Chapter 169: The Alchemy Arena

Unlike the intense one-on-one magical duels on Su Liyue’s side of the martial arena, the potion competition in the liberal arts field adopted a multiplayer simultaneous format.

Ten students would operate side by side in the same arena, competing based on the final product’s efficacy, purity, and innovation. There was less of the violent aggression of physical combat, but it added an extra layer of tension as they secretly vied against one another.

When Ye Xingchen and Liu Yuxuan walked into the arena shoulder to shoulder, the students who had been preparing in their own corners began to lift their heads one after another.

They were involuntarily drawn to these two figures. After all, even among the upperclassmen, these two were famously known as the perennial bottom-dwellers.

The originally noisy arena suddenly fell silent for a moment, then one after another, snickers arose. Those looks, like needles quenched in ice, pierced densely toward them, filled with undisguised contempt.

“Hey, hey, isn’t this Ye Xingchen and Liu Yuxuan?” a male student in a magic robe spoke first, his tone dripping with ridicule.

“Two guys who’ve been at the bottom of the grade for years, wearing the title of ‘laggards’ like a badge of honor, actually have the guts to enter the alchemy potion ranking match? Their faces are thicker than the iron sheets used for alchemy.”

The companion beside him immediately chimed in, deliberately raising his voice to ensure everyone nearby could hear:

“You just don’t get it, do you? I heard Ye Xingchen’s already climbed up to the three school beauties, and he’s even planning to play all three at once. And that Liu Yuxuan, I heard he’s his inseparable little sidekick. With their grade-bottom strength, they probably can’t even touch the preliminaries in the martial arena, so naturally, they have to come to our liberal arts field to try their luck, right? Maybe they’ll scrape by into the rankings by sheer luck?”

“Try their luck? I think they’re here to make fools of themselves.” Another girl who was grinding herbs let out a scornful laugh, the pestle in her hand tapping a crisp sound against the stone mortar. “Ye Xingchen’s been in school for three years, holed up in the alchemy lab all day—who knows what weird stuff he’s been cooking up? Probably can’t even manage the most basic calming potion.”

“Well, that’s debatable,” someone deliberately dragged out their tone, a mischievous glint in their eyes. “Maybe he’s been researching a ‘school beauty seduction manual’? Heard about his eighteen moves for picking up girls? Last time, the third school beauty, Li Yunxin, stood up for him in public—that skill is way more impressive than potion-making.”

Peals of laughter surged like a tidal wave, but Ye Xingchen kept his eyes lowered, not even lifting his eyelids.

The students who could stand here were mostly from potion-making families or had exceptional talent in alchemy. They might be sharp-tongued, but when it came to actually brewing potions, they weren’t necessarily as strong as they boasted.

As long as they didn’t cross his bottom line, these idle words were nothing but passing clouds.

Ye Xingchen didn’t care about them, but that didn’t mean Liu Yuxuan could stand it. “Stop spouting nonsense here!”

He stepped forward, his voice carrying the impulsiveness of youth. “You’re clearly just jealous of Brother Xing! If you’ve got the guts, don’t flap your lips here. Wait for the competition to start, and we’ll let the potions do the talking!”

“Let the potions do the talking?” The guy who had led the mockery earlier laughed as if he’d heard the biggest joke of the century, straightening up and patting his robe. “Kid, who do you think you are? I grew up in a potion lab. My family’s potion recipes could line the street from one end to the other. You’re a freshman who’s barely touched pharmacology, the second-to-last in your grade, and you dare to challenge us seniors? I’m afraid you’ve never even heard the saying, ‘There’s always someone better.’”

“You!” Liu Yuxuan’s face flushed red with anger, his right hand pressing down on the magic wand at his waist, his fingers already gripping the shaft. One more step forward, and he might lose control and attack.

“Yuxuan.” Ye Xingchen suddenly reached out and pressed down on his restless wrist, his voice calm without a single ripple.

“We’re here for the potion competition, not a magical brawl.”

He looked up at the students who had taunted them, his gaze calm yet carrying an inexplicable confidence.

“The arena is where true skill is revealed, isn’t it?”

“Ooh, the bottom of the bottom finally speaks! What, do you really think you two bottom-feeding newcomers can beat us seniors? If you ask me, you probably can’t even identify all the herbs for the preliminaries.”

The arena exploded into another round of raucous laughter, and Liu Yuxuan was so angry he was on the verge of exploding on the spot.

If it weren’t for his bet with Li Yunxin and the fact that the liberal arts competition gave him a better chance of winning, he would have thrown a fireball right there at these arrogant jerks to teach them a lesson.

Ye Xingchen ignored these clowns any further. He simply pulled the still-fuming Liu Yuxuan toward the workbench in the farthest corner.

The stone table was fully equipped with crucibles, beakers, and a herb rack, but its position was a bit out of the way—obviously left there on purpose by others.

Still, it didn’t matter, as long as it didn’t affect their potion-making. After all, potion-making wasn’t about boasting; the most important thing was quality.

He placed the medicinal herbs he needed from his storage ring on the table and said calmly, “Ignore them. First, check the herbs.”

Liu Yuxuan gritted his teeth, shot a fierce glare at the group still laughing, and then bowed his head to start inventorying the herbs.

The murmurs in the arena continued, and those contemptuous glances swept over from time to time. But this time, Ye Xingchen had already turned his attention to the first herb—a leaf shimmering with silver light. It looked ordinary, but it was the most crucial auxiliary ingredient in the potion he had prepared.

The real show was just beginning.

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