Chapter 163 Announcement of the Results

Whitening potion—

This was the potion that occurred to Rowling when he previously noticed that a large majority of the evaluation panel consisted of women. Women are born with a love for beauty; this has been an immutable truth since ancient times. Regardless of age or personality, they are in a constant pursuit of enhancing their beauty.

Just like a few years ago when he was with Victoria in the Maya Mountains, when she tasted the miraculous beautifying and skin-nourishing effects of the blue-winged bee honey, even with her aloof personality and the fact that she and Rowling were not yet very familiar with each other, she could not resist the temptation of the honey and took the initiative to ask Rowling for it on several occasions.

Furthermore, this whitening potion was one of the hidden trump-card formulas in Pius’s collection. Even in his records, Pius had nothing but high praise for it. Rowling placed great trust in Pius’s words, so he had brewed the whitening potion without hesitation for this female-dominated evaluation panel. What he hadn't anticipated, however, was that the whitening potion held not only an extreme temptation for women, but its lethal appeal to men was also quite significant.

Among the ingredients used to brew the whitening potion, the primary one was none of other than the blue-winged bee honey. Originally, flying magical creatures like the blue-winged bees were extremely rare, and their honey was exceptionally precious. Even if someone possessed the formula, very few had access to such materials for brewing. Yet, right inside Rowling's undead dimension, there happened to be an entire army of these black and white blue-winged bees continuously producing honey for him!

Seeing how fiercely the evaluators scrambled for the whitening potion he had brewed just moments ago, Rowling's heart settled slightly. He figured his chances of entering the final four were quite high.

Because of the precedent set by the whitening potion, the remaining five alchemy potions—although all merely of the five-star grade—did not cause the evaluators to slack off in the slightest. Each of them tested the potions with utmost seriousness. After all, should another alchemical concoction as miraculous as the whitening potion appear, the ones who tested it first would undoubtedly reap the greatest benefits!

However, miracles are destined to be exceedingly rare. They tested right up to the very last potion labeled number forty-one without discovering another decent concoction, eliciting one sigh of relief after another from them.

Regardless, the evaluators had finally tested all the alchemy potions and recorded their impressions. Seeing that the preliminary work was complete, the minor supervisor from the Alchemist Guild turned around and gave a distant, complete gesture toward the grandstand.

Upon seeing the gesture, Thomas immediately announced in a loud voice, "Next, I invite all the evaluators to evaluate these forty-one alchemy potions and determine the rankings for the third assessment!"

With these words, the surroundings instantly boiled with excitement. The crucial ranking moment was about to arrive, which would decide the four slots advancing to the finals. Many bookmakers and gamblers in the crowd rubbed their palms together, waiting eagerly for the results to be judged and announced!

On the field, thirty evaluators were tensely casting their 'votes'. The minor supervisor from the Alchemist Guild began reading from the alchemy potion numbered 'one'. The evaluators made a choice of 'like' or 'dislike', while dedicated personnel stood by to record and tally the votes.

Due to the distance, the spectators in the stands had no way of knowing what choices the evaluators below were making for each potion, prompting them to look forward to the final outcome with great anticipation.

"Rowling should be able to make it into the final four, right?" In the stands, seeing that the evaluation process had already begun, Simone felt a trace of nervousness and muttered to himself.

In the adjacent seat, Teacher Monroe let out a scoff of laughter. "Simone, didn't you see the scene earlier where the four bottles of potions Rowling brewed were being fought over like madmen? If he still can't make it into the final four, it would truly be ghosts at work."

Although the numbers on the potions could not be seen very clearly from the stands, the colors and the number of bottles were visible. Therefore, after careful observation, Teacher Monroe and the others already knew that the frantically contested potions were precisely the four bottles Rowling had brewed in two batches.

Hearing this, Simone couldn't help but laugh as well. Teacher Monroe was right; judging by the frenzied scramble of the evaluators for the potions, one could easily tell how popular they were. He truly had no idea what kind of potion the kid Rowling had brewed to possess such immense charm!

On the other side of the stands, although Terry and Karina were still sitting close to each other, they each harbored their own thoughts. Both of them shared a feeling that their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend was probably coming to an end.

Terry gritted his teeth as he watched the calm and composed Rowling down on the field, secretly harboring resentment in his heart. He believed that Rowling was the cause of all this. Ever since Rowling defeated him, his relationship with Karina had taken a nosedive, leading to the current state of a cold war. He viewed Rowling as the primary culprit and held boundless hatred toward him. Having previously witnessed the scene of the evaluators fighting over Rowling's alchemy potion, his heart sank once more. It looked like he was going to advance again, which made him extremely unhappy!

Nearby, Karina looked at the scene below, her mind continuously repeating a single phrase: "Rowling, Brother Rowling, you will still forgive me, won't you?"

The voting and tallying process was very short, taking less than ten minutes to conclude. The minor supervisor from the Alchemist Guild took the final tally sheet of magic paper, glanced over the voting results, and a trace of surprise flashed across his face. Originally, the evaluators could have been dismissed to return to their seats now, but instead of doing that, he ignored the crowd and walked straight toward the grandstand with the final results.

The evaluators didn't pay too much attention when they were not told to leave. At that moment, several of them turned around to look at the forty-something alchemists seated behind them.

"I don't know which alchemist brewed potion number thirty-six, but whoever it is, I cast a vote for him just now. I hope he can sell me some more of that potion in the future. Thank you!"

"I voted for it too. Don't forget about me."

"And me! I didn't even get to use a single drop of that thirty-sixth alchemy potion, but I still voted for it. I... I want to buy a few more bottles, and I hope you'll agree."

...

"And I voted for it too! Remember to save a potion for me, humph, you heartless ghost~" An oversized man in the crowd curled his pinky finger, gestured towards the group of alchemists, and spoke in a coquettish, affected tone.

His gesture, combined with that cloying tone of voice, instantly made numerous alchemists shudder, giving them goosebumps all over. Rowling even quietly took two steps back, as if fearing that this fellow might find out he was the one who brewed the potion.

Just at that moment, up on the grandstand, Thomas's deep voice rang out, "All right, everyone, the results of the third assessment are out. I will now announce the results to you all!"