Amidst the clamoring crowd, the duo stopped glaring at each other and started the pill concoction procedure.
It was a relatively simple fifteen-minute endeavor.
In short, the concoction method needed Tang Yue to maintain a series of temperatures whilst throwing in the essential ingredients from time to time.
Understanding the nuances to a certain extent, her one hand was busily maintaining the temperature of the cauldron, and the other hand dabbled with the ingredients laid out near her.
The pair of emerald eyes glistened with excitement as the snake carefully isolated the delicate parts required from each herb.
In the beginning, everything went smoothly.
Both disciples were working hard, with their heads lowered and their pill cauldrons crackling.
The onlookers as well, including the master alchemists, curiously watched the two disciples.
One was the son of a grandmaster alchemist and the other was a royal beast consort from the serpentine clan.
Even though they were noobs, both had very interesting backgrounds and were somewhat worth paying attention to.
On one side, Marvin shone in glitter and glamour, true to his bloodline as the esteemed son of the grandmaster.
Everything he did was a spectacle.
He unnecessarily added a lot of pomp and flair to his concoction process, even throwing in a couple of convoluted steps, just to show off.
He wanted to clearly demonstrate the difference between his standard and the lowly snake's standard.
Even though the end result was still the same, his cauldron roared as if it was alive and his concoction left the crowd visibly awestruck and praising his prowess.
Tang Yue on the other hand, was merely following the recipe step by step.
She did nothing more and nothing less.
She even had some difficulty maintaining her flame since she was relatively new to this, but somehow managed to carry on the concoction.
Sitting opposite Marvin, she really looked like a country bumpkin who didn't know a thing about alchemy.
This continued on and as the evening slowly darkened, things were also coming to an end.
Marvin was definitely the clear winner and in about 7 more minutes that would become official.
But right at this instant, Tang Yue finally lifted her head up from her cauldron. She was about three-fourths done and was sweating profusely.
However, for the next five minutes, she did not have to focus too much on the task at hand. All she had to do was maintain a stable temperature.
This was precisely why Tang Yue had selected this particular step in the concoction procedure for her side mission.
As she lifted her head up and gazed at the chubby elf sitting in front of her, a slight smile surfaced on her lips.
The elf was busily murmuring, fully immersed in his work.
He had the airs of an accomplished master, something he had picked up from his father.
Marvin tossed in one herb after another like a pro and watched as his cauldron brimmed with the scent of success.
In fact, his progress was visibly faster than her own brewing.
If nothing went wrong, the elf looked like he was about to finish his pill concoction smoothly.
"This won't do." Tang Yue flickered her long forked tongue.
"Is this because my cultivation base is not high enough?"
She was still in the bronze tier mortal realm, which was the lowest level.
So it was safe to assume that Marvin's cultivation base was at least one tier higher than her if not many more.
"Hmph. It doesn't matter. You will not be concocting anything today."
The snake silently watched the chubby elf focusing on his task and a faint glint shone in her emerald eyes.
"Startle." She murmured.
Huh? Marvin immediately stared in confusion, even momentarily forgetting what he was doing.
But the next second, he snapped out of his daze and resumed what he was doing.
The brief second hesitation did not really have much impact on his concocting steps.
His pill cauldron roared alive just like it did before Tang Yue had intervened.
But a small smile crept up on the edges of Tang Yue's dark blue lips. She was not done yet.
In fact, this evening was far from being over.