Chapter 1903: Selection begins
Ling Han continued his path of alchemy.
His talent in alchemy was truly astonis.h.i.+ng, and added with the fact that he had this kind of Source Power of Wood like the Reincarnation Tree, he could have a few hundred times more time for appreciation as compared to others.
A mere five months had pa.s.sed, and he had already reached Second Refinement.
“The quality of this Second Refinement of mine should be good enough.” Ling Han looked at the Celestial pill that he had just concocted in his hand, a smile appearing on his face.
Two golden lines, one deeper and the other lighter, possessing an imposing air that could not be described.
As his abilities in alchemy advanced into the level of a Two-Star Alchemist and Second Refinement, his skill in First Refinement also greatly improved. Though he still could not compare to Alchemist Zi Cheng, the gap between them would not be astonis.h.i.+ngly huge.
It should be known that Grandmaster Zi Cheng was a Four-Star Alchemist as well as in Seventh Refinement!
This had to be credited to the effort that Ling Han had made in his First Refinement as he had strengthened his foundations to an incredibly st.u.r.dy extent, and also because he possessed his own method of Spirit Refinement that had leapt out of Alchemist Zi Cheng’s circle.
…From the very beginning, Alchemist Zi Cheng would only explain the basic principles of Spirit Refinement to Ling Han, and not the detailed method. He had had the latter ponder it himself. Though this had caused Ling Han to spend a very long time on the First Refinement, it was completely worth it.
Ling Han broke into a smile, slightly proud of himself.
“However, the Second Refinement is already so difficult, so the Ninth Refinement… would be unimaginably hard!”
Though he had reached Second Refinement so quickly, the further you went, the harder Spirit Refinement would be. Hence, Third Refinement and Fourth Refinement was the limit for most alchemists. Only those who had attained Fifth Refinement would be called grandmasters.
Ling Han went into seclusion again to fully stabilize his capacity at Second Refinement.
And at the same time, the agreed time of three years that Alchemist Zi Cheng had spoken of was also getting nearer and nearer. All the Holy Sons and Holy Daughters were all rolling up their sleeves, eagerly waiting for this day to come.
Initially, Lu Xianming had the highest chance because his natural talent in alchemy was indeed slightly superior to the rest’s. However, he had the same weakness as Ling Han, and that was that his time for growth was not long enough.
If he was given another one or two hundred million years of time, then Lu Xianming would be able to gain enough of an advantage, but in a mere three years, he could not draw a clear distance between himself and the other Holy Sons and Holy Daughters.
Thus, it was not just Lu Xianming that was holding his breath this time. It was the same for the others.
Who would emerge as the final victor was still uncertain.
On this day, Ling Han was still concocting alchemical pills, but he was interrupted. As it turned out, the time had arrived. The 10 Holy Sons and Holy Daughters had all been summoned to the Alchemist Pavilion to undergo the final selection for the heir.
Perhaps there would be no more Holy Sons and Holy Daughters in Alchemy City after today, only the future chairperson.
Ling Han exited alone. Though he was living in the Alchemist Pavilion, the Alchemist Pavilion itself was very, very colossal. He had still walked a very far distance before he finally arrived at Qingyang Pavilion.
This was where Alchemy City would discuss major events.
The 10 Holy Sons and Holy Daughters were all standing in the hall, waiting for what could possibly be the most important turn of fate of their lives.
At this time, even the most subtle among them looked excited. This step could possibly head to heaven, but also could possibly lead to h.e.l.l.
Ex-Holy Sons and ex-Holy Daughters were not important.
Yet Ling Han was extremely calm. Firstly, he had enough confidence, and secondly, even if he could not become the chairperson of Alchemy City, he would not be too concerned, either, because what he needed was just strength in both alchemy and cultivation.
If he could become the chairperson of Alchemy City, the benefit was that it would be able to provide him with more cultivation resources, but it was just that.
Alchemist Zi Cheng saw this, and involuntarily smiled. This disciple of his really had the bearing of a general. Just look, others were almost killed by their anxiety, and only he was as steady as a mountain. With this comparison, Ling Han immediately stood out.
In the hall, alchemists were gathered, but Alchemist Chu Ye and Alchemist Heavenly Heart, the two Four-Star Alchemists, were absent. With their personalities, they would not be concerned about who would become the chairperson of Alchemy City. It was fine as long as he did not squander the wealth of his ancestors to nothing.
And precisely because of this, they had supported Alchemist Zi Cheng’s move to banish Lu Jin.
…Who asked you to collude with outsiders? Compet.i.tion was fine, but betrayal was definitely not permitted!
There were many Three-Star Alchemists, and they sat down in rows all around the hall. As for Two-Star Alchemists and One-Star Alchemists, they did not qualify to sit down, and could only stand. Their numbers were naturally even higher. As far as the eye could see, there were people all around.
Alchemist Zi Cheng calmly announced, “Today is the day to select the future chairperson of Alchemy City, and among the 10 of you… one person will bear the heavy responsibility of leading our city in future. However, others cannot slack off, either. You all are also the pillars of support for our city, and the city will ultimately have to depend on you in the future.”
“Yes, Lord Chairperson!” The 10 Holy Sons and Holy Daughters all obeyed solemnly.
“The rules are very simple. You have to concoct a Two-Star alchemical pill, at least with Second Refinement. A Three-Star alchemical pill or a Spirit Refinement higher than Second Refinement will get additional marks. The concoction of the alchemical pill and quality of Spirit Refinement will also affect the final mark. Additionally, if the cultivation time in alchemy is extremely short, there will also be additional marks awarded.”
These final words were clearly prepared for Ling Han. Though Lu Xianming, too, had not immersed himself for a very long time in alchemy, and could also get additional marks, he definitely was far from being compared to Ling Han.
Alchemist Zi Cheng glanced at the 10 people, and then waved his hand. “Begin.”
He already knew Ling Han’s abilities in alchemy, and thus was not bothered to set a few stages to make his decision. He might as well directly select his heir.
Ling Han and the others entered into an alchemy chamber respectively. They were not restricted to concocting a specific alchemical pill, and were also allowed to fail, but the total time given was only slightly more than three months—added with time acceleration, it was only one day’s time in real time.
The results would be clear a day later.
Ling Han was not concerned with how the others would do. He was just like how he usually was, beginning his concoction step by step.
In another alchemy chamber, Lu Xianming was filled with confidence.
In a mere three years’ time, even if the Time Cultivation Chamber was taken into account, it was only 300 years. He did not believe that others could gain any ma.s.sive improvement in this time, but he was different.
In terms of strength in alchemy, he was not much inferior to the other Holy Sons and Holy Daughters in the first place, but if his cultivation time was taken into account as well, the additional credit would be enough to compensate for his shortcoming in alchemy.
Most importantly, he had also obtained a piece of Scarce Earth Essence.
If it was used during Spirit Refinement, it could greatly increase the quality of Spirit Refinement!
Similarly conducting Second Refinement, if the final alchemical pill had the same number of stars, and the Spirit Refinement grade was also the same, then his advantage of being “young” would be reflected.
The choice was based on potential in alchemist, and not absolute strength. Otherwise, what Three-Star Alchemist here was not stronger than them?
Another who was also filled with confidence like Lu Xianming was Qin Guyu.
Though she did not have Scarce Earth Essence, she was a Dividing Soul Tier, and the rarest trait of hers was that when she advanced into Yang Soul Tier, the divided soul that she had gotten possessed attributes of both Water and Wood. This was extremely rare.
If she was purely only a cultivator, then getting this divided soul meant that she was a weakling in battle, but for an alchemist, this was a precious treasure!
This was her trump card. It had never been known by others, and that even included her master.
Possessing this kind of divided soul, she had an affinity with the essence of plants, and for alchemy, this kind of effect was incredibly amazing.
Thus, she had the confidence that she could concoct a supreme Celestial pill.
…The effect of Spirit Refinement was also to increase the grade of the alchemical pill. If she could concoct the alchemical pill to a supreme grade right at the very first step, then even if the effects of her Spirit Refinement were slightly weaker, she would still be able to emerge as champion.