Yun Chi was a famous Platinum rank alchemist known far and wide as the Alchemy Guru. He was one of only five Platinum ranks in the entire Xaio Continent, and this girl was his apprentice? It was no wonder her pill had turned out so amazing!

Zhou Lihua had confidence in her abilities as an alchemist. She knew she was talented. However, she suddenly had some serious doubts about her ability to win this tournament.

But what’s an alchemist of her level doing in a tournament like this?

Yun Chi was said to live Southern Tang Dynasty--a country of scholars ruled by a man known as the wisest emperor in the world. He was the emperor’s personal alchemist. Zhou Lihua couldn’t imagine someone that important traveling to the other side of the world just for a small tournament like this.

Unless she’s here for the heavenly flame?

Heavenly flames were god-sent treasures of such rarity that alchemists could go their entire lives without finding one. She figured the Alchemist Guru would have his own heavenly flame to gift to his apprentice, but perhaps not?

“I still have one more,” Lili Ling said. “Would you mind testing this one, too?”

Sao Yong hesitated, then nodded. “Go ahead and place it in the quality assurance device. I’m quite curious to see how this one measures up.”

“Kay!”

Lili Ling placed her second pill in the device. The crescent lit up, the arrow began moving, and soon stopped on the number 9.

“Tch. Not a perfect pill. That bites,” Lili Ling muttered.

Sao Yong smiled. “You still did an excellent job. Blood Restoring Pills are one of the hardest pills to make among all tier 3 pills.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lili Ling muttered. She seemed dejected that she hadn’t gotten two perfect scores.

“Let us continue with the testing,” Sao Yong said, and several more people came up to either pass or fail. Most of the people who passed were in the middle, earning points between 6 and 7. Only a few got 8 or 9 points, and no one got 10 after Lili Ling. More than half the alchemists participating failed.

It was eventually Zhou Lihua’s turn. She walked forward with a confident sway that she no longer felt. Her pill was no doubt of good enough quality to pass, but she wanted so much more than just passing marks. She wanted to win.

She placed her pill in the quality assurance devince, her heart hammering in her chest. So many thoughts passed through her mind. What if her pill wasn’t as good as she thought it was? What if she had made a mistake during the refining process and didn’t realize it? Zhou Lihua wanted to squeeze her eyes shut and pray, but doing so would make her look weak, which was why she forced her eyes to remain open and stared at the device as the crescent lit up and the arrow began moving.

“Ooooh! Ooooh! It’s a 10!” Sao Yong said in shock.

Zhou Lihua placed a hand on her chest as she tried not to let her relief show. Everyone around her was speaking at once, making it hard for her to hear what they were saying, but she did catch the tail end of a few conversations.

“I can’t believe someone else got a 10!”

“Who is she? Surely, someone has to know her!”

“I’ve never seen her before in my life.”

“We should definitely make friends with this girl. We might be able to elevate ourselves if we cling to her thighs.”

“Go cling to your mother’s thighs, you shameless dog!”

“Congratulations, young woman,” Sao Yong said with a pleasant smile. “You are… Zhou Lihua, are you not?”

“I am. How did you know?” asked Zhou Lihua.

Sao Yong’s smile widened. “My apprentice has spoken quite highly of you. I’m sure you know him. His name is Cì Chuān.”

“Ah… yes, I know him,” Zhou Lihua said with a fixed smile. “So he’s your apprentice, Master Yong. You must be very proud.”

“Well… I do wish he would spend more time practicing alchemy and less time flirting, but yes, I am quite proud of him,” Sao Yong said. “I hope you will continue to look after him for me.”

“Uh… we’ll see,” Zhou Lihua mumbled uncertainly.

Because she no longer felt comfortable in this man’s presence, she hurried back to her table… where she found Lili Ling glaring at her. It felt like she had stepped out of the cauldron and into the sun. The heat coming from the other alchemist’s glare was potent enough to burn a normal person to cinders.

“You’re a lot better than I gave you credit for, but don’t get comfortable. My pill was still better than yours,” she said with crossed arms and a huff.

Zhou Lihua decided to just ignore the woman. Wu Jian had once told her that the best way to annoy an arrogant opponent was to pretend they didn’t exist. She was pleased to see his advice worked. Lili Ling was grinding her teeth in frustration.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me, you arrogant toad woman!”

Zhou Lihua’s right eye twitched. Arrogant toad woman? Her? This little girl was asking for it.

Yet before she could do something that she would regret, a massive roar from the other participants stole their attention. Zhou Lihua’s eyes widened. There was another person whose pill had been ranked a 10.

The person in question was a young man who didn’t look much older than Wu Jian. He had wavy brown hair, dark brown eyes, and lightly tanned skin. She wouldn’t call him handsome, but he wasn’t ugly either. Plain. He had a very plain face that would have made it difficult to spot him in the crowd. His alchemist robes were also plain and unadorned with any embellishments save the badge pinned to his chest.

“Oh ho ho ho! Another 10. Tell me, young man, who are you and who is your master?” asked Sao Yong.

The young man grinned. “My name is Wei Xiao, and my master is Ruo Chong.”

“The Heavenly Beauty of Alchemy?!” Sao Yong gawked. “I did not even know she had an apprentice!”

“Master likes to keep to herself,” Wei Xiao said.

“Indeed…”

That was another powerful name in the alchemy world. Ruo Chong was the only Platinum rank female alchemist, known far and wide for both her incredible alchemical talent and extraordinary beauty. Out of all the alchemists in this world, she was the one whom Zhou Lihua looked up to the most.

“Hmph. Who cares if some heavenly beauty took on an apprentice. My master is a thousand times better than that hag,” Lili Ling muttered in discontent.

***

Through his observations, Wu Jian noticed there were two people among this group whose station seemed far beyond the others.

The first was an older gentleman with pepper hair, dark eyes, and quite a few wrinkles. He had no beard or mustache. That was quite rare for someone of his age. A good board was often seen as a sign of scholarly talent and intelligence in their society, especially among the older generation. He wore his alchemist robes well and the badge pinned to his chest marked him as a Platinum rank alchemist.

Second to catch his attention was a gorgeous young woman with boobs the size of her head. They were seriously massive. He honestly wondered how she managed to stand straight with those gigantic jugs hanging from her chest. She didn’t wear a bra, and yet her robes so loose he worried her chest might spill out. She had hair darker than midnight, silver eyes, and skin so pale she looked like a ghost. She also wore a Platinum rank alchemist badge.

He had spotted the pair mainly because of the tension exuding from them. They were glaring at each other from across the room.

Are they rivals?

“That’s Yun Chi and Ruo Chong,” Master Wong Jiu informed him. “There are only five Platinum alchemists on the Xaio Continent, and those are two of them. They’re also the only two who make public appearances. The other three prefer to remain locked up in their refining rooms.”

“They don’t seem to like each other much,” Wu Jian said.

“Yes, well, there’s a story to that. Supposedly, Master Yun Chi confessed his undying affection for Mistress Ruo Chong and was firmly rejected. Feeling great shame over her humiliating rejection, Master Yun Chi declared that he was only saying that because he felt bad for her and they could never live under the same sun. They’ve been fighting ever since.”

“Ah…”

Wu Jian didn’t know how much of that story was true, but if it was, then it sounded like Yun Chi did not take rejection well. Fortunately, the two did not seem hear their conversation over the crowd.

The doors eventually opened and several young people began walking in. Among them were two people who walked over to the pair they were just talking about. A young man went up to Ruo Chong and a young woman to Yun Chi. They must have been the pairs apprentices. Among those who entered the room was Zhou Lihua, who, after spotting them, made a beeline for the pair.

“How did you do?” asked Master Wong Jiu.

Zhou Lihua smiled. “I passed.”

“Excellent. That means you can move onto round 2.”

It looked like today’s activities were done. Round 2 was going to take place tomorrow. Wu Jian thought it was a waste to come all this way just to leave without anything else happening, but it seemed this first round was merely to allow alchemists to meet up and rub elbows with each other. It was a way to let these normally antisocial individuals socialize.

“Oh ho ho ho ho! I hear your apprentice was able to refine two high-tier alchemy pills in the span of five hours. That’s quite the feat. Congratulations, Old Chi.”

An indulgent and odd laugh garnered everyone’s attention. Wu Jian and Zhou Lihua turned to find Ruo Chong confronting Yun Chi. The woman’s arrogant smile as she stared her nose down at the older looking man was something to see.

Yun Chi merely smiled. “I appreciate your kind words, but my apprentice’s feats are nothing compared to yours. I hear he was able to refine the highest tier 3 alchemy pill and even achieved the same rank as my Ling’er. I’m very impressed. Oh. But are you sure it’s appropriate to call someone younger than you old?”

Ruo Chong’s smile widened. “Of course, it is. Just look at me. I look young and have retained my beauty. Meanwhile, you look like aged parchment. Given your talent as an alchemist, I would have thought you’d be able to refine a proper Rejuvenation Pill, but alas, I suppose such skill is beyond your reach.”

“I merely enjoy looking natural. I despise people who try to look younger than they really are. It’s dishonest.”

“Oh ho ho ho ho! I see your manners are as foul as ever.”

“Heh heh heh. And I see you haven’t stopped trying to pretend you’re younger than you really are.”

Everyone had given the two Platinum rank alchemists a wide berth, and Wu Jian could see why. The tension between the two was palpable. He could have cut it with the dao of space.

“Let us be off,” said Master Wong Jiu.

The pair nodded. They didn’t want to be anywhere near those two alchemists.

They quietly left while the Platinum ranks were making a scene, traveling back to their carriage and arriving home. It was already late evening. Refining pills often took a lot of time. Even the lowest rank pill could take more than an hour depending on the alchemist’s skill.

Several maidservants prepared dinner for them, and they ate alongside Zhou Chao and a few other bodyguards, who asked about the results of the first round.

Later that night, as Wu Jian was meditating on his bed, a knock from his sliding door made him realize he had a visitor. It was Zhou Lihua, of course. She silently entered the room after he opened the door, removed her cloak, and sat down on the bed.

“Congratulations on passing the first round,” Wu Jian said as he sat down beside her.

“Thank you.” Zhou Lihua smiled.

“How do you feel about the next round?”

“Honestly? Nervous.”

Wu Jian tilted his head. “That’s not like you at all.”

“Even I get nervous sometimes,” the young woman replied, shaking her head. “I don’t think I’d feel this way if I was up against normal alchemists, but I never expected to be confronted by the apprentice of two Platinum ranks. Lili Ling and Wei Xiao truly deserve their reputation. They were able to refine pills of the highest quality.”

“So were you though,” he pointed out.

“True… but it took me the entire time to refine them. Meanwhile, those two refined two pills each.”

“I can see why that would intimidate you.”

“It’s more than that, though. I know you said I shouldn’t worry about winning or losing… but I really want to win, and not just for myself. Jingshu is counting on me. Who knows how long it will take to find a tier 5 alchemist with a heavenly flame willing to refine the Nirvana Soothing Pill for us.”