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Chapter 126 - Alchemy Competition 14
🕑 Added 2024-09-24 07:00:06 +0000 UTCAnda realized that the new fire control technique might have accelerated the degradation process of her old cauldron.
This old cauldron was only made of mediocre material suitable to be used by beginner alchemists.
However, her alchemy level had risen so fast that by the time she noticed what was happening, it was already too late. The old cauldron had already shown the symptoms of thermal fatigue.
Cracks had already started to form, and it was only a matter of time before it broke down. She estimated that it would break after another five months of alchemy, so she didn't expect for it to happen now.
The superior quality flame from the Azure Flame Technique had definitely exponentially expanded the cracks in her old cauldron. It would break at any moment.
She was mixed with multiple emotions right now. Sadness and anxiousness definitely made up the majority of them.
She wanted to mourn her cauldron, but she was in the middle of an important competition where every point matters.
Suddenly, a piece of the cauldron fell to the ground, producing a loud clunking sound, and it attracted people's attention.
"Look, her cauldron is breaking apart!"
"Oh no, our dark horse wouldn't fail her second set, would she?"
"It's her fault for using such a fragile cauldron. I can't wait to see it completely fall apart. Huehuehue."
The audience started to talk about the situation. Some were worried, and some were looking forward to Anda's fuck up.
Ori Oregano and a few other contestants were hoping for Anda's failure because it would give them a chance to overtake her rank.
Soon, more and more pieces kept falling to the floor, causing Anda to become more restless.
What should I do? I'm in the middle of refining the essence!
"Leyvi, is Sister Anda going to be alright? She would be fine if she failed once, right?" Selene asked with a worried expression. If her mental strength was weak, it might affect her other concoction too, and she didn't want that to happen.
"Hahaha, don't worry, a little failure won't faze our panda queen! But can't she just swap the cauldron? Didn't you 'gift' her a cauldron last time?" Leyvi emphasized the word gift.
Selene blushed heavily when she heard the word, reminding her about the cauldron she gifted to Anda. It was supposed to be Leyvi gifting it to Anda, but at that moment a demon Selene took over, claiming it to be hers.
Well, technically it was hers since she paid for it and Leyvi hasn't repaid her back yet.
Selene shook her head while blushing. "She can do that, but changing the cauldron will interrupt the refining process. Usually, if you stop a refining technique halfway, it will result in essence loss and lower purity because the Qi you used to conduct the technique will be left behind and damage it. Furthermore, it would take some time to heat up the other cauldron, which means by the time you resume the technique, the stagnant Qi would already destroy most of the essence."
Selene sighed. "Less quantity and less quality. But at least it's better than nothing."
"I see. So the real problem was stopping the technique midway." Leyvi now understood the crux of the problem.
At this moment, people could see that Anda wouldn't be able to finish the essence refining before her cauldron completely fell apart, so her only option was to stop the technique halfway and quickly change her cauldron.
However, contrary to their expectations, Anda kept refining without showing any intention of swapping the cauldron.
"What's going on? Why does she keep going like this?"
"Maybe she doesn't have another cauldron?"
"Oh, no! Lend her another cauldron. Can we do that?"
"Hmph! Arrogant! She must be showing off!"
Leyvi and Selene looked at each other, clueless about what was happening. They didn't understand why Anda still hadn't changed the cauldron.
Unlike other people, they knew Anda had an extra cauldron.
At this point, there was no other choice but to halt the refining technique and use another cauldron.
On the stage, Anda didn't hesitate anymore. She once promised to let her cauldron die as a cauldron, therefore she would let it happen. "Thank you and goodbye."
A few minutes later, after more and more pieces of the cauldron fell, it finally broke in half and fell entirely to the floor.
However, the scene of Anda failing the essence refining, imagined by many people, didn't happen.
"WHAT?? How is that possible? What is that?"
"A red cauldron? It's somewhat transparent."
Although the old cauldron had broken into pieces, Anda hadn't stopped the refinement at all. The moment the old cauldron broke, a transparent red cauldron with the same design appeared out of nowhere.
"Fire Concept!! She used the fire concept to create a cauldron!!"
Elder Godari recognized what it was and immediately exclaimed loudly. His eyes were so wide that the eyeballs could pop out from the socket at any moment.
"WHAT?? That's the legendary fire concept that someone who had touched a corner of the Dao could use?"
"Oh, my Lord! This is the first time I've seen it! That cauldron is made of fire!"
The sound of shock and disbelief quickly spread throughout the entire Grand Stadium.
A few of the contestants were even affected by the commotion, which caused them to make some mistakes.
The overwhelming majority of them had never seen a cultivator who had made contact with the Dao and could control a trace of its power.
The higher level cultivators could sense a small trace of Fire Law coming from the fire-made cauldron, which fascinated them greatly. No trace of Qi, only pure fire.
They had been trying to do it for a few hundred years with no success, but a young girl in her twenties did it easily. They couldn't help but feel envious.
If she didn't die early, grasping even just a little corner of the Dao guaranteed her the path of becoming a Soul Transformation cultivator.
From the Soul Formation realm to the Soul Transformation realm, cultivators started transitioning from using Qi to using the world's law, so they were required to gain insight into any type of law first to break through.
At this point, the mortal body's talent for cultivation that they were born with didn't matter anymore. It depends on their power of comprehension to understand the worldly law from then on.
Leyvi let out a relieved sigh. "I forgot Anda could do that. Hahaha!"
He felt quite surprised. If he remembered correctly, Anda could create only simple shaped objects like fire rings and firewalls previously.
Her fire concept must have leveled up again to be able to conjure something like a cauldron.
The Leyan Family were cheering excitedly for Anda. Anda's amazing display raised their admiration for her to another level.
They kept chanting the same phrase Leyvi created to cheer their beloved Big Madam. "Go go Anda! Goddess Anda!"
The people nearby looked at Leyvi enviously. How did this goofy guy get an amazing wife like that? Her face might be a bit flawed, but her extraordinary talents far outweigh her appearance.
After a while, Anda finished refining the essence. She temporarily sealed the essence in a tube and then dispelled the fire cauldron.
A few beads of sweat formed on Anda's forehead. It was just only about 20 minutes, but maintaining the fire concept while doing alchemy was mentally exhausting.
She gathered the broken pieces of the old cauldron and stored it away after thanking it again in a soft voice. It was sad, but she have to move on.
It was only after that she noticed the gross smell coming from Ori had gotten worse. Hmph, so annoying. Typical villain behavior.
Seeing the fire concept she possessed caused him to hate her even more.
Anda didn't immediately resume the alchemy process, but closed her eyes and took time to recover from the slight exhaustion.
"President, are you sure you don't want to take her as a disciple?" Elder Arjun asked. A talent like Anda should join their Alchemy Association.
Albert sneered. "And then what? Shamelessly ask her to show her Fire Concept? Just say you want to take advantage of her ability, ptui."
"Dammit Albert! Stop spitting for real! It's disgusting!"
Anda reopened her eyes, feeling a lot better from the short meditation. Then, she brought out a cauldron from her space bag. It was the ordinary-looking cauldron that she got from Selene.
"What the heck? She brought out another old cauldron. Did she have an old cauldron fetish or something?"
"Yeah, there are so many new cauldrons with better designs out there, but she still picked something old like this."
Anda had checked the ordinary cauldron previously and found out there was really nothing special about it besides its durability. In fact, it was extremely durable and could withstand the extreme heat from Little Fiery exceptionally well.
She was happy with it because it was exactly what she was looking for. All the other stuff about the special effects and beautiful designs didn't matter to her.
All that mattered to her was that she could use it for a long time. If she had to change her cauldron, every time her alchemy level rose to keep up with her level, that would be annoying.
