Top-tier Unruly Master

The results of the first group came out quickly. Among them, the best result was still by an elder, who wrote down five kinds of spiritual materials in total, but none of the quantities were specified. Most of the other cultivators, at best, wrote down only three spiritual materials; generally, they only noted two.

As soon as the results of the first group were announced, the audience outside was in an uproar. They obviously didn't expect the second round of the Great Alchemy Competition to be as difficult as the first round. Even the best-performing elder only wrote down five kinds of spiritual materials, which is incredibly hard.

Although this second-round test question is relatively difficult for an average alchemist, everyone knows that the participating alchemists are among the most outstanding on the Donglai Continent. To them, even an exceptionally difficult test question should not be a problem.

But no one expected the best result of the first group to be only five spiritual materials, which is somewhat unbelievable.

Just how difficult could this test question be? It's simply hard to believe!

"Isn't this a bit exaggerated? The best score is only five kinds of spiritual materials! Aren't they supposed to be the best alchemists on Donglai Continent?"

"Don't exaggerate so much. If they were the best alchemists on Donglai Continent, they should be sitting over there!"

At this point, a spectator pointed at a few elders in the judge area while speaking.

"Of course, some mighty alchemists don't even bother to be there, like Master Nanyang. But even if these participating alchemists aren't the best, they are still upper-middle level among Donglai Continent alchemists!"

"Exactly! They are already at an upper level, yet the best score is just five spiritual materials! It's really not living up to the name!"

"Even an elder can write that down at this level!"

"Stop boasting! If you went up there, you probably couldn't even write down one spiritual material!"

"You can't blame them. You have to know this time's Great Alchemy Competition is much harder than previous ones! You know, Elder Herr hasn't even stepped in yet! You know, once Elder Herr steps in, he will definitely crush them all!"

"What does Elder Herr count for! Just wait to see Brother Dalin's brilliant performance! It will surely dazzle you all!"

"Right! Looking forward to Brother Dalin's brilliant performance!"

"Brother Dalin!"

"..."

All of a sudden, among the crowd, there were many discussions. At first, many were complaining about the alchemists in the Great Alchemy Competition, but soon, for some unknown reason, many spectators turned their attention to Ding Fan and were very much looking forward to Ding Fan's performance. Clearly, Ding Fan had already become their idol.

Even if not an idol, in their hearts, Ding Fan was definitely someone who could work miracles. After all, Ding Fan had already become a major topic of conversation during tea and meals among the people of Dancheng.

After all, not only did Ding Fan refine a supreme quality medicine pill in less than half an hour during the first round of the Great Alchemy Competition, but he was also revealed to be the proposer of the preservation method for the alchemy cauldron. Originally, most cultivators didn't believe such a preservation method could come from a boy.

However, after witnessing Ding Fan's performance in the first round of the Great Alchemy Competition, most cultivators obviously believed it. After all, being an alchemist who could refine a supreme quality medicine pill in such a short time was exceptionally impressive. It was also acceptable to attribute the alchemy cauldron's preservation method to him.

Moreover, after the end of the first round of the Great Alchemy Competition, there were rumors about the so-called Ding Lin, who not only was an alchemic genius but also a cultivation prodigy. It was like a bombshell, reportedly having cut down a Spirit Severing Elder with just Nascent Soul Stage cultivation.

This is simply incredibly impressive!

Although most cultivators found it hard to believe this rumor, some reasonable cultivators knew there could be no smoke without fire. The rumor about Ding Lin killing a Spirit Severing Elder must mean that Ding Lin's cultivation is definitely not weak. Otherwise, there couldn't be so many rumors.

At this moment, not only the audience outside found the second round of the Great Alchemy Competition extremely difficult, but even those first-group alchemists were quite depressed after seeing their scores. They had somewhat expected it, as they had already realized how hard it was to write down a complete pill recipe during their competition.

But when they heard their results with their own ears, it was clear they didn't feel good about it. After all, half of the alchemists in the first group were immediately eliminated, which obviously meant that those already eliminated had their steps halted in the Great Alchemy Competition.

The remaining half of the alchemists who hadn't been eliminated weren't very happy either. After all, their scores were there for everyone to see, and they were the first group of competing alchemists. Whether they would be eliminated eventually was still an unknown matter—only the top fifty alchemists from the second round could enter the third round of the competition.

At this moment, the elders in the judge area couldn't help but discuss among themselves, clearly not very satisfied with the performance of the first group of alchemists. However, they understood that the medicine pill for this second round was not an ordinary one; it was a recently developed pill, based on a method.

After all, only newly developed pills would be fair to the competing alchemists. If they used those pills that had been around for many years, some alchemists might already know them, which wouldn't be fair to others. However, this pill was developed from an ancient formula brought back by the city lord.

Additionally, this pill was of a Grade Eight Pill level. Clearly, the higher the level of the pill, the more difficult it would be to deduce the pill recipe, especially since this was based on an ancient formula, making the challenge even greater. Of course, only such pills truly test an alchemist's mastery.

After all, the further an alchemist progresses, the less they rely on alchemy experience and more on true understanding of the pill and mastery of its principles.

"Isn't this pill too difficult for them? Their scores really aren't ideal..."

"It's not difficult. This is just the beginning. Why rush? The more challenging the test, the more it can reveal true geniuses! Isn't Ding Lin an example?"

"That's true too..."

...

For a moment, a few elder judges couldn't help but discuss in whispers. Although some elder judges were not very satisfied with the results of the first group in the Great Alchemy Competition, and even thought maybe the content of the competition was set too difficult, these alchemists knew that—let alone the participating alchemists—doing something like this without prior knowledge was not an easy task for anyone.

Don't even speak of whether one can completely write it out. Even if they could, it certainly couldn't be accomplished in just the short time of three incense sticks. It wouldn't be exaggerated to say even if given a day, these elders might not finish!

This shows how difficult it is to write out the pill formula!

At this time, Ding Fan, in a VIP room, clearly saw the situation of the Great Alchemy Competition outside and learned from the maidservant about the results of the first group's performance. Initially, Ding Fan was a bit curious, really unable to understand, as the best achievement was only writing out five spiritual materials. It wasn't that exaggerated, was it?

Ding Fan could hardly believe it. Ding Fan knew that to write out the pill formula of a pill, it only took a glance at the pill to have it completely figured out. The time of three incense sticks was indeed a long time for Ding Fan because, usually, once he encounters any unfamiliar pill, his immediate reaction is to deduce its formula.

Therefore, writing out the formula based on the pill was an entirely ordinary task for Ding Fan. Every time Ding Fan observed any unknown pill, he could write out its formula in the shortest time possible in his mind.

Initially, Ding Fan was somewhat surprised this was the competition task, but soon he was relieved. Although this was a habit for him, it might not be the same for other alchemists. Moreover, Ding Fan was aware that the reason he had this habit was due to his exceptionally strong divine sense. His divine sense could even see the tiny fragmented bits of spiritual materials in the pill, a feat difficult for any cultivator.

But for Ding Fan, it was extremely simple. Of course, to figure out a pill's formula, understanding of spiritual materials was needed, and Ding Fan was clearly a remarkable expert in this. He could determine a spiritual material merely by its scent, and even make precise judgments about its primary use or what pill it could make.

Ding Fan had already verified this ability on Master Nanyang's chief disciple. At that time, just by sensing the medicinal fragrance of the spiritual materials refined by the disciple, Ding Fan could determine the ingredients and the pill type, even providing guidance. It was then that Ding Fan disclosed the preservation method for the alchemy cauldron, causing a stir in the entire Alchemist Guild.

Afterwards, Ding Fan turned his attention back to the ongoing Great Alchemy Competition. After all, Ding Fan was fully aware of the second round, obviously very confident. Since Ding Fan had long considered such competition content as a mere habitual existence, knowing that if other alchemists found out that Ding Fan considered this as a habit, they'd be utterly shocked!

To figure out a pill formula based on a pill is a challenging test for most alchemists, let alone someone considering this a bizarre habit! It's almost unbelievable! If an ordinary alchemist tried to make this a habit, he probably wouldn't need to do anything else for the rest of his life, having no time left for pill refinement. After all, an alchemist encounters too many pills in a day.

Yet to write a formula for each pill seen in a day would likely take more than a week's time. However, for Ding Fan, in under a single minute, the pill formula would appear in his mind just by looking at it.

Thus, Ding Fan's habit is one that ordinary alchemists wouldn't dare have—it's almost too incredible! If other alchemists knew about Ding Fan's habit, they simply wouldn't believe it. However, Ding Fan wouldn't talk about it either—there's no need. Such things are too simple for him, and there's no need for showing off, is there?