Chapter 152: Bill Collapses

As time went by, one after another, more people finally succeeded in refining the Hair-Growth Potion, though at a much slower pace.

"Clang!" With the sound of the gong signaling the end of the assessment, dozens of proctors quickly entered the arena, recording the names of those who had successfully refined the potion, while the others were instructed to leave.

Following the elimination matches of the second round, out of the more than three hundred alchemists in the potion-making division, fewer than fifty remained standing in the arena. The elimination rate was vastly higher than that of the first round. The reason for this, naturally, was the sharp increase in difficulty. Who could have imagined that rising to mid-air—a routine sign that the alchemy array was ready to yield a finished potion during everyday practice—would change entirely in this round?

Not only did it require impurities to be removed once more, but it also demanded multiple purifications. This drastically increased the difficulty of synthesis. Furthermore, there were strict limitations on both the time and the number of attempts allowed. Therefore, even though Rowling had previously shared the trick of this round with Professor Monroe and Simone, given their level of alchemy, it was beyond their ability to succeed within the permitted three attempts.

The massive arena now appeared somewhat sparse. Among the fewer than fifty remaining individuals were Anthony, Yolanda, and Gavin, the direct disciples of the three grandmasters of the Alchemical Guild; the dark horse Benjamin; and Rowling, who had consistently delivered impressive performances. The alchemical prowess of these five undoubtedly placed them in the top tier.

Aside from these five, a dozen others possessed formidable alchemy skills, placing them in the second tier, such as Layton of the Dark Alliance and Princess Nancy of the Light Alliance. The rest consisted of elites from the three major alchemical guilds.

"Everyone, please quiet down!" On the grandstand, standing centrally in the front row, Thomas’s deep and resonant voice echoed across the entire venue, instantly silencing the bustling crowd both on and off the stage.

Immediately afterward, Thomas said in a solemn voice, "The second stage of this Alchemical Convention has now drawn to a close. Both the artifact refining and puppet crafting assessments have fully concluded, and their champions have been decided. The list of award winners is as follows. The champion of the artifact refining division is..."

Following that, Thomas announced the rankings and award recipients for both the artifact refining and puppet crafting divisions, drawing waves of cheers from both inside and outside the arena. With this, the supporting roles of the artifact and puppet assessments in this Alchemical Convention came to an end. Starting tomorrow, only the potion alchemists would remain in the competition.

"Very well, now I will address the potion alchemists." After summarizing the artifact and puppet assessments, Thomas paused briefly before continuing, "Some potion alchemists may harbor doubts. Although the Hair-Growth Potion you were just asked to refine was classified as a tier-five low-grade potion on paper, its difficulty in synthesis was by no means inferior to a tier-five high-grade potion!"

Thomas’s words struck a chord with the crowd. Among the more than two hundred participants eliminated just moments ago, there was no shortage of tier-five intermediate and even tier-five advanced alchemists. They indeed harbored many doubts, believing that the grade of the Hair-Growth Potion stated in the prompt was false. Otherwise, why had none of them managed to refine it with their level of alchemy? In the stands, many spectators were friends and family of these alchemists and naturally held some grievances regarding this round’s assessment. Hearing Guild Master Thomas address this, they instantly perked up their ears to listen closely.

On the grandstand, Thomas, entirely enveloped in a black robe, spoke in a deep voice: "First of all, I must state that the grade of this Hair-Growth Potion is indeed tier-five low-grade. The reason it is so difficult to refine is that the method used to create it is 'imperfect.' In fact, this type of potion is a novel creation recently developed by the three of us specifically for this Alchemical Convention!"

An uproar instantly erupted both inside and outside the arena. A novel potion developed by the three grandmasters? No wonder they had never heard of this Hair-Growth Potion before! But what did the guild master mean by saying the method was imperfect?

Thomas pressed his hands downward in a calming gesture, and the commotion quickly subsided. "From ancient times to the present, humanity has never ceased its exploration and development of alchemy. The sheer number of formulas we possess today is entirely the result of generations of accumulation by our predecessors. As contemporary alchemists, we must not simply sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor; we must possess a pioneering spirit!"

"Therefore, the first and second rounds of the potion alchemists' assessment in this Alchemical Convention were designed precisely for this purpose. They are meant to test your adaptability when encountering unknown difficulties in alchemy, to test whether you are bound by conventional rules, and whether you possess a spirit of innovation. Only alchemists who remain calm under pressure and do not blindly cling to textbooks can achieve major breakthroughs on their future alchemical paths and drive the vigorous development of our alchemical world!"

These words immediately caused many of those who had previously failed to lower their heads, while those who had just questioned the validity of the test questions flushed red with embarrassment.

Seeing the reactions of the crowd, Thomas flashed a hint of satisfaction deep within his eyes before continuing: "In fact, the alchemy array for refining this Hair-Growth Potion still has plenty of room for modification. A mature alchemy array can automatically purge impurities from the potion during the refining process. However, because the array for the Hair-Growth Potion is flawed, it fails to completely eliminate impurities during synthesis, requiring the alchemist to personally step in and remove them to complete the process. Therefore, alchemists who are interested may subsequently find ways to improve this array, enabling it to strip away all impurities automatically during its operation!"

After a brief pause, Thomas added, "Of course, if you are able to improve this array and it passes the review of our Alchemical Guild, you will also receive a substantial reward!"

The Alchemical Guild had been able to stand tall on the Aragon Continent for so many years for good reason, and its core tenet of encouraging innovation and inspiring a pioneering spirit played a decisive role.

"Very well, that is all I have to say regarding the first two rounds for the potion alchemists. Tomorrow's assessment will transition into the selection tournament. I hope the forty-six qualified individuals remaining in the arena will prepare accordingly. Furthermore, a reminder: for the two tournament days tomorrow and the day after, the Alchemical Guild will not provide any materials; you must prepare them yourselves!" With Thomas's final remarks, the second assessment officially came to an end.

Following that, the spectators and participants in the arena began to disperse.

Rowling waved his hand, storing the bottle of Hair-Growth Potion he had refined on the alchemical stone platform and his final set of spare alchemy materials into his undead space. He had paid a fee for these materials when registering for the Alchemical Convention, so he claimed them without hesitation. With this Hair-Growth Potion, his father Gij尔's sparse hair should finally be saved.

At this thought, Rowling happily walked toward the exit. However, when he reached the edge of the arena, he searched for quite a while without spotting Mahler and the others. Just as he was feeling puzzled, a familiar voice called out his name. Following the sound, Rowling turned his head and saw Simone squeezing through the crowd toward him from not far away. Rowling likewise pushed his way through toward Simone.

When the two met, Simone wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "Rowling, are you looking for Mahler and the others?"

Rowling nodded. "Simone, do you know where they are?"

"They're currently at the academy's infirmary!" Simone sighed and said.

"The infirmary? Why would they go there? Did something happen?" Hearing this, Rowling felt a trace of an ominous premonition grip his heart and hurriedly asked.

"Here is what happened: while watching the Alchemical Convention, Bill suddenly fainted without any warning and wouldn't wake up no matter how much they called him, so everyone took him to the infirmary. I failed my assessment and left the arena early, just in time to run into the situation. Mahler and the others asked me to stay here and notify you so you wouldn't worry." Simone briefly recounted the sequence of events.

"Third brother suddenly fainted!" Panic surged in Rowling's heart. No longer caring to chat with Simone, he parted the crowd and strode quickly toward the academy's infirmary!