Chapter 884 - 129: This Is a Dark Horse_3
Listening to the discussions around him, Lin Chen also turned his gaze towards this Master Chen in the center.
He knew a bit about artifact refiners; his master’s jade scroll mentioned that in the Thousand Mechanism Domain, anyone capable of refining treasures used by Innate Fifth Realm experts could be called a master.
Masters are divided into two levels: Five-Star Masters and Six-Star Masters.
Five-Star refers to items that serve Innate Fifth Realm, whereas Six-Star refers to treasures that even Innate Sixth Realm experts covet.
Especially in the realm of pills, the hierarchy is even more distinct, as pills themselves are divided by grade: pills for Innate First Realm martial artists are One-Star, while those for Innate Sixth Realm are Six-Star.
"The topic for this semifinal assessment is to refine a Yang Returning Pill. The materials have been prepared for you, and we’ll determine the top ten based on the quantity and time of the finished products."
The elder standing to the left of Master Chen glanced at the audience and slowly spoke; moments later, five people turned and returned to the hall.
The Yang Returning Pill is a pill for those with weakened Divine Soul; many Innate martial artists with damaged or injured Divine Souls choose to take the Yang Returning Pill, which is equivalent to a Two-Star pill in terms of grade.
Soon, someone brought the pill formula.
Lin Chen looked at the formula with a peculiar expression.
The formula recorded several variations, thus making the Yang Returning Pill a pill with multiple formulae.
The main medicine in the various formulas is the same, but the auxiliary medicines differ slightly.
Different auxiliary medicines cause differences in efficacy; the formula clearly states that the stronger the efficacy, the lower the refining success rate.
"So this is part of the semifinal assessment: choosing the simplest yields a high success rate, but the score is certainly lower compared to stronger efficacy, showcasing the decision-making of these alchemists."
Lin Chen could guess that the organizers used the Yang Returning Pill as the assessment topic to see if these contestants had enough self-confidence in their alchemy skills, and whether that confidence was truly backed by ability.
Without hesitation, Lin Chen directly chose the most difficult option, instructing the young man beside him. The young man’s expression turned odd again, but he didn’t say anything and hurriedly went to fetch the materials.
...
Main Hall.
"Quite the courage; fifteen have chosen the most difficult version. Whether they truly have self-confidence or are just gambling for ranking remains to be seen."
Several elders also received the compiled choices of pill formulas from below.
Among nearly a hundred contestants, only fifteen chose the hardest version of the formula, but not all of these fifteen are genuinely confident; some are undoubtedly taking a gamble.
Only the top ten will advance from this semifinal; choosing the other three formulas—even if successfully refined—requires betting on the failure of others to secure a top-ten spot. Many contestants should be able to infer this point; some choose to grasp their ranking by gambling rather than waiting on others’ failures.
"Master Chen, how many do you think can successfully refine it?"
Chen He, hearing this, set down his teacup: "I estimate about seven or eight might succeed."
The Yang Returning Pill is a Two-Star pill, and the difficulty of the hardest version is close to a Three-Star pill. Among the contestants this time, none are Three-Star alchemists; only eight have been Two-Star alchemists for around ten years, and these eight have a chance of success.
As for the other seven, they likely have no chance.
There is no luck in alchemy; if the ability isn’t there, even a small disparity makes success impossible.
...
In the square, Lin Chen placed the materials in sequence into the pill furnace, unlike other alchemists who would allow some materials to burn for a period before adding the next. Using his powerful Divine Soul, he could perform precise separation and purification within the pill furnace.
Many people’s gazes fell on Lin Chen as they watched his actions.
"This person is overly bold, actually placing all the materials into the furnace together."
"In this way, the impurities will blend, making them impossible to separate; even an apprentice just starting in alchemy wouldn’t make such a basic mistake."
On the guest seats, many were baffled by Lin Chen’s operation.
Those present, even if not alchemists themselves, had substantial understanding of alchemy; learning to distinguish materials and understand how to extract various impurities are the first steps before actual alchemy.
"What is Lin Chen doing exactly?"
Yin Yue was also seated in the stands, watching Lin Chen’s actions, her expression reflective.
If, at first, she thought Lin Chen was participating just to kill time out of boredom, she no longer believed that.
Lin Chen is not someone who seeks sensationalism by performing peculiar acts for attention because if he wanted attention, he only needed to reveal his identity.
Having ascended Martial Arts Mountain and being the highest-quality contestant to do so in the past century, simply revealing his identity would garner plenty of attention.
Therefore, Lin Chen must have a purpose, but he hasn’t disclosed it to me.
Not far from Yin Yue’s stand, Li Chongshan accompanied a young woman at the seats.
"Is this Xiao Yan?"
"Yes, this is Xiao Yan. He gives me the impression of being a very steady person, but why is he acting like this today?"
Li Chongshan was puzzled, and Li Qin slightly smiled upon hearing "steady." The Shopkeeper Li had told her that he suspected Xiao Yan was a Tribulation Cultivator, with "steady" referring to the caution and forbearance of such cultivators.