Chapter 182: Chapter 182: The Second Round Ends
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"No good, I’m still slightly behind. Even though I rushed to catch up, in the end I’m still at least three minutes slower than those two!" Xiao Yan frowned, muttering to himself.
His gaze swiftly swept across Xian’er and the gray-robed youth’s dicinal cauldrons.
At this mont, the pills refined by Xian’er and the gray-robed youth were already in the final nurturing stage and about to fully form.
As for himself, he was still just a bit short of reaching that stage.
Although his pill would still be able to pass the test once it was ford, losing by three minutes left him sowhat unwilling.
If he lost to Xian’er by a slight margin, he could barely accept it.
But if he lost to that gray-robed youth from the Chu Yun Empire, who looked even younger than himself, he found it unbearable.
Xiao Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
At a certain mont—just before Xian’er and the gray-robed youth’s pills were about to fully form—he clenched his teeth and made a decision.
Bang!
Xiao Yan suddenly slamd his palm heavily onto his dicinal cauldron.
In an instant, the pill that had not yet finished the final nurturing process surged out with a burst of purple fla, violently shooting out from the cauldron.
...
In the VIP seats—
"Reckless!" Qie Mi Er shouted, nearly leaping to his feet.
"Impulsive! Even though it’s only the final nurturing step, how can he release the pill prematurely? A newly ford pill, if exposed to the cold outside air, might see its not-yet-solidified essence disintegrate instantly under the temperature shift!"
Watching Xiao Yan’s sudden move, Fa Ma clenched the armrest tightly—so hard that it shattered—his voice thunderous with fury.
"This guy just loves pulling off these flashy stunts." Wei Yang couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
The final nurturing and forming of a pill required a gradual lowering of the fla’s temperature so that the pill’s shape could completely stabilize before being removed from the cauldron.
But Xiao Yan was going against that.
"Sigh~" A helpless and slightly irritated sigh ca from Yao Lao beside Wei Yang.
"What are you sighing for, senior? He’s your chosen and trained disciple," Wei Yang retorted.
"..." Yao Lao was speechless.
Even after three years of hardship and three more of patient endurance and rigorous training, Xiao Yan still inevitably retained a trace of youthful recklessness and impulsiveness in his character.
This was a matter of personality and temperant.
As the saying goes, a leopard cannot change its spots.
If it were Wei Yang in the sa situation, he would never take such a risk over sothing so minor.
Because the risk-to-reward ratio simply didn’t make it worthwhile.
Even though Wei Yang wasn’t fond of gambling, he understood one thing clearly:
A gamble should be used to risk little for much—not the other way around, risking much for little.
If you were to compare the two of them, Wei Yang was undoubtedly more steady and composed.
Whereas Xiao Yan leaned toward acting on passion and impulse.
So, when Xiao Yan chose to take a risk at this final mont, Wei Yang wasn’t too surprised.
After all, he’s the child of destiny—soone who can’t go a day without causing a stir. Pulling flashy stunts during a match? Perfectly in character.
...
"Reckless fool!"
Xiao Yan’s action left the little princess, Liu Ling, and the others dumbfounded, and then they couldn’t help but angrily shout.
Ignoring the countless stares, Xiao Yan stomped on the ground and burst upward. With a swift reach, he grabbed the pill wrapped in purple fla into his palm.
At the mont the pill entered his hand, an even fiercer surge of purple fla erupted from his palm, and the pill—which had not yet finished its final nurturing—instantly began stabilizing rapidly.
He had chosen to go against convention, forcefully using fierce fla and soul power to hasten the pill’s formation and solidification.
Landing back on the ground, Xiao Yan flicked his finger. The pill turned into a streak of light and shot into the jade bottle below.
Imdiately, on the stone platform, the previously still jade mirror lit up with a green glow first.
Xiao Yan’s complexion turned slightly pale at this point, and his aura was clearly unstable and weak.
Still, he stood proudly atop the stone platform, a victorious smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Everyone was stunned.
Even Xian’er and the gray-robed youth clearly froze in surprise.
Monts later—
"Madman!"
In a remote corner, the gray-robed youth, who had been wearing a cold smile, suddenly turned ashen-faced.
He never expected Xiao Yan to be so insane. If that not-yet-fully-stable pill had been exposed to the air, or if there had been even the slightest error...
Then all of Xiao Yan’s previous efforts would have instantly gone to waste, and he would have imdiately lost the qualification to continue the competition.
Such a daring and reckless move—just to get ahead by a minute or two in pill formation—was truly...
Incomprehensible!
To be overtaken by soone pulling off a flashy stunt like that—it felt like getting overtaken through a storm drain in a car race. Utterly frustrating!
With a livid expression and seething with rage, the gray-robed young man slamd his palm down, shattering the jade bottle in front of him into powder.
A mont later, his face still dark, he slapped the cauldron. A perfectly round pill shot out and was quickly collected into another jade bottle by him.
On the stone platform, the jade mirror imdiately lit up with a green glow.
At nearly the sa mont, Xian’er also completed this step, and the jade mirror before her glowed green as well.
The difference between them was less than three seconds—it was essentially a draw.
However, by this point, a full minute had already passed since Xiao Yan had succeeded.
Three green lights stood tall in the plaza.
The three individuals standing on the bluestone platforms, bathed in green light, drew the gaze of the entire audience.
...
As the quiet atmosphere lingered in the plaza for over a minute, a result of Xiao Yan’s shocking performance—
Suddenly, a tidal wave of cheers and screams erupted like a flash flood, nearly overturning the massive plaza.
At this mont, Xiao Yan finally let out a slow breath, raising his head to look at the now-boiling plaza. A faint smile appeared on his face.
He turned his head toward the gray-robed youth, whose expression was ashen, and gave a thumbs-up—then slowly turned it downward. On his usually calm face, a trace of youthful arrogance erged.
"I’ll pin you down. Don’t even think about winning the championship," Xiao Yan said softly.
Glaring at Xiao Yan’s gesture, the gray-robed youth let out a cold snort and said slowly, "Don’t get cocky. We’ll settle this in the final round! I won’t hold back at all next ti! Heh... You two have already exposed most of your trump cards, haven’t you? I haven’t even gotten serious yet."
As he spoke, he cast a cold glance at Xian’er, whose expression remained calm throughout.
"Trump cards? Heh." Xiao Yan chuckled, but didn’t say more.
’You little punk...’
Xian’er also gave the youth a slightly confused glance, remaining silent.
Trump cards?
Who doesn’t have a few of those?
...
No longer paying attention to the arrogant gray-robed youth, Xian’er and Xiao Yan withdrew their gazes and looked around at the alchemists who still had their eyes fixed on them.
After a slight hesitation, they exchanged glances, and Xian’er gave a small nod.
Xiao Yan smiled and nodded back, then quietly picked up the Thick Soil Ganoderma left on the stone platform, looked at everyone, and casually tossed it aside.
This move was an extrely obvious hint.
Its implicit aning was that the pill formula was actually fine—just remove the Thick Soil Ganoderma, and the rest of the ingredients could be followed as listed to safely and boldly proceed with refining.
Following Xiao Yan’s gesture, many of the alchemists imdiately understood his aning and were overjoyed. They cast grateful looks at him, then quickly began to light their flas and start refining.
Even those who were a bit slower to react quickly caught on. Joy appeared on their faces as they hurriedly began their pill refining as well.
Seeing the contestants now fervently refining their pills, Xian’er cast a glance at the hourglass on the opposite wall—which had already run out more than halfway—and shook her head before lowering it to organize the various items on the stone platform.
Xiao Yan also shrugged and began tidying up his tools.
He had already dropped such an obvious hint—he’d done more than enough.
As for whether those contestants could complete the Wind Walking Pill within the allotted ti, that wasn’t sothing he needed to worry about.
...
As waves of fla once again rose up, the deafening cheers in the plaza gradually began to subside.
Ti slowly passed.
Half an hour later—
The jade mirrors in front of the Little Princess and Liu Ling lit up green, signaling they had completed their refinent first.
The two of them placed their pills into jade bottles, exchanged glances, and both let out a sigh of relief.
After them, more green lights began to appear one after another—but there were still far more red lights than green.
Even though they had discovered the problem and had a way to fix it, only a small number of people were able to complete the task smoothly.
Lack of strength is just that—sothing that can’t be forced.
Moreover, even with those issues aside, the Wind Walking Pill was still a genuine Tier 3 pill.
So, for Tier 2 alchemists, and even for so who had just entered the Tier 3, many couldn’t succeed on their first try.
A thirty percent success rate—that was the norm.
If luck wasn’t on your side, even a peak Tier 3 alchemist could fail.
Under these conditions, contestants were being eliminated at a rapid pace.
From over a thousand participants originally, fewer than three hundred remained—and that number was still dropping.
By the ti the hourglass had run out, the spacious plaza had beco noticeably sparse.
At a glance, only a little over a hundred people remained, with the rest having already failed and left.
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