Gold Medal
The alchemy conference and several other elders appeared in front of everyone, but Jiang Baiwei and the two red-robed machines were missing.
Tao Yue was so excited that she stared at the hundreds of people present. Her heart started pounding when she thought that a rookie like herself had actually entered the final game. She was so excited that her face turned red, her hands were shaking, and she couldn't even hold the spiritual plant firmly.
Suddenly, at this moment, a mechanical voice sounded: "Please stand in front of the alchemy table and do not make any movements."
Entering the final game were the four teams that finished in the top 100 of the previous round. There should have been 400 people, but because some withdrew, some were injured, some died, etc., there were only more than 300 people.
All that was heard was the deep voice of the president of the Alchemy Association: "Within one hour, you need to research a new elixir recipe from one hundred elixir recipes of fourth grade or below. The ingredients of the new elixir recipe must be among the one hundred elixir recipes, and the elixir to be refined must be at least second grade."
After the competition rules were announced, some people whispered to each other: "How did it become so easy?"
"Before, we had to fill in the gaps in a hundred elixir recipes, and then research new ones based on the incomplete ones. Today's final match was surprisingly easier than in previous years!"
"Yeah, and isn't there a playoff? It won't be there too!"
Some people were filled with regret and collapsed on the ground: "If I had known that I would participate in this year's competition, maybe I could have won a prize!"
All the cultivators knew that Jiang Baiwei's favorite niece, Jiang Feiyao, was absent from the competition due to a serious illness. Without her "difficulties", the competition became simpler.
The cultivators quickly scanned the hundred pill recipes before them. Their memories were astonishing, and they only spent a little time researching new recipes. Then, their hands sped up, picking up spiritual plants, blending spiritual fire, and creating new pills...
The sound of explosions continued to ring out in the square. Many cultivators failed to refine pills due to the new recipe. Their spiritual fire backfired and their hair seemed to have exploded, causing them to scream and cry.
Qian Luo was refining the elixir step by step. Her eyes met Tao Yue's. The other party was staring at the new elixir formula in front of her with a worried look on her face, shaking her head and sighing at her.
Qian Luo smiled awkwardly and shrugged, indicating she was helpless. Her gaze passed over Tao Yue, and she saw Meng Rui, buried in writing the recipe, Qu Chun, refining the elixir, Wang Xin, squatting on the ground, having given up, Liu Ling, constantly gathering the fire in the alchemy furnace, Gu Xianyun, carefully studying the recipe... and Gu Qiuchi, confident of victory.
Gu Qiuchi was a skinny, frail girl with a complexion as white as snow. Her brows were always filled with worry. When she first saw her, Qianluo had barely even glanced at her. But now, she realized she was incredibly talented and capable. While others were struggling with their thoughts, she had already achieved success.
"It's so easy to get the first place?" Gu Qiuchi looked at the eight pills in the air in disbelief, and with a wave of his hands, he collected them all in his sleeves.
However, she noticed someone was looking at her. When she turned around, it was her. She raised her eyebrows unexpectedly, showing a provocative smile that did not match her weak face, and raised the pill in her hand.
"I won."
Qianluo saw her lip movements and knew she was protesting.
"Strange, I shouldn't have offended her, right? Why is she so hostile to me?"
Qian Luo watched Gu Qiuchi come forward to hand in the pills. The president and several elders nodded repeatedly, and she finally smiled and walked aside. After that, one after another, others successfully refined pills, and Qian Luo handed them in as well.
"Time's up!"
"A total of 108 alchemists successfully refined elixirs, but 62 of them failed to meet the standards. From the remaining 46, 10 alchemists were selected based on the shortest time and the highest-grade elixir. They are the final winners of this year's Alchemy Competition!"
The president began to read out the names. Qian Luo stood in the line with a calm expression. She already knew her ranking, but it didn't mean anything to her because everyone around her was waiting for her ranking.
She looked at the people around her. There were many familiar faces: Qu Chun, Meng Rui, Gu Xianyun, Gu Qiuchi...
The most nervous among them was Qu Chun. The moment the president called out his name, Qianluo saw with her own eyes that he clenched the landscape ink fan in his hand, a relieved smile appeared on his face, his eyebrows curved, and he finally regained his usual gentle appearance.
As for Gu Qiuchi, she wasn't nervous at all. Instead, her sister Gu Xianyun comforted her: "Sister, you can do it!"
"Well, thank you, sister!" She said that, but with her upturned eyes and rippling eyes, she didn't look nervous or weak at all.
"Tenth place, Meng Rui."
"Ninth place, Lan Qianluo."
"Eighth place: Gu Xianyun..."
…
"Second place, Qu Chun."
"First place, Gu Qiuchi!"
After reading out all the names, the president of the Alchemy Association bestowed ten gold medals upon them: "There are special formations on them. From now on, you can enter and exit District Nine freely!"
Qian Luo held the golden medal in her hand. The dazzling golden medal was inlaid with nine stars, representing the rank of ninth-grade alchemist. It was like a bright star, shining brightly.
It felt heavy when she got it in her hand, but she felt relieved in her heart. She could finally move freely in and out of District 9 without having to hide!
However, she saw the president of the Alchemy Association and several elders hurriedly walking away, and she sighed in her heart. The much-anticipated Alchemy Conference ended in a hasty manner.
Jiang Feiyao...
She and Jiang Feiyao did not have much affection for each other. The number of times they met could be counted on 10 fingers. In the end, they both died in the Glazed Pure Fire, and she had no way to save them.
She herself still has to look for the mysterious man...
Even though the game is over, I still feel like it's not over yet...
"Hey, what's wrong? Are you still not happy after getting the gold medal?" Tao Yue came over skipping and jumping, with no unhappiness on her face. Instead, she was happy for her friend.
"Qianluo, you're amazing! You actually got the gold medal. I was racking my brains just now, but I couldn't think of any recipe. Look at my face! My hands... they were all injured by the explosion!"
Tao Yue came closer, getting covered in dust and her hands scratched. Qianluo gave her a bottle of fourth-grade rejuvenation pills, and she jumped for joy: "You are so amazing!"
After happily accepting it, she glanced at the small groups nearby and whispered to Qianluo, "Gu Qiuchi actually took first place. You can't judge a person by appearance, and you can't measure the depth of the ocean by a bucket. I thought she was frail and had just advanced, so she'd definitely be like me, unable to get a rank."
She tutted her tongue twice. "I didn't expect she'd break through the bottleneck so quickly and actually refine a fourth-grade elixir! But comparing yourself to others is so frustrating. Look, even her sister isn't as good as her!"
"I placed a bet a few days ago, betting that Qu Chun would come first, but I didn't expect to lose everything!" She covered her storage bag, feeling very sad.
Qianluo heard Tao Yue's words and turned to look at Gu Qiuchi. Sure enough, her sister looked very happy: "Xiaoyan, you actually broke through at the critical moment and became a fourth-grade alchemist. This speed is amazing!"
Xiaoyan is Gu Qiuchi's nickname. Because she was sickly when she was a child, she always liked to watch the swallows returning to their nests under the corridor, chirping and making a lively scene.
Gu Teng and Gu Ci, the two cousins, were also surprised. "Little sister, what medicine did you take to become so smart? I really want to see what's in your head! You made a fourth-grade elixir in such a short time. We can't think of the elixir, even if we pull out all our hair!"
The girl smiled awkwardly, "It was just a sudden inspiration, I was lucky..."
"And sister, please stop calling me by my nickname. There are so many people here."
Gu Xianyun didn't feel anything was wrong and nodded: "I understand! But you've experienced so much in the secret realm, let's go home and have a good rest, don't hurt yourselves."
Gu Qiuchi nodded obediently, his eyelashes trembling slightly.
…
After the competition, Tao Yue played for a few days and was called back by his family. Qian Luo lived alone in the hotel and heard about the fire in Bai Wei Palace.
She walked out the door and saw a sky filled with deep purple flames, like a sea of irises, stretching as far as the eye could see. Behind this beauty lay endless screams. Low-level cultivators, unable to withstand the raging Glazed Pure Fire, were engulfed in the sea of flames before they could even utter a cry. Some struggled desperately, wailing desperately, but could not escape their fate of death.
"Save me, help me, Elder!"
"Fire! Don't come over here!"
The president of the Alchemy Association and the elders were all trying to put out the fire, but how could ordinary water extinguish such a powerful strange fire?
They could only watch helplessly as the hundred-meter-high glazed pure fire enveloped the Baiwei Palace, and were annihilated in the ashes of the palace along with wailing and resentment.
The fire burned for several days and nights, and it rained for several days and nights, and the fire was extinguished.
After everyone had identified the remains, they were able to piece together the bodies. Shui Qingyan was the one who identified Jiang Feiyao and Jiang Baiwei's bodies. She knelt on the cold floor and said, "...I don't know..."
Everything was fine just a few days ago, why did a fire destroy everything?
She was a little confused and didn't even have time to cry or feel sad before the two female corpses in front of her were carried away for relevant identification.
"How tragic! The district chief and her niece were burned to death by their own Glazed Pure Fire!"
"This whole thing sounds incredible. According to Shui Qingyan, Jiang Feiyao's strange fire riots haven't been going on for a day or two. They've been happening frequently since she came into possession of the Glazed Pure Fire. Over the decades, the Glazed Pure Fire reached a certain level, causing it to suddenly go berserk."
"The two female corpses will be examined, and high-level monks will be sent from the Upper Three Districts to investigate the cause. Otherwise, the Fifth District will be in turmoil."
"The district chief candidate needs to be reconsidered..."
A few days later, Qian Luo passed by the ruins of Bai Wei Palace and saw two red-robed messengers. They were different from the two red-robed robots before. They were real people. Their appearance could be seen clearly. They looked androgynous and were too beautiful to tell their gender.
They were similarly handsome, with broad shoulders and narrow waists, long flowing hair, and skin that was as white as if it had never been exposed to the sun. One could clearly see the blood vessels beneath the skin. It was probably because they often practiced in secret rooms, unlike the others who had to sleep in the open air.
"I understand. I will report this to His Excellency."
The other person's voice was also very... male-female. If it weren't for the fact that he looked exactly like a real person, she would have thought he was a robot.
However, they noticed her and glanced at her. That look made her tremble all over and sweat broke out. It was a dangerous signal! This cultivation level must be the Nascent Soul stage!
She could feel that she was being watched from beginning to end!
The cold glance was like a robot scanning, without any emotion, not even contempt or disdain, just an ordinary gaze, but it felt like a heavy pressure.
What was he looking at? Examining her internal organs? Her storage bag? Her storage bracelet? Or perhaps a simulator that could see her immortality?
She could feel her body stiffen, her lips turn pale, and her blood flow backwards! She was so nervous that she could hardly breathe. The next moment, she felt like her head was about to fall off!
Fortunately, he just took a look and didn't do anything.
The red-robed messenger withdrew his gaze and continued investigating with his companions without looking at her again.
…
Qianluo withdrew her gaze and looked up at the blue sky and white clouds. A cool breeze suddenly rose, but it didn't feel cold to the monks. They had already left the mortal body, and ordinary cold wouldn't hurt them, but the coldness deep in their hearts made them shiver all over.
From Jiang Feiyao to Gu Qiuchi, I always feel like something is weird.
The technology in this era is so advanced that a red-robed messenger has the cultivation level of Nascent Soul, but the upper three districts are unaware of the death of the chief of the lower three districts. Did they really keep it from them?
Or was that mysterious person sent by Upper District 3 to deal with her? Why didn't they kill her? Was it because she still had value?
But the red-robed messenger had clearly checked her and found that she was very ordinary and there was nothing abnormal about her.
Who is the "venerable one" mentioned by the man in red robe?
Isn’t the God Transformation more powerful than the Nascent Soul?
However, there are no Divine Transformation cultivators in District Nine.
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