Soul Emperor Martial God

Xiao Yi finished refining his elixir.

He then waited on the side.

It was only after more than an hour that Jie Mo and the other two finished their elixir refining.

The four elders came forward to inspect.

But they were obviously listless.

After having seen Xiao Yi's Perfect Level Heavenly Will Pill,

they were not too surprised that Jie Mo and the other two had been successful in refining a Heavenly Will Pill.

But to encourage them, they nodded and showed a slightly satisfied smile.

"Mmm, not bad," Elder Mu said.

The Heavenly Will Pill refined by Jie Mo was at the Qualified Level.

The two Sword Masters had produced a poor quality.

There are four grades of elixirs: poor, qualified, good, and perfect.

This is the cost of not thoroughly explaining the knowledge of pills

and teaching the steps of elixir refinement directly.

An alchemist who does not fully understand the knowledge of elixirs

will never be able to refine an elixir above a good level.

That Jie Mo could refine a Qualified Level is considered to have a very good talent.

For the two Sword Masters to refine poor quality is within reason.

The elixir refining ended for Xiao Yi and his three companions.

This meant that everyone had finished their elixir refining for the second round of the competition.

Next came the scoring by the four elders and the deacons,

as well as the rankings.

About half an hour later.

The scoring was completed.

Elder Mu announced loudly, "Yi Xiao, first pill recipe, Perfect Level."

"Second pill recipe, Perfect Level."

"Third pill recipe, Perfect Level."

"First place."

"Jie Mo, first pill recipe, Perfect Level."

"Second pill recipe, good level."

"Third pill recipe, Qualified Level."

"Second place."

Normally, to refine a Perfect Level,

an alchemist's skill level must be at least one tier higher than the elixir

and also possess considerable experience and outstanding methods.

Jie Mo's first pill recipe was at the Peak of Fifth-grade.

He barely managed to produce a Perfect Level.

The second pill recipe was at the Sixth-grade Early Stage,

where he could only produce a good level.

At this time, Elder Mu's ranking announcement was still continuing.

"Third place, Ye Ming."

"First pill recipe, good level."

"Second pill recipe, good level."

"Third pill recipe, good level."

If Xiao Yi was the one with the worst luck in this round of the competition,

having all three pill recipes being Sixth-grade,

then Ye Ming was the most fortunate one in this round.

He drew three pill recipes in a row, all being Mid Fifth-grade.

Inside the drawing box, there were three hundred pill recipes, from Mid Fifth-grade to Peak of Sixth-grade.

Mid Fifth-grade was the lowest tier of pill recipe in the box.

Half a year ago,

at the Northern Mountain County alchemy finals,

Ye Ming had a breakthrough and became a Fifth-grade Alchemist.

Spending half a year in arduous training in the art of elixir refining,

he had already reached the skill level of a Mid Fifth-grade Alchemist.

With his natural talent being very good,

and to add to his fortune, he managed to produce a good level for all three recipes,

securing him the third place.

Following were the fourth and fifth placings,

which were the two Sword Masters.

The pill recipes both had the first being good,

the second good,

and the third poor quality.

This showed the gap between them and Jie Mo.

With the first pill recipe being a Peak Fifth-grade Elixir,

Jie Mo had refined a Perfect Level,

while they had only managed to produce a good level.

...

Elder Mu announced the ranking from first to eighteenth one by one.

Among the thirty-six alchemy talents, aside from Xiao Yi and his three companions who were Sixth-grade Alchemists,

the rest were all Fifth-grade Alchemists.

Asking them to refine a Fifth-grade Elixir, they naturally could not produce a Perfect Level.

Being able to refine a good level was already considered highly skilled.

Some were unlucky and drew a Sixth-grade Early Stage Elixir.

Their success rate was only two out of the batch.

Some got Peak Fifth-grade Elixirs.

Only managed to achieve Qualified Level.

Hence,

The pill recipes of most contestants mainly reached the Qualified Level.

Moreover, in the second round of the competition, half of the contestants would be eliminated.

Only 18 people would advance to the third round.

There's no need to mention Xiao Yi and his three companions.

Ye Ming, an unsung young Alchemist, was undoubtedly the dark horse of this second round.

No one expected the rankings of the second round to be exactly the same as the first round.

...

The second round came to an end.

The remaining contestants took a short rest.

Ye Ming approached Xiao Yi and clasped his fist in greeting.

"Congratulations, Brother Yi, for clinching two championships in a row."

Xiao Yi also clasped his fist in response, saying indifferently, "Congratulations to you too, you're quite impressive."

Ye Ming gave a wry smile, "It's just good luck."

"I initially thought that by participating in the grand finale of the Alchemy Competition,"

"I was merely a foil, perhaps wouldn't even pass the first round."

"To think that I could enter the third round,"

"It was because of Brother Yi's help during the first round that I had this opportunity."

Jie Mo, who was nearby, chimed in with a timely laugh, "The real help you received was from me, right?"

Ye Ming chuckled, "I also remember the assistance from Brother Jie Mo."

"However, Brother Jie Mo helped me because of the Golden Yuan Fruit."

"Brother Yi genuinely wanted to help me."

"The two are different."

"Whatever," Jie Mo snorted, adding nothing more.

Ye Ming, a man of principles, wasn't very good at worldly affairs.

Had he been more tactful, he certainly wouldn't have said such things in front of Jie Mo.

However, it was precisely such a sincere person.

That Xiao Yi wished to form a deep friendship with.

Xiao Yi looked at Ye Ming, and with a light smile, said, "You and I are both Martial Artists from Northern Mountain County, I help where I can."

"Moreover, if you weren't skilled, my help would be futile anyway."

Ye Ming smiled, "Anyway, I owe you big this time, Brother Yi."

"I know the first round was merely a qualification round, and the second round's rankings were decisive."

"The third round is the real harvest race."

"The rewards inside are frighteningly lavish."

As he spoke, Ye Ming showed a guilty expression.

"Originally, after you helped me so much, Brother Yi,"

"As a token of gratitude, I thought of giving you the third round's rewards."

"However, I have a younger martial brother."

"My martial brother is very powerful, with unmatched talent in both Martial Arts and alchemy."

"Regrettably, for some reason, he did not come this time."

"He missed this opportunity in vain."

"The rich rewards of the third round are of no use to an Alchemist like me with mediocre talent."

"Given to him, they would undoubtedly be of greater use."

"Uh," Xiao Yi glanced at Ye Ming's guilty face and couldn't help feeling embarrassed.

"Brother Yi," Ye Ming suddenly said, "my martial brother is the Northern Mountain Sword Master."

"He should be a talent on the same level as you."

"If there is a chance in the future, may I introduce you to him?"

"Um, sure," Xiao Yi nodded awkwardly.

Ye Ming, always putting his martial brother first when benefits arose,

Was indeed a commendable martial brother.

Just then, Jie Mo at the side let out a snicker.

"Northern Mountain Sword Master? The Sword Master from the weakest county, heh."

"Comparing him to Purple Flame? Look at those two Sword Masters over there."

"They've been under mine and Purple Flame's feet for two rounds of the competition already."

The two Sword Masters not far away, clearly hearing Jie Mo's words, looked extremely upset.

Glancing at Ye Ming, they harbored silent resentment.

Being surpassed by Yi Xiao and Jie Mo, both widely known, was one thing.

But Ye Ming, a virtually unknown Mid Fifth-grade Alchemist,

Also stepping over them, how could they not feel hatred?

...

After half an hour,

Everyone had rested.

Elder Mu stood up.

At this point, only 18 people remained in front of him.

"The third round is called 'Tower Climb'."

"The location of the competition is inside the Medicine Tower."

"The Medicine Tower has 33 floors."

"The number of floors you climb will determine your final ranking."

"Follow me."

With that, Elder Mu led the 18 alchemic geniuses into the Medicine Tower.

...

...

Today's first update.