For Ding Fan, whether he becomes the champion in this Great Alchemy Competition isn't very important. Ding Fan participated this time to make a name for himself, facilitating Zhou Ruoran and others to find him. But Ding Fan is clearly not someone who settles for mediocrity. Since he has already joined the competition, regardless of his purpose, he must go all out, striving for the championship.

The appearance of the white-robed elder undoubtedly fueled Ding Fan's fighting spirit. The elder's arrival startled Ding Fan; he completely didn't expect that at this moment, the opponent could still accelerate, surpassing even his own speed. This was intriguing!

Although Ding Fan knows there is quite an age gap compared to others, and he even feels that his cultivation level is somewhat distant from them, Ding Fan never uses this as an excuse to back down! Power is power; alchemy skill is alchemy skill, unrelated to age!

Moreover, while Ding Fan acknowledges that the opponent's cultivation might surpass his, in terms of combat power and alchemy level, he wouldn't be inferior. Ding Fan is clear at heart that even if the third round tests the cultivator's skill, he will certainly go all out.

After all, even if the opponent's cultivation is higher and wins the third round, Ding Fan will still do his best. Even if he loses, it must be with dignity and not regret.

At this moment, the pace of the white-robed elder has quickened, but he didn't expect Ding Lin to also accelerate, even to the point of surpassing him again. The elder is greatly shocked, clearly not anticipating Ding Fan's exceptional power.

The elder is astounded not only by Ding Fan's strength but also by his talent. This is not just simple alchemic talent; the competition's high platform tests the alchemist's cultivation quality, clearly showing that despite his youthful age, Ding Fan possesses extraordinary talent both in alchemy and cultivation!

Truly a once-in-a-century prodigy!

This is the white-robed elder's inner evaluation of Ding Fan, whose displayed power has already greatly shocked him. Moreover, in terms of talent, he genuinely admires Ding Fan, knowing that when he was Ding Fan's age, he was way behind.

Fortunately, time is a highly effective medicine. After years of painstaking research in medicine pills and cultivation, the elder's current level is unparalleled by most. Though he highly respects Ding Fan, the contest isn't over; the elder won't concede.

Even if the opponent's talent is outstanding, he's undoubtedly too young. Though his talent can't compare, the effort he put in far exceeds Ding Fan's. Subsequently, the elder's face grew more serious, as he gritted his teeth.

Clearly, the elder's climbing speed increased once more!

Now far behind the elder, Elder Herr witnessed this, shocked beyond measure, understandably not expecting the white-robed elder's unimpressive performances in prior rounds, yet his cultivation is vastly stronger.

Elder Herr presumed his cultivation level to be top-notch amongst the competitors. But unexpectedly, this elder emerged, completely unexpected by Elder Herr.

At this moment, not only Elder Herr is shocked, but the spectators witnessing this are also very stunned, evidently not predicting Ding Lin's speed increase, followed swiftly by the white-robed elder's acceleration. This is astonishing!

"Wow! The white-robed elder accelerated too! That's just absurd!"

"Are you sure the platform exerts pressure on alchemists? Why don't I see it affecting Ding Lin and the elder at all?"

"Exactly! Who exactly is this white-robed elder? How can he be so incredible!"

"I'd say Ding Lin is the most amazing! Look, his speed's evidently faster than the elder's!"

"Who'd have thought Elder Herr would fall behind them! This is just unbelievable!"

"..."

For a moment, seeing the white-robed elder and Ding Fan's scene, everyone began heated discussions, feeling extremely shocked. Moreover, they're amazed by Elder Herr, understandably not expecting him to fall so far behind, not able to compare with the elder and Ding Lin.

At this time, the elder in the judge area saw this scene, equally shocked, understandably not anticipating Ding Lin and the white-robed elder's acceleration at this moment, only fifteen steps from the high platform's top, where the pressure is great and hardly bearable by ordinary cultivators or alchemists.

Elder Wang, witnessing this, feels stunned but remains relatively calm, with an expectant, anticipatory gaze. He knows the platform's oppressive force isn't insurmountable for alchemists. Otherwise, using this method for the competition wouldn't make sense. Elder Wang understands the last ten steps are the hardest aspect of the platform test. Although the white-robed elder is fast, he's still slightly behind Ding Lin's current speed.

But the white-clad elder might not necessarily fail to catch up with Ding Lin. This crucial variable lies in those final ten steps, and evidently, after reaching the last ten steps, the pressure from the high platform increases significantly. It is estimated that even cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage would need to spend some time climbing up, which is clearly not an easy task.

Although Ding Fan is currently ahead of the white-clad elder, the gap between the two is still very small. Both of them have not yet reached the final ten steps, so this gap can be ignored. Elder Wang knows that when Ding Fan is the first to reach the tenth step from the bottom.

He will definitely be unable to move forward, and at that moment, the white-clad elder would have enough time to catch up with Ding Lin. And if Ding Lin cannot withstand the pressure of the high platform in the final ten steps, it is very likely that the white-clad elder may surpass Ding Lin.

Elder Wang, although desperately hoping for Ding Fan's amazing performance, is also aware that Ding Lin is still too young. Clearly, compared to the cultivation of the white-clad elder, Ding Fan is quite lacking. So even though Ding Fan is leading now, Elder Wang cannot say who will be the winner.

Even though Elder Wang worries about Ding Lin, he is also very pleased because at this moment another alchemy master's style is emerging. It is that white-clad elder who previously had good results in the Great Alchemy Competition, second only to Elder Herr. Therefore, he wasn't very eye-catching.

But he didn't expect this white-clad elder's cultivation to be so outstanding, even surpassing Elder Herr. This is evidently another surprise in this Great Alchemy Competition. Elder Wang can't help but be delighted, as the competition is meant to discover excellent alchemists, and the more alchemists discovered, the better.

At this moment, Ding Fan saw the white-clad elder speeding up again, and felt slightly surprised. Ding Fan didn't expect the elder had not yet reached his limit. Feeling full of fighting spirit, Ding Fan quickly reached the last ten steps.

Ding Fan clearly does not know what is different about these last ten steps. Then, as usual, he slowly and forcefully stepped toward the tenth step from the bottom, but this step left Ding Fan shocked as his raised foot couldn't cross that tenth step.

To Ding Fan, it felt as if a thick invisible barrier was tightly blocking him ahead, making it impossible for Ding Fan to move an inch. No matter how much Ding Fan exerted his strength or used his mental power, he couldn't climb up the step in front of him, leaving him deeply astonished.

Evidently, this situation is the first time Ding Fan has encountered it. No matter how great the pressure from the high platform was before, he could clearly climb it. But this time, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't climb it, which was incredibly shocking!

Ding Fan had a feeling that not only for himself as a cultivator in the Nascent Soul early stage but even for a cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage, climbing this step would be tremendously difficult.

At this moment, the crowd saw Ding Fan suddenly stop his stride, feeling a bit surprised. After all, Ding Fan's speed had been consistent, though slow, but this time he stopped, which made the audience worried about Ding Fan.

"What's going on? Why did Ding Lin stop?"

"Exactly! You know there are only these last ten steps left to reach the top of the high platform! Ding Lin isn't giving up, is he?"

"This is normal; you have to know that as you climb higher, the difficulty increases, and those last ten steps aren't something ordinary alchemists can climb. The pressure must be immense!"

"You're right, the difficulty of those last ten steps on the high platform must be too high. At this moment, even Ding Lin can't continue climbing like before!"

"What should we do! My Brother Dalin! You know the white-clad elder will soon catch up to Ding Lin!"

"Ding Lin can't let the white-clad elder surpass him, right?"

"I'm really worried about Brother Dalin..."

"Go Brother Dalin!"

"Go Brother Dalin!"

...

For a moment, people saw Ding Fan in this situation, feeling very anxious, clearly sweating for Ding Fan. After all, the white-clad elder was about to surpass Ding Fan, and many in the crowd began to cheer and support Ding Lin, but most spectators weren't very optimistic about Ding Fan.

After all, Ding Fan is really too young. Clearly, this high platform isn't an ordinary place, not even elders in the Nascent Soul stage may successfully climb it, let alone a cultivator in the Nascent Soul early stage like Ding Fan. So, many spectators have already given up on Ding Fan. But Ding Fan's great achievement is undeniable, since apart from Zhang Hao from the first group, Ding Fan has climbed the highest so far.

Remember Ding Fan is only in his twenties, yet he's achieved this, clearly remarkable!