Chapter 1373 Worthy of Being Called Grandmaster
Although Lin Shuying had won first place in the first round of the intra-clan competition, Ling Han had been the most eye-catching individual.
When everyone’s score was confirmed, the second round of the competition immediately began. The content of this round was still identifying medicinal ingredients, though the difficulty had been raised, with the competitors required to identify jumbled medicinal ingredients. A large number of medicinal ingredients would be cut up and mixed together, and the competitors would have to identify what medicinal ingredients were present in each mixture.
This process would be repeated 30 times, and each mixture would contain approximately 200 or so medicinal ingredients.
Just like before, Ling Han was the quickest to complete the identification. However, he was at a disadvantage in that he only knew 400,000 of the foundation medicinal ingredients. This was only half of the total foundation medicinal ingredients. Thus, his answers could only be half correct as well.
This accuracy wasn’t high. However, in terms of speed, he was more than twice as quick as Lin Shuying, who had finished after him. This was a clear representation of just how freakishly talented he was when it came to identifying medicinal ingredients.
After 30 rounds of identification, Ling Han’s results weren’t among the best. However, he still managed to squeeze into the top 10. After all, there was still a time limit imposed on this round. If the competitors were given as much time as they needed, Ling Han would perhaps drop out of the top 100.
This time, first place went to Lin Shuying again, earning another 100 points for the Beisha Branch. Her total score was now an impressive 200.
Meanwhile, second place went to Lin Badao. Although his appearance was wild and rugged, he was actually surprisingly refined and attentive. Sure enough, one couldn’t judge a book by its cover.
Ling Han had earned 97 points in the first round, and he had now earned 91 points in the second round. Thus, his total score quite high. Meanwhile, Han Xinyan’s results were much worse than his. She had only earned 11 points in the first round, and this had improved to 14 points in the second round. In total, she had only earned 25 points.
The third round of the competition involved reconstructing medicinal ingredients.
It was not reconstructing one medicinal ingredient, but reconstructing hundreds of medicinal ingredients that had been sliced up and mixed together.
Ling Han was still the quickest competitor, yet just like before, his recognition of only half of all medicinal ingredients held him back again. He earned eighth place and received 92 points. First went to Lin Shuying again. She had already come first in all three rounds.
However, Lin Yuqi was still extremely confident. Although Lin Shuying had already won the first three rounds, the fourth round was weighted differently from the first three rounds. It was the most important round, so it was given 50% of the total weighting of the entire competition.
Thus, as long as Ling Han won first place in the fourth round, and Lin Shuying performed slightly worse, then Ling Han would overtake her and obtain the first place overall!
Just thinking about this made her excited. Her slender body couldn’t help but heat up slightly. She yearned to be embraced by that man, and she yearned for him to passionately kiss her, to massage her shapely breasts, and to…
‘Pei, pei, pei!’ She hurriedly stopped her thoughts from running wild. She was actually daydreaming about a man? Had she taken the wrong medicine?
After the third round, the competitors had a few hours to rest. Refining pills required extreme concentration, and no mistake or distraction could be tolerated.
“Begin!” Lin Xin announced. He was still in charge of overseeing the competition.
What alchemical pill each competitor refined was completely up to them. However, their final ranking would be largely dependent on the level of the alchemical pill that they refined. If two people refined alchemical pills of the same level, then their ranks would be determined by the refining difficulty of the pills. If even this was identical, then their ranks would be determined by the quality of the alchemical pill.
For example, if two competitors both refined level eight alchemical pills, then the person who refined a Berserk Blood Spirit Pill would definitely come out on top. After all, this was the saintly pill of the Sun Moon Tier, with only level nine alchemical pills being more valuable.
Ling Han swept his gaze over the competitors. Apart from him, no other competitor was at the Heavenly Body Tier. Thus, theoretically speaking, no one else could refine Level Nine Divine Pills.
Of course, there might also be exceptions. For example, Ling Han had reached the pinnacle level before, and he also practiced the Indestructible Heaven’s Scroll. In addition, his divine sense was also incredibly powerful. Thus, he had been able to just barely refine Level Nine Divine Pills while still at the pinnacle level of the Sun Moon Tier.
However, such a freak probably didn’t exist here.
Ling Han didn’t push his luck and try to refine a level nine alchemical pill. After all, he had never tried to refine a level nine alchemical pill before. Instead, he chose to refine the Berserk Blood Spirit Pill. In any case, this alchemical pill could definitely help him win first place.
Boom!
Fire soared from his cauldron.
Because some people had performed poorly in the previous rounds, they decided to go all out in this round, choosing to refine alchemical pills that were well beyond their ability. The result, naturally, was their cauldrons exploding in spectacular fashion. Each competitor would only get one chance, so failure meant the end to their competition.
Most people were only level five or level six alchemists, so they finished refining their alchemical pills in just two or three days. Five days passed, and only 100 or so people were still refining their pills.
10 days passed, and this number dropped to just nine people.
As long these nine people successfully refined their pills, the top nine places would definitely go to them.
The reason for this was very simple. The higher the rank of an alchemical pill, the longer it would take to refine.
It was a shame that on the 12th day, someone’s cauldron still exploded with a boom. All their previous efforts went up in a puff of smoke. This competitor was so aggrieved that they coughed up three liters of blood. In fact, they almost fainted in grief.
Half a month passed, and the eight remaining competitors all finished refining their alchemical pills one after another.
They were all brimming with confidence, certain that the alchemical pill that they had refined would definitely win them first place.
Judging by the time taken to refine the pills, all eight of them had refined level eight alchemical pills. Thus, their rankings would be determined by who had refined the more difficult pills.
“Lin Badao has successfully refined the Entering Void Pill!” Lin Xin announced.
Expressions of grief and dejection instantly appeared on the faces of three competitors.
Their alchemical pills were inferior to Lin Badao’s!
They were all alchemists, so they naturally understood which alchemical pills were easier to refine and which were more difficult to refine, even without a judge. Thus, they could determine whether they had won or lost simply by looking at their competitors’ alchemical pills.
However, Lin Shuying, Lin Yang, and Zhang Feng were all unfazed. It was clear that they were still brimming with confidence.
“Lin Yang has successfully refined the Dark Shade Pill!”
Lin Badao and Lin Yang instantly exchanged a glance, their eyes as piercing as swords. An aura of fierce competition burned between them.
The pills that they had refined were identical in both level and difficulty. As such, their rankings would be determined by the quality of their pill.
“Zhang Feng has successfully refined the Raging Flame True Pill!”
Zhang Feng smiled faintly. In terms of difficulty, the Raging Flame True Pill was on the same level as the Entering Void Pill and the Dark Shade Pill. In terms of quality, he had been immersed in alchemy for over 500,000 years, so how could he not defeat a few inexperienced youths?
“Lin Shuying has successfully refined the Turbid Sky Pill!”
Boom!
Shock waves instantly swept through the entire crowd. Everyone was stunned to the spot. This was the Turbid Sky Pill! The difficulty of refining this pill was manyfold that of refining the Dark Shade Pill and other pills.
Lin Shuying wore a proud smile. Just as she had predicted before the competition, she would win first place in all four rounds of the competition. She would become the undisputed champion of this competition.
Finally, Lin Xin arrived before Ling Han.
Ling Han smiled faintly as he removed the lid of his cauldron. A blood-red streak instantly soared from his cauldron, its speed astonishingly quick.
Lin Xin’s reflexes were incredible, and his hand immediately shot out and grabbed the red dot. There was a stunned expression on his aged face.
This alchemical pill… was showing signs of developing a spirit!
Alchemists all knew that alchemical pills could only develop a spirit after transcending level 10. For alchemical pills under level 10, they would only be able to develop a spirit if they were the “saintly pill” of their level.
“What alchemical pill is this?” the senior alchemists asked as they shuffled over. Their brows were all raised in astonishment.
It wasn’t long before someone exclaimed in astonishment, “Berserk… Blood Spirit Pill!”
Although the recipe for this alchemical pill had already been lost, there were still refined pills that had been passed down until now. This was an alchemical pill that was hailed as the “small saintly pill”.
“It truly is the Berserk Blood Spirit Pill!”
“Heavens! The fact that he can refine the Berserk Blood Spirit Pill means that he’s already capable of becoming a level nine alchemist!”
“He’s worthy of being regarded as a grandmaster!”
Just like the Heavenly Body Tier in cultivation, becoming a level nine alchemist was a huge barrier in the field of alchemy. Advancing to this level was tremendously difficult. Moreover, in the eyes of high-ranking alchemists, only alchemists at or above level nine were worthy of being called “grandmaster”.
Their eyes were all blazing with fervent excitement as they gazed at Ling Han.