Top-tier Unruly Master

At this moment, everyone was watching Elder Wang with a solemn expression, causing their hearts to begin pondering. Some of the elder judges had even guessed Elder Wang's thoughts, after all, this alchemist's performance in the first round of the Great Alchemy Competition was quite ordinary, with the refined medicine pill being merely a third-grade elixir. This time, however, he presented so many Spiritual Material Pill Recipes, which seemed very suspicious.

But at this moment, no one dared to speak casually, as this was one of the grandest events on the Donglai Continent—the Great Alchemy Competition. If the other party were indeed an alchemic genius, delaying someone due to mere speculation would obviously be a great loss. Therefore, everyone looked at Elder Wang gravely, clearly wanting him to make the final decision.

After all, Elder Wang was the chief judge of this Great Alchemy Competition—it was his responsibility.

Outside the alchemy competition venue, many spectators evidently noticed the proceedings in the judge area. Many spectators were very curious as this conduct of the elder judges in the judge area seemed quite unusual. According to the usual judging pace, this should have been concluded long ago. But what happened with the eighth group that so much time had passed without any results?

This was certainly abnormal. Many spectators have already noticed the movements of the elder judges over there. Apparently, most of the elder judges were looking at Elder Wang. Surely, something special was going on that required Elder Wang to decide.

"Why is it so slow? Did something happen?"

"Yeah! It's been such a long time. Why is the eighth group's result still not announced? Could the elder judges have encountered difficulties too?"

"How is this possible? You know that the elder judges are all competent alchemists. What problem could they not solve? Besides, Elder Wang is a Grade Eight Alchemist. When it comes to alchemy, there's nothing he can't handle!"

"That's also true, so what on earth is going on?"

"..."

For a time, the spectators outside began to speculate, as it was the first time the elder judges in the judge area took so long to give out a result.

Sun Long, who was among the crowd in a VIP room, obviously also noticed the situation in the judge area. For a moment, Sun Long felt a bit nervous. He understood why the elder judges in the judge area had not given out a result for so long. The issue was most likely related to Zhang Hao. After all, he had already provided Zhang Hao with the questions and even the answers for the competition.

As long as Zhang Hao was smart enough, there shouldn't have been a problem. Sun Long knew that the answers he gave Zhang Hao were written by a Grade Eight Alchemist he hired. Sun Long had already guessed that Elder Wang might be suspicious of Zhang Hao's results. After all, Zhang Hao's performance in the first round was quite average, which was also the only way out for Sun Long. He really wanted to get hold of the first round's alchemy competition content.

But the first round's alchemy competition's questions were kept solely by Elder Wang, and obviously no one else could access them. In the end, Sun Long could only manage to get hold of the questions for the second and third rounds. This itself posed a problem for Zhang Hao.

After all, how could an alchemist perform so remarkably in the second and third rounds of the alchemy competition, when they were so ordinary in the first round? This was clearly a question. But this was the only way out for Sun Long. As long as Elder Wang and the elder judges could not get hold of evidence of his cheating, the alchemist with the best score would have to be crowned the champion!

By then, the champion reward of the alchemy competition would naturally be his. For the sake of that Golden Silk Protective Clothing, Sun Long could only gamble, even if he was eventually caught. It wouldn't affect him much anyway. The worst punishment Sun Long envisaged was the removal of his Vice City Lord title, a position he no longer cared about.

Sun Long's greatest concern now was avenging his precious son. The moment he received the message that Ding Fan had killed Sun Hua, it hadn't been even an hour. The news shocked Sun Long quite a bit, hardly believing that Ding Lin had killed his son. It was unbelievable, especially since his son Sun Hua had been accompanied by his butler, a cultivator at the Spirit Severing Initial Stage.

It's known that a Spirit Severing Stage cultivator can be very powerful, so how was it possible that they were also killed by the opponent? However, quickly enough, the confirmed news aligned with Sun Long's suspicions; his Spirit Severing Initial Stage butler was indeed downed by Ding Lin.

Sun Long was utterly shocked by this news. He clearly didn't expect that the opponent was capable of slaying a Spirit Severing Stage cultivator. It was almost unimaginable! The opponent was still such a young kid, yet they could take down a Spirit Severing Stage cultivator. Sun Long was very astounded when he got the news, and he repeatedly asked the messenger, only for them to confirm with certainty that indeed, it was the opponent who slew the Spirit Severing Stage butler and his son.

For a brief moment, Sun Long was overwhelmingly shocked, finding it hard to believe that the young opponent could slay a Spirit Severing Stage cultivator—all too incredible!

Adding to this, the opponent turned out to possess outstanding alchemic talent, which was quite overwhelming. Generally speaking, a young alchemist wouldn't have a high cultivation. It's essentially implausible to be able to kill a Spirit Severing Stage cultivator. Those at the Spirit Severing Stage are immensely powerful, with few having reached that cultivation level in all of Dancheng.

A Spirit Severing Stage cultivator is considered Elder Level even within a sect, a rather rare presence. Sun Long understood if it weren't for his butler's desire to repay a favor, the household butler wouldn't have stayed in a small place like Dancheng. But such an imposing figure was slain by a mere teenager; it was all too incredible!

At that time, Sun Long found it really hard to accept the news. After all, his son was his only child, and to have died at the hands of the opponent was simply too cruel. But later, Sun Long sent people to investigate the event, and it was clear that the incident of Ding Fan killing a Spirit Severing stage cultivator had already spread among many cultivators in Dancheng. Obviously, the result of Sun Long's subsequent investigation was still the same, and this time Sun Long completely believed it.

At the same time, Sun Long had harbored a deep hatred for Ding Lin in his heart, constantly pondering over how to kill Ding Lin. After all, this was both revenge for his son's death and the end of his lineage. Obviously, he couldn't let that guy off easily, but Sun Long remained somewhat calm. After all, Ding Lin was still in the midst of the Great Alchemy Competition, and Sun Long knew very well that the City Lord valued this young man greatly, obviously because his alchemic talent was incredibly strong, managing to refine a supreme quality medicine pill in less than half an hour.

But no matter how talented the opponent was, in Sun Long's heart, Ding Fan was long as good as dead. Sun Long knew that although he couldn't make a move during the Great Alchemy Competition, once it ended, he had to completely kill this guy. He himself was also of the Spirit Severing stage, and clearly killing a young boy would be as easy as crushing an ant.

Sun Long also knew that the City Lord must have known about his killing of Ding Lin. In fact, Sun Long had already thought of an explanation, but when he saw the City Lord, he found the City Lord was very cold towards him and didn't inquire about his son and Ding Lin. At that moment, Sun Long had a very bad premonition, clearly realizing his position as Vice City Lord was no longer secure.

Sun Long also understood that since Ding Lin was currently safe, the City Lord must have thought Sun Long merely indulged his son again, having nothing to do with his own plan. At that time, Sun Long felt relieved since the City Lord didn't suspect his plan, and that Golden Silk Protective Clothing was still within his grasp.

At this moment, Sun Long looked at several elders in the judge area, who were researching back and forth, quite worried. He was determined to obtain that Golden Silk Protective Clothing. After all, having that item would greatly enhance his power, which was very important to Sun Long. As for the position of Vice City Lord, it was no longer as important.

At this moment in the judge area, Elder Wang finally spoke.

"Everything goes as normal!"

The elder in the judge area heard Elder Wang's words and agreed immediately. In his heart, Elder Wang suspected that the alchemist named Zhang Hao may have cheated to achieve such results, but clearly, there was no evidence. As a result, in this edition of the Great Alchemy Competition, even though Elder Wang had suspicions, he had no choice but to proceed according to the normal competition process.

Very soon, the results of the eighth group's competition were announced, and Zhang Hao obviously came in first place.

When the audience outside heard Zhang Hao's results, they couldn't help being amazed. Clearly, they hadn't expected an alchemist to come up with a Spiritual Material Pill Recipe with twelve types of spiritual materials, three more than what Elder Herr had written. It was simply incredible!

"No way! This is way too incredible! Even more incredible than Elder Herr! How come I've never heard of him before?"

"I know, it's so sudden. Clearly, none of us expected Zhang Hao to come up with twelve types of spiritual materials. It's a bit outrageous!"

"By the way, have you thought about why the judges took so long to announce the results this time? Don't you think it's very unusual?"

"Hey! You're right! Knowing that the other party came up with twelve types of spiritual materials, even more than Elder Herr, and never having heard of him before, it's indeed very strange. Don't you think? I'm sure the other party must have cheated!"

"That's true, it's very likely. Otherwise, the elders in the judge area wouldn't have taken that long to release the results. There must have been some form of cheating! But clearly, the judges couldn't catch any evidence!"

"That's quite possible! It really is!"

"Who exactly is the person behind all this, to have such a background? He must have some backing!"

"Even if he has backing, what can one say! His alchemic skill is not particularly notable, and yet he cheated. That's clearly a character issue, and an alchemist like that won't have a future!"

"That's true, but it's a bit rushed to say that now, considering there's still no evidence of his cheating! Let's wait until the evidence is found before we talk!"

"Isn't something this obvious already proof enough?"

...