Chapter 527

On the competition field!

Dozens of light beams suddenly lit up, and these dozens of light beams separated Lin Chen and the others into individual small areas.

The sudden change left Lin Chen and all the martial artists watching the battle with looks of confusion on their faces.

"Silence!"

Gu Gu Yunfeng, the Pavilion Master of the Thousand Machines Sect's Alchemy Pavilion, spoke. His voice clearly spread across the entire competition field, including the stands. Although his tone was calm, it carried the unique pressure of a sixth-stage Innate Realm expert, and the originally noisy stands instantly fell silent.

"After deliberation by us judges, in this contestant trial, each will be in a separated space and will not be disturbed by others."

Hearing Gu Gu Yunfeng's words, the expressions of many martial artists at the scene became somewhat strange. Why would the Thousand Machines Sect change the rules? From the situation on the field, the answer was already very obvious.

"Changing the rules temporarily like this—isn't it unfair to that Xiao Yan?"

A martial artist whispered, but the old man beside him sneered: "Where in this world is there absolute fairness? Don't forget that the reward for first place this time is jointly provided by the Thousand Machines Sect and the Medicine King Valley. If you want absolute fairness, what if these two families cancel the rewards?"

Fairness is always relative.

The sudden increase in rewards for this alchemy competition had everyone confused at first as to why such a change occurred, but when they learned that Jiang Chen, the personal disciple of the Thousand Machines Sect's Alchemy Pavilion Master, and Jiang Jinwu Yaoyan, the Young Valley Master of the Medicine King Valley, were participating, the reason was found.

The participation of these two came first, and the increase in rewards followed.

A little tilting of the competition didn't count for much; at the very least, the Thousand Machines Sect didn't find an excuse to suppress Xiao Yan.

"It seems they are afraid my flame will affect them."

Lin Chen smiled faintly at this moment. He knew the reason behind the words of this Thousand Machines Sect senior, but he didn't feel anything was amiss. After all, without the participation of Jiang Jinwu Yaoyan and Jiang Chen, he would have had no chance to observe the "Nine-Turn Azure Spirit Record."

Rules announced, medicinal ingredients prepared.

At this moment, everyone began to immerse their minds in refining elixirs, and the entire competition field returned to the state that laymen found boring.

In front of Lin Chen sat a three-legged alchemy furnace provided by the Li family. Although it was not as good as the furnaces brought out by Jiang Jinwu Yaoyan, Jiang Chen, and Wei Yang, it was not much worse than those of the other six contestants.

As time passed bit by bit, two hours later, a contestant had already finished refining their elixir. The moment the furnace was opened, a considerable cheer erupted from the stands.

Hearing the sound, Lin Chen also looked over. Seeing the elixir the other party had produced, he nodded imperceptibly. The contestants who could make it this far were not weak in alchemy.

The "Origin-Returning Elixir" refined by this person was also a top-tier four-star elixir, and this furnace had produced a full sixteen pills.

However, after finishing the alchemy, although this contestant's expression was no longer tense, there was no smile either, because he knew very well that he had no chance of entering the top three. In this final, he was just a runner, and his only goal was to hope to enter the top five.

Following the first contestant's completion, a quarter of an hour later, the second one finished.

The second, third, fourth, sixth...

When six contestants had finished refining, all the martial artists in the stands perked up again, because in their view, the ones truly qualified to compete for first place were Jiang Chen, Jiang Jinwu Yaoyan, Wei Yang, and that Lin Chen.

Among these four, whoever succeeded in refining their elixir would inevitably surpass the six ahead of them in ranking.

And Lin Chen, at this moment, was no longer as leisurely as before. The Five-Element Creation Elixir was a top-tier five-star elixir. Even though he had four types of Innate Fire and had fused the Azure Li Flame, he dared not be careless. His powerful spiritual sense was constantly monitoring the state of the elixir, using his spiritual sense to control the medicinal liquid, separate impurities, and reduce the loss of medicinal power...

In the stands.

"Qin'er, after this alchemy competition ends, the clan has decided to hand over the business of those ten cities in the southern part of the Thousand Machines Domain to you to manage."

Li He spoke with a smile. Hearing the elder's words, Li Qin was overjoyed. The clan had shops in all the cities within the Thousand Machines Domain, and even outside it, but those responsible for business outside the Thousand Machines Domain were usually those who had made mistakes and were punished by being sent away.

As for the business in the major cities within the Thousand Machines Domain, only those who had made contributions were qualified to be assigned them. Her branch currently only had five cities; if ten more were added, the strength of her branch would greatly increase.

"Thank you, Elder."

"No need to thank me; this is the reward you deserve for finding Xiao Yan for the clan. This Xiao Yan's alchemy talent exceeds my expectations. With his talent, he will become a Master-level alchemist within five years, and in the future, becoming an Alchemy Grandmaster is also possible. Such a genius... if we can have a closer relationship with him, it will be of great benefit to the clan."

Hearing this, Li Qin's heart skipped a beat. She understood why the Third Elder said this at this time, so she just said in a low voice: "I will work hard."

"Hmm." Li He smiled slightly and said no more.

Boom!

On the field, a flame shot into the sky, and everyone saw the alchemy furnace in front of Jiang Chen instantly swallowed by flames.

"What's going on? Could it have failed?"

"Flames swallowing the furnace—this is not a good sign."

And just as everyone was puzzled, the flames bloomed petal by petal like a flower. When the petals completely bloomed, they revealed the true appearance of the alchemy furnace.

Only, the furnace no longer had its lid, and seven pills shining with a glaze-like pure luster were quietly floating there.

Glazed Flawless Elixir, refining complete!

Lin Chen's gaze also looked over there, and his eyes held a trace of envy. This was the special aspect of the Azure Spirit Fire—its spirituality far exceeded other Innate Fires, even causing the elixir to be imbued with spirit.