Chapter 191: Chapter 189: Don't Understand the Basics of Alchemy?_1
After all, the younger generations from these three major families had such strong talents in alchemy, that only a bunch of monsters from Tianjiang University could compete with them — and in this competition area, other than their rivalry with one another, they essentially had no other opponents.
Although Liu Xifeng, Wang Ye, and Cao Wendong were not the direct descendants of the three major families and couldn't be called young masters, as collateral members of these large families, their status was still held in high regard by other aristocrats.
"In my opinion, we can pretty much confirm the outcomes of the competition after the first round," one said.
"Indeed, the three most talented younger members in alchemy from the Liu, Wang, and Cao families are all in the first round. After this round ends, the remaining two rounds won't be as interesting to watch."
...
The noise of the crowd had diminished significantly compared to the start of the event and hardly affected the concentrating students at the venue.
Fang Ren had already placed his Pill Furnace, which was half-spilled with water, back over the flames, except this time he had switched from the Blue Flame to a normal flame.
And as he adjusted this flame,
Students from the noble schools who hadn't been drawn for the first round couldn't help but mock again upon seeing this scene.
"These alchemy ingredients are basically ruined already, and this idiot is still pretending to continue the process. It's utterly ridiculous."
"Hey, that's where you're short-sighted. This alchemy technique is a long-lost Alchemy Method from the Jianghu," another teased.
"What? Are you serious?"
"If I had to guess, this must be the 'Blind-Bullshit' Alchemy Method which has been lost for 200 years!"
"Hahahaha..."
...
As seconds ticked by, the other competitors were nervously calculating time, adding their prepared ingredients to the Pill Furnace at almost the exact right moment. As the temperature inside the furnaces reached certain levels, they began to reduce, stop, or switch to the Cold Fire.
Fang Ren, on the other hand, just sat there barely moving. Whenever he adjusted the flames, it was mostly with a casual flick of the hand, devoid of any significant movement. He appeared extremely nonchalant and unconcerned, as if he was just casually cooking a meal.
"Young Master Fang, ah, Young Master Fang, can you not keep playing the fool…"
The Seventh Elder, standing in the center of the field, saw Fang Ren fiddling with the flames so dismissively, without any appearance of alchemy practice. He held his forehead, displaying a look of both pain and helplessness.
He couldn't understand why, whenever he was in charge of overseeing the Alchemy competition area, he encountered such peculiar incidents, and moreover, it was the Princess and her betrothed who were behind it.
"Bang!"
Just at that moment, there was a sudden explosion in the Pill Furnace before Fang Ren. Although the crowd in the spectator stands had been discussing quietly, the sound of the exploding Pill Furnace perfectly reached everyone's ears, attracting all of their attention.
"Did the furnace just explode?"
"This guy is bluffing without any preparation. Any student who has even a little bit of knowledge in alchemy wouldn't make such a basic mistake. I think this idiot is absolutely at an introductory level!"
"I originally thought that even the students from those lower-tier schools could at least concoct first-grade inferior pills, but now I see I was wrong. An idiot remains an idiot, not even understanding some basic techniques! It's nothing but a waste of ingredients! Such low standards!"
...
Following an explosion from the Pill Furnace, Fang Ren waved his hand to disperse the smoke above it. Despite the explosion inside, the Pill Furnace was still intact.
After blowing away the smoke, Fang Ren directly took off the lid of the Pill Furnace and looked down to see that the ingredients inside had condensed into a very small clump of grass as he had expected, but they had not yet formed a pill.
Having confirmed the result of the grass clump, Fang Ren immediately added a lot of water to the Pill Furnace, replaced the lid, extinguished the flame within, and started up Cold Fire, intending to condense the final clump of grass into a pill.
"This guy fails at concoction and still continues to pretend. Are all the examiners in the venue blind? To continue letting this person take the exam is an insult to this Alchemy Competition!"
"In the process of concocting, he has violated many fundamental principles! The lid of the Pill Furnace must not be opened for more than five seconds; you must not continue to add water for concoction after the ingredients have condensed; and in the latter half of the concoction process, you absolutely must not use Cold Fire!
This guy doesn't even understand the most basic knowledge, just get lost already!"
"Exactly! Are all of you examiners on the field blind? Why aren't you getting rid of this guy immediately?"
...
As Fang Ren made his move, the stands filled with aristocratic parents immediately erupted with dissatisfaction.
They believed that letting such an idiot compete in the same district as their children was an insult to their children's abilities!
In the middle of the venue, the invigilator named Ah Si saw this scene and revealed a cold smile, walking towards Fang Ren.
The idiot had made a fool of him yesterday, and now he was certainly going to use the crowd's anger to make this fellow pay back a hundredfold!
"Get lost!"
Ah Si approached Fang Ren with an angry look on his face, and after uttering a phrase that many others desperately wanted to say, he immediately raised his foot to kick the Pill Furnace in front of Fang Ren.
Buzz—
Suddenly, a blur swept through the examination arena, and the Seventh Elder had already arrived in front of Fang Ren, angrily staring at Ah Si and stamping down on the foot Ah Si had raised in the air.
"Ah!"
Ah Si screamed in pain from the Seventh Elder's stamp, bending over and kneeling to the ground, clutching his foot and grinding his teeth: "Seventh Elder! Why..."
The Seventh Elder looked at him coldly: "As the chief invigilator of the examination arena, I suspect you of abusing your authority to hinder the contestants. This kick is your punishment!"
"Are the seven elders of the Orchid Bamboo Guild sick in the head? Can't you see that this student is just wasting ingredients? Blind!"
"Bullshit! This student deserves to take the exam alongside our children? Don't make me laugh! Get him out of here right now!"
"I suspect the seven elders of Orchid Bamboo Guild of abusing their authority to protect the student!"
...
Instantly, a portion of the aristocratic parents in the stands shouted out loud, no longer whispering among themselves.
Meanwhile, Fang Ren continued to concoct with a calm demeanor, sitting in the same spot.