Chapter 260: Terrifying Elimination Rate

"I'm not very clear either. We haven't been in contact for a long time. Perhaps it's because of some reasons that he couldn't come," Fama glanced at Yao Ye behind him and said meaningfully.

Seeing this, Gu He shook his head helplessly. He also knew about the conflict between Xiao Yan and the Gama Empire Imperial Family. If Xiao Yan didn't come to participate because he was wary of the Gama Empire, it would be normal.

Xiao Yan below the platform put medicinal materials into the medicine cauldron from time to time. Although the fire in the medicine cauldron was only the most ordinary fire, Xiao Yan's fire control ability had long been different from the past, and since he had reached Grade 6, the real fire he summoned was not much weaker than beast fire.

After extracting all the materials, Xiao Yan began to fuse the pill. All actions were done in one go, without any pause.

A moment later, the medicinal pill took shape. Xiao Yan patted the medicine cauldron, and an incomparably round medicinal pill flew out from the medicine cauldron and fell into Xiao Yan's palm. Xiao Yan placed the refined medicinal pill directly on the testing machine on the side, and the testing machine instantly lit up with brilliant green light.

"The Qi Recovery Pill refined by little brother Bu Jingyun has such strong medicinal efficacy! Even I, without using beast fire, can't do it," Gu He looked at the green light column on the left side of Xiao Yan's stone platform and said in surprise.

Xiao Yan was just curious about what the next round of assessment would be! Then he saw rows of maids holding trays, and the trays clearly contained medicinal materials, but they were covered with red cloth, so he didn't know which medicinal materials they were.

The second round had just begun for a short time when muffled sounds came from the field again, and every muffled sound represented one person's failure. The number of people in the square began to decrease at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Congratulations to you all! You have passed the first round of assessment. Now we will proceed to the next round. The Qi Recovery Pill you refined is the only medicinal pill you can take. When to take it is up to you!" Fama shouted loudly.

Seeing this, Gu He showed a look of confusion. The three alchemists below the platform might have already reached Grade 6. Even if he went up personally, he might not necessarily win. He didn't know where Fama got his confidence; he wasn't panicked at all.

"The second round begins now! If you feel that you will fail, you can take the Qi Recovery Pill in your hand and leave directly!" Qie Mi Er didn't blame those who complained. After all, to win the championship in this competition, you have to rely on hard strength, and there is no luck involved.

However, although the number of people left was smaller, those who remained were all powerful people, including Liu Ling and Yao Yue. However, they were still concentrating on refining, their foreheads covered with sweat, looking like they were not refining easily.

The refinement of Grade 4 medicinal pills is not only complicated in technique but also takes a long time. For ordinary alchemists, it takes at least ten hours to refine successfully.

Xiao Yan was also no stranger to the refinement of the Qi Gathering Powder. He had refined quite a lot in his spare time. He continued to use the ordinary medicine cauldron and began to extract medicinal materials.

Hearing this, the people in the square had different expressions. Some with good mentalities started refining directly, while others, perhaps out of revenge, also started refining. After all, the medicinal materials were not their own, so wasting them was wasting them.

"It seems that some old fellows have disregarded their status and come personally!" Gu He naturally also discovered the abnormality. After all, how could so many heaven-defying alchemists appear all at once?

Six hours later, a jade-green medicinal pill appeared in front of Xiao Yan in the medicine cauldron. A faint fragrance drifted out from it, making people feel refreshed and happy when they smelled it.

"It's actually the Qi Gathering Powder! This is a Grade 4 medicinal pill! And the refinement difficulty is not low. Even Grade 5 alchemists have a not-small failure rate. It seems that the difficulty of winning the championship in this competition is very high! This is only the second round!" Some alchemists in the square who had luckily refined the Qi Recovery Pill complained one after another, complaining that this competition was too difficult!

Xiao Yan placed the Qi Gathering Powder on the testing platform, and the brilliant green light column lit up again, sharing the same color as the other three light columns.

"Who are these three people?" Fama looked at the three people in the square whose faces were covered by cloaks, his brows furrowing.

"No need! They are seeking their own death!" Fama's mouth showed a look of disdain. Fama, who knew Xiao Yan's true strength, naturally was full of confidence in Xiao Yan.

"The second round needs to refine the Qi Gathering Powder. I guess everyone is no stranger to this medicinal pill, right? It can make a person at the ninth stage of Dou Qi successfully condense a Dou Qi cyclone with 100% success!" Qie Mi Er shouted on the high platform.

"Then should we expose them?" Qie Mi Er looked at Fama and also knew the seriousness of the matter.

However, there were still three rounds left! Taking the Qi Recovery Pill now basically meant saying goodbye to the championship.

"Heh, the time hasn't ended yet. Let's keep watching! Maybe there will be stronger ones," Fama said with a faint smile.

Just when Xiao Yan was about to collect the pill, light columns lit up in the square. After Xiao Yan patted the medicine cauldron and took out the medicinal pill, he looked around and saw that the entire square was almost empty. After a rough look, it seemed that there were less than a hundred people left.

"Clang!" The sand in the hourglass placed on the high platform had run out, which also meant that the first round had ended.

Fama, Gu He, and Qie Mi Er stood up and walked to the front of the platform, looking at the contestants who had decreased by more than half below the platform, and couldn't help but sigh: "Although those who failed might be because of bad luck, the fact that they could fail in refining the Qi Recovery Pill is enough to prove that their strength is indeed very average! Even if they passed the first round, they wouldn't be able to win the championship."

These three all wore cloaks, covering their faces completely, seemingly not wanting people to see their appearance. Seeing Xiao Yan looking at them, a strange smile appeared on their faces under the cloaks.

Xiao Yan looked at the three people who were refining faster than him, his brows furrowing slightly, because the soul perception of these three was not weak.

After spending two or three hours, Xiao Yan finally extracted all the medicinal materials, fused the refined medicinal materials again, and finally formed the pill.

As soon as Fama finished speaking, light columns lit up in the square, but the color was not as brilliant as Xiao Yan's.

After a while, there was an extra tray on the stone platforms of all the contestants who had passed the first round.

"Isn't this making things difficult for people? Who can refine Grade 4 medicinal pills!" Some Grade 3 alchemists wanted to give up at this time. After all, this Qi Gathering Powder was too difficult for them, and it was impossible to refine it successfully.

"This elimination rate is too high!" Xiao Yan was secretly surprised in his heart.

"They seem to come from the Chuyun Empire, the Luoyan Empire, and the Mulan Empire respectively." Qie Mi Er took out the participant list from his storage ring, searched carefully, and said.

"They want to use this competition to smear the reputation of our Alchemist Guild. After all, this competition almost included all the alchemists in the Northwest Continent. If the championship is won by other empires, then our Alchemist Guild will exist in name only." Fama said.

Hearing this, some alchemists with not very high realms below the platform instantly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, refining Grade 3 medicinal pills consumes quite a lot of energy and Dou Qi. If they don't take any recovery-type medicinal pills before proceeding to the next round, they might fail directly because of insufficient Dou Qi.

Fama took the list from Qie Mi Er's hand, took a look, and his brows furrowed, because these three empires had come with quite a few alchemists, and their strength was not weak.

Time passed quietly without knowing it. People left the blue stone square one after another. In the end, less than forty people were left in the blue stone square.

Just two rounds of assessment brushed off so many people. It can truly be called the most tragic assessment ever.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 261 =====