Chapter 157: The Duel

    ?

    The elders of the Alchemist Association were utterly dumbfounded.

    The original purpose of the second round was to test whether alchemists had the courage and boldness to question the pill recipe. By directly revealing the answer like this, what was even the point of testing anymore?!

    Questioning a pill recipe required considerable courage and boldness. Some traditional alchemists placed too much faith in the orthodoxy of established recipes. No matter how many times they failed, they found it difficult to attribute the problem to the recipe itself, thus failing to innovate.

    They would only think that they must have made mistakes somewhere in the timing or ingredient extraction process. Those who held such beliefs were undoubtedly destined for complete failure.

    While Xiao Yan indeed possessed courage and boldness, before that, he possessed absolute strength!

    In the face of absolute strength, everything else had to step aside.

    Now, upon hearing his words, even if the other alchemists were reluctant to accept this ''cheating'' information, they had already heard it. What else could they do?

    Liu Ling and the Little Princess looked at each other helplessly and finally shook their heads. Although they might have eventually discovered the problem on their own, they could only follow what Xiao Yan had said now.

    Since they already knew the answer, what else could they do?

    The surrounding alchemists were initially stunned upon hearing Xiao Yan''s words. After a moment, expressions of sheer joy gradually spread across their faces. They cast grateful glances at Xiao Yan and then hurriedly resumed their refining with renewed vigor.

    Seeing the participants eagerly resuming their work, Xiao Yan calmly placed the Wind Walking Pill on the testing platform. Unsurprisingly, it passed with perfect results once again. Afterward, he sat down on a chair, waiting for the sand in the hourglass to run out.

    Before long, a beam of green light soared into the sky. Xiao Yan didn''t even need to look to know it was definitely that mysterious black-robed man. Moreover, judging by the speed, he must have started his second refinement before Xiao Yan''s pill was completed, having deduced the issue with the Thick-soil Ganoderma without hearing the answer first.

    Although the other party had refined twice, Xiao Yan had essentially done the same to succeed. His first attempt at pill formation had also failed; it was just that Mao Wu had swallowed it, preventing the cauldron from exploding.

    Half an hour later, green lights lit up in front of the Little Princess and Liu Ling. The two placed their pills into jade bottles, glanced at each other, and both breathed a sigh of relief.

    When they glanced at Xiao Yan again, the look in their eyes had completely changed, no longer harboring any fighting spirit or hostility.

    Liu Ling raised his head to look at Nalan Yanran''s position in the VIP seats. At this moment, her gaze was fixed on Xiao Yan rather than him.

    It was painfully clear that he had lost utterly and completely. Even though the Alchemist Grand Meeting had not yet concluded, for him, it was essentially over.

    After the first and second rounds, some of the more perceptive alchemists had already discovered that this monstrous Xiao Yan was a 4th-tier alchemist!

    An eighteen-year-old 4th-tier alchemist-this level of talent completely shattered Liu Ling''s pride.

    Xiao Yan understood upon hearing this. They must have gone to handle issues related to the mysterious black-robed man.

    "Mr. Xiao Yan, the imperial family will be hosting a banquet tonight for the alchemists who advanced to the third round. Would you honor us with your presence?" Princess Yao Ye asked with a faint smile.

    Xiao Yan was taken aback, then shook his head with an apologetic smile. "I''m sorry, Princess Yao Ye. I''m really quite exhausted today. The final test is tomorrow, so I''m afraid I won''t be able to spare the time to attend the banquet. I appreciate Your Highness''s kind invitation."

    Yao Ye nodded slightly. She knew it wouldn''t be easy to invite Xiao Yan. Tonight''s banquet was actually an olive branch extended by the imperial family. The alchemists who made it to the final round were undoubtedly one-in-a-million geniuses.

    Xiao Yan naturally understood the implication, but he had no desire to join the imperial family, so he directly declined.

    "I''ll escort you back," Nalan Yanran suddenly spoke up.

    Ya Fei, who was aware of the history between Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran, had quite a

    remarkable expression on her face.

    Xiao Yan was momentarily stunned. He hadn''t expected Nalan Yanran to say that. After a brief consideration, he nodded. After all, he still needed to return to the Nalan Mansion to rest and prepare for tomorrow''s final round.

    ...

    Inside the carriage, the atmosphere was uncomfortably quiet. Apart from the sound of Steward Zhao driving up front, the entire carriage was enveloped in silence.

    Even Xiao Yan, who had traversed the Soul Path, seized Heavenly Flames, and battled Dou Emperors, felt somewhat at a loss in this situation.

    This was the first time he and Nalan Yanran were alone together, facing each other directly.

    Nalan Yanran was the first to break the awkward silence.

    "Would you consider joining the Misty Cloud Sect? You would receive the same special treatment and resource allocation as Elder Gu He," she said softly while looking at him.

    Unsurprisingly, Xiao Yan shook his head and declined. "I''m sorry, but I have no intention of joining the Misty Cloud Sect."

    Nalan Yanran wasn''t surprised. She had only asked casually anyway.

    "Also, could we postpone our duel by a month or two? I''ll be entering the sect''s special

    training ground in a few days."

    Based on the date Nalan Yanran had come to annul the engagement back then, the three-year deadline was just about up, just a few days after the Grand Meeting concluded.