The Sword God of the Universe

Chapter 552: Chapter 552: Something’s Off

Twenty Pill Masters, fully focused, refined their own Elixirs.

Judges watched the movements of the Pill Masters carefully, however, they couldn’t see the Spiritual Grass Materials used by the Pill Masters.

”Brother Fang, your Fang Family’s alchemist has encountered Jing Yan in the first round! Ah, some bad luck there!” the judges quietly conversed among themselves.

As an Alchemy Dao Family from the Heavenly Origin Continent, the Fang Family had always had representatives serving as judges in every Alchemy Grand Ceremony.

At this moment, this judge from the Fang Family also didn’t look very pleased.

Jing Yan’s previous performance was too astonishing. He also felt that his family’s Pill Master might be defeated in the first round.

”Pill Master Fang Chi might not necessarily be eliminated. Alchemist Jing Yan might not be a Sixth-level Alchemist!” a judge chuckled lightly.

”Don’t be too sure! Look, if Fang Chi is eliminated in the first round, it can only be blamed on his bad luck. If it weren’t for facing Jing Yan or Wan Lai, Fang Chi would have had a great chance of making it into the top ten,” the Fang Family judge shook his head and said.

The other judges nodded in agreement. Fang Chi’s capabilities were indeed good, clearly seen by everyone.

Among the twenty Pill Masters in the finals, six were descendants of Alchemy Dao Families, six were Pill Masters from Pill Country, five were representatives from commerce associations, and there were three independents.

The Elixir that Jing Yan was refining was also a Sixth-level Elixir.

Although one could choose to refine a Low-level Elixir in the finals, all the Pill Masters who had entered the finals were Sixth-level Alchemists, and choosing a Low-level Elixir would likely lead to elimination.

Thus, without needing to look at the Spiritual Grass in front of the other Pill Masters, Jing Yan could be sure that the Elixirs being refined by all twenty Pill Masters were Sixth-level Elixirs, as no one wanted to be eliminated in the first round.

The Sixth-level Elixir Jing Yan refined was called the Purple Qi Pill, a relatively common elixir that many Sixth-level Alchemists could refine. However, the Purple Qi Pill was still very valuable because among the Spiritual Grasses required, some were quite rare and highly valuable.

After a little more than thirty minutes, Jing Yan completed his Alchemy, then sat down cross-legged to rest with his eyes closed, paying no attention to others. Of course, Jing Yan couldn’t see how the others were doing either.

The finals were quite special.

This was because the finals could involve special Elixirs, and rare Elixirs might appear. If others see the materials used, recipes could be leaked. During the refinement of Elixirs, apart from themselves and the white-robed elder presiding over the ceremony, no one else knew the Spiritual Grasses used by the Pill Masters or could see other Pill Masters refining.

The judges in the Alchemy Hall once again widened their eyes.

”Has Alchemist Jing Yan finished refining?”

”What level of Elixir did he refine? Could it be a Fifth-level Elixir? If it’s just a Fifth-level Elixir, then he doesn’t stand much chance of winning!”

”It can’t be a Sixth-level Elixir! It’s only been a little more than thirty minutes.”

Previously, when Jing Yan refined Fourth-level and Fifth-level Elixirs, he took only thirty minutes each. Now, Jing Yan’s actions indicated that he had completed the Elixir.

Just moments ago the judges were discussing which level the Elixir being refined by Jing Yan was, and now they saw Jing Yan finish. Few judges who had mentioned Jing Yan refining a Sixth-level Elixir were now silent.

This is because, if Jing Yan had successfully refined a Sixth-level Elixir in such a short time, it was somewhat implausible. Unless Jing Yan was a High-level Alchemist.

But truthfully, even High-level Alchemists rarely could refine a Sixth-level Elixir in thirty minutes. Generally, only those extremely powerful Eighth-level Alchemists could achieve such speed.

The judge from the Fang Family showed a gleam of joy in his eyes.

Just now he had thought that Fang Chi had no chance. Now it seemed that Fang Chi still had an opportunity. As long as Fang Chi successfully refined a Sixth-level Elixir, he would have a great chance of defeating Jing Yan.

”Hehe, I actually think Alchemist Jing Yan is a prodigy beyond ordinary, not to be judged by common standards. His refined Elixir might well be a Sixth-level Elixir,” the Fang Family judge said with a smile.

Though his words said so, others could also hear the joy in his tone. Clearly, his words did not match his thoughts.

Except for the Fang Family’s judges who were rather pleased, Wan Li of the Wan Family also breathed a sigh of relief. She had genuinely been worried that Jing Yan might pose a threat to Wan Lai. Now, it seemed that Jing Yan might be eliminated in the first round.

Two hours passed quickly.

The white-robed elder personally collected the Elixirs refined by each Pill Master, then presented them to the ten judges.

”Number one wins, number two is eliminated!”

”Number four wins, number three is eliminated!”

This round of determining the value of the Elixirs proceeded in order, and since there were only ten groups, it didn’t take much time.

Jing Yan was in the fourth group.

Therefore, the judges quickly began to evaluate Jing Yan’s Elixir.

”In this Jade Box is the Elixir refined by Alchemist Jing Yan!”

”Let’s open it and see what level Elixir it is!”

”I guess it’s a Fifth-level Elixir; Alchemist Jing Yan is probably just a Fifth-level Alchemist, so he can’t refine a Sixth-level Elixir,” someone said with a laugh.

”It might not necessarily be that, it could be a Sixth-level Elixir,” a Fang Family judge remarked.

”Let’s open it and see what level the Elixir is,” Wan Li stretched out her hand and directly lifted the lid of the Jade Box.

A burst of purple light filled the air.

”Purple Qi Pill?”

”A Sixth-level Purple Qi Pill?”

”How could this be?” A Fang Family Alchemist was taken aback.

He had been almost ninety percent sure that the Elixir Jing Yan had refined was a Fifth-level Elixir, but now, seeing that it was a Purple Qi Pill, he was naturally taken aback.

The value of a Purple Qi Pill was very high, and the chance of failure during its refinement was also relatively high. Although many Sixth-level Alchemists could refine Purple Qi Pills, it required refining multiple batches using multiple batches of Spiritual Grass Materials to successfully produce one batch; this was quite challenging.

For this reason, among the twenty finalists, very few chose to refine a Purple Qi Pill. Everyone knew the high value of the Purple Qi Pill and that they could refine it themselves, but the problem was, if the refinement failed, they would be directly eliminated.

Not many were bold enough to choose the Purple Qi Pill.

”One, two, three...”

”Seven Purple Qi Pills, seven pills formed in one batch, and they are all Sixth-level Purple Qi Pills!”

”Let me see!”

”Ah...”

”First-class quality, all the pills in this batch of Purple Qi Pills are of first-class quality!”

The judges, all being venerable figures who had lived for more than two hundred years, still couldn’t help but tremble a little at this moment.

It took quite a while before the judges opened the Jade Box of the eighth Pill Master, which was the Elixir refined by Fang Chi.

At this moment, Fang Chi felt somewhat uneasy. He, of course, didn’t know that Jing Yan had produced seven first-class quality Purple Qi Pills. He still harbored a sliver of hope, thinking that if Jing Yan wasn’t a Sixth-level Alchemist, he could advance into the top ten. However, seeing the expressions on the judges’ faces after they opened Jing Yan’s Jade Box, he had an uneasy feeling that something was amiss.