Dugu's Room
"What are you looking for, Yan'er?" Dugu Zhong asked his granddaughter, who seemed to be busy looking for something or someone ever since they arrived at the alchemist guild.
Dugu Yan sighed softly. "I'm looking for that Xia Tian; I'm sure that he is my only competitor in the competition this time."
"Oh?" Dugu Zhong was taken aback by her answer. "Don't you have the confidence to face that Xia Tian?"
Dugu Yan nodded to him. "Even though I've prepared myself as best I can for this competition, I still don't think I can beat him, Grandpa."
"It's okay, winning and losing is normal, and you just need to try your best." As he caressed her granddaughter's head, Dugu Zhong spoke to comfort her.
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Competition Hall
"All participants in the competition, please immediately occupy the places that have been prepared for you." Yan Jin shouted, using his energy to summon all the participants who were still in their respective rooms.
A few minutes later, all of the competition participants had taken their respective posts; there were only a few dozen participants in this alchemy competition in total. They were alchemists from sects, the Alchemy Guild, and freelance alchemists.
"For the first match, it can be very easy, but it can also be very difficult." Yan Jin then opened a tray filled with hundreds of types of herbs. "The first task is, you must be able to recognize the name of each herb, mention their benefits, and write down how to process each of these herbs properly."
Hearing that, Xia Tian sighed in his heart. 'Sigh, is this the only quality of alchemy in this world? Totally disappointed.'
[Hehe, what do you expect, master?] Alice asked as she laughed after hearing his words. [This world is only a mortal world in the lower realms, so it's no wonder that the quality of their alchemy is also very low.]
'Those disciples in the Xiao'er realm can recognize all the herbs with a single glance!' Xia Tian grumbled in his heart. 'In order to become a member of her realm, every alchemist must at least be able to recognize thousands of herbs, whereas in this world only hundreds of herbs are used for competition.'
[Well, that's true. If any low-level alchemists from her realm come to this world, then they will definitely become respected alchemists, as their abilities are truly extraordinary.]
"If you can't recognize 90% of these herbs, then you will be immediately disqualified. Do you understand?" Yan Jin continued.
"Yes!" Everyone shouted at the same time, except for Xia Tian, who looked very unenthusiastic about the competition.
Sometime later, all the participants had come forward to check all the herbs, and they immediately wrote them down on the paper that had been provided in their respective places.
Before long, Yan Jin began to call the participants one by one.
"Dugu Yan, the result is 97%."
"Yan Ning, the result is 95%."
"Lan Yin, the result is 94%."
"Guo Peng, the result is 93%."
"Meng Hao, the result is 90%."
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Audience Area
"Wow! Dugu Yan took the lead for a while!"
"The granddaughter of Dugu Zhong is indeed extraordinary!"
"I heard that she is not only an expert alchemist but she is also talented in the medical field."
The audience started whispering after learning about Dugu Yan's result, even more so that her result was above Yan Jin's disciple, because all this time the alchemy competition was almost always won by the Alchemist Guild.
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VIP area
"Haha! Congratulations, Sect Master Dugu! Your granddaughter is truly amazing!" The elders of the other sects started to congratulate Dugu Zhong, who laughed in satisfaction.
"Unfortunately, she was born in the wrong era, because there was someone who was more extraordinary than her among the participants." A woman nonchalantly spoke as she walked into the room.
They glanced at the woman, and Dugu Zhong asked. "What do you mean by that, Elder Youling?"
The woman was none other than Fan Youling, a member of the Elf Race who was also an elder of the Jade Pearl Sect.
"You will know the answer very soon, Old Man Dugu." Fan Youling replied with a faint smile as she sat down in the empty seat, causing Dugu Zhong and the other sect elders to raise their eyebrows.
Dugu Zhong wondered in his heart. 'Is the person she's referring to that Xia Tian? Is it true that his alchemy skills are above Yan'er's?'
"You have such confidence in his abilities, Youling." Feng Xian'er said with a chuckle.
Fan Youling turned to Feng Xian'er. "Hey, Xian'er! I still didn't expect that he would represent your sect, but with him taking part in this competition, it's making this competition boring."
"En, I agree with you, Elder Youling." Mei Yun, who had just arrived along with her twin sister, also joined their conversation.
Even though Mei Yun had never witnessed Xia Tian's alchemy prowess in person, and she had never experienced the effects of his pills. But since the first time she met him, she already knew that he wasn't an ordinary person.
Fan Youling and Feng Xian'er were surprised by Mei Yun, who suddenly joined them.
Even Mei Yin was also surprised by her twin sister, she still doesn't understand why her twin sister adores Xia Tian so much.
Back then, Mei Yin had confronted Xia Tian about her relationship with her twin sister, but he told her that they didn't have a special relationship, and her twin sister had also said the same to her. Even so, she still harbored doubts in her heart about their relationship.
"Oh? So you all have the same opinion?" Dugu Zhong spoke in a mocking tone. "Are you saying that Xia Tian will be able to defeat Yan'er and win this competition?"
"Of course!" Feng Xian'er, Fan Youling, and Mei Yun replied at the same time; all of them were certain that Xia Tian would win the alchemist competition. "Just look at him, only he looks very relaxed among the participants, even your granddaughter looks so nervous."
They then turned to Xia Tian, who was sitting casually on his chair, and the elders started whispering.
"Hey, how strange! I can't feel the young man's cultivation."
"True, I can't feel it either."
"As I recall, he is Zhu Yuhe's son-in-law."
"But I didn't expect that he would join the Star Moon Sect."
"Hmm? But this is strange; I've never heard of the sect having an alchemy division before."
"Is he really a cultivator? I can't even feel the energy in his body a bit."
Hearing them, Dugu Zhong observed Xia Tian closely. 'What the hell? How can he hide his energy that neatly?'
On the other hand, Meng Yao, who was among them, didn't say anything; she herself was aware that Xia Tian was definitely ahead of the other participants.
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Arena
"Xia Tian! The result..." Yan Jin was completely shocked after knowing his result; he didn't immediately announce the result and continued to stare at him in shock. "The result is... 100%!"
Dugu Yan took a deep breath after hearing that, and then glanced at Xia Tian as she muttered to herself. 'He really is amazing! Although he looks so relaxed and doesn't seem to pay attention to those herbs, he can recognize them perfectly.'
'Tch! This is only the first match; I will definitely beat you in the next match.' Meng Hao gritted his teeth, and he felt even more irritated in his heart.
Lan Yin sighed softly as she inwardly said. 'No wonder, master told us to watch out for him; he can even recognize all the herbs without observing them in detail.'
Yan Ning, Guo Peng, and the other participants also began to wonder about Xia Tian's true alchemy abilities.
The other audience also became noisy after hearing his results. Moreover, they recognized Xia Tian's clothes, and they couldn't believe that the Star Moon Sect had a genius disciple in alchemy.
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"Do you understand now, Old Man Dugu?" Fan Youling nonchalantly asked. "Your granddaughter is indeed extraordinary, but with young master Xia's existence, she will always be behind him."
Dugu Zhong was speechless in reply, because Xia Tian's results were indeed extraordinary; even in the previous competitions, none of the participants could answer with 100%.
"Hey, this is just the first match; my granddaughter will definitely beat him in the next matches!" Dugu Zhong said in annoyance, Fan Youling and the others only laughed softly after hearing his words.
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Forging Competition Area
"First match, the winner is Xia Tian from Star Moon Sect." Qin Qing shook her head and sighed after she announced the results of the first match of the forging competition.
Just like in the Alchemy competition, it wasn't much different either. Xia Tian's clone won the first match perfectly, and he didn't get any obstacles from those participants.
Apart from being an elder in the Star Moon Sect, Qin Qing also acted as the leader of the Blacksmith Guild. Even her ability in forging is far below Xia Tian's, let alone the contestants, and it can be said that the competition is only a one-man show for Xia Tian.
- To Be Continued -
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My other novels
1. Primordial 'Dual Cultivator' Dragon With System
2. Otherworldly-Cultivator
3. Zhang Fei-The Abandoned Son
If you guys haven't read all three, maybe you can take a peek at them, who knows you might like them.
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