Chapter 170: A Contest of Potions

A tense atmosphere suddenly enveloped the alchemy competition arena. Ten contestants in identical uniforms stood before numbered workstations, all in position, awaiting the final command.

The referee instructor walked slowly to the center of the arena. The high-rank alchemist badge embroidered on his sleeve was quite conspicuous, as if to prove something. He cleared his throat, and a steady voice spread throughout the venue through the amplification array:

“The core purpose of this alchemy competition is to test your depth of mastery and flexibility in applying what you’ve learned in pharmacology.”

Then, his gaze slowly swept across the workstations. It paused deliberately on two youthful figures—Ye Xingchen and Liu Yuxuan, new students who had just advanced to the third-year practical class.

“Especially for new students who have just started practical classes, don’t worry if you feel inexperienced right now.”

The instructor’s tone softened. “After all, the essence of this ranking competition is to help you grasp the logic of potion combinations in practice and get familiar with the fusion rhythm of different materials. Besides winning or losing, finding your own weaknesses is the greatest gain of this competition.”

Faint murmurs drifted from the audience stands. Almost everyone knew the backgrounds of Ye Xingchen and Liu Yuxuan.

As the bottom-dwellers on the third-year grade list, their performance in potion classes was even inferior to some second-year students.

You see, lower-grade courses always revolved around basic theory: from the force of grinding medicinal herbs to precise proportion calculations, from identifying common poisonous plants to mastering the logic of basic recovery potions. Being able to independently prepare a first or second-grade recovery potion was considered passable. A few talented ones might touch the threshold of the third grade, but that was the limit lower-grade students could reach.

The secrets of mid-to-high-grade potions would only be gradually revealed in third-year practical classes. Those fusion techniques requiring precise temperature control, those component reorganizations guided by mental power, those complex formulas involving dozens of herbs—all had to be mastered through repeated practice in practical classes.

As for the other contestants in the arena, there were seven fourth-year students alone, each having mastered at least the skills to prepare fourth-grade potions. Not to mention the fifth-year senior standing at workstation No. 1—the golden badge on his sleeve denoted the identity of a fifth-grade alchemist. Based on past records, the fifth-grade potion he could brew was enough to secure the top spot in the preliminaries and even directly lock in a final promotion slot.

Although ten people participated in each session of the potion competition, only the top three could advance, based on previous years’ experience.

Except for those students born into alchemy families with rich experience, other newly promoted third-year practical class students were basically eliminated in the first round. Even if lucky enough to be assigned to a weaker session, they would at most not survive the second round. After all, the gap in experience between new and old students was stark.

The referee instructor raised his hand to signal silence and continued explaining the rules:

“The judging criteria are only two: potion quality and actual effect. There are no hard requirements on shape or color. However, you should have learned the basics in magic potion class: conventional potions are divided into powder form and liquid form.”

He paused, his wand tracing in the air to sketch molecular structure diagrams of the two forms. “Powder potions are easy to carry, but their potency easily dissipates due to air humidity. Liquid potions allow ingredients to fuse more stably, and their potency is usually 30% higher than the same-grade powder.”

At this point, his voice rose sharply with a hint of encouragement:

“So if you want to stand out among the ten, don’t get tangled up in flashy forms. Truly integrate the theories you’ve learned in class and the techniques you’ve practiced in the lab into this concoction. Now, show me your real skills!”

The moment the referee instructor’s words fell, a flurry of activity erupted in the arena. The other contestants almost simultaneously set to work—some bent over to classify herbs by attribute, others busily adjusted the height of silver pestles, and still others had already picked up crystal measuring cups to start weighing. Clearly, everyone wanted to seize the advantage.

But Ye Xingchen alone, after calmly inventorying his herbs, began to ponder what kind of potion to concoct. Although over the past three years at the academy he had learned quite a bit about recovery potion preparation and herb identification, that was merely the basics of basics. If he wanted to win, he would probably have to use his improved formula.

Moreover, with his keen alchemical sense, from the moment he entered the potion competition arena, he had spotted that fifth-year senior with the fifth-grade alchemist badge. Judging by the badge on his chest, he was probably planning to go straight for a fifth-grade potion to lock in the championship. If Ye Xingchen wanted to surpass him, he would at least need to brew an even better fifth-grade potion.

Then he glanced at Liu Yuxuan, that backstabber, his apprentice.

That kid was bowing his head, stirring the potion with a silver spoon. Though his movements were slightly clumsy, they were much steadier than in class.

Although Ye Xingchen had taught him the methods for solid pill refining, the core principles of potions and pills were connected. As long as he thoroughly understood the logic of herbal ingredient fusion, concocting potions would naturally fall into place.

And seeing that Liu Yuxuan was only extracting basic potion liquid, it was clear he thought it inappropriate to reveal his trump card so early in the preliminaries. Better to hide it first and bring out the alchemy furnace later in higher-level competitions to aim for a better ranking.

As for Ye Xingchen, this competition was really no challenge. After all, in his past life he was an alchemist in the cultivation world; even the worst pills he handled were better than these.

Let alone these so-called ‘mid-to-high-grade potions’ before him—in his eyes, they were no different from mud pies played by children.

What troubled him more now was how to intentionally brew some “flawed product” without appearing too obvious.

‘Oh well,’ he murmured to himself, his fingertips finally landing on the Moonlight Grass. ‘As long as I get into the top three, that’s enough.’

Thinking this, he had an idea. He would follow the standard of a fourth-grade potion, but raise the quality slightly—just enough to cross the promotion line without being too conspicuous.

Having made up his mind, he finally moved.

First, he placed the Moonlight Grass into the mortar and ground it with even force. Pale green fragments fell in a rustling stream, quickly turning into fine powder.

The aroma of potions gradually filled the arena. And for Ye Xingchen, this performance was just beginning.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

The Defeated Demon King Doesn’t Want To Get Married

DramaFantasyRomance

Read Now →
Not interested