Facing Chen Yun's gaze, Huo Qian'er remained completely calm.
Pills were not only graded by rank, but within the same rank, they were also distinguished by the number of rings they bore.
These rings ranged from one to nine; the more rings a pill had, the greater its medicinal potency and the fewer toxins it contained.
"Hmph, I'm going to make you lose and accept it with a whole heart."
With a soft, haughty huff, Huo Qian'er retrieved the finished pill from the alchemy furnace.
To everyone's sight, a near-identical Blood Lotus Pill appeared before them.
The only difference was that the Blood Lotus Pill in Huo Qian'er's hand possessed six rings.
With such a comparison, the superior skill was instantly clear!
"Hiss, a six-pound, rank-three Blood Lotus Pill? This young lady is simply an alchemy genius."
Seeing this, the crowd below the stage all gasped in sharp intakes of breath, their faces filled with extreme shock.
Fang Qinghong and Fang Haoran, grandfather and grandson, saw their complexions turn as dark as pitch in an instant.
The rank-three Alchemist they had spent a considerable amount of connections and resources to invite had actually lost.
"Hahaha, Qian'er is truly outstanding."
Looking at Fang Qinghong's unsightly expression, Ye Cang laughed wildly.
"Impossible! Who... who on earth are you?"
Chen Yun refused to believe he could lose to a young lady under twenty years of age, a reality that was entirely unacceptable to him.
"Hmph, I am Huo Qian'er of the Huoyun Sect."
Huo Qian'er put her hands on her hips and gave a proud little hum.
"You're Huo Qian'er?"
Hearing this name, Chen Yun widened his eyes in utter shock.
As a rank-three Alchemist, he was naturally well-acquainted with the notable figures in the alchemy circle.
Huo Qian'er was none of other than the granddaughter of the Huoyun Sect Sect Master, a young and talented female alchemist.
Losing to someone like her, he suddenly found the defeat a little easier to swallow.
"How about that? Your big sister here is pretty impressive, aren't I?"
Stepping down from the high platform, Huo Qian'er walked over to Ye Feng and said with a proud toss of her head.
"Impressive."
Ye Feng gave a bland compliment. This young miss indeed had quite a bit of skill.
Hearing Ye Feng's praise, the smile on Huo Qian'er's face deepened.
Though she couldn't match Ye Feng in cultivation, alchemy was her true forte.
"Haha, Old Man Fang, those five streets, our Ye Clan will gladly take them."
Laughing heartily, Ye Cang led the members of the Ye Clan away at a leisurely pace.
Watching the retreating figures of the Ye Clan, Fang Qinghong felt an overwhelming sense of stifled frustration deep within his heart.
"Haoran, you must take first place at the three-clan martial tournament in three days' time."
Fang Qinghong commanded.
His Fang Clan could not afford to lose again; otherwise, what face would they have left?
"Grandfather, rest assured. I will definitely win first place and trample all those Ye Clan dogs beneath my feet."
With a vicious and somewhat ferocious look in his eyes, Fang Haoran spoke.
Right now, what he wanted most was to utterly trample that good-for-nothing Ye Feng beneath his feet right in front of Huo Qian'er.
Pity that trash Ye Feng didn't even possess the qualifications to participate in the three-clan tournament.
.......................
Nighttime.
Inside a guest room of the Ye Clan.
Huo Qian'er lay sideways on a large bed, lazily swinging her slender, delicate ankles back and forth.
Involuntarily, the image of Ye Feng floated into her mind.
"This jerk, why on earth do I keep thinking of him?"
Biting her red lips with her pearly white teeth, Huo Qian'er said indignantly.
Knock, knock, knock!
At that moment, someone knocked on Huo Qian'er's door.
"Miss Qian'er, I have a few things I'd like to discuss with you."
Ye Feng's voice came from outside the door.
Hearing that voice, Huo Qian'er instantly perked up. Barefoot, she padded over to the door and pulled it wide open.
"Coming to my room in the middle of the night like this—don't tell me you're up to no good."
Blinking her watery eyes, Huo Qian'er stared at Ye Feng with feigned vigilance.
At that, the corners of Ye Feng's mouth twitched slightly. If he had wanted to be up to no good, he would have already had his way with Huo Qian'er halfway along the journey.
Coming over so late tonight was primarily because he had given it some thought and wanted to follow Huo Qian'er to learn the art of alchemy.
"Miss Qian'er, I saw that your alchemy skills are extraordinary, and I'd like to learn the art of alchemy myself."
Cutting straight to the chase, Ye Feng stated the purpose of his visit.
"You want to become an Alchemist?"
A flash of surprise crossed Huo Qian'er's lovely eyes.
One must understand that not just anyone could become an Alchemist. To do so, two conditions had to be met first.
The first was spiritual power superior to that of ordinary people, and the second was the ability to condense alchemy flames using one's own power.
Only upon meeting these two conditions could one possibly become a lowest-grade Alchemist.
As for whether one could advance to a higher-grade Alchemist later on, that depended entirely on personal comprehension and the wealth at one's disposal.
"Yes."
Ye Feng nodded.
"Becoming an Alchemist isn't that easy, you know. I need to test whether you meet the conditions first."
Instead of refusing, a flicker of excitement crossed Huo Qian'er's eyes.
Teaching Ye Feng alchemy and then watching this jerk hit a wall and make a fool of himself would definitely be a lot of fun.
Just thinking about it made her amused.
"Alright, Miss Qian'er. Just tell me what kind of test is needed, and I'll cooperate."
Ye Feng knew that not everyone could become an Alchemist; otherwise, alchemists would be as common as dirt by now.
"Well, for the first one, I need to test your spiritual power."
Smiling, Huo Qian'er took a glowing orb used for testing spiritual power out of her Storage Ring.
"Transmit your spiritual power into this orb so this young lady can see if your spiritual power is up to standard."
Following Huo Qian'er's instructions, Ye Feng channeled his spiritual power into the glowing orb.
Soon, three pitch-black digits appeared on the surface of the orb.
100!
"How... how much?"
Seeing this number, Huo Qian'er was stunned on the spot.
Back when she took the test, her own spiritual power had only registered at 80. Among boys and girls of her age in the Shengwu State, virtually no one had higher spiritual power than her.
Though consuming certain special herbs could enhance a person's spiritual power, such herbs were exceedingly rare.
"Quickly pull your spiritual power back!"
Watching the glowing orb, which suddenly looked as though it was about to burst, Huo Qian'er blurted out in alarm.
"Oh, alright."
Hearing her words, Ye Feng withdrew his spiritual power while catching a glimpse of the number on the orb.
He had no idea whether a score of one hundred was considered meeting the requirement.
"Miss Qian'er, a spiritual power of one hundred should meet the requirement, right?"
Ye Feng asked, guessing based on her somewhat unusual reaction.
"Barely... it meets it."
Shifting her gaze away evasively, Huo Qian'er replied with a guilty conscience.
This wasn't barely meeting the requirement—it completely and utterly exceeded it!
Moreover, the reason Ye Feng's spiritual power showed as one hundred was simply because that was the absolute limit of the testing orb, not Ye Feng's limit.
"That's good then. Are there any more tests?"
Ye Feng inquired.
"Yes. This is the method for condensing alchemy flames; take a look at it yourself."
Recovering from her shock, Huo Qian'er casually tossed over a small booklet.
Internally, she kept comforting herself with the thought that spiritual power didn't mean everything.
Catching the booklet, Ye Feng looked at the six large characters inscribed on the cover: Method of Condensing Alchemy Flames.
He then flipped open the booklet and began to study and try it out.
..........................