On the vast plaza, silence reigned for a long while, until finally, waves of惋惜 sighs rose from the two sides of the audience sections. "Ah...," the young princess gently brushed the dust from her robe with her slender hand, lifted her gaze toward the white mist where Xiao Yan stood, and softly sighed, shaking her head. No one had expected that this once-considered the biggest dark horse of the tournament—capable of rivaling the enigmatic youth—would now be declared defeated due to this unfortunate turn of events. "This time, the guild truly faces a serious setback." "Haha! With Rock Jiao's defeat, Master Fama, could you please now announce the final standings?" After a burst of laughter, Yan Li finally restrained his inner excitement, raising his head to gaze at the distinguished guests—Fama and others—sitting at the front of the VIP section, and smiled warmly. "What shall we do?" Hai Bo Dong furrowed his brows, a faint, cold intensity shimmering on his face, casting a stern glance downward at Yan Li, and murmured in quiet concern. "What can we do? Can we really kill him right here in front of everyone?" Mamu's face was equally grim, though he now felt utterly helpless. "If only we had known back then—we should have dealt with him directly that night..." The elder cut off his words with a cold, decisive gesture. "Ah, killing him would have been a hassle... He's always holding onto our weakest point—the very thing we couldn't reveal to him." Shaking his head, Mamu sighed and offered a wry smile. "So, it seems we'll have to let him take the championship title. With all these eyes on us, the guild simply can't possibly detain him for some fabricated reason." Hearing this, both Hai Bodo and the elder furrowed their brows, exchanged glances, but found themselves with no solutions. They settled for a沉沉-faced nod. Stepping forward slowly, Mamu scanned the square, and the evident sense of helplessness in his voice was unmistakable. "According to the assembly's rules, whoever produces the highest-ranked and most practical medicine in this round is the ultimate winner... Princess Xiao and Liu Ling have both crafted fourth-rank elixirs, yet in terms of rank and practicality, they fall short of Yan Li's Purple Heart Breakthrough Elixir. Therefore..." The vast square fell utterly silent, with only the measured, resigned voice of Fama echoing through the air. "Therefore... the winner of this year's Galma Empire's Alchemist Assembly..." Yan Li, arms folded, smiled gently at the three members of Fama on the dais, whose faces were now stern, and stretched lazily. Now, he could already envision the acclaim he would receive upon returning to Chuyun, and how, by then, no one would be able to challenge his claim to the presidency of the Guild. "The winner... is Yan..." Fama finally gritted his teeth and slowly uttered the final words. "Wait!" Suddenly, a loud cry rang out on the plaza, cutting off Ma Fa's nearly finished words. Countless eyes followed the sound, eventually converging on the stone platform wrapped in a layer of white, cold mist—where the cry had originated. Shortly after the sound, the previously still white vapor surrounding the platform began to slowly fade. After a while, the mist had thinned so much that it no longer obscured the view, and the scene within became clearly visible to all. The solid blue stone platform had already cracked in several places due to the explosion of the medicinal cauldron. On the platform itself, the scene was a mess. As the gaze shifted slightly forward, they saw a young man clad in torn garments, supporting himself against the platform, breathing heavily. Blood streaks were faintly visible on his body—likely from fragments launched when the cauldron suddenly exploded. It seemed as though he had just sensed the fading of the last trace of cold. The young man lifted his slightly pale, ordinary face, his voice hoarse as he addressed the figure on the dais: "Shouldn't there still be about fifteen minutes until the competition ends?" "Fourteen minutes!" observing the now extremely frail Xiao Yan, Fama nodded in reply. "Rock Hawk, your cauldron has already exploded. Even if you have another fifteen minutes, what can you possibly do? Do you really think you can now replace the cauldron and start the process over? Hah! I'd advise you to simply concede. Stalling like this isn't the behavior of a man." Gazing at Xiao Yan once more, Yan Li couldn't help but mock with a sharp tone. "A man who has strength to fight yet chooses to retreat—this isn't what a man should do." With a quiet smile, Xiao Yan slightly tilted his head, a touch of scorn playing at the corner of his lips, and coldly replied, "Besides, who told you that I need to restart the process?" "What do you mean?" Watching Xiao Yan's enigmatic demeanor, Yan Li's smile gradually faded, and he grew increasingly uneasy, speaking sharply. Without answering Yan Li's query, Xiao Yan slowly raised his right hand beneath the unwavering gaze of the tens of thousands surrounding the plaza. With his palm slightly curved, a sudden surge of suction violently directed toward the sky. Following the direction of Xiao Yan's palm, the tens of thousands of eyes began to rise slowly, eventually pausing in astonishment at the floating white flame suspended in the sky. Due to its color blending seamlessly with the surrounding clouds, the white flame was hardly noticeable unless one paid close attention. This white flame was precisely the one that, as the medicinal cauldron was about to burst, Xiao Yan struck with a well-timed, precise force upon its base, enveloping the Three-Stripe Qingling Pill in a sphere of bone-spirit-cold fire and propelling it skyward—thus allowing the pill to escape the impact of the cauldron's explosion. In the final, critical moments of crisis, he had managed to calmly devise such a brilliant strategy to turn danger into safety, a feat that even Xiao Yan himself found admirable. What appeared at first to be a hasty, impulsive strike had actually transformed the pivotal situation of the entire event! "Staring at that white flame, Haibo Dong breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that, with Yanli's strength, he still seemed to be falling short of what was needed to defeat that little spirit. 'Good boy—indeed, he had underestimated him! But why does he always manage to make the match so unpredictable every time?' Old Jia clapped his hands, smiling and praising. Fama nodded in deep agreement. Watching this man compete, one could truly see that it would take a strong nerve to survive—this single match alone had already caused countless spectators to raise their hopes, then lower them again, only to raise them once more. 'A truly formidable opponent. In that final moment, he managed to think of such a clever way to preserve the medicine. Honestly, one simply can't help but be impressed!' Nalan Jie stroked his beard, smiling and praising enthusiastically." The full chest rose and fell gently as Lan Yan eructated a long, deep breath held in her chest, giving a slight nod. With a subtle motion of her hands, she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead without drawing attention. Unexpectedly, a grand reversal was now unfolding in a match that seemed destined to conclude. "What is this?" Inhaling the sky's white flames, which now cast a more intense aura of unease upon Yan Li's face than before, he muttered. Reaching back, Xiao Yan lowered his head and gazed at the jade-colored pill that had finally been successfully crafted after a series of twists and turns. He couldn't help but take a deep breath of the slightly cool air. The pill was the size of a dragon eye, with three concentric patterns—green, purple, and white—arranged in a perfectly orderly manner across its smooth surface. Holding it, Xiao Yan could clearly sense the vibrant energy flowing within. "Finally successful..." A look of satisfaction spread across his pale face. Since mastering the art of alchemy, this was the first time he had invested so much effort into crafting a single pill. "Successful, indeed? What rank is it?" Seeing the smile on Xiao Yan's face, the nearby princesses and others couldn't help but ask questions. Due to the coldness, the three-pattern Qingling Pill had not even released its fragrance—its aroma had been frozen solid by the chill. Thus, the princesses and others were unaware of the precise details of the pill Xiao Yan had prepared. Of course, though no fragrance had drifted out, they certainly didn't think it was a low-tier pill. Xiao Yan gave a light smile, glanced at Yan Li, who stood slightly distant with a gloomy expression and visibly agitated, then raised the pale pill high above his hands, fixing his gaze on the smiling Fama and others on the dais. His clear voice echoed across the plaza, resonating without fading. "A fourth-rank pill—the Three-Pattern Qingling Pill!" "Hah! Excellent!" Fama finally could no longer contain his excitement and burst into a warm, satisfied laugh. "Three-pattern Qingling Pill?!" The sound that reached his ears burst like thunder in Lin Li's mind, instantly exploding with force. His ears rang with resonance, and the proud expression on his face instantly turned pale. His gaze grew scattered, fixed on the jade-colored pill in Xiao Yan's hands. His legs gave way, and he finally sat down heavily on the ground.