The Sword God of the Universe

Chapter 551: Chapter 551 Finals

Alchemy grand finals competition, quite different from the preliminary rounds.

The earlier rounds were public, seen by everyone. But the finals were relatively closed.

Jing Yan and the other twenty alchemists who had made it to the finals followed an old man in a white robe to a special place in Pill Spirit City.

This place was the Alchemy Hall of Pill Spirit City. At least one-third of the rare elixirs circulated on the Heavenly Origin Continent were refined here.

The Alchemy Hall was also the core of Pill Spirit City and similarly the core of Pill Country. Generally, the Alchemy Hall was closed off, inaccessible to outsiders. However, every grand finals of the Alchemy Competition was held within the Alchemy Hall.

There were not many people entering the Alchemy Hall at this time, aside from the competing alchemists, there were only the Great Pill King Hu Donghe, the Chang Huan Envoy, ten judges of the Alchemy Competition, and the old man in the white robe who hosted the competition.

On the way here, the old man in the white robe had explained the general rules of the finals.

The finals followed a single elimination system. The alchemists would compete in pairs, and each pair was determined by drawing lots. One could say that the final rankings not only required strength but also a certain amount of luck. Of course, if one’s strength could completely crush the other alchemists, then luck was completely unnecessary.

”Pill Masters, do you have any questions about the finals? If everything is clear and there are no doubts, then the finals will start now,” the old man in the white robe said, smiling at Jing Yan and the other alchemists.

No one spoke.

”Very well, the finals begin now!”

”Proceed with the drawing of lots! You will each draw a number from one to twenty. The first round of competition will pair number one against number two, number three against number four, and so on! The rankings of the eleventh to twentieth alchemists will not be distinguished,” the clear voice of the old man in white robes declared.

Only the top ten would have their rankings distinguished; from eleven to twenty, the rankings would not be distinguished.

The process of drawing the lots was similar to drawing number plates before, but this time, only twenty alchemists participated in the drawing, which took less than half a cup of tea time to complete.

Jing Yan drew number seven.

According to the rules, he would compete in alchemy against the one who drew number eight. Defeating the opponent and eliminating them would allow entry into the top ten of the finals.

The rewards for the top ten were much more substantial than for those ranked in the later ten.

”Who is number seven?”

”Number seven, speak up!”

Jing Yan was observing the other alchemists when he heard the shouting.

The person shouting was the Fang Family Alchemist who had previously mocked Jing Yan; this person had disliked Jing Yan from the start. However, back then, Jing Yan did not bother with him.

”I am number seven!” said Jing Yan.

”You?” the Fang Family Alchemist, upon hearing Jing Yan’s statement, was momentarily stunned and then his expression changed drastically.

Before the results of the first phase of the third round of alchemy were released, the Fang Family Alchemist had not considered Jing Yan noteworthy. But after knowing Jing Yan’s score, even if he were as dumb as a pig, he would realize the exceptional strength Jing Yan possessed in alchemy.

The Fang Family Alchemist clearly did not wish to face Jing Yan, and his complexion darkened.

”Yes, I am number seven, and it seems you are number eight. Soon, we will be competing in alchemy,” Jing Yan said with a smile.

The expressions of the other alchemists around, looking at the Fang Family Alchemist, were somewhat schadenfreude. The Fang Family Alchemist was not very popular, perhaps due to his overly arrogant and disdainful attitude, so upon knowing that his first opponent was Jing Yan, they were all looking forward to the show.

”Number one will battle number two, number three will battle number four, and so on. Now you can write out the materials you need,” the old man in the white robe spoke again.

The finals did not specify the type of elixirs to be refined. That is, the alchemists could choose whatever elixir they wanted to refine, and Pill Country would provide the corresponding materials. You could choose to produce a First-level Elixir or a Sixth-level Elixir, and if your abilities were sufficient, you could even choose to produce High-level Elixirs.

In the finals, the only requirement for the alchemists was to refine the highest value elixirs possible in order to defeat their opponent.

The performance in the finals was judged based on the overall value of the elixir, not on a scoring system. For example, if two competing alchemists produced an elixir worth one million Spirit Stones and another worth one million one hundred thousand Spirit Stones respectively, the result would be that the alchemist who produced the elixir worth one million one hundred thousand Spirit Stones would win.

The judges, responsible for determining the specific value of these elixirs, were all extremely knowledgeable alchemists, so there was basically no deviation in their judgments. Moreover, with the presence of the Great Pill King Hu Donghe here, even if there were any elixirs that the judges could not determine the value of, the Great Pill King Hu Donghe would personally make the determination.

Then, the alchemists began to write out the materials they required. Jing Yan, similarly, wrote on a piece of paper the various Spirit Grasses needed for a particular elixir.

After submitting the paper with the materials, staff members quickly brought over all the Spirit Grasses needed by the alchemists.

The alchemists were then separated according to their battle order.

”All right, the first round of competition begins, and the time is for two hours!” the old man in the white robe announced the start of the first round.

”Hmph, beating me won’t be so easy! I am curious to see just how strong you really are,” the Fang Family Alchemist glanced at Jing Yan and said coldly.

He was indeed wary of Jing Yan.

However, he had not given up hope.

Because in the previous alchemy rounds, they had produced Fourth-level and Fifth-level Elixirs. Jing Yan was very talented in alchemy, but that didn’t necessarily mean he could produce a good Sixth-level Elixir. If the quality and quantity of Jing Yan’s Sixth-level Elixir were poor, then he stood a great chance of defeating Jing Yan.

The elixir chosen by the Fang Family Alchemist was indeed a Sixth-level Elixir.

The value of a Sixth-level Elixir was obviously much higher than that of a Fifth-level Elixir. If Jing Yan chose to refine a Fifth-level Elixir, then even if his was of better quality and quantity, the final value might still be less than the Sixth-level Elixir produced by the Fang Family Alchemist.

Hearing the Fang Family Alchemist’s words, Jing Yan chuckled coldly, ”Defeating you will indeed be no difficult task!”

Jing Yan’s disdain was clear for all to see.

Indeed, from Jing Yan’s perspective, the Fang Family Alchemist couldn’t pose much of a threat. If there was a threat, among the top twenty alchemists, only the Wan Family Alchemist could pose some challenge to him. The Wan Family Alchemist had achieved a score of twelve hundred in the previous rounds of alchemy.

Jing Yan was not sure if that person held back some of his strength.

”You...” The Fang Family Alchemist, hearing Jing Yan’s disdain, immediately felt a surge of anger.

”Silence!” the old man in the white robe bellowed.

Hearing the low shout of the old man in the white robe, the Fang Family Alchemist dared not speak further and began his alchemy.