The next morning.
At dawn, the bustling imperial capital became lively again. Crowds surged through the streets, all heading towards the Royal Plaza in the southern part of the city, eager to witness the grand final of the Alchemists' Tournament.
In a room, Xiao Se lazily leaned against the window, gazing at the sea of people below. He sighed, "So many people. Don't you think, Sasha?"
As he spoke, Xiao Se turned his head towards the room. On the soft sofa nearby, Queen Medusa quietly reclined, resting with her eyes closed.
Unlike her previous appearance, this time the queen's legs had grown back. It was Xiao Se's first time seeing Queen Medusa's legs, which were just as proportionate and elegant as the rest of her body, with skin as smooth as jade—flawless, almost as if every beautiful word in the world could be used to describe her. Her proportions were perfect.
"I've told you so many times, call me Queen," Medusa said casually, her eyes still closed. Clearly, she wasn't as opposed to the name as before.
Medusa then calmly asked, "Human, are you confident you can beat that Huo Tan from the Izumo Empire?"
In Medusa's understanding, Xiao Se's soul power was still at the peak of the fourth-grade alchemist level, and his chances of success in crafting a fifth-grade pill were still quite low.
Moreover, due to Xiao Se's cultivation technique, which allowed him to constantly conceal his true soul realm, Medusa was unaware that he had already advanced to the fifth grade.
Xiao Se smiled faintly and replied, "As long as he doesn't refine a sixth-grade pill, I can win."
"Good, and don't forget the formula for the Spirit Fusion Pill you promised me after this," Medusa said, opening her eyes slightly and looking at Xiao Se's confident face. A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"Of course. But, Queen, could we discuss something?" Xiao Se seized the moment, noticing her good mood, and brought up his request about practicing the secret technique, 'Flame God's Fury.'
"What is it?" Medusa frowned slightly. Every time Xiao Se wanted to "discuss" something, it never turned out well.
"Well, since you've been resting for the past few days, I happened to acquire a technique that enhances strength. It requires both a Heavenly Flame and the blood essence of a rare ancient beast to work, so…" Xiao Se laughed awkwardly.
"Alright," to Xiao Se's surprise, Queen Medusa agreed.
Under Xiao Se's watchful gaze, Medusa's body glowed with red light. Wisps of red mist slowly floated out from within her, eventually condensing into a drop of boiling red liquid in front of her.
The moment the red liquid appeared, ripples of energy spread throughout the room. Fortunately, the protective barrier contained the aura; otherwise, it would have caused a major commotion.
"Queen, you—" Xiao Se glanced at the terrifying energy contained in the blood essence and then at Medusa, whose face had turned slightly pale. He hurried to her side and took out a blood replenishing pill, offering it to her. "This is a blood-replenishing pill; it will restore some of your strength. Please take it."
Seeing Xiao Se's anxious expression, a warmth flickered in Medusa's heart. She instinctively opened her mouth, allowing Xiao Se to feed her the pill. Her pale complexion quickly regained a touch of color.
Handing Xiao Se the floating drop of boiling blood essence, Medusa's lips curled into a subtle smile as she said, "You once blocked Gu He and his group for me in the Tagor Desert. I owed you a favor. Consider this drop of blood essence as me repaying that debt."
After speaking, Medusa transformed back into her seven-colored Heaven-Swallowing Python form.
"Thank you," Xiao Se whispered as he gently picked up the small, adorable python. He then took out a jade bottle and carefully stored the blood essence inside.
A short while later, Xiao Se arrived at the Royal Plaza with Hai Bodong.
Due to the large crowd, the streets were completely blocked. Left with no other choice, they used a side entrance to enter the plaza.
Upon entering, Xiao Se noticed that most of the contestants, including Liu Ling, had already arrived and were chatting in small groups. Huo Tan had already set up his alchemy tools on the stage.
"Looks like that guy got quite a beating from Jia Xingtian and the others last night," Xiao Se chuckled to himself as he calmly walked to his alchemy station.
As Xiao Se entered the center of the plaza, the idle chatter around him instantly ceased. Everyone turned to look at him with respect and awe. It was clear that after his impressive display of strength yesterday, including the humiliation of the alchemists from the Izumo Empire, many contestants now held him in high regard—Liu Ling included, though he refused to admit it.
On the VIP platform, Fa Ma cleared his throat and announced loudly, "Everyone, today is the final match—the championship round. In this last assessment, the guild will not provide any assistance. Each of you must rely on your own skills to produce the highest-grade pill with the best effects. Whoever does so will be crowned the champion of this Alchemists' Tournament."
As Fa Ma spoke, the faces of the contestants grew grim. Because they didn't know the content of the final assessment, most of them hadn't prepared enough ingredients or suitable pill formulas.
Left with no other choice, they all pulled out their cauldrons and ingredients, preparing to make do with what they had.
Of course, some, like Xiao Se, Huo Tan, and Liu Ling, had come well-prepared.
On the VIP platform, Jia Xingtian watched Huo Tan below and then turned to Fa Ma. "How's it going, Fa Ma? Are the arrangements in place?"
"We've done everything we can," Fa Ma sighed.
Fa Ma wasn't worried about Xiao Se successfully refining the Three-Stripe Soul Pill. What he feared was Huo Tan attempting to risk it all by using the ingredients for a fifth-grade pill formula.
However, as Fa Ma glanced at the ingredients Xiao Se was taking out, his expression suddenly changed. "Wait… something's not right."
"What's wrong?" Jia Xingtian frowned.
"He's not using the ingredients for the Three-Stripe Soul Pill," Fa Ma said gravely.
"Hahaha! That little brat had the ingredients and the formula all along, didn't he? Fa Ma, I bet you didn't even ask him properly when you gave him those ingredients and the pill formula. Looks like you got tricked by that kid!" Hai Bodong burst into laughter upon hearing Fa Ma's comment.
As they spoke, Xiao Se was already preparing his ingredients and cauldron at one of the most prominent spots in the plaza.
Just as Xiao Se was about to light the fire, a wave of gasps erupted from the audience. He instinctively turned to see Liu Ling summoning a pale brown flame. Other alchemists also began summoning their flames one after another, filling the plaza with a hundred multicoloured flames.
"Xiao Huo Huo, today I'll make sure you fail miserably in front of Yanran!" Liu Ling sneered at Xiao Se, the brown flame in his hand flickering menacingly.