Chapter 149: The Formation Remains Unbroken

Among the alchemists, it was Lorne who first caused his alchemy array to levitate into mid-air. Thanks to the presence of White Stone, his mastery over fire elements was undoubtedly the most skillful among all present. Combined with his profound insight into alchemy arrays and his superior level of alchemical expertise, these factors enabled him to be the first to complete the refining process.

Although the alchemy array was hovering steadily in mid-air, for some reason, Lorne felt a sense of unease. Yesterday's assessment had already made it clear that the tasks in this Alchemy Convention were by no means simple. Yet, he had managed to refine the potion with such ease—could it be that this stage was not as difficult as he had anticipated?

Unable to fathom the reason, Lorne decided to stop overthinking. He reached out and picked up a crystal vial from the stone alchemy platform, preparing to collect the potion. Regardless, he had successfully completed the refining process, so he should secure the product first.

However, something strange happened.

Holding the crystal vial, Lorne stared at the alchemy array, waiting for the array funnel to appear. He waited and waited, but there was no sign of it. A sense of foreboding began to take root in his heart.

"This isn't right. Since the alchemy array has levitated into mid-air, it stands to reason that the Growth Potion has been successfully refined. There is no reason for the funnel not to appear. Yet, this bizarre situation is unfolding. If I cannot collect it, the array will eventually collapse on its own. But without the funnel, I have no way to retrieve the potion. What should I do?" Lorne felt anxious, his mind racing as he searched for a solution.

In the stands, Mahler and the others had cheered when they saw Lorne be the first to lift his array. Although they were not alchemists, they knew the basic common knowledge: the levitation of the array signaled the successful completion of a potion. They hadn't expected the second round to be so easy, with Lorne finishing first.

"Hey, why is the fourth one just standing there like a fool instead of collecting the potion?" After a while, noticing the lack of movement, Mahler asked Gebaz beside him.

"Boss, I remember that whenever the fourth one refined potions before, a funnel-like structure would appear at the bottom of the array, and only then could he collect the potion. But look, the bottom of his array is flat—there isn't even half a funnel," Gebaz said, craning his neck and squinting at the floating array in the arena.

Prompted by his observation, Mahler, Bill, and Victoria looked closely as well. Seeing that it was indeed as Gebaz described—with no sign of a funnel—they were utterly bewildered.

It wasn't just them; the spectators in the stands had also noticed the peculiarity, puzzled as to why the standard phenomenon of the funnel appearing had not occurred today.

While Lorne was delayed, another alchemist’s array rose into the air, triggering another round of cheers. As the crowd turned their eyes toward this alchemist, many women could not help but shriek.

This alchemist was exceptionally handsome, possessing a sharp, well-defined nose, deep blue eyes, and short silver hair that made him look both capable and dashing. Such a charming man held the undivided attention of nearly every girl and young woman in the stands.

He was Anthony, the disciple of Thomas. Having performed well in yesterday's assessment, many remembered him. Seeing him finish so quickly today, they cheered even louder.

At this moment, Anthony felt no joy at the levitation of his array; he, too, had realized that the funnel was long overdue. His blue eyes locked onto the array, and after a long moment, a sharp light flashed in the depths of his gaze. "I know the reason!"

Not long after Anthony's array rose, another one levitated on the other side. This time, it incited howls from the men in the stands, for its owner was a stunning beauty with long, pale-purple hair. She had a cute, doll-like face, and every time she blinked her long, fan-like eyelashes, it drew murmurs of admiration from the nearby crowd.

The purple-haired beauty ignored the "howls" of the men. Shortly after her array rose, her large, beautiful eyes curved into adorable crescents, and her small, pouty lips softly whispered, "So that’s how it is!"

Her charming demeanor caused several men to have nosebleeds, drawing eye-rolls from the women beside them. On the podium, President Helen watched her with a smile, her eyes filled with doting affection. It turned out this purple-haired beauty was her beloved disciple, Yolanda!

A short while later, Gavin, the top young alchemist of the Dark Alliance, also saw his array rise.

Meanwhile, Lorne’s brow remained furrowed as he pondered, "Refining a potion involves using the array to fuse several materials, causing them to undergo a magical reaction. Since the array is floating, it means the materials must have fully fused, otherwise, the internal structure would be unstable and the array wouldn't be able to stay aloft."

Lorne looked at the potion, which had turned a uniform amber color at the center of the array, confirming his deduction—the materials were fully fused. But why wouldn't the funnel appear? Lorne stepped closer to the center of the array to observe it carefully. Suddenly, he spotted a layer of tiny, evenly distributed grey particles. They were so small that they would be impossible to notice without close inspection.

"Could the reason the funnel isn't appearing be… insufficient purity?" A thought flashed through his mind, but he immediately shook his head. During the refining process, the array itself was supposed to automatically filter out all impurities.

"Then what are these tiny grey particles? Were the impurities not thoroughly removed during the process?" Lorne felt suspicious, as such a thing had never happened in his years of refining.

"Sigh, forget it. I'll just have to try; there's no other way." With that, Lorne prepared to remove the impurities from the potion at the center of the array himself.

He then faced a dilemma: the removal of impurities was usually handled automatically by the array. Now that the array was in mid-air, that automatic function had ceased. He would have to do it manually, but how?

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him. He recalled the times he had used dark magic to clean his alchemy stone platform after finishing a session. "That's right! I was so anxious I almost forgot. Dark magic is the best cleaner! Using it to filter out the impurities should be perfect!"

With this in mind, Lorne used his spiritual power to guide a wisp of dark magic from one side of the potion solution to the other.

As the dark magic pulsed, the tiny grey particles gathered increasingly on its surface, eventually being carried to the edge of the array's center and pushed out through the array veins to the focal points.

"It works!" After one round of "purification," Lorne quickly noticed that the previously flat bottom of the array center began to show a slight protrusion—it was the precursor to the formation of the funnel!

However, just as Lorne was feeling pleased, the array suddenly began to flicker violently. Sensing danger, Lorne quickly stepped back. At that very moment, with a loud bang, the alchemy array in mid-air completely collapsed!