Chapter 162: 30 to 21

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The difficulty of the first question lay in everyone's expectations.

Most of the participants would have chosen a difficulty level of 2 or 3 as a starting point to test the waters,

and seeing the question that was asked, everyone knew it was a good place to begin.

The question itself wasn't complicated.

Its main challenge resided in the way it had to be answered.

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In other words, the completeness of the content required.

One had to be careful not to say too much, nor too little.

A balance had to be found, highlighting the main points without exaggerating their importance.

Most of the participants could say they could handle a question of this level.

Now everyone anxiously awaited the question that would be asked to the masked boy.

He had chosen a higher difficulty compared to the other participant, and everyone assumed it was probably at level 4.

They didn't know why he wanted to start directly with a question of this level, but it was fine for them;

after all, it was as if he would be their test subject, allowing them to gauge the level of difficulty and decide whether or not to aim for the same.

Of course, there were some among the group watching who didn't have these thoughts, having already made their decisions.

They only watched to see how things would go.

Unlike them, however, the examiner had a smile on his face as he prepared the question.

'Well, it would have been disappointing if he hadn't started with a difficulty like this,' he thought as he prepared to announce the question.

"What is a 'pseudo-spiritual pill,' and how does it differ from a real spiritual pill?" As soon as he finished asking the question, the crowd fell silent. Searᴄh the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"A pseudo-spiritual pill?

What the heck is a spiritual pill in the first place?"

"I don't think I've ever heard of a pill like that before.

Could they have gotten the name wrong?"

"No, I doubt they did. I mean, he's a master alchemist.

He wouldn't get the name of a pill wrong even by accident."

While the crowd quickly began discussing this unfamiliar pill, Ethan immediately started answering without losing a second:

"A 'pseudo-spiritual pill' is a pill that externally seems to have all the characteristics of a spiritual pill but lacks the true spiritual essence needed for full effectiveness.

These pills can be created accidentally when the alchemist fails in the process of infusing essence, or they can be the result of inferior alchemical practices.

A pseudo-spiritual pill has much weaker effects compared to a genuine spiritual pill and could even cause side effects if consumed.

Only a high-level alchemist can perceive the difference through their spiritual sense."

Ethna stopped here without delving further into what the pill was for or its various uses.

He made sure to stay within the limits of the question posed, avoiding any unnecessary explanations of the different uses.

If it weren't for the vast knowledge the system had given him, even he doubted he would have known about such a pill.

He was sure he hadn't heard mention of a pill like this in the alchemy texts he had read to get an idea of the alchemy level in the mortal plane.

Of course, he didn't think he had acquired all the knowledge present here, but he had learned enough to get an idea of the level of the alchemists of this plane.

A spiritual essence pill was a level 4 pill that only the most skilled master alchemists and grandmaster alchemists could attempt to produce.

It allowed the soul to have a bit more defense, making cultivation in the fourth and fifth stages more stable.

The process of producing this pill was somewhat complicated and required that the alchemist have a certain mastery in handling spiritual essences, a form of energy produced directly using spiritual energy.

This level of knowledge was still far beyond the alchemists barely reaching the level of grandmaster alchemists, so it was normal that many of them hadn't even heard of such a pill.

Seeing the speed and precision of Ethna's answer, even the examiner was surprised for a moment, but then he recovered, nodding inwardly at Ethna's response.

'It seems like this year we'll have some pleasant surprises,' he thought as he announced the result.

"The answer is correct; you've earned the maximum points," he said as Ethan's score went from 0 to 5.

As soon as the people saw that score, they wore stunned expressions, realizing the difficulty Ethna had chosen for his first question.

"Damn, is he crazy, choosing that level right from the first question?"

"More importantly, how on earth did he know about that pill? He even got the maximum points."

From the question alone, people could tell that the difficulty was certainly high, and many doubted that it was only at level 4.

Seeing that he had indeed chosen the highest level right from the start, they understood they had been right.

This madman had started with maximum difficulty, right from the start.

And so, with just the first question, Ethaa had already secured a score higher than his opponent.

And with the following questions, the situation only worsened for his opponent.

For the second question as well, Ethan chose the highest difficulty, and just like before, he answered excellently.

Ethan's opponent, on the other hand, had chosen a level 4 difficulty this time, hoping to close the gap a little, but he ended up giving an incorrect answer, earning only 2 points out of 4.

He knew that if he wanted a chance to turn the situation around, he had to take a risk.

The first attempt had gone badly, but at this point, he had no choice but to gamble again or face defeat, so he tried another level 4 question and this time answered correctly, gaining 4 points.

This lifted his spirits, and he wanted to see what difficulty Ethan would choose next, but he didn't expect him to go for the highest difficulty once again and answer correctly, just like the previous times.

In the end, everyone realized that Ethna wasn't an easy opponent, and just as they had expected, he defeated his opponent with a crushing score of

30 to 21.