Chapter 524

At the front of the alchemy arena, several chairs were arranged, with a number of elderly figures seated silently on the raised platform.

Lin Chen did not recognize these elders, but the martial artists present who recognized their identities all showed signs of excitement in their eyes.

“The head of the Qianji Sect’s Alchemy Pavilion, the Grand Master of the Alchemy Guild, and two Alchemy Masters… these figures never appeared at past alchemy contests.”

“Of course not—how could past alchemy contests compare to this one? This year, every qualified alchemist in the Yan Imperial Court has come.”

“I’m not surprised these four have shown up—this is undoubtedly the strongest alchemy contest in over a decade—but why is the head of the Forging Guild here?”

On the platform, five elders sat together; many wondered why the Lord of Qianchui City, the current Grand Master of the Forging Guild, had also come.

Though forging and alchemy share some common ground, their differences are significant.

Most crucially, this Forging Guild Grand Master did not appear at the recent forging competition—yet now he shows up for the alchemy contest. Many found this hard to understand.

On the platform, Gu Yunfeng, head of the Qianji Sect’s Alchemy Pavilion, turned to those beside him: “Do any of you have opinions?”

“I’ve merely come to watch the spectacle, Grand Master Gu—no need to concern yourself with me.”

Yang Rongtian, Lord of Qianchui City, smiled faintly, while the other three elders remained silent. Gu Yunfeng’s gaze then swept toward the ten contestants below.

“For this final alchemy contest, no specific elixir is mandated. Each of you shall choose the name of the elixir you wish to brew and inscribe it into a blank jade slip. Qianji Sect will provide the required herbs. Final rankings will be determined solely by elixir quality, and the elixirs you brew will belong to you.”

Gu Yunfeng’s voice reached not only the ten contestants but every martial artist in the audience.

“The elixirs belong to the contestants—this follows the same rule as past contests. Even those who fail to place in the top three still gain the herbs used.”

“Not restricting the type of elixir—that’s different from past rules.”

“Past finals always specified three elixirs, and winners were decided by which contestant produced the highest quality and greatest quantity.”

“I understand why Qianji Sect changed the final rule this time—whether it’s Jiang Yaoyan or Jiang Chen, under the old rules, there’d be no way to determine a winner.”

The old final rule judged quality and quantity, but for Jiang Yaoyan and Jiang Chen, neither would find that difficult—they could both brew without wasting a single herb.

“Allowing each contestant to brew their own specialty elixir, then judging by quality and quantity, is the fairest approach—it also introduces strategy and prediction.”

A middle-aged man’s eyes gleamed: “Even fourth-rank elixirs have tiers. If you play it safe and choose a slightly lower-tier elixir, while your opponent picks a higher-tier one, you’re already at a disadvantage before the contest even begins.”

Hearing the alchemists’ murmurs, many martial artists suddenly understood—the choice of elixir itself was already a battle of wits.

Lin Chen stared at the blank jade slip handed to him by a Qianji Sect disciple but did not rush to inscribe his choice. Qianji Sect’s use of this secretive method tested whether each contestant had sufficient confidence in himself.

The higher the elixir’s rank, the greater the difficulty—and the more potency is lost during brewing.

Should he choose a lower-tier elixir for safety, or risk a higher-tier one?

Beyond judging his own alchemical skill, he must also guess what elixir his opponents would choose.

“An alchemist never wins by luck or trickery.”

Jiang Yaoyan, standing at the front, seeing no one submit their jade slip, sneered and handed his own to a Qianji Sect disciple.

Seeing Jiang Yaoyan make his choice, Jiang Chen followed suit, handing his slip to the nearby Qianji Sect disciple. None of Lin Chen and the others were swayed by Jiang Yaoyan’s actions—they continued deliberating. The slowest took a full hundred breaths before deciding.

“This rule change adds excitement—we can now guess what elixir each of the ten will brew.”

“With these ten’s strength, to compete for the top three, they’ll need at least top-tier fourth-rank or even fifth-rank elixirs—Seventh-Rank elixirs like Guiyuan Dan or Zhongyuan Dan…”

As everyone began speculating, the ten Qianji Sect disciples began announcing the elixir names inscribed in the jade slips. To heighten suspense, the first to announce was the alchemist ranked tenth in the previous round.

“Seventh-rank elixir!”

The announcement drew a wave of murmurs from the crowd.

“Seventh-rank elixir—a top-tier fourth-rank. Even those who’ve brewed it before can’t guarantee success again, let alone under competition pressure. This one’s going all in.”

Under normal conditions, alchemy carries a risk of failure—how much greater under the tension of a contest?

“Guiyuan Dan!”

“Zhongyuan Dan!”

Quickly, the elixirs chosen by the eighth- and ninth-ranked contestants from the previous round were announced—both were top-tier fourth-rank elixirs.

“I have a feeling we might see a fifth-rank elixir!”

The atmosphere among the alchemists in the crowd surged—those at the bottom had all chosen top-tier fourth-rank elixirs. What about Jiang Chen and Jiang Yaoyan?

“A fifth-rank elixir—if brewed successfully, it means you can be called an Alchemy Master.”

The Alchemy Guild’s test for an Alchemy Master is brewing a fifth-rank elixir.

On the viewing platform, the Li family’s gaze was fixed entirely on Lin Chen. Li Qin’s eyes were tense—though Xiao Yan’s entry into the top ten had already pleased the clan, most family members had come merely to watch the spectacle, never expecting Xiao Yan to place in the top three.

Yet she still hoped Xiao Yan could secure a strong ranking in this final round.

The Qianji Sect disciple standing beside Lin Chen sent his spiritual sense into the jade slip. When he saw the elixir name inscribed, his pupils shrank sharply—as if witnessing something impossible. He turned to Lin Chen: “Are you certain the elixir name is correct?”

The disciple’s sudden action drew every eye in the arena. Even Jiang Yaoyan, standing at the front, turned his head to glance over.

On the viewing platform, the many martial artists who heard the disciple’s question now wore expressions of curiosity—what elixir had Xiao Yan chosen to provoke such a reaction from a Qianji Sect disciple?