Chapter 209: Chapter 206: The Furious Xia Fu Lan_1
However, this time she didn't burst into loud laughter, since the awkwardness of the previous scene made her somewhat mindful.
"Sister Bai Qi, I think your fiance might really be sick. It would be better for you to take him to the hospital sooner rather than later, and don't forget to choose the psychiatric department," Xia Fu Lan said to Bai Qi, her words saturated with extreme sarcasm.
"Sister Furong, you are going too far!" Bai Qi couldn't help but retort angrily.
Xia Fu Lan snorted coldly, "Sister, you need to be clear about something: is it me who's going too far, or is it Young Master Fang who's insanely arrogant? Among my peers, I, Xia Fu Lan, may not claim to possess exceptional talent in Sword Dao, but at least I am quite gifted. As the daughter of the Leader of the Tiandao Sword Sect, I have always diligently practiced Sword Dao.
Now, a mortal who doesn't even have a Spiritual Root is telling me that he has surpassed me in Sword Dao, my specialized field. Tell me, is there anything more laughable than this?"
Seeing Xia Fu Lan appear so justified in her mockery, Bai Qi cast an incomprehending glance at Fang Ren. Fang Ren's talent in alchemy was indeed so formidable that it left people speechless, but when it came to Sword Dao, she couldn't understand at all what Fang Ren was thinking. It seemed completely unrelated to him.
And Xia Fu Lan has been raised in the world's best Sword Sect from a young age. Even if her talent were poorer, her skill in Sword Dao would not be something that ordinary practitioners could compare with.
Seeing that the situation was beginning to spiral out of control and would inevitably escalate into a more intense conflict,
it was at this time that the Seventh Elder suddenly enhanced his voice with True Qi and shouted across the entire venue, "The examination time is up!"
Song Mobei, who had been silently standing by, casually withdrew the soundproof barrier he had previously placed over the group of examinees' heads.
"All examinees stop what you're doing! Wait for the invigilators to verify your work!" shouted the Seventh Elder.
As the Seventh Elder's voice fell, a group of examinees who were sitting on the ground began to stand up, and the quiet venue was filled with murmurs of discussion.
When the twelve disciples of the Tiandao Sword Sect descended from the sky during the exam, it had already attracted their attention, but afterwards, the soundproof barrier set by Song Mobei had calmed them down.
However, when Fang Ren stepped onto the stage, their attention and curiosity were once again piqued. Precisely because they couldn't hear the outside sounds, they wanted to know even more what kind of conversation would occur between the Princess Fulan, known for her flamboyant style, and the rising genius of the Elixir Field.
Now, with the sound barrier removed and their exam over, they looked at the crowd of Tiandao disciples, Fang Ren, and Bai Qi, realizing that the atmosphere was just as discordant as they had imagined.
Upon seeing the exam come to an end, Xia Fu Lan continued with a smile, "By the way, there's something I'm quite curious about. Since Young Master Fang is also a contestant in this competition and claimed that he could teach me about pills, showing how high his talent is, then why didn't Young Master Fang participate in this divisional final?
With such high talent, Young Master Fang shouldn't have been eliminated by such a trivial competition."
"I don't remember saying I could be your teacher," Fang Ren said.
He indeed had never said that; it was just something Xia Fu Lan twisted and fabricated to make him look more ridiculous later.
However, he really couldn't be Xia Fu Lan's teacher; being her teacher's teacher was more like it.
Xia Fu Lan laughed, "Young Master Fang really should see a psychiatrist, having forgotten the words he just said, hehehe."
Fang Ren ignored her comment; before the results were announced, Xia Fu Lan's overconfidence was like that of a clown. The more he responded with the truth, the happier she would become.
At this moment, Song Mobei with his full-faced spring breeze smile, spoke up again, "Alright, Sister, Young Master Fang, teasing has its limits, now let's look at the results."
Following Song Mobei's words, the onlookers once again burst into discussion, mostly filled with flattery.
"Brother Song has always been so gentle and mild-mannered. No matter how much conflict there is around him, he always minimizes big issues and resolves small ones without showing bias to either side."
"Yes, indeed, but that's just one of his admirable qualities. Mainly, it's his character. Anyone who interacts with him can't help but grow fond of him."
"It's about charisma, not just strength."
...
the place mvlempy _r
Hearing the crowd's comments, Fang Ren was unmoved. He turned away and looked down at the group of examinees who had risen, waiting for the results to be announced.
When his gaze swept over the group below, every examinee quickly averted their eyes upon contact, for they had all disparaged this prodigy just two days ago.
During their conversation, the Seventh Elder had already received many results from the invigilators present, and after a brief sorting, he pulled out four scorecards.
Song Mobei glanced at Fang Ren, then looked at the scorecards in the Seventh Elder's hand, and with a smile, shook his head before saying to Xia Fu Lan, "Sister, Young Master Fang's prowess in alchemy might indeed surpass yours."
Upon hearing this statement from Song Mobei, Xia Fu Lan's smile stopped abruptly. Brother Song wasn't one to make jokes. If he said something like this in this setting, it must be based on something substantial.
But surpassing her in talent... How could that be possible? She was able to produce mid-level third-tier pills at the age of twenty-five, something unprecedented. And Fang Ren, how old was he? Twenty-two.
Could he surpass her? That would mean he must have been able to produce an upper-level third-tier pill by the age of twenty-two! That was utterly impossible!
Upon hearing those words, the group of Tiandao disciples also turned their attention toward the four remaining scorecards in the Seventh Elder's hands, eyebrows involuntarily furrowing.
"Brother Song is truly meticulous; he merely glanced and knew the situation," a candidate whispered,
"Of course he is! Brother Song is an unparalleled powerhouse at the early stage of the Xuanyang Realm. The way he sees things is definitely different from us," another candidate said.
...
Fang Ren stood to the side without turning his head to see the expression on Xia Fu Lan's face, yet his opinion of Song Mobei had some fluctuations.
Since Song Mobei was able to observe every detail, then when he spoke to Bai Qi in the spectator stand and when he walked down from there, causing everyone around him to stop flattering Xia Fu Lan,
he did not believe that Song Mobei hadn't noticed those things.
Actually, Song Mobei had known since before that his score was higher than Xia Fu Lan's, but he had never spoken up. Instead, he waited until he and Xia Fu Lan exchanged sarcastic remarks, and when Bai Qi came over from the audience stand to argue with Xia Fu Lan, then he finally spoke, reducing everything to "light teasing".
Initially, Fang Ren thought that Song Mobei had remained silent to help Xia Fu Lan, but now it seemed that Song Mobei was actually setting Xia Fu Lan up to be humiliated in public.
Song Mobei's facade was well crafted, convincing everyone that the entire incident was natural.
Fang Ren couldn't understand the man's purpose, but at least he was clear that this man was not as easy-going and refined as he appeared on the surface.
...
The Seventh Elder wiped the sweat from his forehead with one hand and then began to amplify his voice with True Qi, "The final results of this testing area have been decided. The following top five students, please come here to receive the prizes for the division competition..."
"Fifth place: Zhu Lin, two hours fourteen minutes, one second-order intermediate-level pill!"
"Fourth place: Cao Wendong, two hours thirteen minutes. One second-order upper-level pill!"
...
"Second place: Liu Xifeng, one hour fifty-five minutes, one second-order upper-level pill!"
After finishing reading the score sheet, the Seventh Elder felt his back starting to sweat, as the next announcement for the first place was somewhat frightening, and it was under the condition of undermining the Tiandao Princess, making it difficult for him.
As the Seventh Elder announced the previous four candidates, four figures immediately approached the stage from below, namely Zhu Lin and three scions from the Liu, Wang, and Cao families.
The three of them went on stage, smiled and nodded to Fang Ren as soon as they saw him, and eventually stood on either side of him.
As the Seventh Elder put down the paper in his hands, the entire viewing stand, as well as the crowd at the entrance to the Elixir Field, became dead silent.
The next announcement was originally a sensational news of an elixir genius's meteoric rise in the Elixir Field, but today, this announcement also meant that Fang Ren, without doing anything, had shattered the title "Unparalleled Elixir Genius of the Elixir Field" that had just been crowned on Xia Fu Lan.
Although Fang Ren hadn't done much, the face-slapping was truly harsh!
Xia Fu Lan, seeing the Seventh Elder put down the score sheet and look towards Fang Ren, clenched her teeth, her face an expression of extreme complexity.
The Seventh Elder continued, "First place in this division's final: Fang Ren! Total Time: fourteen minutes thirty-six seconds!"
No sooner had the Seventh Elder uttered these words than Xia Fu Lan's face turned dark.
What level of genius could produce an elixir in just fourteen minutes and thirty-six seconds? How is that possible! Could these people have made a mistake?
"Upper-level fourth-order pill! One Inward Spirit Pill!" the Seventh Elder shouted.
"What?!"
Before the Seventh Elder could finish saying "Inward Spirit Pill", Xia Fu Lan had already made an outburst.
Her face was a complex mix of disbelief, anger, and humiliation... all turning into denial of the scene before her.
It was not just her; even Song Mobei, upon hearing this, had a flicker of unexpected emotion pass across his usually affable smile.
"Is there some kind of mistake!" Xia Fu Lan yelled angrily, "An upper-level fourth-order pill, even the president of the Orchid Bamboo Superior Guild is not sure he can concoct such a thing! How could a twenty-two-year-old student do it?"
"Uh... Princess Fulan, this matter is indeed true," the Seventh Elder said with some helplessness.
"You all need to go to the psychiatric department to have your heads checked!" Xia Fu Lan raged, "This is an Elixir Competition! You dare to make up such fraudulent tricks! Do you want to be stripped of your Orchid Bamboo Special Alchemist Guild's title by the Central Area?"
"Calm yourself, Princess Fulan, this matter is indeed true," the Seventh Elder said.
Just then, Chen Cheng and Lin Bozhong descended from the sky and landed next to Fang Ren.