PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

As expected, this alchemy tournament was no different. The four judges, three men, and one woman were alchemists of great prestige and reputation whose opinions carried considerable weight.

As true experts in their field, the judges were impartial in their judging, so things like appearances, background, or even presentation held little relevance to them. In fact, the judges even had a bad first impression of Sasha on the subject. In the opinion of the judges, while quite amazing and visually appealing, Sasha’s refining technique was a complete abomination.

One had to know that alchemy techniques were not something to be taken lightly, especially those unique ones, such as those used by Sublime Lotus, Ai Zuling, and two other participants. These unique techniques had defining advantages, effects, and strengths to explore the path of alchemy, one could imagine how valuable they were and the high esteem alchemists held for them.

The problem lies in that Sasha’s supposed refining technique breaks many preconceived notions, not to mention that it was a bit too visually stimulating, almost as if it was planned for show rather than refining. At the end of the day, the opinion of the judges was based solely on prejudice, and they knew it, which is why they will not make a judgment until they have seen the results of all the contestants.

Despite their opinions of Sasha, the judges didn’t take aim directly at the girl, that kind of petty move was closed-minded, third-rate villains, so another alchemist was the first to submit her work.

On the judge’s table, right in the center on a piece of black muslin was placed an exquisite turquoise pearl that glowed with a strange aura of resilience that is difficult to explain. While it was impossible to know all the pills in existence by heart, it turned out that one of the judges actually knew the pill, so he took the initiative to explain. “A Turquoise Beetle Soul Pill, quite a peculiar choice. This little pill doesn’t have much of a market, but its value cannot be underestimated, as defensive martial artists would fight to the death over it.”

Going one step further than the judge who spoke earlier, the only woman on the judging panel was as ruthless as death itself. “It is useless that it is unique and peculiar or that they pay a lot for it, with such purity and mediocre efficiency it is a miracle that this man dares to call himself an alchemist.”

One of the judges was bothered by his partner’s scathing comment, but it’s not like he could do anything about it, the truth was that the contestant’s work was quite mediocre in general quality, so it was obvious that he was going to get a low grade.

.....

Although the rest of the judges were less cruel with their comments, the truth remained that the medicinal pill was mediocre by the standards they were looking for. Under the disappointed gaze of the judges, the alchemist withdrew with his head lowered in humiliation.

After seeing one of them being criticized and judged with such brutality, the rest of the participants were not very interested in being next either. Unfortunately for them, they had no other choice.

The next alchemist placed some sort of medicinal paste that appeared to be made of bronze into a container before placing it in front of the panel of judges. This time the criticism was not so bloody, although there were not many good comments either. The only woman among the judges said only one thing: a minuscule notch above mediocre.

In the same way, one alchemist after another was torn apart or humiliated by the judges, who were quite disappointed with the performance so far, but that would soon change.

When it was the turn of Sublime Lotus, the masked alchemist, the judges could not hide their excitement and curiosity, both for the girl’s background and talent and for the pill she was carrying today in her hands. A sand-colored pill that seemed to have a desert inside of it was what she presented to the judges. Almost shocked, one of the judges expressed himself. “A time pill, extremely difficult to create and valuable like few things. With the power to give someone ten years of life expectancy, there are many people who fought to the death over that pill.”

Although she was tempted to be nicer, the judge saw the quality of the pill and couldn’t help but speak. “An extraordinary pill of unprecedented difficulty, the best we’ve seen yet, but she’s not without her flaws. It seems you have been blind to your own limits, where this pill is not included. The purity is only 35% while the efficacy is only 40%, you sacrificed a lot to try to make a pill that you do not master, it remains to be seen if your bet was the right one or if you focused your efforts more.”

Though invisible to all, Sublime Lotus looked sad and disappointed beneath her mask, she had made a risky move and didn’t come out as unscathed as she had hoped she would.

Next was the turn of Ai Zuling, who received a good luck wish from Sasha. Confident in her handiwork, Ai Zuling approached the panel of judges to put down a single medicinal pill. The pill itself was green like the vegetation in spring, on top of that, a strong vitality and purity could be felt coming from that pill.

“I see an emerald soul pill, a high-rank healing pill. Relatively common and unimpressive.” A judge commented.

The judge corrected her partner without thinking. “It may be common, but it’s still a very high-ranking pill, not to mention over 85% pure and 90% effective. It is perhaps a less exciting option compared to the competition, but its quality is far superior to the pills seen tonight.”

Unable to accept what his eyes and ears were telling him, one of the judges decided to probe the pill and ended up having to smile bitterly, this was indeed an extraordinarily made pill.

The public seemed to have already gotten an idea of who would win this tournament just based on what had just happened with the judges, and the evaluations he had given so far. With Ai Zuling leading the way with a truly masterfully executed pill, and Sublime Lotus with her high-tier albeit relatively low-quality pill.

They all thought they knew how the tournament was going to change until Sasha stepped forward and placed a dual-colored pill on the presentation table. At first glance, apart from being red and blue, the pill did not appear to have anything special, but it was a closer look that revealed just how extraordinary the pill was.

Like a constantly revolving yin yang, the coexistence of fire and ice, a blue and a red phoenix always dancing romantically with each other, flirtingly chasing each other in a never-ending game.

Just a few seconds after putting the pill on the table, half of it started to catch fire while the other one froze. A single glance told the judges that this pill was unstable and dangerous, but it was certainly well-refined and looked precious, he just didn’t know how precious it could be.

Despite the obvious flaws of an unstable medicinal pill, the truth is that this pill was easily the prize in the competition, especially considering the details of the ingredients used in its manufacture. An important detail is that no judge managed to identify the pill despite his best efforts.

Finally unable to feign ignorance any longer, the judges suffered the humiliation of having to ask about this unknown pill. Hearing the question, Sasha couldn’t help but show off with a loving smile that promised to kill single people with bitterness.

“This pill is inspired by an old recipe left by my teacher, the first gift I gave to the man who is now the love of my life. Many ingredients have been changed and this is definitely a much more powerful and potent version of the original, so I’ve given it a new name, it’s called Fire and Ice Phoenix Pill. It’s the first time he’s refined this pill, so the purity and efficacy levels aren’t ideal, but I’m confident in its effects; I will definitely win one of the top three places and give it to the man I love.”

Sasha’s confidence was both adorable and annoying, putting her predecessors’ abilities to shame, but the truth was there to behold, it was crystal clear that Sasha’s pill was hands down one of the top three jobs.