Chapter 61: Rival?

As Feng Ruoqing spoke gently, Feng Zhirou's heart grew increasingly shaken.

What Ye Yuan had just said matched Feng Ruoqing's words exactly, without the slightest difference!

One had to know that the light screen only showed a broad view of the storeroom; the medicinal herbs could only be seen roughly, and some were not even discernible—at least Feng Zhirou could not identify them.

Yet Ye Yuan, merely by looking at the light screen, had guessed the pills the two women were refining!

How had he managed to do that?

"Haha, Miss Feng, don't be afraid to offend us old men. Speak your mind freely; our tolerance is not so narrow. Since we're comparing with Old Sun, we naturally have to determine who is superior. The pills refined by Feng'er and Keyun must have some difference in quality. Miss Feng, don't hold back, just say it."

Wang Jinfu knew that Feng Ruoqing wanted to avoid offending either side, which was why she had spoken as if the two women had tied.

In fact, no matter how close two people's alchemy skills were, the pills they refined could never be identical, because too many factors influenced the outcome.

Feng Ruoqing smiled faintly before saying, "Then President Wang and President Sun must not blame this young lady."

"Not at all, not at all. Since we asked you to be the judge, it's only natural that we won't blame you." Sun Jianming, who had been silent all along, also spoke up.

"In truth, both Miss Feng'er and Miss Keyun are outstanding, and their skills are evenly matched. However, Miss Feng'er had a small flaw during the refining process, which caused the quality of her pill to be slightly inferior. I observe that this Tiger Subduing Pill has a somewhat dull luster, likely due to a minor mistake during the first quenching step." Feng Ruoqing said with perfect timing.

"Hahaha..." Wang Jinfu let out a hearty laugh, with no sign of displeasure on his face: "I didn't expect Old Sun to be so skilled at training disciples. It seems you have a worthy successor! Feng'er, learn from your mistake and be more diligent in the future. Don't become arrogant just because you're my disciple, understand?"

"Feng'er understands." Xu Feng'er curtsied gracefully, looking rather dejected.

"Alright, time is almost up. Let's start the next batch." Wang Jinfu instructed.

The pills refined by others would naturally be judged by someone else; the two elders Wang and Sun, being of high status, would not deign to do such a thing.

Among this batch, the one who attracted the most attention was naturally Wan Yuan.

It had to be said that Wan Yuan had reason to be proud in the way of alchemy.

He was only a few months older than Ye Yuan, yet he was already an advanced alchemy apprentice, truly outshining his peers. His future achievements would likely be no less than his father's.

"Hmph! Feng Ruoqing, Feng Zhirou, I'll show you what a true alchemy genius is! That Ye Yuan is nothing but a clown. Once I advance to alchemist, how could you, Feng Zhirou, not be moved?" Wan Yuan thought to himself.

He was also gathering all his strength, wanting to show off in front of Feng Zhirou and make her see him in a new light.

Seeing Feng Zhirou and Ye Yuan exchanging glances, Wan Yuan felt deeply uneasy.

...

Entering the herb storeroom, Wan Yuan selected his ingredients at the fastest speed. It was a full quarter of an hour after he left the storeroom before other students came out.

Thus, the difference was clear.

Wan Yuan deliberately showed off his skills, and the subsequent steps were completed in one smooth flow.

Especially when he began refining, his techniques dazzled the onlookers, leaving them unable to keep up.

"Old Sun, it seems Brother Wan has raised a fine son. He's outshone both our juniors."

Wang Jinfu was an established grand alchemist, so his discernment was naturally sharp. Seeing Wan Yuan's performance in refining, he knew that Wan Yuan's skill surpassed both Xu Feng'er and Sun Keyun.

"Indeed, that Wan Donghai really has some skill. He's been keeping Ye Hang down all these years, and now his son is equally formidable. At this rate, Wan Yuan might surpass his father."

Sun Jianming was usually a man of few words; to give such praise clearly showed that Wan Yuan's performance had impressed him.

"Exactly. In my view, Wan Yuan's Flowing Cloud Dispersion Hand already has about seventy percent of Wan Donghai's mastery. What he lacks is only experience and realm. This child will surely achieve great things in the future! Hmph! Unlike Ye Hang's son, who seeks only to attract attention and is utterly clueless!"

While giving high praise to Wan Yuan, Wang Jinfu also took the opportunity to disparage Ye Yuan, clearly displeased that Ye Yuan had come to disrupt the proceedings.

Every alchemist had their unique refining techniques, and the Flowing Cloud Dispersion Hand was precisely Wan Donghai's signature move.

The conversation between Wang Jinfu and Sun Jianming was not deliberately concealed, so it naturally reached the ears of Feng Zhirou and Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan's expression remained calm, showing little reaction.

Feng Zhirou, on the other hand, looked rather gleeful and sent a voice transmission: "Hey, they're praising your rival so much, and you can still stay so calm?"

After the initial shock, Feng Zhirou could only explain Ye Yuan's earlier performance with the word "freak."

But deep down, Feng Zhirou secretly harbored some anticipation for Ye Yuan's upcoming performance.

Maybe, he really could do it?

Hearing Feng Zhirou's voice transmission, Ye Yuan remained expressionless and said, "Rival? I've never considered him a rival."

If it were before, Feng Zhirou would have scoffed at such a statement.

But now, Feng Zhirou felt that Ye Yuan might truly think that way.

After all, the small mistake Xu Feng'er had made earlier had gone unnoticed even by the two grand alchemists present and her aunt, otherwise they wouldn't have held the competition.

Yet Ye Yuan had spotted it early on, and during the refining process of Xu Feng'er and Sun Keyun, he had already judged the grade of their pills—something not just anyone could do.

Feng Zhirou believed that even if Ye Yuan couldn't pass the alchemist exam, his insight was not comparable to that of those two grand alchemists.

Could it be that Ye Yuan's theoretical knowledge was already on par with an alchemy king?

A fifteen-year-old youth with the level of an alchemy king? Feng Zhirou was startled by her own thought.

"Tch, what a poser." Although she had already accepted Ye Yuan's words in her heart, Feng Zhirou still pretended to disdain him.

For some reason, she just found Ye Yuan infuriating.

Perhaps it was because she had been pursued by everyone since childhood, and no man had ever shown such disregard for her?

Seeing Ye Yuan unresponsive, Feng Zhirou spoke again, "Hey, Ye Yuan, is it true that I still won't pass this exam?"

"Of course it's true. You and I are not close enough for me to joke about such things." Ye Yuan said indifferently.

"Hey, how can you talk like that?" Feng Zhirou was choked again.

"Are you and I close?" Ye Yuan glanced at Feng Zhirou and said.

"Well..." Feng Zhirou recalled that this was only their second meeting; they really weren't close.

"Not only are we not close, we should probably be considered enemies, right?"

Feng Zhirou blushed, knowing that Ye Yuan was still brooding over that sword strike: "Ye Yuan, are you a man? Why do you keep harping on such a small matter?"

"Small matter? That sword strike of yours nearly killed me! What great enmity is there between us?" Ye Yuan said irritably.

"..." Feng Zhirou, knowing she was in the wrong, pouted and fell silent.