The Female CEO's Personal Bodyguard

Chapter 1506: Chapter 1506: Isn’t This Neglecting One’s Proper Occupation?

”Greetings, esteemed audience! We are here at the grand stage of the Skyland Continent’s Pill King Championship. Today, we commence the first phase of this competition—the pre-selection stage.”

”The pre-selection stage entails a set of dozens of questions. Alchemists participating in the event will be assigned one question at random per group. Successfully completing it means passing the pre-selection stage and officially becoming a contestant in the Pill King Championship.”

”The pre-selection stage is an elimination round. Each person has only one shot at it, so take it seriously.”

On the massive platform, the host of the Pill King Championship amplified his voice with a sound-enhancing technique, delivering an impassioned explanation.

Around the enormous arena, tens of thousands of spectators had packed in. These were cultivators who traveled from various parts of the continent.

Although the event was held in the Imperial City, it was obvious that ordinary people couldn’t partake in cultivator-exclusive activities.

Ordinary people and cultivators hailed from two entirely separate worlds.

The arena was filled with alchemy furnaces, all uniformly designed. These alchemy furnaces were evidently mass-produced, of decent quality, though far from exceptional.

In assessments and competitions, fairness is paramount.

With the same ingredients and the same alchemy furnace, if someone else can succeed and you cannot, it only proves they are better than you.

Each group consisted of one hundred alchemists. A hundred people would enter the arena simultaneously, each standing before an alchemy furnace. The referee supervisor would then draw a question in public, after which the staff would distribute materials corresponding to the task to each participant. At that point, the timer would start.

When time ran out, the alchemists would present their results. Meeting the criteria meant passing, and they would immediately be awarded a contestant token. Those who failed were instantly eliminated.

Alchemy competitions naturally didn’t proceed rapidly, but for cultivators, such a duration was trivial.

Carson Flores watched a few groups and observed that the elimination rate was quite high.

In a group of over a hundred people, only about thirty percent would pass the pre-selection stage, while the remaining participants were all eliminated.

But since the number of participants was substantial, even with only thirty percent passing, the main contest would still feature at least several thousand contenders.

After all, this involved alchemists from across the entire Skyland Continent, and naturally, their numbers were immense.

On the third day, it was finally Carson Flores’s turn.

Following the others into the arena, Carson waited for everyone to gather. Once assembled, the referee supervisor drew a question publicly.

”Refine the Hundred Herbs Pill.”

Carson raised an eyebrow. Well, luck wasn’t exactly on his side.

The Hundred Herbs Pill wasn’t particularly high-grade. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators could refine it. However, its success rate was notably low due to the sheer variety of ingredients. A slight mistake in handling any of them would ruin the pill.

Even though Carson had been studying under the Pill King diligently, he still had to proceed with caution. A single careless moment might lead to unforeseen disaster.

As Carson focused on refining the pill, a veiled young woman arrived fashionably late in the audience stands.

She chose a spacious corner to sit in, her gaze leisurely sweeping across the entire venue. Then, her eyes abruptly froze.

She widened her eyes, her gaze locking onto Carson among the crowd, surprise and joy flickering in her expression.

She had planned to visit the White Crane Immortal Sect to find him, yet unexpectedly, he had come here to participate in the alchemy competition?

Wasn’t he only proficient in basic alchemy? What was he doing here, joining the fun?

To spectate?

A faint smile surfaced in her eyes. Aunt Lei had remarked that the pre-selection stage wasn’t worth watching, but if she hadn’t been bored and decided to drop by, she might have completely missed Carson.

With his alchemy skills, he probably wouldn’t even pass the pre-selection stage, right?

The young woman, of course, was Alfred Weaver’s long-unseen daughter, Cristopher Hopkins. Upon returning to the Immortal Domains, she had been cleansing and eliminating Maggie Fitzgerald’s faction while temporarily taking on the responsibilities of a domain master—an incredibly hectic endeavor.

When Carson joined the White Crane Immortal Sect, Lance Matthews had sent a letter to the Celestial Palace. After all, Cristopher had specifically instructed them to look out for Carson. Now that he had joined the sect, reporting the news and giving the White Crane Immortal Sect some visibility seemed appropriate.

Upon learning that Carson had obtained the Heavenly Sword Inheritance, Cristopher was quite pleased. After all, Bank Austin was a legend in the Thunder Immortal Realm, whose strength was said to rival or even surpass Nico Weaver, the domain master. For Carson to receive his inheritance boded exceedingly well for his future.

Maggie Fitzgerald and her faction had long gone into hiding, making it nearly impossible to locate them openly. Cristopher, serving as acting domain master, had been busy up until now. Finally finding a moment of leisure, she brought Uncle Zhong and Aunt Lei with her to Skyland Continent in search of Carson—only to encounter him here by chance.

Cristopher’s mood brightened significantly.

This fellow, if he gets eliminated in the pre-selection round, would he feel utterly devastated?

Heh, she would have to give him a good ribbing when the time came.

Neglecting proper cultivation to dabble in alchemy!

Wasn’t that just plain frivolous?

Sitting beside her, Cecilia Browning noticed Cristopher’s sudden shift into elation and curiously inquired, ”Miss, did you spot something amusing?”

Cristopher tilted her chin slightly, ”The fifth row, third person... do you see him?”

Cecilia’s gaze landed on Carson, who was intently refining pills. She scrutinized him for a moment, her expression tinged with confusion.

This man was indeed rather handsome and carried a certain charisma, but what was the big deal?

”I see him. What about him?”

With a faint smile, Cristopher replied, ”That’s Carson Flores.”