Chapter 153: Prepare Some Tea

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In the end, Xun Wei agreed to offer a Blood Flower as the reward for the duel.

They decided to find a suitable place for the duel, so they rented a large training hall, which they would use as their battleground.

Both were provided with cauldrons of the same type by the pavilion elder, who had been chosen as the duel's judge.

They had agreed to use the same rules from the selection test, meaning they had to produce as many pills as possible within an hour.

The difference this time was that the pills wouldn't be chosen by someone else, but by themselves.

Both agreed to use whatever pill recipe they had on hand, as long as they possessed the materials. This was fine with the elder of the pavilion, as the duel had been arranged in haste, and it wasn't realistic to expect them to have enough materials for just any pill.

Since both parties had agreed on this, she had no obligation to interfere.

Nor did she have any intention to.

She knew that both participants had likely improved since the last time, but she was curious to see by how much.

She was particularly interested in seeing what the masked boy would produce.

His performance during the selection had been nearly flawless, so her expectations of him were high.

Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't taking Xun Wei seriously. Searᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

She also wanted to see how much he had grown, after all, he was the son of a fellow alchemist master, and she had high expectations for him as well.

Both participants finished preparing their materials within minutes, and once she saw that both were ready, she signaled the start of the test.

As soon as the incense stick was lit, the challenge began, and Xun Wei, more determined than ever, started immediately like a storm.

With quick and precise movements, he prepared the necessary materials while focusing on his cauldron, making sure it was ready for the next phase of refinement.

One by one, he processed the ingredients, and once finished, he carefully added them into the cauldron, paying attention not to make a mistake with the amounts.

After all, the dosage was a crucial part of the process, and even the smallest error could ruin everything.

As she observed his refinement process, the pavilion elder got a sense of what kind of pill Xun Wei was likely preparing.

'Hmm, it seems he's aiming to make a high-grade pill right off the bat.

And it looks like it's going well so far,' she thought, examining his every move and nodding with approval.

'Just as one would expect from Xun Yun's son," she mused, shifting her attention to the other side of the arena, curious to see what the masked boy was refining.

But as she did, she noticed something odd.

Her gaze first landed on the other tournament participants who were watching the duel.

The reason she focused on them was because of the puzzled expressions they all wore as they looked in one particular direction, toward the masked boy .

'What's going on?'

she thought, as her eyes followed theirs toward masked boy's station to discover the source of their strange expressions.

And as soon as she did, her expression changed from one of curiosity to one of bewilderment, just like the rest of the group.

"What on earth is this boy doing?" she thought, utterly confused by the scene in front of her.

There, at Ethan's station, instead of a meticulous refining process, what she saw was a masked boy sitting comfortably while preparing something over a small portable stove.

'No way... is he making tea?!'

Everyone thought the same, staring in disbelief at the masked figure, who continued his actions as if nothing was wrong.

Poooof.

Steam finally rose from the container on the stove, and after placing it back into his dimensional ring, he poured himself a cup of steaming tea, ready to drink.

As he finished putting away the kettle, he noticed the strange atmosphere.

For a moment, he glanced to the side, only to see five pairs of incredulous eyes staring at him as if he were some kind of bizarre creature.

'What's wrong with them?

Why are they looking at me like that?' he thought, pausing for a moment before deciding to ignore them and getting ready to sip his tea.

While this scene was far too strange for the five onlookers, for Bai Yu inside Ethan's head, it was the opposite.

Shaking her head, she said,

'Haa, what did I expect from him?'

She had no doubt Ethan would do something like this during the duel.

She knew him too well, and she knew he would never take a challenge like this seriously.

After all, she had witnessed his skills personally over the past twenty years and knew that none of the present participants could match him, either in terms of strength or alchemical ability.

In the end, lightly lifting his mask from below, Ethan took a few sips of tea, nodding internally in satisfaction.

The tea leaves he was using were extremely rare, obtained from some plants in his herb garden.

The value of these leaves was worth dozens of high-grade spirit stones per leaf.

Ethan had been fortunate to get his hands on the plant and cultivated it in his herb garden.

In fact, his garden was filled with plants of all kinds, ranging from medicinal herbs useful for refining pills and medicines, to fruits and vegetables, and in this case, tea leaves.

Ethan had filled his garden with as many species of herbs and trees as possible.

Some out of interest, others out of necessity, and still others simply to complete his collection.

Some he cared for less, but he kept them anyway.

As he enjoyed his tea, at one point, he even offered it to the five still watching him, before finally deciding it was time to start refining.

The others, now with a steaming cup of tea in their hands, couldn't help but look at the incense stick and then back at him.

About 15 minutes remained.

At this point, no one dared to comment and continued sipping the excellent tea while watching with curiosity what the masked boy would do next.

Even the pavilion elder, who had accepted the tea at some point, was curious to see what he would do in such a short time.