41: Chapter 41 only appeared about ten times.

When only a quarter of the hourglass remained, a handsome youth with a feminine smile finally walked out. However, as his gaze shifted and he saw the young man leaning against the wall, offering him a faint smile, his expression instantly stiffened.

The Little Princess walked out shortly after. This agile figure quickly emerged, and as her gaze swept outward and landed on the rather handsome youth, a look of disappointment immediately appeared on her Face.

When her gaze shifted to Xiao Yan, a look of surprise also emerged.

"Aside from Brother Liu, there is actually someone else this fast? But speed alone is useless; perhaps the purity of the refinement is not high!" The Little Princess's tone was clearly somewhat dissatisfied that two people had finished refining before her.

After the Little Princess appeared, within a short two or three minutes, one curtain after another was lifted, and it was only when all the Tier 3 Alchemists had finished coming out that it was considered over.

Ten minutes later, the Tier 2 Alchemists slowly began to appear.

"Alright, since everyone has come out on time, let us begin the next test." Seeing that everyone had emerged, Master Qie Mier said.

"This is a Purity Measurement Device. It can accurately test the purity of the Materials you have refined. It is graded on a ten-point scale, with one being the lowest and four being a passing grade. Alright, place the Iron Wood Spirit Pieces you have refined here. Oh, and before you put them in, remember to state how many times you refined them..."

For the refinement of Materials, the difficulty increases several times with each repetition. Take these Iron Wood Spirit Pieces, for example; with Master Qie Mier's strength, he can only repeatedly refine them ten times. Anything more would be a futile effort.

"Begin!"

As the voice fell, a Tier 3 Alchemist at the very front walked out, retrieved a jade bottle containing the Iron Wood Spirit Pieces from his storage ring, and placed it into the slot.

He bowed respectfully to Master Qie Mier and the others above: "Vice President, my ability only allows me to refine it three times."

Master Qie Mier nodded slightly; three times was already considered a decent result.

As expected, the device flashed with light, and a large number five appeared on the screen.

Xiao Yan watched this machine with great interest. What a strange world; since such a machine exists, has no one thought to research this direction further?

On second thought, that made sense. In this world, the mainstream is always Dou Qi; it is very difficult for technology to develop.

"Next!"

"Four points... Pass."

"Next!"

"Five points, pass."

"Next!"

"Three points, fail."

As the testing time slowly passed, the rather handsome youth finally, under the watchful eyes of everyone, calmly arrived at the testing machine. He carefully placed the jade bottle into the slot, looked up, and smiled at Master Qie Mier: "This Junior's strength is limited; I can only refine it six times."

As soon as the youth said this, everyone in the hall was stunned, and then an uproar ensued. Even Master Qie Mier and the others could not help but be surprised. To be able to refine Iron Wood Spirit Pieces five times requires at least the strength of a Peak Tier 3 Alchemist.

"Seven points. Congratulations, you have passed." As expected of Pill King Gu He's disciple, Master Qie Mier let out a slow breath and said.

The youth's name was Liu Ling, and he was the disciple of the most prominent Sixth-Rank Alchemist in the Jia Ma Empire, Pill King Gu He.

After Liu Ling's appearance, the subsequent tests became mundane until the Little Princess's test broke the monotony. However, she was still slightly behind Liu Ling. If there were no surprises, Liu Ling would undoubtedly be the highest scorer.

As the testers passed one by one, only Xiao Yan remained alone in the spacious hall.

Liu Ling narrowed his eyes as he looked at Xiao Yan, wanting to see his performance. Beside him, the Little Princess also wore a curious expression.

Xiao Yan took out the jade bottle, placed it into the slot, and laughed: "Heh, even if I told you how many times I refined it, you wouldn't believe me. Just look at the results."

"Hmph, could you have refined it seven times?" Seeing that Xiao Yan was unwilling to state the number, the Little Princess snorted softly.

"In that case, let us look at the results first." Seeing that Xiao Yan was unwilling to say how many times he had refined it, Master Qie Mier did not make things difficult for Xiao Yan, only remarking nonchalantly.

As the device flashed, a large red character appeared on the screen. With the appearance of this character, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

"Ten!"

Staring at the large red character, Master Qie Mier suddenly felt his heart constrict instantly.

"Little... little friend, just how many times did you refine it?" Master Qie Mier asked, his voice trembling.

"Heh, just about ten times or so," Xiao Yan chuckled.

"Ten times or so..." Not only the young Alchemists like Liu Ling and the Little Princess, but even the group of experienced Alchemists on the platform were lost in a daze at these words.

This... this must be at least the strength of a Fifth-Rank Alchemist!

After a long while, everyone gradually recovered, looking at Xiao Yan as if he were a monster. The awe in their eyes had reached its Peak.

The gap was too large; it left no room for anyone to even harbor other thoughts...

"You, your name is Xiao Yan, right? Are you the Xiao Yan from the Xiao Family in Wutan City?" An old man behind Master Qie Mier asked.

"I am indeed Xiao Yan from Wutan City. Is there something strange about that?" Xiao Yan asked with a smile.

The crowd was in an uproar again, especially Liu Ling in the crowd. He had long heard that Nalan Yanran had a fiancé, but he had never expected it to be him!

"Heh, Xiao Lin's grandson? No wonder he looked so familiar..."

The gazes of the crowd gradually became heated as they all tried to come over and strike up a conversation. Xiao Yan responded to them one by one, not causing anyone to lose Face.

However, before long, he was pulled away by Otto.

With Xiao Yan's departure, the Alchemists in the hall also scattered.

Liu Ling stared at the large "Ten" on the screen, his expression shifting uncertainly. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and then left the place feeling somewhat dejected.

Xiao Yan, huh? Truly a monster...

The next day, at the Alchemist Guild.

The azure sky was cloudless, and the sunlight shone down on the Alchemist Guild, giving people a warm feeling.

Today was a grand event in the Jia Ma Empire: the Alchemist Convention, held once every eight years, would begin today!

"Xiao Yan, did you really refine the Iron Wood Spirit Pieces more than ten times?" A young woman with a long ponytail asked Xiao Yan, who was beside her.

This young woman was Otto's disciple, Lin Fei.

And when Lin Fei asked this, another silver-haired woman could not help but look over.

"That is natural. I feel I hadn't even reached my limit, but I just couldn't be bothered to continue refining."

"Really? I heard that even Vice President Qie Mier can only refine it ten times!"

"Heh..."

The three of them walked and chatted, following Otto and Frank to the Royal Plaza. The plaza was incredibly vast, large enough for thousands of people to start their fires and conduct Alchemy simultaneously. Outside the grounds, fully armed troops were stationed to maintain order.

Following Otto to a high platform, they saw thousands of bluestone square stands distributed within it. These stands were arranged in a staggered, orderly fashion.

At this moment, many Alchemists had already collected their test badges and entered the grounds.

Otto looked at the sky and smiled: "Let us go to the VIP seating area first. There is still some time before the convention begins. There, you will be able to see some heavyweight figures, which might be useful to you."