In the Crown Prince quarters, the Crown Prince was leisurely reading a book on his balcony.

He sipped tea from time to time, often missing the tea from the library.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed with sword intent and gazed at a branch not far from him.

A person soon manifested at the back of a branch and hopped through each of the branches, until he landed on the rail of the balcony.

He then went down and kneeled in front of the Crown Prince.

"Speak, Xuan Bo."

"Crown Prince, we've detected a report that the librarian has been sighted participating in the Radiant Cauldron Assembly. It turned out, he is a genius alchemist, overshadowing other participants by a large margin."

The Crown Prince's eyes widened.

He was bemused.

He mumbled, "It's quite expected but still surprising. I mean, him being an alchemist. To think he will show himself in such a grandiose way."

Xuan Bo did not reply and continued kneeling.

The Crown Prince nodded and pushed the book inside his breast pocket. He stood up and gazed at Xuan Bo.

"Alright, prepare to head to the Alchemy Association."

Xuan Bo asked, "Should we hide ourselves?"

The Crown Prince shook his head and said, "It's the best time to show our support to Liu Wei. He might have realized he would be in trouble showing himself and his monstrous skills to the world, so we have to go there."

Xuan Bo was stunned.

He asked, "How do you know what he's thinking?"

The Crown Prince merely grinned.

"That guy has been hiding for quite a while now and only showed himself at this time. Don't you think it's strange?"

Xuan Bo was taken aback after finally understanding what the Crown Prince meant.

In the end, he nodded his head, not knowing what to say.

The Crown Prince gazed at the distant sky and said, "I don't mind being used like this. It's not like I don't gain from him anyway. It's an equivalent exchange."

He then gazed at Xuan Bo and said, "Prepare the royal carriage now. There's still time for us to witness something he might show that will shake the world."

Xuan Bo was confused by the Crown Prince's statements, but proceeded to execute the Crown Prince's order.

The moment they traveled to the Alchemy Association was the exact moment the third test of the Round 1 ended…

…

Zhen Qiang's voice reverberated throughout the arena. "Ten minutes are up."

All participants had chosen the herbs to use in their pill concoction.

The moment Zhen Qiang announced the time was up, the table, having different kinds of herbs, lowered and disappeared.

The participants had long decided what pill they would concoct, so ten minutes were more than enough for them to choose the necessary herbs.

Liu Wei curiously glanced at Cai Hui and had a slight idea of the mortal grade pills she chose.

Jade Yin Harmonizing Pill, huh? I forgot, she must have been able to cure her mother's sickness. I'm proud.

Cai Hui had forgotten to inform Liu Wei about it… understandably.

Liu Wei, on the other hand, had chosen the mortal grade pill he was more familiar with, the Vitality Recovery Pill.

Zhen Qiang's voice reverberated again, "Now, all of you only have half an incense stick to concoct the pills. There's no extension. Those who failed to concoct their pills within the given time frame will result in disqualification."

After he finished his announcement, another table rose in each refinement platform. There was a pot with half an incense stick. All the participants' eyes focused on it as they gulped with nervousness.

The table was placed behind them, as though taunting them to be distracted while concocting the pills.

Zhen Qiang continued, "The moment half of the incense stick was burned out. A bell will soon echo throughout, instantly halting all those participants who were still concocting."

The participants were troubled.

Liu Wei grinned.

How harsh. There's no early warning how much time is left, unless a participant themselves will have to turn their head and glance at the incense stick. Furthermore, half an incense stick to concoct pills? Interesting. They focused more on mastery under pressure.

Cai Hui, who was already aware of the rules, was still nervous.

She thought. Half of an incense stick… When I manifested the pill resonance, it took more than half… Will I be able to manifest it yet again?

Cai Hui wanted to shine in the competition, to finally repay the debt she had to Liu Wei. Furthermore, she had to prove herself that she was indeed the future of the Alchemy Association to the world, too.

The least she wanted to happen was to disappoint her master.

Like her, the other participants doubted.

However, all of them had reached a conclusion.

This is still the second round. There's still the third round.

While they were waiting for Zhen Qiang to announce the beginning of the Round 2, or at least when the incense stick flame began to burn, the Master Alchemist's voice echoed.

He said, "There's changes in the competition."

The participants and the spectators, even the judges in the Judges' Pavillion, were taken aback.

As the arena was wrapped with extreme silence, the Master Alchemists' voice echoed again.

"There will be no Round 3. Round 2 will decide the Top 10 and the winner of the competition."

The spectators and the participants went into an uproar.

The Master Alchemist said, "Quiet. The very reason there will be no Round 3 is simply because there's no point in it. Round 2 is enough to decide who is in the top 10 and who has truly won first place."

As much as the participants wanted to rebuke him, they simply remained quiet and had chosen to understand the Master Alchemist.

In fact, only a few of them prepared for Round 3 as it would be difficult to expect to advance into the top ten out of a hundred remaining participants left.

Hence, not one of them did not dare to disagree with the Master Alchemist.

Liu Wei, on the other hand, simply stared at the Judges' Pavillion and his thoughts were ambiguous…