Rise of the Alchemy God

Chapter 176: Hu Xingyan

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Ethan's opponent was a girl with short, gray-white hair that reached her shoulders.

She had sharp purple eyes that were currently fixed on Ethan's bored figure.

'Is this prick taking me lightly?' Experience more tales on m v|l e'-NovelBin.net

She thought, irritated by the masked boy's nonchalant behavior.

Initially, she had been very excited to face someone who had, until now, dominated everyone he'd fought and even bested her in the second part of the theoretical test, taking first place and leaving her to settle for second.

This only fueled her curiosity about this person who had appeared out of nowhere and proven to be one of the dark horses of this year's tournament.

Many of the participants in the expert category were familiar faces, already somewhat famous, but he was one of the few unknown contenders this year.

She herself was a well-known alchemist, renowned for her high-level alchemical skills despite being under 30.

This alone placed her among the best of the younger generation, but that wasn't enough for her.

She had always been highly competitive and didn't want to remain just one of the best, she wanted to be the best.

So she continuously honed her skills, learning from many master alchemists, including her grandfather, who was one of the three Grandmaster Alchemists of the Long Empire.

This year's tournament was supposed to be her opportunity to claim first place and assert her superiority over all the other participants in her category.

Up until this point in the tournament, she had defeated everyone she faced, and none of them posed a real challenge to her.

She thought she might not need to take things too seriously to secure first place.

But that changed after the end of the second round of competitions.

Since the start of the second round, she finally noticed several participants in her category demonstrating performances near her own level.

One of them even did something she wasn't sure she could do herself, and that person was none other than the masked boy.

She had hoped to face him, because, in her mind, she had already marked him as one of the best in this competition, and she was eager for a match against him.

Who would have thought that when she finally got the chance, the masked boy completely ignored her, as if, to him, she didn't even exist?

His attitude shattered her composure and sent her into a frenzy.

Ethan, who was minding his own business, felt an intense gaze on him.

Turning, he saw his opponent staring at him with a fierce, clearly angry expression.

'What the hell is wrong with this woman?' he thought, bewildered by this sudden animosity directed his way.

He was sure he'd never met this woman before, and seeing her look at him like that only confused him more.

'Could she be missing a few screws?' he thought, arriving at this conclusion.

'No, the one with a few screws loose is you,' said Bai Yu, who had by now given up on correcting his erroneous assumptions.

She had already noticed that, while Ethan was perceptive in most situations, his skill seemed nonexistent when it came to women.

She still remembered an incident a few days ago when they were exploring the capital.

He was approached by a woman in the prime of her life who was clearly interested in him and tried to start a conversation.

He simply brushed her off, assuming she was crazy.

When Bai Yu asked why he thought she was crazy, he simply responded with something like:

"Who in their right mind goes around asking people's names?

If she isn't crazy, then she's definitely up to something shady, and I don't feel like wasting my time on something like that.

You have to be careful; this world is full of strange people, like her," he said, as if he were an adult giving advice to a child.

"..."

Bai Yu then understood that, when it came to women, Ethan completely lacked any common sense.

And it was strange because, when he interacted with her, this part of him seemed absent.

She could only think this was due to his lack of interaction with people, and this theory was confirmed even more in her mind when she thought about what he had been doing since he met her.

He had spent 90% of his time away from others, cultivating, refining, or training.

She thought it might be better if he took more breaks, like the recent one he had taken not long ago, more often.

At one point, she even told him it was time for him to go outside and touch some grass.

That said, with everyone in their positions, the competition finally began.

The matches of the third round would set the stage for those who would advance to the quarterfinals, as the tournament was now entering its final phase.

In the next three days, the final rounds would take place, determining the Top 10 rankings, with prizes awarded to the Top 3.

With Yan Mei's recent defeat, she was nearly out of the running for the Top 3, but all was not lost.

Currently, she had already secured a place in the Top 15 of the tournament, and if she won her next match, she would have a chance to make it into the Top 10.

For a girl her age, participating in this tournament for the first time, already being in the Top 15 was a good ranking, but this position didn't satisfy her, and so she would give her all and strive to win the next match as well.

Among their group, only Ethan and Xiang Hua were still going strong, and if they both won their next duels, they would both be in the Top 10, which was already a great result for their team from Sun City.

As members of one of the three ruling kingdoms of the Long Empire, this was the minimum that would be expected of a team like theirs.

But none of the three of them worried about this; all that mattered to them was pursuing their individual goals.

For Ethan, who had primarily come to promote his brand, and for Xiang Hua, who had come to honor her master.

Positioning their team well to bring honor to their city was only a secondary goal, one that would be automatically achieved if they fulfilled their primary goals.

That said, with the announcer's call, the competition finally began, and none of the participants wasted any time, immediately starting their refining processes.

Like the previous group, they had already planned their strategies and which pills to produce first and last, so when the timer started, everyone was already working on refining the materials.

Among them, there was only one person who, unsurprisingly, stood calmly, taking his time before beginning.

Seeing that the masked boy continued to maintain the same attitude he'd shown in previous matches, Hu Xingyan, Ethan's opponent, became even more irritated.

'Let's see if you can still act so arrogant after this,' she thought as she moved her hands in the air, and a light blue glow emanated from them.

Immediately, the materials she had taken out began to move on their own, floating in the air.

This gesture didn't go unnoticed, and the commentator immediately spoke in an excited tone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Hu Xingyan, the alchemical prodigy of the White Tiger Kingdom, has finally decided to get serious."

Hu Xingyan, like many others present, was already well-known within alchemical circles as one of the most promising young alchemists in the Long Empire.

Since she had started at 15, her speed and mastery in alchemy had increased by leaps and bounds, leading her to become a one-star Adept Alchemist before the age of 20, and in another five years, she had already reached the rank of Expert Alchemist.

This improvement rate shocked many, and only a few other individuals in the young generation could be compared to her.

But even the number of such individuals was quite small, and they could indeed be counted on one hand.

Xiang Hua was one of them, but after she withdrew to devote more time to her cultivation, she was almost forgotten, so many were surprised to learn that she would participate in this year's tournament.

Many of those present had actually come specifically to see her matches, and there were even those who had unfinished business with her and wanted to defeat her in one of the tournament matches.

However, none of them succeeded and were brutally defeated by her.

This alone made it clear to everyone that, though she had taken a break, her skills hadn't rusted at all and had only continued to improve.

Hu Xingyan was one of those who couldn't wait to face off against Xiang Hua, but after seeing this year's dark horse, she decided to deal with him first.

So she didn't hold back, deciding to give her all in their duel.