"The second competition of the Alchemy Grand Gathering begins!"
Upon hearing that the competition was about to begin, the alchemists all took out their usual alchemy cauldrons.
Since there was no time limit, they weren't in a hurry to start. Instead, they stared at the ordinary-looking medicinal herbs in front of them, their eyes filled with thought.
Thinking about how to use the most common medicinal materials to refine high-grade pills is a considerable challenge for an alchemist.
Ruan Xiyan glanced at the ten kinds of medicinal herbs and got a general idea of what they were, then flames appeared in her hand.
As you begin heating the medicine-refining cauldron, pick up the medicinal herbs in front of you and put them in.
As she picked up one of the medicinal herbs, she suddenly paused. She examined the herb in her hand for a moment, her brow furrowing slightly. Was this a trap?
They even set a trap here.
Purple Orchid Leaf Grass and Ice Orchid Leaf Grass differ by only one character, but their medicinal properties are quite different.
They look similar, differing only slightly in the color of the veins on their leaves; one is pale purple, and the other is pale blue.
Apart from that, they are almost identical, and you can't tell the difference unless you look closely.
Sometimes you might not be able to spot them even if you look closely, because the lines are so fine.
However, Ruan Xiyan's space contained two kinds of medicinal herbs, and she felt something was wrong the moment she picked them up.
Their medicinal properties are vastly different.
Purple orchid leaves are a mild medicinal herb. Adding them to elixirs can enhance their potency. It is a common and widely used medicinal herb.
Ice Orchid Leaf Grass can also enhance the medicinal effect, but it contains coldness, which can disrupt the balance of medicinal properties between different herbs.
Once misused, they'll just keep quiet about it.
Yan Gonglin had been keeping an eye on Ruan Xiyan's movements. When he saw her pause after picking up the Ice Orchid Leaf Grass, a look of relief appeared on his face.
Good observation. It seems you've already discovered the trap he deliberately set.
He had just finished praising her when he saw Ruan Xiyan throw the Ice Orchid Leaf Grass in her hand into the alchemy cauldron without hesitation.
Yan Gonglin was stunned for a moment in surprise.
He clearly felt that the little girl had noticed something was wrong, so why did she still throw the Ice Orchid Leaf Grass into the alchemy cauldron?
Adding something like Ice Orchid Leaf Grass to the alchemy cauldron can, at best, prevent the successful refining of pills, and at worst, cause the cauldron to explode.
What's wrong with this little girl? Could it be that he misperceived her, and she didn't actually notice the Ice Orchid Leaf Grass?
Ruan Xiyan was unaware of Yan Gonglin's inner thoughts; she was focused intently on the alchemy cauldron before her.
She was initially unsure whether she could refine a superior elixir from these ten common medicinal herbs and successfully win the second competition.
But when she saw this Ice Orchid Leaf Grass, she felt confident again.
Ruan Xiyan put the selected medicinal herbs into the alchemy cauldron, and then used flames to refine the impurities, turning the herbs into a medicinal liquid.
The surrounding alchemists also began refining pills one after another.
"Bang—"
Suddenly, a loud bang came from the field, and a thick plume of black smoke billowed out of the alchemy cauldron, swirling around it.
"Cough cough cough!" The alchemist who was exploding the cauldron coughed lightly, and black smoke came out of his mouth.
The alchemist next to him was startled, but fortunately he managed to stabilize his alchemy cauldron in time.
He looked at the alchemist who was covered in black smoke and mocked, "He actually blew up the cauldron. How embarrassing."
These ten medicinal herbs are the most common. As an alchemist, one should be very familiar with their medicinal properties, so it is impossible for such a serious mistake as the cauldron exploding.
Moreover, the alchemists who can participate in the alchemy gathering are at least of the fourth rank or above.
Unless one is overconfident and tries to refine pills beyond their own alchemy capabilities, the alchemy cauldron will not explode.
Before he could finish laughing, the alchemy cauldron in front of him exploded.
"Bang! Cough cough cough—" The man waved his hand to disperse the billowing black smoke in front of him.
How could this happen?! He acted within his capabilities and did not attempt to use these medicinal herbs to refine high-grade pills; he simply followed the proper procedures. Why did the cauldron still explode?
Each person only has one set of medicinal herbs. If the cauldron explodes, it means that the second part of the medicine-making competition has been completely failed.
One after another, the sounds of the cauldron exploding echoed all around.
The onlookers below were discussing it, not understanding what was going on.
"What's going on? Why is the rate of cauldron explosions so high at this alchemy event? This shouldn't be happening!"
"That's right. The alchemists who can participate in the alchemy competition are all top-notch in their alchemy skills. They shouldn't have made such a big mistake."
"......"
Only novice alchemists frequently experience cauldron explosions; for a qualified alchemist, avoiding cauldron explosions is the bare minimum.
Not only were the spectators below puzzled, but the alchemists competing on the field were also completely bewildered, looking utterly confused.
It's one thing if one or two mistakes cause the cauldron to explode, but there have been far too many explosions this year. It's almost like every time we refine something, it explodes.
They looked at Ruan Xiyan, who had performed amazingly in the first competition.
Of all the alchemists who have started refining pills so far, only she has escaped unscathed, and her alchemy cauldron has not exploded.
Whether it was the alchemist whose cauldron had already exploded or the alchemist who was slower and had not yet put the medicinal materials into the cauldron, they all looked puzzled as to what exactly went wrong.
They stood still, as if they had been put on pause.
Alchemists who hadn't yet started refining the herbs still had a chance to correct their mistakes, so they re-examined the herbs.
Through repeated and careful observation, they finally discovered the problem.
Ice Orchid Leaf Grass?! Ice Orchid Leaf Grass was actually mixed in with these medicinal herbs! No wonder the cauldron exploded during the refining process.
They originally thought it was purple orchid leaves. Purple orchid leaves are mild in nature, and adding them to any kind of elixir will enhance its medicinal power.
In order to make the pills of higher quality, they would naturally put purple orchid leaves into the alchemy cauldron, but they never expected that the root cause of the cauldron explosion was the so-called "purple orchid leaves".
Ice Orchid Leaf Grass is the nemesis of all elixirs; with it present, no elixir can be successfully refined.
After figuring out the reason, they hurried to refine the elixir.
As more and more people discovered the insidious trap of "Purple Orchid Leaf Grass," the noise from the explosions gradually subsided.
Yan Gonglin looked at the alchemists on the field; they were moving much slower than he had expected.
However, he personally witnessed the little girl adding the Ice Orchid Leaf Grass into the alchemy cauldron. Logically speaking, the incompatible medicinal properties should have caused the alchemy cauldron to explode long ago.
Why is she so quiet over there, showing no sign of things going to explode?
Suddenly, a rich aroma of medicinal pills wafted into everyone's nostrils.
"It smells so good! Who was the first to successfully refine the pill?" The people looked in the direction from which the aroma of the pill was coming.
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