"Good one, Mu Yuxing, looking all honest but playing these games."
"When you make your move later, try to keep it low-key, just advancing is enough." She turned her head, lowering her voice as she instructed her disciple.
"Understood."
...
After submitting the prepared Energy Potion to the appointed collection staff and registering his name and the Beast Taming Union he belonged to, Lin Su quickly entered the single room assigned to him.
These rooms were prepared for the contestants of the potion making competition, providing a simple workstation for practice which was quite convenient for him.
Soon, Lin Su immersed himself in the practice of mixing Energy Potion.
He had several types of basic Energy Potions which were close to being perfectly concocted. His plan was to strike while the iron was hot and make a breakthrough, preparing himself for the semi-finals and finals the next day.
The practice lasted until late at night.
As he was not in Yongnan City, it wasn't convenient for Qiuqiu to continue his various training routines. Although Qingyun City also had a Beast Tower, Lin Su, being a member of the Yongnan Beast Taming Union, found it inappropriate to try and access their facilities.
All day, Qiuqiu had rested in the Beast Taming Space, which was the most relaxed traverse it had experienced recently.
Accustomed to intensive training, Qiuqiu felt an unusual sense of guilt.
It declared that once back to Blue Star, it would compensate its idleness with extra training!
So, once back at Blue Star, as soon as Qiuqiu left the Beast Taming Space, it hurried into the smart training room with an Energy Cube in its mouth, beginning its intensified training.
The training lasted all day long, so much so that Lin Su, busy drafting his second research paper, couldn't help but check on the little guy several times to ensure it could handle the training.
The second research paper on evolutionary techniques was finally approved by Qin Nan before nightfall, signifying an end to Lin Su's hectic period on Blue Star.
Tomorrow, he would accompany Qin Nan and other members of the Evolution Research Institute to District 1, where the College Breeding Achievements Competition would be held the day after.
But before that, he needed to sleep again, this time entering the world of Shenwu to participate in the semi-finals and finals of the potion-making competition.
...
Shenwu World.
Upon waking up, Lin Su unsurprisingly received his advancement notice.
The format of the semi-finals was more formal than the preliminaries; unlike the preliminaries where even the order of appearance wasn't fixed, the ten advancing potion makers would be paired in two's based on their preliminary scores, from the highest to the lowest, to compete on stage.
Looking at the number nine card in his hand, Lin Su had a somewhat strange expression.
It seemed that after he left the competition venue, several dark horses had appeared...
He was nearly pushed out of the top ten.
Being ninth meant that he would take the stage last, along with the tenth finisher.
It looked like he needed to take the semi-finals a bit more seriously, at least, no holding back this time.
Soon, the potion makers ranked first and second in the preliminaries walked together towards the stage, the first being a competitor from Qingyun City, the second a potion maker from Yang Feng City.
Lin Su watched with keen interest, Mu Yuxing's calm voice reaching his ears, "That first place, is a Closed-door Disciple of Chu Feng."
Having competed for a day, Lin Su certainly knew who Chu Feng was; he was the leader of the Qingyun Beast Taming Union, and it was rumored he had quite a bit of friction with elder Mu.
"Elder, can that Closed-door Disciple concoct perfectly ranked potions?" Lin Su asked curiously.
"Not far off, but still a bit to go," Mu Yuxing said as he watched the two on the stage, his expression becoming slightly odd, "Huh?"
The same surprised exclamation came from the other three team leaders, though their expressions varied greatly.
Chu Feng's face was filled with ecstasy, while the other three did not look very pleased.
On the stage, from the hands of the potion maker whom Mu Yuxing thought still lacked something for perfection, a faint golden glow slowly emerged.
Perfect quality!
Seeing the golden glow, the second-place potion maker in the process of mixing, distracted and unsettled, suddenly made a severe mistake.
Looking at the situation, it was questionable whether the Energy Potion could be concocted at all.
With a helpless sigh, the second rank acknowledged defeat with a raised hand.
Failing within the semi-finals merely meant losing the chance to be among the top three advancing to the finals, but there was still an opportunity to compete among the seven from fourth to tenth place and battle out for the final fourth and fifth positions.
Upon seeing this, the team leader from Yang Feng City's face turned even darker.
Lin Su's expression became slightly more serious. His guess had indeed come true, another potion maker was able to concoct a perfectly ranked basic Energy Potion in the competition.
Fortunately, the opponent had just made a breakthrough, and the golden light was very faint, probably not a match for himself.
This gave Lin Su a slight sigh of relief.
In the waiting area of Star Light City, the expression of the leading lady became even more serious, "Another perfect level, although it's a fresh breakthrough and still somewhat unstable, your pressure will be even greater."
"I understand," the young man sitting beside her said seriously, "but I will do my utmost to win first place."
After the first group had finished, the next three groups faced no unexpected issues, producing high-quality energy liquids.
Soon, it was Lin Su and the tenth alchemist's turn to take the stage.
"Go ahead." The leader of Star Light City, with anticipation on her face, looked at her disciple beside her, "There's no need to hold back anymore."
"Okay," the young man nodded heavily, glanced at Lin Su who was getting up to walk onto the stage, and then briskly walked up as well.
The two began their preparations almost simultaneously.
...
"Tang Hao! Well done!" Chu Feng patted his proud disciple's shoulder heavily, his usually stern face now beaming with joy.
The disciple's breakthrough was also unexpected to Chu Feng.
However, it made an already likely predictable contest even less suspenseful.
With Tang Hao able to produce perfect tier energy liquids, he could easily defeat any alchemist in the arena. This time, the Beast Taming Union of Qingyun City vindicating their previous disgrace was a foregone conclusion!
His gaze turned toward Mu Yuxing in the distance.
Chu Feng could already imagine how he would mock that perennial pretender after today's final.
"Teacher, I think with another day or two of practice, I could consistently produce perfect tier basic energy liquids!" Tang Hao said excitedly.
This time his success was somewhat luck-based, a bit of stumbling into success, but with this experience, reaching that level again would be much easier.
"Good," Chu Feng nodded with a smile, "There's no need to rush things. Even if you don't produce a perfect tier in the final, just playing to your normal level should be enough to win the championship…"
His voice suddenly cut off, as if someone had grabbed him by the throat.
Chu Feng's eyes widened dramatically, staring incredulously at the stage.
On stage, a dazzling golden light suddenly appeared, much purer than Tang Hao's faint glow, clearly indicating a thorough entry into the perfect tier of basic energy liquids.
Chu Feng gaped in astonishment at the young man holding the crystal bottle.
That was… a person from Yongnan City!
Mu Yuxing!
A nameless rage surged in his heart, his dark gaze about to turn towards Mu Yuxing.
However, before he could turn his head, his expression suddenly froze.
The… the second golden light!
In the arena, another young man held a crystal bottle that now radiated a similarly dazzling golden light.
The gold appeared incredibly brilliant, yet so piercing to Chu Feng's eyes.
That was a person from Star Light City!
He sat there dazed, momentarily uncertain where to direct his focus.
Damn it!
He suddenly reached out, grabbing his direct disciple by the collar.
"Tang Hao…" Chu Feng's voice turned cold, "In the upcoming final, you can maintain your current state and produce a perfect tier energy liquid, right?"
"I…I don't know." Tang Hao's complexion turned pale, the joy of having produced a perfect tier energy liquid just moments before completely evaporated.
His previous success was accidental; how could he guarantee another success?
"No, you can," Chu Feng said coldly, with an icy smile, "right?"
"I…I can!" Tang Hao's back broke out in cold sweat. As Chu Feng's closed-door disciple, he knew all too well how terrifying Chu Feng could be when he revealed such a smile.
Yet, his heart was still screaming in agony.
How could this possibly be?!