Chapter 877: Doubt

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[What?!]

Baili Jingwei jerked and turned to the corner where Yuan Qi flames failed to even ignite.

[To go faster than Old Meng, an imperial family alchemist, does that mean there’s still a genius here?]

Meng Feitian shuddered at the sudden outburst and caused his attention to lapse and the pill to be in danger of being ruined right at the end.

[No way! You’re telling me this backwater city holds another talent than Xue Dingxian?]

Meng Feitian frowned, wrapping up his refining and ending up being the runner-up. Then he looked nervously where the shout came from.

Xue Dingxian was startled as well, but then looked lost. As far as he knew, living in this area for so long, there was no other than his clan as real grandmasters in alchemy around these parts.

[Where did he come from then to be faster than us brothers?]

In the end seeing was believing. Since he was close to finishing as well, he wrapped it up and finished third.

Baili Jingwei, Meng Feitian and Xue Dingxian thus turned their dubious gazes to the speaker. The rest gasped in shock and stopped their refining, wanting to see what kind of outstanding, marvelous and ridiculous being could outdo these two grandmasters.

“Prime Minister sir, should I go and get to the bottom of this?” A guard glanced at Baili Jingwei and asked.

Baili Jingwei shook his head, “No, since he took the lead in the preliminaries, I want to see him myself. If he’s a true genius, I’ll personally take him back to the imperial capital. But if he’s a quack looking to make it big, I’ll have to show my less kind side!”

Baili Jingwei took large steps over, with Meng Feitian and Xue Dingxian rushing after.

Three men and one guard, overcome by curiosity, made their way to where Zhuo Fan was, who still held his hand closed.

“Who said he’s done?”

Baili Jingwei scanned the competitors.

All fingers pointed at Zhuo Fan, out of fear of being put through the wringer as well. So they rushed to put some distance between them.

Shangguan Qingyan gave him a reproachful look, then worried.

They all saw how quickly Zhuo Fan closed his fists moments after he dumped the ingredients into the blaze.

No matter how one looked at it, it was a bust. That was why all figured him for a lunatic who had given up in despair.

Only to realize…

[He’s no lunatic, but a moron, a suicidal one.] 

Well he did close his fist just as the ingredients went in the fire, then shout out he was done, stealing the grandmasters’ thunder.

[This isn’t your average friendly Pill King Convention, where you can talk trash. It won’t end with just a simple expulsion. Consequences are deadly in a competition held at a Sword King’s manor. Declaring you’ve finished when the pill is obviously ruined, are you toying with Sword King Feiyun? Your head is on the line here!]

Maybe there’d be some innocent bystanders who’d suffer as well from such crass transgression.

So the same one who appreciated his talent and wanted to get close moments before, made the sound judgment of keeping their distance and playing dumb.

Shangguan Qingyan was hopeless in standing there, unable to escape.

[Why is he so crazy all of a sudden? Playing around with the Flying Cloud manor? That’s a swift trip down under.]

A grin split Shangguan Yulin’s face, enjoying the show. Moments ago he was still mulling over how to use the manor to remove this thorn in his side. When lo and behold, the guy did it himself and he didn’t have to lift a finger. 

[It sure saves me the trouble.]

He was feeling a sudden and uncontrollable need to cackle.

[Rotten punk, your day has come, ha-ha-ha…]

Baili Jingwei figured it all out from the obvious looks and turned to Zhuo Fan, “Was it you?” 

“Yes, sir.” Zhuo Fan smiled. 

Baili Jingwei sneered as he began, “Brother, I’ve seen many cheats trying to catch my eye at the imperial capital, obsessed with fame and willing to do anything to gain status. I’m more than happy to cater for real talents, of course, but if there’s one thing I hate, it’s to have some clown think he can pull the wool over my eyes.”

Baili Jingwei squinted, “If you’re some special talent, you could’ve approached me in trying to offer your services. But this is a pill competition, where results are judged on one’s grasp of alchemy, not baiting me like this to showcase your value. Humph, in fact, even if you might be a fairly decent talent, I’ll still only judge your action as a means to toy with me and will have to enforce the rules of the competition upon you. Have I made myself clear?”

“Crystal.” Zhuo Fan nodded.

Baili Jingwei raised an eyebrow. This was rare, seeing one held his own under his rebuke. Baili Jingwei had a whole new respect for him.  

Regardless, if Zhuo Fan put on a show, the result would be the same, no mercy. 

Baili Jingwei patted Zhuo Fan’s hand and warned, “This is your last chance. Are you really done?”

“Of course.” Zhuo Fan replied.

While he was nonplussed, the crowd was sweating bullets. 

[Dude, learn when to quit. The other guy even took the time to explain the process while also giving you a way out.]

[Plead guilty and you might walk. Why so adamant? Who here doesn’t know just how done you are?]

The crowd lamented inwardly.

Baili Jingwei looked from the audience to him with a smile, “I like your mentality the best, able to keep cool in my presence. But toying is still toying and would all be revealed in the end. Since you’re so done with your pill, show it to me. I will be kind enough to give you one last chance. Walk away with your fist closed and I’ll ignore it, but this offer is gone the minute you pry open those fingers.”

Clutching his clothes, Shangguan Qingyan glared hard at the calm Zhuo Fan.

“Ha-ha-ha, thank you sir for your kindness, but I’m not playing anything here.”

Zhuo Fan shook his head, his eyes shining as he opened his fist, “Also, it’s not my mentality that’s great, but my clear conscience. Sir’s question must’ve come after noticing the bystanders’ reaction. However, by definition, a bystander is a mere spectator and their reaction isn’t always to be trusted.”

Hum~

A ripple spread from Zhuo Fan’s hand, followed by a colorful aura and thick fragrance of medicine. 

The crowd felt their mind sharpen, their bodies livelier, making these alchemists immediately label the result as a top 7th grade pill.

Whoosh!

The pill had taken a life of its own as it hovered for a moment before shooting away. Meng Feitian made a sign and the pill froze before bringing it to his hand.

Feeling the warmth it gave off and the specific scent of a freshly baked pill, Meng Feitian rushed before Baili Jingwei and gasped, “Young master, it’s a newly refined top 7th grade pill! No mistake about it.”

[You mean to tell me the kid’s random clench ended up making a 7th grade pill?]

But none was more shocked than the watching alchemists around Zhuo Fan. They saw with their own eyes how Zhuo Fan had done it, and that was precisely why reality gave them such a blow they couldn’t get over.

[That actually works?]

Shangguan Qingyan was looking overwhelmed, filled with disbelief. 

[Is alchemy that easy? Throw in some ingredients into the fire then just grab it and it’s done?]

[What about those other clans’ alchemists, toiling day in day out around a cauldron to make pill after pill? Was it a high class act?]

He had no idea that this was all due to Zhuo Fan’s unique skill in alchemy, Universe Palm.

It was this very skill that helped him trample over those obnoxiously conceited alchemists and poach the best alchemist in Tianyu as his disciple.

It was a supreme skill Zhuo Fan never shared…

Baili Jingwei looked from the pill to Zhuo Fan with an awkward gaze. He doubted Zhuo Fan at first because the circumstances made it so, the people around Zhuo Fan looked at him so. But the results were now in and no matter how outrageous and unbelievable it was, he was a true alchemical master, faster than the ex-top two grandmasters.

In his capacity as Prime Minister, Baili Jingwei was, nonetheless, also capable of respect and appreciation for his fellow man. He walked before him and bowed in apology, “I ask that sir can overlook my rude remarks from before.”

“Sir doesn’t need to do that.” Zhuo Fan grinned casually.

Shangguan Yulin looked bleak, gnashing his teeth and seething on the inside. 

[What the hell did the punk do? Those ingredients are supposed to be ashes? How is it a pill instead?]

“Lucky bastard!” Shangguan Yulin squinted and raged…

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