TFHS: Chapter 157

The fourth round, the qi increasing round.

Qiu Yi made nine pills, one was top-grade, six were medium-grade, and two were low-grade.

Feng Ming made nine pills. Five were top-grade, and four were medium-grade.

The difference between the two of them immediately became apparent. The referees had already decided in their minds that the winner of this alchemy competition would definitely be Feng Ming.

Qiu Yi was also outstanding, but he was slightly inferior to Feng Ming.

QIu Yi gritted his teeth at the result and was unable to say anything.

The other alchemists were sparsely successful. After a group of those who failed three times were eliminated, there were only around twenty people left on the stage. Looking at this number, one more round would be enough to select the final twenty people.

The fifth round was the gathering qi pill, a pill that helped cultivators condense yuan energy and enhance the chances of advancing to the essence liquid realm. It was much more difficult to refine.

Surprisingly, Qiu Yi failed in his first attempt to produce a pill.

In fact, this was a very normal phenomenon. No alchemist could claim to have a 100% success rate. Feng Ming also had failures sometimes.

But it felt as if the myth about Qiu Yi had been shattered, especially since the reference object, Feng Ming, was still refining steadily.

Qiu Yi saw the same thing. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down before starting the second refining process.

It was very rare that Feng Ming was the first one to produce a pill. After putting away the pills, he looked at Qiu Yi in surprise, as if surprised that Qiu Yi fell behind him this time. This made others speechless when they saw his expression.

“Didn’t Feng Ming expect that Qiu Yi might fail? Why is he acting surprised?”

“Tell me, when will Feng Ming fail?”

“What’s so interesting about that? Instead of seeing him fail, it is better to see if he can refine a fourth-grade pill. If Qiu Yi can refine it and he can’t, then it doesn’t matter how well he performs now. He will lose to Qiu Yi.”

“This is true. I heard that Qiu Yi is indeed a fourth-grade alchemist, but I haven’t heard any news about Feng Ming.”

“You haven’t even heard of this guy’s name before. How do you know if he is a fourth-grade alchemist or not?”

Compared to the children of the powerful and wealthy in Imperial City, Feng Ming was undoubtedly a dark horse. Before this, no one who knew Qiu Yi and his talent would’ve thought there would be an alchemist of the same age who could beat him. Yet someone did it.

Qiu Yi’s second furnace was finally successful. He collected the pills and sighed with relief.

Qiu Yi made eight pills, three of which were medium-grade and five were low-grade.

For Feng Ming, he made nine pills. Four were top-grade, and five were medium-grade.

This comparison made it impossible for people to doubt Feng Ming’s talent and alchemy level. At the same level, the gap between him and Qiu Yi was gradually widening.

Qiu Yi’s expression became more solemn. He had never been under such great pressure. Before, he regarded Feng Ming as his biggest competitor. Now, Feng Ming had become the person he had to strive to catch up with and surpass.

Most of the people were eliminated in the fifth round. There were less than twenty people left on the stage. Therefore, the alchemists eliminated in the fifth round had to be re-selected. The remaining people on the stage also had to go through the next round of eliminations to determine the final champion, runner-up, and third place.

The sixth round was the mysterious yuan pill, the entry-level pill of a fourth-grade alchemist.

The moment this pill was announced, many spectators in the stands gasped, including some alchemists remaining on stage.

No matter how entry-level it was, this was still a fourth-grade pill. As long as it was refined, it meant that the alchemist had entered the rank of fourth-grade and became a fourth-grade alchemist.

A fourth-grade alchemist had a very high status in many places and was sought after by many cultivators. Even in Imperial City, a fourth-grade alchemist had a very high status. After all, there weren’t many fifth-grade alchemists.

One point that was particularly noteworthy was that the alchemists participating in the league were all under 30 years old.

Among them, the dark horse called Feng Ming wasn’t even 20 years old. Qiu Yi was a bit older, but he had also just crossed 20.

Since they were able to become a fourth-grade alchemist at such a young age, would their future achievements end at the fifth-grade? They might climb to the sixth-grade.

So how could such a situation not make people gasp in surprise? It also made them realize that the value of Feng Ming and Qiu Yi was greater than they had initially thought.

A fourth-grade alchemist who was less than 20 years old was something they couldn’t even think about. Now, as long as Feng Ming could refine the fourth-grade mysterious yuan pill, that unthinkable situation would be right before their eyes.

The decision to use the fourth-grade mysterious yuan pill to compete was made by Qiu Chen. In his words, based on the situation of refining the gathering qi pill, he thought that both of them had the strength to try a fourth-grade pill. It would be better to use a fourth-grade pill to truly decide the winner.

This statement was immediately agreed upon by most people, including Yu Xiao. This made people wonder if he was very sure of his disciple’s victory?

Many referees were biased toward Qiu Yi. After all, some of them had taught Qiu Yi and watched him grow.

Now seeing that he was going to lose to an outsider, it was a bit hard for them to accept emotionally.

If Qiu Yi tried to refine a third-grade pill again, it was almost impossible for him to surpass Feng Ming. So he might as well take a risk.

By refining a fourth-grade pill, Qiu Yi might succeed while Feng Ming might fail. Then Qiu Yi would turn the tables. This was their idea.

The moment the mysterious yuan pill was announced, Qiu Yi looked at Feng Ming with a strong fighting spirit in his eyes.

Feng Ming raised an eyebrow and smiled at him. Was this a provocation?

It was just the mysterious yuan pill, a pill he was able to refine under the guidance of his master before he had left Sihong Academy to gain experience. Had he made no progress at all during this time?

Qiu Yi was so angry that he gritted his teeth. He was determined to defeat this arrogant guy.

Except for these two, the other alchemists all showed bitter smiles on their faces. They were just green leaves to set off the red flowers. None of them could refine it.

Feng Ming still checked the spiritual plants one by one before starting to refine the pill. The rhythm seemed to be the same as before, but everyone noticed that Feng Ming’s expression was much more serious this time.

But no one found it strange. Instead, they thought it was normal. After all, Feng Ming was less than 20 years old and was only at the peak of the qi gathering realm. He hadn’t advanced to the essence liquid realm yet.

Normally, if an alchemist with this level of cultivation didn’t have outstanding talent then he wouldn’t be able to refine a fourth-grade pill.

Even Qiu Chen couldn’t help sighing with relief. If Feng Ming was still the same as before, then this ger’s talent wasn’t just outstanding. It was too demonic, so demonic that it would make people feel worry and fear.

He turned around and saw that Yu Xiao’s expression had become more serious. It was no longer as nonchalant as before.

“Will it succeed this time?”

“Of course.”

Even though Yu Xiao answered firmly, Qiu Chen still felt that Yu Xiao wasn’t as relaxed as before.

Yu Xiao thought to himself, ‘I am forced to act along with my disciple.’ He also didn’t want his apprentice to be too evil and catch the eyes of certain people in the imperial family.

It was just right now. There might not be many such geniuses in the Dongmu Dynasty, but there were some in the Shengyuan Sect.

Some alchemists on the stage announced that they had given up. They would like to try it, but some of them didn’t even know the recipe. How could they try it?

They were only third-grade alchemists. They hadn’t expected to come into contact with fourth-grade pills so early.

Some people decided to give it a try. The materials for a set of mysterious yuan pills were worth a lot of yuan crystals. Now they had the opportunity to try it for free. Perhaps they could reach the threshold of the fourth-grade.

Then not long after, a furnace exploded on the stage, leaving the alchemist covered in dirt. However, no one in the stands laughed at him. After all, he was refining a fourth-grade pill.

“It seems that Qiu Yi and Feng Ming are both quite stable. Could they both be fourth-grade alchemists already?”

“If this is true, their talent was too terrifying, especially Feng Ming. No one in Imperial City knew his name before. If he hadn’t caused such a fuss with the Ningyuan Marquis’ Mansion when he first came to Imperial City and the rumor spread that he was Master Yu Xiao’s new disciple, who would know Feng Ming’s identity?”

“Yes, after today’s competition, Feng Ming’s name will be remembered by everyone in Imperial City.”

The eleventh prince and his wife wanted to turn around and leave the arena, but leaving at this time would make people laugh at them. They had to endure it and keep watching.

Everyone in Sihong Academy was nervous for Feng Ming. Except for his own people, no one knew Feng Ming’s true level. Even Jiang Qian, the newly joined elder, wasn’t very clear about it.

Chen Tianlang sat calmly, but his fists were clenched tightly.

Yes, Chen Tianlang felt that he acted well. In any case, he couldn’t let others know that his junior brother was already a fourth-grade alchemist.

Bai Qiaomo fed the little turtle another beast core. Some people thought that the little turtle was going to be stuffed. He must be nervous.

Cheng Miao whispered, “Grandpa, can Brother Feng Ming succeed?”

Shi Yan wanted to roll his eyes. The ger on stage was a cunning fox. If he dared to sit there, there was no way he wouldn’t succeed.

It wasn’t known how many things these two were hiding. He wondered if even half of them were exposed.

He had inquired around and found that Bai Qiaomo hadn’t even registered for the formation master competition. Look at how well he hid it.

But he still replied, “Yes, he can. Miao’er, didn’t you say that he is very capable?”

Cheng Miao clenched his fists and nodded. “Yes, Grandpa is right. Brother Feng Ming is very capable. He will definitely succeed.”

Further away, Kong Zhao also came to watch with two colleagues beside him.

Before Kong Zhao could say anything, his colleague was surprised. “The ger’s alchemy skills are really good. Brother Kong, you only wanted to recruit Bai Qiaomo. Why didn’t you consider the ger?”

They, the Silver Armor Army, needed their own alchemists and supported their own alchemists. However, they couldn’t afford to pay too high a salary.

Kong Zhao was ashamed. “He has only been Master Yu Xiao’s disciple for a short time. I didn’t know his alchemy skills were so advanced.”

By now, Kong Zhao could judge that Feng Ming was probably already a fourth-grade alchemist.

If he had known Feng Ming’s strength, he would’ve definitely tried to persuade them together in Chiri City instead of just focusing on Bai Qiaomo.

His colleague shook his head. “You underestimated him too much. It will be difficult to persuade him now.”

Indeed, countless people had set their sights on the fourth-grade alchemist who was less than 20 years old. How could they, the Silver Armor Army, have a chance to win?

Considering how fast the Wind Eagle mercenary group had grown, it might be due to the pills provided by Feng Ming.

At the end of the sixth round, only Feng Ming and Qiu Yi were left on the stage.

Qiu Yi’s first furnace failed, and everyone thought it was normal. Only Feng Ming’s success was rare.

No matter how much Feng Ming restrained himself, he was unwilling to break his own record. He wanted to maintain the state of producing one pill in one furnace.

As Qiu Yi was halfway through refining the second furnace, Feng Ming produced a pill.

For the fourth-grade mysterious yuan pill, Feng Ming produced eight finished pills. Two were medium-grade, and six were low-grade.

After collecting the pills, Feng Ming wiped his sweat. It wasn’t easy for him to control himself to this extent.

In the eyes of others, Feng Ming had overexerted himself. Couldn’t they see how pale his face was?

For Qiu Yi, he made five pills. All of them were low-grade pills.

The outcome was decided.

White Lily

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