novelraw Chapter 374: The Elimination Round Begins
Chapter 374: The Elimination Round Begins
Walking out of the inn, Long Xuan looked around and, spotting a towering building, headed in that direction.
The towering structure was a temporary setup, covering a vast area with five stories.
The elimination round had an overwhelming number of participants—over ten thousand. The central plaza of Phoenix Heaven City couldn’t possibly accommodate such a crowd of alchemists. Therefore, the elimination round had to be conducted inside this grand, spectator-less building.
Even so, the building couldn’t host all the alchemists at once. The elimination phase would last around ten days, with participants divided into batches to compete.
Each alchemist’s competition day was determined by a draw. Unfortunately, Fire clone drew the first day.
Helpless, Long Xuan had to interrupt his plan to concoct the Heavenly Gold and head to the competition early.
As he walked through the streets, Long Xuan was stunned to find the roads packed with people.
Massive crowds of alchemists and onlookers filled the streets, completely blocking them. The noise was overwhelming, and chaos had erupted in some areas. Reaching the competition venue within a short time seemed impossible.
Long Xuan knew this alchemy competition would draw a huge audience, but the elimination round was being held in an enclosed building that blocked everyone’s view. He couldn’t understand why people were crowding the area when they wouldn’t be able to see anything.
Even those closest to the venue would be left staring at nothing. While Long Xuan pondered how to enter the competition venue, a thunderous voice echoed from the sky:
"The city’s no-fly restriction is now lifted. However, only participants and judges are permitted to fly in the city’s airspace. Anyone else attempting to fly will be executed on sight."
The announcement brought joy to alchemists who were struggling to reach the venue. They immediately took to the skies, flying as quickly as they could toward the towering building.
Below the level of Gu King, there weren’t many who could fly. But alchemists, being wealthy, weren’t included in that limitation. Every participant was well-off, with most possessing the means to purchase a flying vessel.
The sky instantly became a chaotic mix of flying spiritual artifacts. Some flew in ships, others used flight devices crafted from eagle-like spirit beasts’ wings. Some rode flying Gu insects or spirit beasts, all rushing toward the building.
In short, every alchemist had their unique way of flying, creating a sky full of movement and disorder.
Amid the chaos, a disturbance suddenly erupted in the crowd. Long Xuan instinctively turned to look.
A graceful figure in a purple gown appeared in his sight, with a stunningly beautiful face and an air of innate nobility.
However, her mischievous smile revealed a playful and unruly personality, clearly someone who didn’t like following rules.
At that moment, she was indeed causing a stir. She stepped on people’s heads to fly toward the competition venue in an extremely high-profile manner.
No one dared to complain, showing her identity was undoubtedly extraordinary.
Long Xuan, curious, turned to someone nearby and asked, “Who is that woman? How can she be so arrogant? Isn’t she afraid someone might kill her?”
The bystander glanced at him and replied, “You don’t recognize her? That’s Princess Long Yuyao of the Dragon Soaring Empire, the most beloved daughter of the current emperor. No one dares to provoke her.”
“Besides, she’s not stupid. She only stepped on the heads of low-status individuals. Would she dare fly over a Gu King’s head?”
“Her arrogance comes with reason. She’s the empire’s greatest genius. Not only is her combat ability fearsome, but her alchemy skills are extraordinary. Among the empire’s third-grade alchemists, she’s the undisputed number one. She’s a strong contender for this competition’s championship.”
“Her high-profile entrance shows she’s confident about winning this competition.”
Hearing this, Long Xuan gave her retreating figure another look, mentally marking her as a competitor. Though, with both sharing the surname Long, he felt it didn’t matter much who won.
Just then, another commotion broke out behind him. Long Xuan quickly turned to see a chubby man in red clothing copying Long Yuyao’s move, stepping on people’s heads to fly forward.
Unfortunately, the man’s direction brought him directly toward Long Xuan. It was clear he intended to pass over Long Xuan’s head.
Long Xuan’s expression darkened. “How dare he?!”
Silently cursing, Long Xuan activated the power of the Heavenly Secret Eye, subtly manipulating someone in the crowd.
The manipulated individual’s knees suddenly buckled, causing him to fall.
The chubby man, stepping on that person’s head, lost his footing and tumbled to the ground.
His heavy fall caused a chain reaction, resulting in screams and chaos among the crowd below.
To onlookers, it seemed like the chubby man was simply too heavy for those beneath him to support, leading to an embarrassing tumble that ended with his face hitting the ground. The crowd erupted into laughter.
At the back of the crowd, a group of red-clad Gu Kings darkened their expressions.
“An utter disgrace! Absolutely shameful! Is this Feng Shuang someone we can entrust with great responsibilities?”
An elder, trembling with anger, pointed at the chubby man awkwardly picking himself up from the ground, his face red with rage.
The first-ranked alchemist of the Feng Clan had embarrassed himself under everyone’s gaze. Even the elder clan members felt their reputation tarnished.
He could already sense the mocking gaze of the Long Clan's Gu Kings aimed in their direction.
The leading Feng Clan Gu King also looked displeased, disappointment evident on his face as he regarded the family’s supposed genius with a glimmer of lost hope.
“No matter. While Feng Shuang may not seem particularly clever, his alchemy skills are unparalleled. He’s truly the top among our Feng Clan’s third-grade alchemists.
“In terms of alchemy, he is no less capable than Long Yuyao.”
“Besides, I never pinned all my hopes on him. His odds against Long Yuyao are only fifty-fifty. Even if he loses, it’s fine—I have a contingency plan.”
The Feng Clan Gu King’s lips curled into a sinister smile as he continued, “Rest assured, this backup plan is enough to secure victory for our Feng Clan in this alchemy competition and seize half of the Long Clan’s fate energy.
“If the Long Clan is relying solely on Long Yuyao as their final hope, they are doomed to lose this gamble.”
...
Hearing the crowd’s discussions, Long Xuan finally understood who this chubby man was: the Feng Clan’s top third-grade alchemist.
He scrutinized the man for a moment, but after sensing no significant pressure, he retrieved some Spirit Tree leaves from his storage ring and tossed them into the air.
Leaping lightly, Long Xuan activated the power of Star-Stepping, his body as light as a cloud. Using the floating leaves as footholds, he quickly soared toward the entrance of the competition venue.
Gasps of amazement erupted from behind him. Such a grand and flashy entrance immediately drew everyone's attention.
Even Long Yuyao’s beautiful eyes shifted toward him, a flicker of surprise flashing within them.
To run on leaves suspended in midair with sheer physical strength alone was simply unimaginable to her.
Ignoring the stunned gazes behind him, Long Xuan swiftly entered the gate.
This competition was destined not to be low-profile, so he had no intention of hiding his brilliance any further.
Inside, he pulled out a wooden token engraved with the number 3025 and proceeded to the corresponding room on the third floor.
The rules of the elimination round were clear to him. Each participant received a token with a number indicating their designated room. Every room was sealed and isolated to ensure contestants wouldn’t disturb one another.
The first test focused on refining spiritual herbs.
At the start of the competition, the examiners would distribute a specific spiritual herb, randomly chosen by the chief examiner on the day of the event. Nobody knew beforehand what the test material would be.
The rules were simple: every contestant would refine the same herb, with ten portions of the material provided and ten opportunities to refine it.
After completing the ten attempts, each contestant would select their highest-purity product to be scored by the judges.
Judging criteria included the time taken for refinement, the success rate, the dryness and purity of the herbal extract, and the final size of the extract.
Out of 120 judges, the ten highest and lowest scores were discarded, and the average of the remaining scores determined the contestant’s final score.
Scores above the passing threshold of 60 points advanced to the next round, while those below were eliminated. There were no revival matches.
This system was fair, minimizing the chances of bribing judges for inflated scores or maliciously low ratings.
After finding his room, Long Xuan sat down and closed his eyes, focusing on adjusting himself to peak condition.
The competition was filled with countless skilled alchemists, and he dared not allow even a shred of complacency. He neither overestimated his own alchemy skills nor underestimated the talents of others.
It wasn’t long before the loud sound of a bell reverberated through the air. Moments later, footsteps echoed down the corridor.
An elderly man soon entered Long Xuan’s room. After verifying his identity with the wooden token on the table, the man placed ten blue-colored 'Water Ganoderma' on the desk along with a massive hourglass, which he flipped over.
The hourglass was clearly the timer. Once the sand ran out, any unfinished refinement would be deemed a failure. The faster one completed the task, the higher the score.
“This is third-grade Water Ganoderma, the chosen material for today’s test. You’re lucky—it’s one of the hardest herbs to refine,” the proctor remarked with a strange smile before stepping out and closing the door behind him.
Each room was protected by a formation, preventing the use of storage bags or insect bags and effectively eliminating all chances of cheating. Thus, the proctors didn’t need to stay to supervise.