Chapter 154:

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Xun Wei, who had been completely focused on refining his pills the entire time, had no idea that while he was refining like a madman, the other side was calmly enjoying tea.

At one point, he smelled a pleasant aroma and was momentarily tempted to lift his head to see where it was coming from, but he decided to restrain himself.

He could check at the end of the competition anyway, and after all, there were less than 15 minutes left.

He was now preparing his final pill, the one that would also be his ticket to victory.

He had already refined three different high-grade level-1 pills, and with this result, he thought he had placed himself in a strong position.

But he didn't let his guard down.

He knew the other side's abilities, so he was aware that he couldn't beat him with just simple high-grade level-1 pills.

He still remembered how quickly and easily the other side could produce pills of this level, so he decided it was time to increase the difficulty.

After the first half-hour of refining, he pulled out more materials and continued working on them without stopping.

The pill he was about to produce was extremely challenging and required time to make.

If the pavilion elder hadn't been busy receiving tea from Ethan, she would have realized that what Xun Wei was preparing was a medium-grade level-2 pill.

Furthermore, it was one of the most complicated pills in that category.

Xun Wei had trained like a madman to improve significantly because he couldn't accept the fact that he had been defeated by someone like Ethan, and in such a crushing way, no less.

The humiliation from that defeat had been the fuel for his flames of revenge as he tirelessly refined his skills, and in the end, he finally achieved good results.

'You'll see, I'll make you pay with your own medicine,' he thought as he was ready to move on to the second phase of refining, which involved adding the materials one by one, in the correct doses, and cooking them in the cauldron.

This process was the most problematic for this pill because it required many materials, each with different doses, to be mixed in a specific sequence.

Taking a breath to calm himself, he proceeded, and as he did, he immersed himself completely in the refinement once again.

At this point, even the spectators had noticed what he was doing and couldn't help but wear expressions of shock as they realized the pill the other side was trying to produce.

"Th-that's a level-2 pill?" said one of the participants from the first category. Enjoy new tales from m-v l'-NovelFire

"It's not just any level-2 pill, that pill, it's the Pill of a Hundred Cures, and it's one of the most complicated medium-grade level-2 pills," said the boy next to him.

Even the only girl in their category, hearing this, couldn't help but worry for Ethan.

After all, there were only 15 minutes left.

It was impossible for Ethna to turn things around in such a short amount of time.

That was everyone's thought, and even Yan Mei, upon seeing what Xun Wei was preparing, was impressed for a moment, thinking that Ethan had no chance of winning anymore.

And so, while everyone was skeptical of Ethan, he, without caring about what they were thinking, lit the fire and grabbed some materials.

Hm?

Seeing his choice of materials, everyone couldn't help but glance at Xun Wei, then look back at Ethna's materials again.

"Wait, it can't be…"

"I don't believe it, is he really planning to refine the same pill as Senior Xun Wei?" said one of the boys, but their shock was shared by the rest of the spectators.

Everyone seeing this scene thought Ethan had lost his mind.

Even though they appreciated the good tea, they couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

After all, there were less than 15 minutes left, and the other side had decided to prepare such a complicated pill in this short amount of time?

No matter how fast he was, this particular pill was extremely complex, and speed alone wasn't enough.

There was no way he could refine it in such little time.

Even the pavilion elder, upon seeing what Ethna wanted to refine, simply shook her head, thinking the winner was already decided.

While everyone was lost in their thoughts, Ethan finally began.

And as soon as he did, everyone's gaze snapped to him, watching closely.

"What?" seaʀᴄh thё NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Wait, what are those movements, and what's with that incredible speed?" Everyone was stunned by what they saw in front of them.

Ethan, who had just started refining, simply waved his hand, and all the ingredients began to float around him.

With a snap of his fingers, each ingredient started to be processed on its own.

Some were ground by an invisible force, others peeled, others sliced, and so on.

In less than a minute, Ethna finished processing the materials, a task that had taken Xun Wei at least five minutes.

And that wasn't all.

With a single gesture, the materials started to be added to the cauldron one by one without stopping, and in just a few seconds, everything was inside the cauldron.

Seeing this scene, everyone thought Ethan had gone mad.

After all, he had practically thrown everything into the cauldron, ignoring the doses and timing.

Usually, ingredients were added in a specific order and at precise intervals.

You had to give time for the first ingredients to prepare before gradually adding the rest.

It was like preparing a dish.

First, you would cook some of the ingredients, and then add others little by little.

You couldn't just throw everything into the pan and hope for the same result.

At this point, everyone had stopped sipping their tea, watching with blank expressions as they looked at Ethan.

Ethan continued to ignore them and refined without any distractions.

Finally, the time passed, and there were only about two minutes left.

This remaining time was supposed to be used to mold the finished mixture into pills and place them into the provided glass vials.

Xun Wei did exactly that.

When there was about a minute left, he finished refining and proceeded to shape the pills, letting them cool for a few seconds before placing them into the vial.

"Hahaha, I finally did it," he said, wiping some sweat from his brow, tired but satisfied, as he prepared to hand the vial to the pavilion elder.

As he did so, he also saw Ethan arrive and, seeing the three pills in his vial, he scoffed with disdain and placed his pills in front of the elder.

In total, he had refined three high-grade level-1 pills and one medium-grade level-2 pill.

Yes, he had successfully refined the Pill of a Hundred Cures.

As he placed the pills on the table, he couldn't help but wonder what the other side had produced.

Although his victory was certain, the other side did have some skill, and he wanted to see what he had made.

Hm? Why do they look familiar?

He asked himself as he noticed more and more the resemblance between the three pills in Ethna's glass vial and one of his own pills.

"It can't be…"

And just as he realized what pills they were, the pavilion elder's voice came from the side:

"The victory goes to the masked boy."