CHAPTER 122: 122 - ALCHEMY TOURNAMENT (02)

"When are we going to see each other again?" Elize asked, trying to find space in Qingyi’s arms with the other girls.

"A few weeks at most," Qingyi replied, kissing the purple-haired beauty before turning to the other girls.

After kissing each one of them, Qingyi broke free from the girls’ embrace and stepped out of the large flying ship. Turning around, he watched the flying ship sail away.

In the end, he just shook his head.

This was the path of cultivation, lonely and cruel, there was simply no changing it. Only when he reached the top of the top could he perhaps never worry about separations like that again.

Qingyi pushed these thoughts aside and blended in with the crowds, walking towards a large building on the horizon.

This was the royal family’s arena, a huge circular building capable of allowing experts from the Iron Body realm to fight freely and with space for more than fifty thousand spectators.

"They say that the competition in the tournament for the crown prince’s breakthrough pill is very fierce!"

"Yes, I’ve heard that even a disciple from the Burning Heart Sect will be taking part against that talent from the Ascending Dragon Sect, Hua Feiyan."

"The crown prince has fire spirit roots, right? Won’t the Burning Heart Sect have too big an advantage?"

"Maybe, but I hear that Fairy Feiyan’s talent is so great that it doesn’t even make a difference!"

Qingyi listened to the many rumors, unable to hide a proud smile. His Feiyan was now famous, not just in the sect, but even in the kingdom’s capital.

He looked up, observing the almost endless line of cultivators gathering in front of the arena.

"Halt!" One of the guards roared at Qingyi, who ignored the line. "Only those who have bought tickets in advance can enter. If you have a ticket, go back to the end of the line and wait your turn."

"I’m a disciple of the Ascending Dragon Sect," Qingyi said, taking out his disciple token.

"Hm..." The guard examined the token and, after ensuring that it was real and sensing Qingyi’s cultivation, allowed him to enter.

The Ascending Dragon Sect were honored guests and obviously didn’t need to worry about things like lines.

"Thank you," Qingyi took the token back before finally entering the arena, walking through the crowded and noisy stands until he found a seat.

His eyes scanned the crowd and the arena, where ten golden cauldrons could be seen.

The competitors were already in front of their cauldrons, waiting for the competition to begin.

His heart fluttered at the sight of a woman in the center cauldron.

Her tanned skin glowed in the sunlight, her beautiful brown eyes carrying a cold, disinterested expression as she raised her face to face the king’s seat.

The tournament was about to begin.

The king of the Golden Sun Kingdom cleared his throat. His eyes were like gold and his long white hair framed a face that was old but still bore the dignity and beauty of his prime.

Next to him stood a man, his son, who seemed to be even older than his own father, his eyes full of lust focused on the tanned beauty.

A look that Qingyi obviously noticed.

’Let’s see if you can keep that smile when I gouge those eyes out...’ Qingyi gritted his teeth, but controlled himself.

That damned old man’s time would come.

"I’ve ruled this kingdom for 250 years, but never in my entire life have we had the presence of such noble and talented young alchemists. May the heavens bless you and may the one who makes the best pill win!"

The moment the king’s thunderous voice fell silent, a large bell rang out, signaling the start of the tournament.

Hua Feiyan approached her cauldron, studying the ingredients before preparing to start, but stopped at the last moment, feeling a look on her back, different from that of all the other men.

Turning her head, her eyes met those of a handsome young man.

Despite the distance and the thousands of people surrounding him, the sight of a Golden Core Realm expert was simply too powerful for her to miss a face she remembered so well.

"H-husband?" she called out, her voice low, almost a whisper.

Was that really him? How could he already be there?

She felt her heart tremble and her eyes water.

She wanted to throw herself at him right now, but the next moment, a voice came into her mind, stopping her.

"What are you waiting for, honey? Concentrate! You don’t want to embarrass your husband in front of the whole kingdom, do you?"

Was that... sound transmission?

How could Qingyi do that? Was he already in the Golden Core Realm?

Feiyan couldn’t help but be even more shocked, her plump red lips quivered and she took a step towards him.

But in the end, she turned back to the cauldron.

Her husband and her master were there, watching her. She wouldn’t let them down.

Feiyan threw the materials into the cauldron and pressed her hands against it.

Earth Qi wasn’t the best for alchemy, lagging a step behind water and fire Qi, but with her bloodline, that was not a ploblem.

With a grunt, she activated her Qi and her bloodline. The cauldron shook and a powerful pulse of energy spread out.

She sensed the ingredients inside and slowly began to mix them.

First, golden sky grass, breaking it into small pieces and mixing it with the thousand-year-old spiritual ginseng, before finally starting to add other ingredients to increase the pill’s fire Qi.

Alchemy was a slow and exhausting process. Mixing the ingredients was easy, but refining them required a level of control that few could achieve.

It was only after three hours that the first of the ten challengers finished his pill.

A disappointed sigh echoed as an ordinary-looking young man held a pill in his hands. A greenish glow surrounded it for a brief moment before fading away.

That meant it was a pill of 60% purity or lower.

It was good enough for an ordinary cultivator, but for someone like the crown prince, anything below 75% purity was garbage.

The other results weren’t much better, the highest quality pill only having a purity of just over 77%.

Soon, only the young alchemist from the Burning Heart Sect and Feiyan were left.

The young man flashed an arrogant smile as his cauldron burst open with a thunderous explosion.

The Qi from this explosion was capable of making even Foundation Realm cultivators retreat.

"8-80% purity?" A voice rang out in the crowd as shock spread. The pill in the young man’s hands glowed with pure purple aura, a sign that its purity was above 80%.

"Come on, I want to see you do better than that," the Burning Dragon Sect alchemist taunted, barely managing to distract Feiyan for a single moment before she sighed heavily and backed away.

An even louder explosion echoed as her cauldron opened, a pill landing on her fingers.

This one was different from everyone else’s. It seemed to be made of pure gold, a blinding golden light spreading across the arena.

Feiyan observed the pill, her eyes turning to Qingyi.

Her heart pounded when she saw his impressed and proud expression, the same one her master had.

That was a pill with over 90% purity, a rare level even among the most expensive pills in the Nine Peaks Basin.