Once
"Just you wait." Liu Ling turned around, staring at the spot where Xiao Yan had disappeared earlier, a feminine smile on his face, and muttered in a low voice, "I will make him feel ashamed of himself at the convention. The Pill King's disciple is the most outstanding person in the Gama Empire."
...
The next morning, Xiao Yan, led by Steward Zhao, once again arrived at the Alchemist Guild.
Tomorrow was the official start of the Alchemist Convention, and today there would be an internal test.
As they walked along, Xiao Yan was somewhat surprised to find that some of the main streets in the city were already patrolled by fully armed soldiers.
Clearly, this was because the Alchemist Convention was about to be held; after all, such a large-scale event naturally required sufficient security measures.
After slowly walking through several wide streets, the massive Alchemist Guild finally came into view. Looking at the entrance, which seemed even more crowded than it had been two days ago, Xiao Yan helplessly shook his head.
It seemed that alchemists from all over the country, and even alchemists from other countries, wanted to stand out at this convention.
Getting out of the carriage, Xiao Yan was able to approach the guild gate smoothly thanks to the Nalan Family's reputation.
Just as he was about to enter the guild through the VIP channel, a commotion suddenly broke out not far behind him, and all eyes turned in that direction.
"Hmm? What's going on?" Frowning slightly, Xiao Yan turned his head to look at the source of the commotion.
A blue flame beast was pulling a silver-white carriage. From the carriage, a snow-white, jade-like slender hand reached out, elegantly grasping the handle of the door. Then, a graceful figure slowly emerged, appearing in everyone's sight.
The person who appeared was wearing a purple dress embroidered with silver patterns, her delicate face revealing an innate noble aura. She didn't seem very old, about seventeen or eighteen years old, looking about the same age as Xiao Yan.
This seemingly very ladylike girl had a hint of mischievousness in her watery eyes, clearly not someone who enjoyed being quiet as much as she appeared.
Steward Zhao said in a low voice, "This is Yue Er, the little princess of the Gama Empire. Her master is Chemir, the vice president of the Alchemist Guild. She passed the Tier 3 Alchemist exam last year. She is the apple of the Gama Empire's eye and one of the top contenders for the championship this year."
Hearing Old Butler's words, Xiao Yan could only mourn for the little princess, because whether you are a Tier 3 or even a Fourth Grade, for Xiao Yan, who possessed a Strange Flame and Tier 6 Soul Strength, and Fourth Grade peak alchemy skills, you were all cannon fodder.
Without paying too much attention, Xiao Yan took the lead in entering the Alchemist Guild.
Following Old Butler, he arrived at a spacious inner hall decorated in a rather classical style. At this time, there were some people standing in twos and threes in the inner hall. Xiao Yan glanced over these people and was somewhat surprised to find that many of these people, who looked to be in their late twenties, were actually at the level of Tier 3 Alchemists.
Not long after, the imperial little princess and Liu Ling, whom he had seen at the gate earlier, also walked in.
"Young Master Xiao Yan, I can't accompany you for the rest of the matter." Steward Zhao said with a bow.
"Thank you for showing me the way."
"It's no trouble. I wish Young Master Xiao Yan a good start."
After seeing off Old Butler, Xiao Yan didn't plan to interact with these people. He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and rested, waiting for the start.
"Huh? Was that the Nalan Family's steward just now? Who is that person who isn't wearing an alchemist robe? He shouldn't be on the list. Did he get in through the back door?" Master Otto of Black Rock City asked.
Vice President Chemir shook his head upon hearing this, "I don't know. I heard he got in through Nalan Jie's influence. It seems he hasn't even been assessed for his alchemist level."
"Hasn't been assessed yet? Probably sent to see the world."
Hearing this, Chemir didn't say anything more and shifted his gaze to the crowd below, pointing to the left side of the hall, where many black curtains hung from the wall, "Behind each curtain is a separate small room, which is your examination room."
"As we all know, the extraction of medicinal materials is an extremely important step in refining pills. This test will examine your extraction of medicinal materials."
"On the platform in each small room, the medicinal materials for the test have been prepared. All you need to do is extract the medicinal materials to the maximum purity you can achieve before the hourglass runs out."
Hearing the vice president's voice, Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes and looked at the small rooms. He randomly chose the nearest one and walked in.
When Xiao Yan lifted the black cloth and walked in, a stone platform appeared in front of Xiao Yan. On the stone platform, there was an hourglass and pieces of charcoal-like medicinal material.
Picking up the medicinal material, Xiao Yan muttered in a low voice, "So that's it, it's the Black Iron Spirit Leaf, a low-level medicinal material commonly used in refining Tier 2 healing pills. This stuff is very resistant to burning and extraction, requiring powerful fire control to precisely control."
Seeing this stuff, Xiao Yan shrugged his shoulders. It wasn't too difficult for him. After yawning, he curled his lips, took out five Pill Furnaces, and threw the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame and Black Iron Spirit Leaf into the Pill Furnaces.
With a whooshing sound, Xiao Yan directly raised the temperature of the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame to the maximum in an instant. Such a high temperature would not only extract it, but could directly burn the Black Iron Spirit Leaf to ashes.
Just as the Black Iron Spirit Leaf came into contact with the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame and was about to be burned to ashes, Xiao Yan controlled the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame with both hands as if he were manipulating a puppet.
At the moment when the Black Iron Spirit Leaf was about to be burned to ashes, in a split second, strands of azure fire quickly passed through the burned and damaged Black Iron Spirit Leaf, instantly extracting the medicinal essence from the Black Iron Spirit Leaf.
In the blink of an eye, the Black Iron Spirit Leaf in the Pill Furnace turned to ashes. If Xiao Yan were any slower, even the medicinal properties would have been burned away.
The key to this technique lies in using ultra-high-speed destruction of the medicinal material, and then sensing a critical point through Soul Strength. At the limit of the medicinal material's fragmentation, the essence of the medicine is quickly brought out with Soul Strength.
This not only requires a powerful flame, but also extremely strong Soul Strength, which can see through even the medicinal properties of the medicine.
Taking out a wooden box from his Storage Ring and putting the medicinal powder inside, Xiao Yan turned and left, taking less than a minute in total.
Seeing Xiao Yan come out after only a minute, some of the dawdling Alchemists were still in the hall, not having even gone in yet.
Vice President Chemir said with a smile, "Little brother, you don't need to deliberately come out to look at the hourglass in the hall. There's also an hourglass inside, synchronized with the one in the hall. The time before the hourglass runs out is for extraction, and only after it runs out will the purity be checked. There's no need to rush."
It was clear that the Vice President thought Xiao Yan was too nervous and had come out to ask about the rules because he didn't understand them.
Xiao Yan took out the wooden box, looking sleepy and listless, and said, "I've already finished extracting."
"You've already finished extracting?????!!" Chemir and Grandmaster Otto, the two judges, exclaimed in unison.
Otto asked, "How many times did you extract?"
"How many times? Once."
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