3 figures appeared from the cloud, landing in the center space where the alchemy match was taking place. Alex recognized two of them.

One of them was Supreme Alchemist Han, and the other one was Blackfrost, the guild master of the Blackfrost Alchemy guild.

The last man was an old white-haired man with a clean-shaven face and a red splotch of birthmark on the side of his face.

Alex had never seen him before, but people all around him recognized the man and uttered his name.

Supreme Alchemist Bluehorn. He was apparently the guild master of the Bluehorn Alchemy guild on the eastern side of the city.

In total, of the five people in the center where the competition was taking place, four of them were Supreme Alchemists. The awe that spread around the crowd seeing all of those alchemists together was something else.

Some small announcements were quickly made to explain how the duel would take place. Each of the alchemists had 3 chances to make any pill they wanted to, and the pill with the highest harmony would win.

The three Supreme Alchemists that had joined later on were there to judge the match and make sure everything was fair.

Both the Supreme Alchemist Ming and Superior Alchemist Wang nodded in their understanding of the requirements and got ready to make their pills.

The match began and everyone became quiet as they watched. Alex remained silent and looked at the two figures making a pill.

The woman began with her gray cauldron, burning a bright fire underneath it. She waited for the cauldron to get hot, and in that time the man began as well.

His fire burned blue instead of regular red and yellow, a clear sign that it was a special type of flame.

Alex had seen Supreme Alchemist Han using a special type of flame when making his pills too. Was that perhaps required to become a Supreme Alchemist?

Alex didn’t see why that would be required. He could make 100% pills without the use of any such flames at all.

Maybe one didn’t need a special flame to become a Supreme Alchemist. Maybe they became a Supreme Alchemist because they had the flame.

Instead of being a direct requirement for becoming a Supreme Alchemist, the flame must’ve helped them to reach that level.

‘I wonder where one finds such flames. Should I get one as well?’ he thought. He had always been fascinated by the different flames and was more than looking forward to the day when he managed to find one for himself as well.

The competition went smoothly with both alchemists making the best pills they could. Although, while it appeared everything was smooth, if anyone bothered to look closely, they could see that the woman was much more frustrated than the man.

She was dueling against a Supreme Immortal Alchemist, so it made sense for her to be so troubled. Her chances of winning were slim after all, considering who her opponent was.

The Supreme Alchemist Ming stopped first, pulling out a pill and putting it into a glass bottle to the side that was completely transparent.

Everyone could see the pill inside and know that it hadn’t been tampered with at all. Once he made the pill, he let the fire underneath the cauldron die and put back the cauldron.

Alex’s eyes narrowed. ‘That’s it?’ he thought. The match was supposed to have them make 3 pills, of which the best one would count. ‘Is he so confident that he thinks the single pill will be more than enough for him to win?’ That was an extremely bold choice, but somehow it fit the Supreme Immortal Alchemist. He had a reputation to uphold anyway.

Apparently, he also did this every time he was in a duel. The people around him talked about how well he must’ve done to be confident enough to stop at just one pill.

‘Every time?’ Alex wondered. ‘How many alchemy duels does this man get into?’

The woman completed her first pill and quickly put it into a formation to the side where she checked how good the pill was. Her face changed slightly and she quickly prepared to make another pill.

While she prepared, she looked to the side and noticed that her opponent had already stopped making pills. Her face fell at the sight. She needed to do better. 𝓯𝘦𝘸𝘯𝘰𝓿.𝒸ℴ𝑚

She pulled out more ingredients and quickly got back to making more pills after a short rest.

She made the second pill and then the third pill. She tested them all, and the entire time her face didn’t change. She was worried from start to finish.

“Are you done, Alchemist Wang?” the man asked his opponent.

The woman frowned deeply and a look of anger surfaced from underneath that frown. She slowly nodded and looked toward the three judges who were beginning to walk toward them.

She bowed toward the three and said, “I am done, seniors.”

“I am done too,” the man followed.

The two guild masters moved toward each of the individuals, taking their pill bottles to test the pill inside. Both bottles had only one pill as only the best one was left inside.

The two of them separately tested the pills and then handed them to each other to test the other one. After testing, they convened together and talked among themselves before making the announcement.

Alchemist Han moved up front and said, “We now have the result. If you all will be quiet, we will reveal it now.”

The entire crowd immediately stopped cheering as everyone watched Alchemist Han intently to learn what the result had been.

“Superior Alchemist Wang managed to make a pill with a total harmony of 88%.”

A section of the crowd cheered immediately, but many of them remained quiet. Most of them were smiling as they realized that the person whose result was announced first never actually won.

“As for Supreme Alchemist Ming, he has managed to make a pill with a total harmony of…”

The crowd waited patiently for the answer, eager to learn the number. Alchemist Han took a second to reveal the answer.

“…94%.”

The crowd was stunned for a moment, and then the cheers began.

“I’m rich!” the young man next to Alex shouted. “Me too!” the other one shouted as well.

All around Alex, people either cheered because they got rich, or simply because they had managed to see firsthand how an Alchemist could make a pill of 94% harmony.

Such a pill would sell for thousands of Immortal spirit stones, and one was just made right in front of them. It was an incredible moment for all of them.

Alex was quite impressed by the harmony level the Supreme Alchemist had reached, but he couldn’t help but think that he was holding back. After all, he had only made the pill just once. Had he made all 3 pills, he would most certainly have a chance to improve after all.

He looked toward the female alchemist whose face was completely blank, as though she could not believe what had happened.

But how could she not? She had been the challenger here, and as a Superior Alchemist, she should have never challenged a Supreme Alchemist she knew she could never beat.