Rise of the Alchemy God

Chapter 159: Start of the Imperial Alchemy Tournament

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After less than three hours since the Sun City group had arrived, the tournament finally began.

The stands of the Coliseum were packed with cheering people, rooting for their favorite team.

On the other side, the participants of the first day's tournament were already in position.

On a stage set at a height of 10 meters, an elderly man in a white robe with gray stripes approached the edge as he lightly coughed.

Even though he coughed softly, everyone in the Coliseum heard him and immediately quieted down, turning to look at him.

Seeing that the crowd had finally calmed, he spoke in a calm voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen, once again this year, I will be presiding over the tournament.

Many of you may already know me, but for those who don't,

I am Wang Dazhi, an elder alchemy master of the Alchemist Association of the Imperial City," he said calmly, and the crowd cheered.

Waiting for them to quiet down once again, he continued:

"This is an important event that many young and experienced alchemists look forward to every year, and this year is no different.

Today, In the 890th Imperial Alchemy Tournament, many talents couldn't resist making their presence known.

Alchemy is a very difficult profession that requires dedication and commitment from the person to learn, and perhaps a bit of talent doesn't hurt either.

This tournament is an opportunity for already emerging alchemists to once again assert their talent, and for new alchemists to make a name for themselves.

So, give it your best, and show us how high your abilities are," he said, officially beginning this year's alchemy tournament.

The alchemy tournament was divided into three phases, and in many aspects, these phases were quite similar to the qualification test held in every city before the tournament.

Essentially, there was a theoretical part and a practical part.

Unlike the qualification test, in this tournament, things would be a bit different for alchemists who participated in the expert category.

The participants of the first category would face the talisman theoretical test with the questions and then a one-on-one competition.

The participants of the second category would first take the theoretical test, and those who passed it would have to answer Five questions chosen by the examiners themselves, answering directly to them.

Participants had to prove they could handle unexpected questions or ones of a higher-than-usual complexity.

The examiner would indeed ask this section of questions in a rapid-fire format that would last five minutes per person.

Given the much smaller number of participants in the expert category compared to those in the novice category, the examiners had plenty of time to dedicate to each of them.

The questions would vary in difficulty, and the participant could decide the difficulty of each question. Discover hidden tales at m,v l'e-NovelBin.net

Naturally, depending on the complexity of the question, the total points gained would also differ.

Ethan, along with the two girls, the elder Shu, and also Xun Wei for some reason, were seated in special seats reserved for them.

Next to them, members of other teams from the Phoenix Kingdom could be seen, as well as some teams from other kingdoms.

Ethan had already examined the auras of these people and could tell that the strongest among them was an elder at the 4th level of soul cultivation.

All the others didn't go beyond the third stage.

Naturally, he wasn't examining them just for fun, but also to find those individuals.

'Hmm, three of them are here. Where's the fourth?' he asked himself, immediately identifying three people in these numerous groups who had traces of demonic Qi on them.

He could tell they were the same as yesterday, and he was just wondering what had happened to the fourth one.

While he decided to contact Bai Yu, the competition below in the arena began.

The first day of the tournament was reserved only for the participants of the first category, so only they could be seen down there.

Immediately, several of them could be seen falling into a trance, focusing deeply, as they channeled their spiritual energy into the talismans and started the process.

For many of them, that minute felt longer than a minute, and already after the first 30 seconds, several foreheads were covered in sweat.

After another 10 seconds, some began to tremble, and finally, when the 60 seconds passed, many collapsed to the ground, exhausted, while their talismans slipped from their hands and flew towards the alchemy masters presiding over the tournament.

Next to each examiner stood an alchemy master, and this was because expert alchemists couldn't examine, as many of their rank would also be participating in the tournament.

Only alchemy masters and above were allowed to examine.

And so, while their scores were being recorded, the first group of disciples moved from their positions, leaving space for the next group.

The same scene as before repeated itself once again and continued every minute for about 10 minutes, until the last group was also examined.

Immediately after the end, several talismans flew from their positions and landed in front of various participants of the first category.

This indicated that they had passed.

For those who hadn't received a talisman, there was only the bitter taste of defeat, while many of them still waited hopefully, hoping one of the flying talismans would head in their direction, but it did not.

And so, the first trial for the participants of the first category ended, with the final result being that one-third of the participants had failed.

A large number, but one that didn't surprise anyone.

The novice category was regarded as such for a reason.

Every year, many were eliminated in the first trial.

One would expect that an alchemist who managed to participate in the tournament would at least have solid theoretical foundations, but the alchemy masters knew very well that this wasn't always the case, which is why this test was still in place.

They had considered removing it, as the final and most important skill was the practical one, but it soon became clear that wasn't a good idea.

In the year they skipped the theoretical test, there were several cauldron explosions due to the inexperience and lack of basic knowledge of many novices.

The examiners were clearly not happy to see such a prestigious competition turning into an experiment ground for these newcomers.

As a result, the rules for selecting participants became more stringent.

This almost never happened in the expert category, and the reason was obvious.

The minimum one would expect from alchemists at their level is to know every single basic aspect of alchemy by heart.

For them, most eliminations occurred during the second phase, where they would have to compete in one-on-one matches against another participant.