect just for having co this far.”
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