Top-tier Unruly Master

"You can't play like this! What if we don't win the championship in the third round of the Great Alchemy Competition? Doesn't it mean the Brother Dalin in our hearts is finished?"

"Exactly, could it be that Ding Lin is just a flash in the pan?"

"Impossible! After all, the method of preserving the Alchemy Cauldron was said by him! How could Brother Dalin not have any skills?"

"Well, it's hard to say because the other side hasn't admitted it was Ding Lin who revealed the preservation method of the Alchemy Cauldron!"

"Could Ding Lin be a complete fraud?"

"Oh my god! No way, I've bet my entire fortune on Brother Dalin! If Brother Dalin screws me over, I'll definitely dig up his family's ancestral grave!"

"I'll go too!"

"Count me in!"

...

"Can't you guys just trust Brother Dalin..."

"That's hard to say! Look at Ding Lin's current state, how can we not be worried..."

...

For a moment, everyone was talking incessantly, clearly seeing Ding Fan in the Great Alchemy Competition, making them anxious. After all, other alchemists were already busily engaged, while Ding Fan seemed not to be in a hurry at all, even having time to stretch lazily, which was completely baffling. All the competitors knew they had to refine Medicine Pills quickly, as the more refined, the more correct Spiritual Materials they could try out.

But by now, Ding Fan hadn't even produced his first Medicine Pill, while the other competitors had at least completed the refinement of four Medicine Pills. This means other alchemists had already written down at least four types of Spiritual Materials. After all, for alchemists, each pill refinement generally results in one correct Spiritual Material. Moreover, higher grade alchemists have a higher accuracy rate.

Some alchemists might refine dozens of pills, but only one or two are correct in the end. But for high-grade alchemists, refining only four or five pills could yield four or five correct Spiritual Material choices. However, none of them were like Ding Fan, who hadn't refined a single pill after all this time, and it was clearly hard to guess any Spiritual Material.

How could the crowd not be anxious at this moment!

Yet Ding Fan's mindset was apparently calm. Obviously, Ding Fan had no intention of rushing to refine Medicine Pills. He only needed to refine one pill, and the second round of the Great Alchemy Competition was merely three sticks of incense worth of time. To other alchemists, it might be extremely short, but for Ding Fan, the time was a bit too long. After all, Ding Fan only needed to refine one Medicine Pill.

In fact, refining this one Medicine Pill required just one stick of incense worth of time. This was quite helpless for Ding Fan, as he already knew that Zhang Hao probably resorted to cheating to achieve such high marks, knowing he was a mediocre alchemist. Clearly, if it weren't for participating in this competition, Zhang Hao would be a very average alchemist. Cheating himself, he surely wouldn't have the guts, but Ding Fan knew that someone powerful was definitely pulling strings behind Zhang Hao, aiming for the Great Alchemy Competition's championship.

Hence, Ding Fan didn't want to be flashy, knowing someone was evidently interested in the Champion Reward of the Great Alchemy Competition. Clearly, Ding Fan didn't want to stir up unnecessary trouble with enemies. But Ding Fan wasn't afraid of trouble either; he merely attended the competition normally. Whether he could win the championship clearly was something natural. After all, Ding Fan knew that if the other side could cheat, it wouldn't certainly be possible to win the championship based on strength alone. Yet, Ding Fan understood everything was unknown.

After all, this is one of the grand events of Donglai Continent, the Great Alchemy Competition, and the judges are not fools. Since everyone could see the cheating, the judges would certainly see it too. If Zhang Hao were to win the championship, there would be no point in holding the competition in the future. Wouldn't it be like shooting oneself in the foot?

Moreover, Ding Fan knew Elder Wang was on pretty good terms with him and understood a bit about Elder Wang, who evidently had good skills and impartial judgment. Evidently, encountering such cheating, Elder Wang definitely wouldn't let it slide, but these matters needn't concern Ding Fan. Clearly, as long as the Medicine Pill he was currently refining was completed, it was enough for him.

When Ding Fan glanced at the medicine pill given for the competition, he immediately recognized it. Ding Fan clearly knew a bit about the pill; he had seen it in his ancient alchemy book. However, there was a slight difference — this pill seemed to be merely a Grade Eight pill, obviously not a supreme quality pill. Ding Fan knew that if he refined it, there was a high possibility it could become a supreme quality pill.

But a Grade Eight pill was already quite good. Ding Fan had nothing to complain about. He speculated that the pill might have been refined by Elder Wang, but this was merely a guess. In fact, it was irrelevant to Ding Fan. What mattered to him was refining this pill himself, so writing out the pill recipe was clearly not very important.

After all, he had already refined this pill himself, even at a higher level. Was the pill recipe still useful?

...

At this moment, He Qianyao also saw Ding Fan's scene, but she clearly didn't know what Ding Fan was thinking. She was very worried about Ding Fan's situation and couldn't understand what Ding Fan was up to, why he was refining the pill so slowly. Could it really be like the people were saying, that Ding Fan had given up on the second round of the Great Alchemy Competition? That seemed unlikely!

Could it be that the second round of the Great Alchemy Competition was so difficult for Ding Fan that he reached the point of giving up? He Qianyao was very puzzled for a moment. Hearing the discussions around her, she was still quite worried about Ding Fan. After all, the crowd had high expectations for Ding Fan. If Ding Fan did not achieve good results, it would obviously not be a good thing for them, and it was the same for Ding Fan as well.

But He Qianyao could only be anxious, as she was merely an audience member outside the venue. As for what would happen, it all depended on what Ding Fan would do in the end!

At this time, the elders in the judge area also noticed Ding Fan's scene. Clearly, even the elders in the judge area were very focused on Ding Fan. After all, Ding Fan was someone whom Elder Wang valued greatly. But at this moment, Ding Fan's actions were somewhat confusing. What exactly was Ding Lin doing? Other alchemists were clearly racing against time to refine pills, but Ding Fan didn't seem rushed at all, which was really strange.

One should know that Ding Fan's performance in the first round of the Great Alchemy Competition was quite outstanding, so why was it like this now? Was it really because the second round of the Great Alchemy Competition was too difficult for Ding Lin, prompting him to give up directly? Otherwise, how could Ding Lin not know the urgency of time in refining pills like other ordinary alchemists?

Many elders of the judges couldn't help but cast their eyes on Elder Wang. Seeing Elder Wang's expression, the elders recognized the gravity as well, and even Elder Wang was somewhat puzzled by Ding Lin's situation.

Watching Ding Fan's actions, Elder Wang couldn't help but feel baffled. He clearly wasn't sure what Ding Fan was up to. Knowing that more than half of the time had passed, but Ding Fan still hadn't refined a single pill, and was still refining that one pill. For a moment, Elder Wang was genuinely perplexed by Ding Lin.

Elder Wang didn't believe Ding Lin would find the second round of the Great Alchemy Competition difficult. Elder Wang had a certain understanding of Ding Fan, though not very extensive, but he knew Ding Fan had deep knowledge in ancient recipes. The pill for the second round of the competition was derived from an ancient recipe, which Elder Wang had refined.

Elder Wang knew that for others, the ancient recipe might indeed be tough, but for Ding Fan it was clearly not an issue. Ding Lin's research on ancient recipes was even more formidable than his own, although he did refine the pill, it was merely a Grade Eight pill.

"That's it!"

Suddenly, Elder Wang shouted unconsciously, startling the surrounding elders who were obviously unsure of what Elder Wang was thinking. At that moment, Elder Wang suddenly realized what Ding Lin was doing! But he quickly dismissed his thought. Initially, Elder Wang wondered if Ding Fan was refining the pill for the competition at that moment.

But thinking it over, Elder Wang felt it was unlikely. The pill recipe was brought back by the city lord, and it was impossible for Ding Fan to know about it. Without knowing the recipe, how could one refine the pill? Even if Ding Fan wanted to refine it, he would need to understand the recipe first.

But evidently, Ding Lin's current state didn't seem like he had figured out the recipe, leaving Elder Wang puzzled. However, his heart still held high expectations for Ding Fan. Unlike other alchemists not familiar with Ding Lin, Elder Wang knew him well and saw him as unusual.

Elder Wang believed that the second round of the Great Alchemy Competition couldn't stump this guy. However, what exactly he was up to, Elder Wang couldn't say for sure.

At this time, the Great Alchemy Competition was heating up, and the alchemists of the tenth group were racing against time to refine pills. In no time, the time for the tenth group's great comp had ended. By this time, Ding Fan had successfully refined a pill. For Ding Fan, he timed it accurately, not a minute off. Ding Fan seemed very satisfied with the pill he refined and promptly placed it into the tray.

Seeing the time was up, everyone felt very anxious for Ding Fan, knowing that this Ding Lin just refined a single pill throughout the entire Great Alchemy Competition, and yet he managed to refine it. For most alchemists, it wasn't necessary to actually finish refining the pill; just testing out the correct spiritual materials was enough. Why bother completely refining the pill and wasting effort?