Chapter 155: Monstrous Talent
Chapter 155: Monstrous Talent
.
Explore new worlds at m,v l'-NovelBin.net
Xun Wei's world collapsed once again as he heard the verdict of the Pavilion Elder.
'No, how is this possible?'
He was in denial, refusing to believe the reality.
He simply couldn't accept that the masked boy had produced three mid-grade, lvl.2 pills in such a short time.
It was simply impossible unless he was a master alchemist.
Xun Wei's shock was understandable, as even those who had witnessed the refinement over the last 15 minutes would not have believed it if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes.
Even the elder from the Medicine Pavilion, upon seeing the speed with which he refined and his method, couldn't help but let out a cold sigh.
She wondered how it was possible for her to improve so rapidly.
SHe remembered how he refined three months ago, and even then his alchemical abilities were first-rate, but now…
Even she, a master alchemist herself, couldn't confidently say she could refine level 2 mid-grade pills in 15 minutes.
Of course, refining the pill itself wasn't too difficult for her, but to do it in such a short time, she wasn't sure she could replicate Ethan's actions.
What surprised her the most was his unique technique.
'He manipulated the ingredients with his spiritual manifestation and worked them to perfection in minute details.
And he also managed to manipulate the elements inside the cauldron to ensure the ingredients didn't mix randomly.'
It wasn't a new method of refining or anything, but it took a long time to master.
After all, various elements would influence this method of refinement, ranging from precise control of one's spiritual manifestation to manipulating the ingredients inside the cauldron.
It wasn't difficult for a master alchemist to do such a thing; in fact, this was one of the traits that distinguished them from experienced alchemists.
'Could he already be at that level?' she wondered, unwilling to believe her own assumption.
After all, it would be too much to digest, especially considering the person appeared to be no older than 30.
How could someone so young have reached such a level?
If a person reached the level of master alchemist by the age of 100, they were considered a genius who appeared once every thousand years.
And if they did so by the age of 50, they were considered a genius who appeared once every hundred thousand years.
What could be said of someone as young as this boy?
A genius like no other had ever appeared.
The more she thought about it, the less she believed that he could already be at the master alchemist level.
That said, she acknowledged his skill and the quality of his pills.
Thus, she declared him the winner.
Even though Xun Wei had also produced a pill, it was still inferior in purity compared to Ethan's three pills.
The other three high-grade level 1 pills were overshadowed by just one of those level 2 mid-grade pills, so it was clear who the victor was.
Still, this did not sit well with Xun Wei, who said through gritted teeth, "It's not possible that all these are level 2 pills, right?"
The Pavilion Elder could only shake his head.
It wasn't that he didn't understand what Xun Wei was feeling.
After all, not only had he lost once again in a crushing defeat to the masked boy, but he had also lost his last chance to participate in the Imperial Tournament.
He had previously been offered a spot in the novice category but refused, thinking it was humiliating for someone of his caliber to participate in such a category.
That said, however much he wanted to deny the result, he couldn't do so.
After all, there were too many spectators for him to accuse the other side of cheating.
If it had been up to him, he would have suppressed the boy using his family's power, but here, he couldn't even do that.
In the end, despite his reluctance, he accepted his defeat.
What worried him most was the fact that he would now have to ask his family for a blood flower.
A flower might seem insignificant, but this flower grew only in special environments and conditions, and there were fewer than a hundred in the entire Phoenix Kingdom.
For such a vast kingdom, having only 100 of these flowers meant they couldn't even be divided among all the cities present.
His family had three of them.
His father had taken the third one a while ago and given it to him.
That flower was supposed to be used for a future pill, but now he had lost it.
Although reluctant, he handed over the reward and withdrew into his quarters.
He didn't know how his father would react if he found out about this, but it certainly wouldn't be good for him.
On the other side, Ethan, finally seeing one of the rare herbs he had been searching for in his possession, nodded in satisfaction and placed it in a special container before storing it in his dimensional ring.
He couldn't put it directly into storage since he was still in the presence of many people.
Speaking of those people, they were all clearly shocked by the skill Ethan had shown, especially those participating in the novice category.
They had never seen anyone refine in such a way, nor did they think it was possible.
The admiration of Ethan's female fan grew even more, and even the two boys couldn't help but acknowledge Ethan's superiority.
They were dissatisfied for various reasons, but the main one was that Ethan had ended up being the idol of all the girls in the selection tournament.
So, because of that, they were still envious, but that didn't stop them from respecting his alchemical abilities.
Unlike them, however, the other two people present with them had similar but at the same time different opinions.
They were more aligned with Elder Shu.
Yan Mei recognized this refinement technique, having often accompanied her grandfather when he met with his alchemist friends and others.
She remembered once when her grandfather had taken her to see a Grandmaster Alchemist from the Pavilion, and at that time, she had the rare opportunity to see him refine.
The way he refined was very similar to how the masked boy was doing it.
According to her grandfather, this was something a master alchemist could already do, but it required great mastery over one's spiritual manifestation since many elements had to be managed in a short time, and in alchemy, where precision had to be millimetric, there was no room for error.
Seeing the masked boy do something that even her grandfather still struggled with a little gave her a great shock.
The same was true for Xiang Hua.
Not many knew this, but the master of the Phoenix Sect was also a master alchemist.
Although she no longer practiced the profession, when Xiang Hua began learning alchemy, she picked up a thing or two from her, and she remembered that at that time, the sect master showed her this technique, explaining how it was used, its advantages, and its disadvantages.
She had told her that while she could perform this refining technique, she was far from being able to use it to its full potential.
And that was because it took a long time to master it step by step.
She had stopped being an alchemist a long time ago, so she didn't continue training in this technique.
Xiang Hua had also started learning the technique, but she still wasn't able to use it for refinement.
Moving objects was one thing, but working them and refining them entirely through spiritual manifestation was another.
Seeing the masked person able to do such a thing made her realize that if before they could have been considered at the same level, now they no longer were, as the other person had already surpassed her by a large margin.
'Who the hell is this monster?' she thought.