I alone am the Honoured One!

Across the platform, Yong Wu sneered as he folded his sleeves and summoned his flame with a clap of his palms.

A roaring surge of crimson flames erupted from his hands, caressing the edges of his cauldron as the temperature around him soared.

The head coordinator, who was the overseer of the match nodded his head slightly 'I know Zhao Tian and how merciless he is... I heard about this man's doing in the marriage hall.'

'But this is Alchemy, and I think this will be a one-sided match for Yong Wu.'

'But again, a man like Zhao Tian is not a fool to challenge someone with an Empyrean Deity badge... I wonder what trick he has under his sleeve.'

Zhao Tian extended his hand, and a small orange flame appeared on his palm, burning brightly.

Huh? The head coordinator's eyes shrank slightly in surprise 'This aura... no it's definitely not an Empyrean flame, but why am I sensing this weird purity from it.'

A smile appeared on his face 'Guess it won't be a one-sided match after all.'

Yong Wu also noticed the flame on Zhao Tian's palm and his eyes narrowed slightly 'I guess I shouldn't underestimate my opponent.'

'Even though he is young, his temperament says otherwise. This boy is dangerous.'

Spectators filled the steps, disciples and elders watching the duel curiously.

No one had expected the Flame Forger evaluation to turn into a public duel between an esteemed elder and a young outsider.

Qi Nue stood in the crowd with her hands clenched in front of her chest.

She isn't nervous.

She knew how much Zhao Tian had practiced, how many nights he had pushed himself to master foundational alchemy techniques that most people took years to learn.

His talent was monstrous, but it was his obsession with perfection that had carried him this far.

The rules were quickly agreed upon.

Both competitors would refine the same pill: the Threefold Vitality Pill, a mid-tier radiant grade.

A servant stepped forward with two identical ingredient trays.

Both were sealed with talismans to ensure fairness.

Yong Wu looked calm as his flame danced around his palm "Young man, this isn't some backyard cauldron test. One mistake, and you'll be coughing up blood before your pill forms."

Zhao Tian just stayed silent, and the countdown was given.

"Begin!"

Yong Wu threw in his first herbs swiftly, like he had done this for years.

The flame beneath his cauldron flared and contracted rapidly.

The herbs melted instantly, forming a thick greenish essence.

Zhao Tian, on the other hand, was slower.

He placed his ingredients one at a time, adjusting his flame's temperature with subtle movements of his fingertips.

His flame was not wild like Yong Wu's, it stayed stable.

Those watching noticed the difference almost immediately.

"Elder Yong's flame is too aggressive," one young alchemist whispered.

Time ticked by, and Yong Wu was ahead.

His ingredients were processed and condensed much faster.

A golden hue had already begun forming within his cauldron and he smiled confidently as he shaped the pill nucleus.

"Too slow," he muttered, glancing toward Zhao Tian. "He'll never catch up."

But Zhao Tian wasn't watching him.

His eyes were half closed as his flame danced across the belly of his cauldron.

He had reached the crucial stage of merging essences.

The herbal liquids inside pulsed with a subtle glow, layer by layer synchronizing in flow.

Zhao Tian's flame shifted tone slightly, deepening from orange to a pale golden hue.

It wasn't an Empyrean Flame, but its purity was astonishing.

It burned away impurities as they rose, leaving behind a nearly flawless liquid core.

Meanwhile, Yong Wu's pill had entered the final shaping stage.

He formed five nodes, compressed them, and began solidifying them into a single pill.

Steam and mist rose around him as his cauldron trembled under the pressure.

With a loud clang, he sealed the pill and a moment later, it rose from his cauldron.

Looking at the green pill, he smiled "Done. Let's see what you can do, boy."

The scent of Yong Wu's pill alone caused a few outer disciples to instinctively sit straighter, their bodies subconsciously absorbing the nourishing aura.

Zhao Tian exhaled softly and raised his palm.

The flame beneath the cauldron began to vanish, but not all at once.

Instead, it coiled upward in spirals as the pill core floated gently from within.

And the pill emerged from the cauldron.

Taking the pill in his hand, Zhao Tian gently placed it on the tray beside him for examination.

The head coordinator stepped forward and looked at the two trays in front of him.

He reached out and took Yong Wu's pill in his hand first.

Smiling in satisfaction, he nodded "Great, a middle-tier radiant-grade pill. As expected of someone like you, Elder Yong."

"Good structure and 94 percent purity too."

The audience smiled and clapped their hands.

Qi Nue's eyes narrowed 'Seems like I underestimated that damn old man. He is not bad...'

Then the head coordinator took Zhao Tian's pill, and his gaze narrowed in thought.

"Great structure... high-tier radiant grade pill."

As he said that, the audience was surprised and looked at each other in confusion.

"He managed to create a tier above Elder Yong in radiant grade?"

"What the hell?"

"Zhao Tian is fearsome in both battle and Alchemy?"

However, the next words shook everyone to the core.

The head coordinator, still silent, activated a third seal... an advanced one used to detect purity to the exact decimal.

A shimmering blue thread of light traced across the pill. It pulsed… once… twice…

Then it turned pure white.

"100 percent purity... how is this..." Even the head coordinator was surprised to see this.

HUH? Yong Wu hurriedly stepped forward and snatched the pill from his hand "What the hell? This must be a misunderstanding... huh?"

Yong Wu was dumbfounded, looking at the pill in his hand "It really is... 100 percent pure."

He looked at Zhao Tian in genuine confusion "But how... Only Empyrean Flames are capable of removing every last impurity from a pill structure."

Zhao Tian smiled wryly in his heart 'Is this what they call a cliche face slapping moment?'

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I hope you guys liked this chapter!