Alchemy duels differ from ordinary elixir crafting; they require participants to manually select their own materials.
Before each participant lies a heap of various materials, some useful and some not. Both sides must quickly pick out the ingredients needed to craft the Purple Star Elixir.
Next comes heating the furnace, adding materials, refining, merging, and finally, condensing the elixir.
Master Wang meticulously went through each step, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
After completing the merging step, Master Wang let out a long sigh of relief. He had performed well today, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he should successfully condense the elixir soon.
Taking advantage of the waiting time, Master Wang glanced over at Terra Su to see how far along he was.
What he saw left him stunned. Terra Su was sitting leisurely by his alchemy furnace, the pile of materials untouched beside him, his eyes closed in meditation.
Terra Su hadn’t even started alchemy!
Master Wang was both surprised and annoyed. What did Terra Su mean by this? Did he look down on him?
Or did Terra Su know he couldn’t win and decided to give up?
The three judges outside the arena were also puzzled. Terra Su’s behavior baffled them. If he thought he couldn’t win, he shouldn’t have agreed to the duel in the first place. What was the point of sitting there in a daze?
An hour had almost passed, leaving only half an hour remaining. If Terra Su didn’t start soon, he would run out of time. The Purple Star Elixir was far more time-consuming to craft than the Clear Dew Elixir.
However, regardless of the expressions around him, Terra Su remained with his eyes closed, as if isolated from the world, completely in his own rhythm.
It wasn’t until half an hour had passed that Terra Su finally opened his eyes leisurely.
Though he had returned to his youth, he was once the mighty Emperor Terra of the Alchemy Domain. Lowering himself to duel with a second-grade alchemist was already bullying. If those old ghosts from his past life knew he was dueling a second-grade alchemist, they would surely mock him for bullying a child.
So, he had given Master Wang the first half-hour. Now, it was time to rely on their own skills.
When Terra Su opened his eyes, his demeanor changed, exuding the natural aura of a grandmaster. He first activated the flame mechanism under the alchemy furnace, using the Fire Control Technique to preheat it.
Then, with a swift motion, he swept all the materials beside him into the furnace.
Clatter!
The sound of a heap of materials being dumped into the furnace left the judges even more puzzled. This wasn’t normal alchemy; it was an alchemy duel. Many of those materials were unnecessary for the Purple Star Elixir. What was Terra Su doing?
Among everyone present, only Master Mo remained calm. He believed Terra Su wouldn’t do anything without confidence.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Terra Su calmly controlled the fire with one hand while rhythmically tapping the furnace with the other. Each tap sent an unnecessary ingredient flying out of the furnace. Upon closer inspection, the onlookers realized these were indeed the materials not needed for the Purple Star Elixir.
Terra Su was picking out the unnecessary materials mid-process!
This method of crafting was unheard of. The level of control required to achieve this was astonishing.
Refinement, merging… Terra Su quickly proceeded with the next steps. His actions seemed chaotic at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they were strangely intricate and profound.
The three judges and Master Mo, all experts in the Elixir Path, found themselves mesmerized by Terra Su’s technique.
Master Wang, seeing this, was both furious and incredulous. How could this be? That kid was clearly messing around, yet the judges and Master Mo were watching intently!
Determined to perfect his own Purple Star Elixir and prove Terra Su and the others wrong, Master Wang focused on the final step: condensing the elixir.
Fueled by his determination, Master Wang performed exceptionally well. Soon, the sound of the elixir embryo rolling in the furnace could be heard.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Master Wang felt confident. He had performed excellently, and the elixir was sure to be a success. It might even reach ten stars!
A moment later, Master Wang’s elixir was complete!
Opening the furnace lid, he carefully extracted the finished elixir, a smile spreading across his face. “Ten-star Purple Star Elixir!”
For a second-grade alchemist, crafting a ten-star Purple Star Elixir was a significant achievement. Today, he was sure to win!
Pleased, Master Wang stored the ten-star Purple Star Elixir in a small porcelain bottle and turned his attention to Terra Su.
At this point, Terra Su had just finished the merging step and was about to start the final step: condensing the elixir.
But now, the key issue was that only a quarter of an incense stick’s time remained.
Condensing an elixir in such a short time?
Master Wang found it amusing. For a second-grade alchemist, this was impossible. Even a third-grade alchemist would struggle to condense a complex elixir like the Purple Star Elixir in such a short time.
And Master Wang didn’t believe Terra Su was a third-grade alchemist. There were only a handful of third-grade alchemists in Anyang County.
The three judges also shook their heads. Despite the surprises Terra Su had given them so far, condensing the Purple Star Elixir in a quarter of an incense stick’s time was impossible.
“Such a pity. If he doesn’t finish in time, it will be considered a failure. But I think we should let Master Su finish the elixir even after the time limit. It would be a shame otherwise.”
One judge suggested, not realizing he had unconsciously started referring to Terra Su as Master Su.
Though Terra Su was unlikely to finish in time, it was because he had wasted half an hour earlier, not due to a lack of skill. The judges still recognized Terra Su’s alchemy prowess.
Master Mo, however, said, “Don’t rush. The time limit isn’t up yet. Let’s wait and see.”
The three judges shook their heads. They understood Master Mo’s confidence in Terra Su, but they believed it was impossible for him to finish in such a short time.
At that moment, Terra Su, standing by the furnace, softly uttered four words.
“Moonlight on the Sea!”
As the words left his lips, Terra Su placed his hands on the furnace walls, releasing strands of True Essence in a peculiar rhythm, impacting the furnace walls.
Under this impact, the furnace lid suddenly flew high into the air, and a blue flame shot out like a pillar of light, lifting the lid to the ceiling.
This astonishing scene immediately captured everyone’s attention!
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