Chapter 195: Friendly conversation

.Finally, the first round of the finals concluded, and the top-ranked contestants in both categories were decided.

As no surprise to anyone, the winner of the experts' category was the masked boy.

Unlike the others, who had also delivered impressive performances, he had outclassed them overwhelmingly, leaving no doubt for the judges about his victory.

This was because, unlike them, he had refined a high-grade level 3 pill with an exceptionally high level of purity, whereas most of them had refined low-grade level 3 pills, with two participants managing to refine some medium-grade pills.

Normally, this result would have garnered much consideration, and these participants, Xiang Hau and Hu Xingyan, would have been praised, but unfortunately for them, this year they had to compete against a genius of this caliber who completely overshadowed their pills.

His pill received great recognition from all the judges, not only for its superiority over the others but also because it was a pill that no alchemist was known to be able to refine, as no one had yet managed to recreate the pill's recipe.

With his first place secured, Ethan was escorted away by the Grand Alchemist, who, to the clear dissatisfaction of the other judges, led him into his VIP room, the walls of which were immediately shut.

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Currently, in the VIP room, Ethan and the Grand Alchemist were seated around a table with two steaming cups of tea, chatting.

Bái Huò Shān, who had just taken a sip from his cup, couldn't help but widen his eyes as he felt the effects of the tea.

'This tea… it's rich with the spiritual essence of wood,' he marveled, enchanted by the tea he was drinking.

It had been prepared using tea herbs the masked boy had offered him as a gift for their meeting.

Initially, he hadn't thought much of it and had decided to brew some tea while he prepared to ask more about the Eternal Youth Pill, but to his surprise, as soon as the tea arrived, its aroma alone immediately captured his interest.

Once he took a sip, he felt a deeply relaxing sensation and could tell that a rich essence of the wood element was circulating through his body, relaxing and at the same time strengthening his internal organs.

Even the waitress who had prepared the tea felt its effects from the aroma alone, and she couldn't help but wish she could taste even just one sip of it.

But knowing she couldn't, she resisted while she poured it into two cups and served it to the masked boy and the Grandmaster.

While she did so, she wondered how he would drink it, given that he wore a mask over his face.

To her great surprise, when she finished pouring, the boy with the black mask handed her a small pouch, saying it contained some green tea herbs.

Initially, she wanted to refuse, knowing the herbs inside were certainly not simple green tea herbs, but very likely the same herbs used to prepare the tea they were now drinking.

However, with the Grandmaster's approval, she finally accepted.

This small gesture by Ethan managed to capture the heart of the young waitress, who now had an even better impression of him.

If Ethan's system could display the level of affection people had for him, there would no doubt have been a notification showing the rising impression level towards him, going through the roof. Searᴄh the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

As Bai Huò Shān savored the calming taste and effects of the tea, Ethan raised his hand to his face, about to remove his mask.

Noticing his action, both the waitress and Bai Huò Shān looked at him with anticipation written all over their faces.

After all, the person in front of them was someone who had demonstrated unparalleled alchemical skills, to the point that even an expert like Bai Huò Shān couldn't help but acknowledge him.

And yet, nothing was known about this person, not his real name, his origins, or even his appearance.

So seeing him take off his mask created a sense of expectation in both of them as they waited for him to reveal his face.

As soon as he removed it, the face that emerged was that of a young man with delicate features, yet at the same time sharp and well-defined, flawless in every way.

This was Ethan's real face, not the one he had kept at age 20 all this time.

Seeing it, the waitress felt her heart skip a beat, nearly fainting on the spot.

If there had been a system function to show how impressed others were with him, it would have been maxed out at this point, breaking the meter.

Needless to say, Ethan had just made another "victim" of his natural appearance.

Even Bai Huò Shān couldn't help but compliment him, saying:

"Young alchemist, this truly is a revelation.

Now I understand why you keep the mask on your face," he said, nodding.

"Ha ha ha, if you went around revealing your appearance, all the women in the city might faint," he joked, gesturing toward the waitress, who kept her head lowered to avoid looking at him, practically swooning.

Hearing the Grand Elder's words, she realized he had noticed her reaction, and her face turned red.

Ethan didn't make much of this, simply saying:

"Haha, there's no need to exaggerate. I'm just slightly above average," he said calmly, as though indifferent, though internally he welcomed the elder's words, expecting him to continue for a bit longer.

Seeing Ethan's shameless behavior, Bai Yu almost felt like smacking him across the face.

She still remembered when, after breaking through to the fifth grade, he told her it was no problem if she wanted a portrait of him to hang in her room.

Then she beat him for an hour, making him understand that although he'd advanced, he was still far from having the upper hand against her.

Bai Yu knew that if this training maniac had seized the excuse to go out with his real appearance, he would probably create an uproar wherever he went, almost certainly making enemies of all the men in the city.

The worst part was that Ethan had indeed considered doing it during their tour of the capital.

If she hadn't threatened to beat him up if he ruined their rest day, he probably would have continued doing so.

Finally, Ethan and the elder had a bit more conversation, creating a friendly atmosphere between them.

Even the waitress, who had somewhat recovered and become accustomed to Ethan's face, wondered when was the last time she had seen the Grandmaster so happy interacting with someone.

Although the only times she had the opportunity to see him were during tournaments, this wasn't the first time he'd met someone during these events, and he always maintained a majestic air typical of a scholar dedicated entirely to his profession.

From what she had heard, it was said that all Grandmaster-level alchemists spent most of their time doing research, experiments, and perfecting alchemy.

Their level of dedication to their profession always inspired young alchemists and encouraged them to aspire to reach their level.

Finally, the two returned to the main topic, and Bai Huò Shān, unable to resist his curiosity any longer, asked directly:

"Tell me, young friend, may I ask how you obtained the recipe for the Eternal Youth Pill?"