Chapter 876: Top

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“Cousin, I never knew you to have such skill.”

Shangguan Qingyan looked at Zhuo Fan filled with admiration. Zhuo Fan had a smirk on, sticking out his chin, “Ain’t I awesome? Now, who was it, I wonder, that said my alchemy sucks just a minute ago?”

“Humph, since when did fire control equal being amazing in alchemy?” Shangguan Qingyan blushed, sticking to her guts, “Dad said Radiant Stage cultivators can at most become a 7th grade alchemist. Now that it is a requirement for preliminaries, it remains to be seen if you can pass it.”

Zhuo Fan shook his head, muttering , “Aside from the harsh mandatory cultivation stage in alchemy, the core of it is secret arts and control. The last one being imperative to one’s results. You and your dad are amateurs and don’t know the details. But any alchemist worth his salt is clear on this. What do you guys say?”

Zhuo Fan turned to the crowd.

“Yes, yes…”

Everyone bobbed their heads, with one even speaking out, “Miss, your cousin is right. The situation now proves just how frickin’ important it is. Why else would we be standing here like this, waiting for them to finish?”

His colleagues nodded, sharing his pain.

[Right, if these bums had Zhuo Fan’s amazing control skill, they wouldn’t be affected by others’ special flames and look so down.]

Shangguan Qingyan returned her eye to Zhuo Fan, “But anything can be said, when the actual results count. Isn’t it all about speed? Say that again once you get into the top ten.”

“Miss, you’re being too hard on him. It’s not so easy to achieve it in today’s Pill King Convention, now with such a tight competition.”

Since nothing could be done, these guys talked it out to soothe their worries, “Your cousin has an insane control, but not on the level of a beast flame or heaven and earth spirit flame. It would be amazing if he makes it to the top hundred.”

“He-he, so you admit it.  Control has little to do with actual refining.” Grasping the excuse she wanted, Shangguan Qingyan laughed at her great wisdom.

Shrugging, the people only smiled, “Miss, there’s so many factors when it comes to alchemy. Control is just one of them. Whether or not your cousin will stand out will depend on his grasp of other aspects. Besides, while we have been debating here, the others have started already. Some are even close to finishing. I now stand corrected, it’d be a miracle if your cousin gets into top hundred.”

“What?!”

Shangguan Qingyan’s startled eyes looked around, finding hundreds of special flames finishing refining the ingredients, with some of them wrapping up. While their side hadn’t even begun. This sudden delay made her feel the pressure and grow angry, “Don’t just waste time with idle chat! Time’s a wastin’!”

The candidates shrugged with a plain look, “It’s not us chatting here, but young miss yapping on around your cousin.”

“True, I have to give that to them.” Zhuo Fan nodded, “Have you come to help or hold me back?”

Shangguan Qingyan’s face fell and glared with a pout, “How can you say that? It’s you who’s wasting time yet blame it on me. Look, they’re almost done…”

Shangguan Qingyan pointed over to Shangguan Yulin but then caught herself.

She at least had the mind to not expose their relationship. Zhuo Fan followed her finger and nodded, “He sure is fast, though…”

Zhuo Fan returned to his blaze, throwing ingredients in it and beginning the process.

[Humph, feeling guilty so you only start now?]

Shangguan Yulin smirked seeing Zhuo Fan start at long last. He focused on his own flame then, as the pills were about to be finished. 

“Starting now will only get you north of three hundred.”

Shangguan Qingyan was feeling the pressure from all the other exuberant flames around, “I hope the preliminaries won’t kick too many out so you can squeeze in.”

“Yeah, it’d be such a shame for brother to fail after having such amazing control. But, that’ll be hard…” The crowd nodded, filled with sarcasm.

Glaring at their audience, Shangguan Qingyan huffed and stared tensely at her new ‘cousin’.

Zhuo Fan merely smirked, the blaze in his hand warping and readying to finish the pill.

The others cried out, “Brother, what are you doing? You only got the ingredients in and have yet to refine them!”

If Zhuo Fan doused his blaze, all the ingredients would turn to ash, a great carelessness for an alchemist.

They thought that with Zhuo Fan’s control, he’d be a seasoned alchemist. Was he making such an elementary mistake to make up for lost time? 

[But no amount of rushing is worth taking the foolish approach of ruining the pills. The judge up there clearly said the one to make a pill will qualify.]  

[But by failing to make the pill, it’s all going down the drain. Brother, are you touched in the head perhaps?]

“What’s wrong?” Shangguan Qingyan was clueless, though noticed the tense looks of the crowd. She guessed Zhuo Fan might have done something he shouldn’t.

Zhuo Fan beamed, his eyes focusing on the fire, “Nothing, they’re just droning on. Ignore them.”

The blaze shrunk quickly, vanishing in moments under the incredulous eyes of his audience…

Meng Feitian and Xue Dingxian were right now in a tight competition.

They had rare heaven and earth spirit flames, with fires so hot that dyed the sky red.

“Ha-ha-ha, Old Xue, I’m just about done. The preliminaries are mine, just like before, ha-ha-ha…”

“Humph, stop with the prancing. My pill is about done as well. We’ll see who takes first soon!”

The two lifelong rivals fought with everything. But one thing was certain, they were both grandmasters and the win could go either way.

Baili Jingwei stood on stage and nodded at the two oldies’ rivalry, smiling to a guard, “They’re true alchemists, Old Meng and his junior brother. They’re the only ones leading the round. The closest to them are still only halfway. Such disparity is incredible. They’re sure to take the top two places in preliminaries.”

“Well of course, since Old Meng was an imperial family alchemist. His junior brother, Xue Dingxian, had been competing with him for decades so of course he’d be outstanding as well. Those random alchemists around stand no chance.” The guard nodded.

Baili Jingwei sighed, looking down somewhat, “The main reason for this Pill King Convention was to draw out the rats and take down Shangguan clan’s thieves, but also to get some good seeds for the imperial capital. I didn’t think it’d be so hard to go headhunting. Sword King Feiyun’s domain only has Xue Dingxian worthy of attention. The others are subpar, lacking sorely by comparison with Old Meng. They don’t deserve to enter the imperial capital.”

“This only goes to show the Prime Minister’s brilliant track record of recent years. Recruiting talent throughout the central area all this time has made them all be under Prime Minister now. Few are those remaining, making it hard to find such a commodity among the people.”

“Ha-ha-ha, you sure have a slick tongue.”

The guard bowed and Baili Jingwei patted his shoulder with a sigh, “Maybe so, all I wish is for the empire to be strong and use talents to their best.”

“Ha-ha-ha, old man, I’m almost there. This is my win!”

A laughter echoed, drawing looks. Meng Feitian held a shiny pill in hand, needing but to take away the flame to finish.

Xue Dingxian’s pill was still lacking, needing but a few more moments to finish. Yet this was enough to settle a victor.

Xue Dingxian shuddered in fury, but powerless to fight it. He watched Meng Feitian’s revoltingly prideful face, with a smile going from ear to ear as the fire was doused to take the pill.

Baili Jingwei and the guard smiled, “It’s still Old Meng who won in the end, even if only by a hair. Ha-ha-ha, these old guys are funny…”

Boom!

Meng Feitian’s flame had yet to die out as an explosion rattled their heads.

A drawn out voice resounded, “Sir, I’m done…”

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