The gray-robed young man's hat suddenly vanished, which surprised many, though no one had yet questioned the heads of Hai Bode or the others. At this moment, most of the audience's attention was firmly drawn to the boy's youthful face—perhaps the youngest participant in any of the many sessions of the Pharmaceutical Conclave. With a light tap on the lingering fragments of ice still clinging to his shoulders, the gray-robed youth raised his head and offered a cold smile to Hai Bode and the others seated on the guest platform. His lips moved slightly, and through his gestures, Fang Ma and the others clearly understood his words: "This year, I will win the championship!" "Do you see any signs of deception in him?" Fang Ma asked softly, lightly tapping the railing. Hai Bode and Jia Lao exchanged glances and then shook their heads slowly, speaking in a measured tone: "We don't see any signs of disguise..." "Then, your judgment is that he is truly that young?" If this is truly the case, I believe he has completely embodied what it means to be a true genius—compared to Liu Ling and Yan Xiao, their talents now seem remarkably ordinary." Fang Ma frowned. "Though I can't tell whether he's been pretending or not, his age certainly doesn't match what's recorded in the documents." Hai Bo Dong shook his head and said, "Looking at his sharp responsiveness to danger earlier, he doesn't seem like a typical seventeen-year-old. Rather, he bears the demeanor of a seasoned warrior who has faced countless battles. Moreover, the fact that he's only now revealing his true strength speaks volumes about his composure and inner resolve. I simply can't imagine a seventeen-year-old achieving such perfection in all these aspects." "The world isn't limited to mere disguise in order to achieve such an appearance. As a pharmacist, you should be more aware than us that certain unusual herbs or pills possess such peculiar effects." "Jia, in a low voice. "Indeed, there are some unusual prescriptions that can make a person appear youthful in appearance. However, these prescriptions are all exceedingly rare and extremely difficult to prepare... Yet if someone truly acquires one, unless they personally acknowledge their age, it would be hard for anyone else to distinguish them as elderly." Fangma nodded, pondering. "If an elderly person were to obtain such a prescription that restores their appearance to their youthful years, wouldn't they be able to seamlessly attend this gathering, passing undetected? At that point, who among the younger generation could possibly match them? It seems, then, that your gathering still has certain flaws." Hai Bodo frowned. "Do you really think such a prescription is that easy to prepare? And which elder would be willing to lose face and undertake such a thing? Should they be exposed, wouldn't they be utterly humiliated?" Fangma sighed, expressing his frustration. "Well, there's one below... I'm certain that despite this rather immature appearance, he harbors a deeply seasoned soul." Hai Bode spread his hands, nodding toward the gray-robed youth. "Can you really be sure? How could you, with so many people watching, just order him out on a word? After all, our Pharmaceutical Conclave claims to be open to any pharmacist—so naturally, it includes pharmacists from the Chuyun Empire as well." Fama smiled wryly. "So what do you intend to do now? If a pharmacist from the Chuyun Empire wins the championship, that would certainly be a significant blow to your guild's reputation." Jiaolao frowned. "What else can we do? We can only continue with the conclave as it is. If he fails, we'll save ourselves some trouble. Moreover... the young ones—Yan Xiao and the others—are far from easy to outmaneuver. What if they actually win against him?" Fama shrugged, saying. "Given the situation, it seems there might be some difficulties," Old Jia shook his head. "That's not certain at all," Hai Bode suddenly smiled, his eyes sweeping toward Xiao Yan in the center of the arena. "There might actually be a real surprise waiting..." "I hope so," said Fama, though he expressed this with a sigh. Though he spoke confidently, he wasn't particularly confident himself—Rock Jiao was indeed one of the rising stars among the younger generation, but that enigmatic gray-robed youth clearly didn't belong to that younger cohort. "Let's see first. If all else fails, after today's evaluation, we'll find a chance to—well, handle that one," Hai Bode said, patting Fama's shoulder lightly and gesturing casually. A faint edge of determination, almost of resolve, lingered on the elder's weathered face. Fahma's cloudy eyes narrowed slightly, and after a pause, he gently shook his head, sighed, and said, "We'll call it off. If things come to light, our reputation among the land's renowned alchemical guilds—the Karma Imperial Alchemical Guild—could suffer serious damage. The cost would be too high for us. This risk we simply can't take." "Fine with me," said Haibo Dong, shrugged, and said no more. He stepped back a few paces, settled lazily into his chair, and waited for the assembly to resume. Jia also patted Fahma on the shoulder and returned to his seat. "...He's actually so young?" The three of Xiao Yan were equally stunned by the boy's youthful appearance. Without the sharp eyes of Fahma and his companions, they found themselves speechless upon seeing him. "Is that boy from the Chuyun Empire?" "Princess has a sharp eye. Suddenly, she notices the insignia worn on the chest of the gray-robed young man. On the insignia, a radiant sun is slowly rising above the horizon—an image that is precisely the emblem of the Uryu Empire." "Hu? The name 'Uryu Empire'—it takes me a moment to catch it," Xiang Yan murmurs, a sudden image flashing in his mind: a graceful white-clad healer, drifting gently through the air—wasn't she the one who had journeyed to the Uryu Empire?" "Really from the Uryu Empire? Now this is quite interesting," Li Lin is equally startled, then softly remarks. As a disciple of the Dan King, he is well aware of the historical ties between the Gama and Uryu Empires. "Absolutely no way can he win the championship!" Li Lin says, fixing his gaze on Xiang Yan and the princess, his voice firm. Xiang Yan merely shrugs, unconcerned—since no one has instilled in him an adversarial sentiment toward the Uryu Empire, he doesn't harbor much resistance against them. The princess, however, nods seriously. … At the guest lounge counter, Fahu slowly exhaled, his cloudy gaze slightly cold, fixed steadily on the gray-robed youth below. After a pause, his calm voice echoed once more across the plaza. "Alright. Since everyone has completed the assessment, let's proceed to the second round of evaluations. Move your fingers and press the small red button located at the lower left of the stone platform." Heard clearly in his ears, Xiang Yan momentarily set the gray-robed youth aside, reached out, and pressed the red button. With the button pressed, the massive stone platform suddenly trembled subtly. The previously protruding machine retracted once more, and in its clean surface, a stack of neatly arranged herbs and a scroll of prescriptions slowly rose upward. "This prescription is the official one—crafted after our guild poured countless human resources and spent several months meticulously preparing it. This assessment requires you to successfully prepare the pills according to the prescription. The materials laid out before you are sufficient for two batches, meaning you still only have two chances. Once the herbs are completely consumed, your attempt will be deemed a failure." As the soul force scanned, a series of detailed data swiftly entered Xiao Yan's mind, and the various considerations needed during the crafting process were quickly and clearly memorized. This was the advantage of a standard prescription. "As described above, preparing Fengxing Dan requires the harmonization of nine herbs—though not an overwhelming number, it's still quite a few..." His gaze slowly swept over the nine herbs before him. "This kind of pill, once it reaches third-rank quality and with the recipe available, isn't particularly difficult to prepare. This assessment... seems rather straightforward. Maybe it's because we've been so rigorous in the past, and now we're just hoping for a smoother passage?" Shaking his head with a wry smile, Xiao Xin looked around and noticed that Princess Liu Ling and the others had slightly furrowed brows—clearly also surprised by how simple the evaluation appeared. "Whatever the reason, let's get started. As long as we can pass smoothly, that will be fine—no need to complicate things further." He quietly murmured, then took the purple pill into his mouth and sprayed the purple flame into the cauldron. In a quiet corner of the plaza, a young man in gray robes gazed calmly at the scroll in his hands, a faint smirk playing at the corners of his lips. "Just some little tricks... Is that all the capability of the Transmutation Guild of the Jiamar Empire?"