Chapter 810: Xu Xueshen's Overwhelming Victory, Handing in the Paper Early?

Xu Xiaoshou looked to his right at the group of contestants, once again fully engrossed in their frantic analysis, and a strange expression appeared on his face.

Inside the spiritual array, he raised his hand once more.

"Again?" Dongling, on the judges' panel, was already used to it and asked directly, "What is it?"

As expected, she didn't move, but the spiritual array was closed. This time, Young Master Xu remained silent, but Xiao Wanfeng's trembling voice emerged: "Presidents, my Young Master Xu... he's requesting three more blank jade slips."

The eighteen judges stared in disbelief. After a brief moment of stunned silence, the elder presidents all reacted simultaneously. Adding three more blank jade slips could only mean one thing: Young Master Xu believed this incomplete alchemical formula had sixteen variations.

"Absurd!" "Preposterous!" "This child is unbelievably brazen!" The elder presidents cursed under their breath, one after another. Young Master Xu's action was a direct slap in their face.

The eighteen judges, despite their lifelong experience, could only deduce a maximum of thirteen variations from the incomplete alchemical formula in a short period. Did this kid really believe he could achieve the impossible, coming up with sixteen variations after just one look at the incomplete formula?

"President Dongling, I request to expel..." Lu Chenghui's angry words were cut short by Dongling. "Alright, we'll add them," she said to Young Master Xu. "The judging panel will approve reasonable requests from contestants."

"How is that reasonable?!" President Lu raged from behind. Three blank jade slips were a minor matter. The crucial point was Young Master Xu's truly arrogant attitude; he was challenging their authority!

"Perhaps it's youthful arrogance, or perhaps it's exceptional talent, isn't it?" Dongling looked back with a smile. She gazed at the many presidents and said seriously, "But we absolutely cannot stifle a young talent with dreams. Perhaps he really can do it?"

"This is what you call having dreams?" another elder president cursed aloud; clearly, Lu Chenghui wasn't the only one who couldn't stomach it. "This is nothing short of daydreaming!"

"Indeed," another added, "one hour to deduce sixteen variations, three of which we ourselves don't even know? This isn't just grandstanding; it's making a fuss for no reason."

"He can't do it at all!" someone scoffed. "He shouldn't think he can look down on everyone just because he refined a few top-grade Profound Thirst Pills; those are only rank seven after all."

"But what if?" Shi Ti, acting as a contrarian within the judging panel, raised the possibility. He said, "Learning has no limits, and the most capable lead the way. What if, with his background as a Half-Saint's successor, he has encountered alchemical formulas that we've never seen?"

These words instantly angered everyone. "How old is he?!" a voice boomed. "Even if a Half-Saint's successor has profound knowledge and has encountered countless alchemical formulas, his age isn't enough to support him learning *all* of the low-tier alchemical formulas at such a young age—*all* of them!" A president emphasized, highlighting "age" and "all."

"Indeed, a Half-Saint background is impressive, but he's too young," another agreed. "Alchemy is an art that requires the accumulation of time and experience. I don't believe he can list sixteen formulas, or even thirteen... no, three would be a stretch!"

The variations that could be deduced from the incomplete alchemical formula were all rare ones. Otherwise, if the great geniuses of the Five Regions could just glance at it and know it was a standard formula they'd refined before, wouldn't it be effortlessly done?

"Just give him a chance," Dongling said, smiling as she suppressed the elders' anger and instructed the staff to send three more blank jade slips. The elder presidents loudly protested, but when it came to being rational, they were rational. Ultimately, no one stopped her. They actually wanted to see what kind of answer this grandstanding fellow would eventually produce.

A staff member from the judges' side moved, heading back towards Spiritual Array No. 1 to deliver three blank jade slips. This scene, in the incomparably quiet alchemy competition arena, could not help but capture everyone's attention.

Almost all the contestants in the arena noticed the activity at Spiritual Array No. 1. "What's he doing?" they wondered. No one was unaware of what it meant for those three blank jade slips to be delivered. Yet, no contestant dared to believe that someone in the arena actually thought they could deduce up to sixteen variations.

"Even one is difficult for me..." a contestant murmured, staring blankly in the direction of Spiritual Array No. 1. Was this a case of comparing oneself to others being infuriating?

"No, he's disrupting our focus," Zhu Yan muttered, having also noticed the scene but with a different interpretation. "It's just like in regular alchemy assessments when I'd submit my pills early to create panic among others."

"Seriously?!" Yu Chuchu exclaimed, looking to the side and watching Xiao Wanfeng receive the three jade slips and begin to thank them. She felt her composure starting to crack. Her mental fortitude wasn't strong enough to accept this scene. While she had only just grasped a slight direction for the first variation, someone on site had deduced all the variations of the incomplete formula, even three more than the judging panel? Did this make sense?

On the viewing platform and among the outside spectators, people were also clutching their heads. "How arrogant Young Master Xu is!" "Hahahaha, I just want to see Young Master Xu fail to submit a perfect answer after this, and be scorned by everyone," someone laughed. "Damn it, he's infuriating! I've always hated contestants who submit early, let alone these monstrous talents who dare to question the examiners' questions!" "Sixteen variations, he's so confident, I like it..." someone murmured.

Inside Spiritual Array No. 1, Xiao Wanfeng handed Young Master Xu three brand-new blank jade slips. Listening to the surrounding public opinion, he felt like crawling into a crack in the ground. "Young Master Xu," he asked, "are you truly confident?"

"What, you doubt me too?" Xu Xiaoshou asked, looking at him.

"It's not doubt," Xiao Wanfeng replied, "it's just that this seems... seems a bit too much..." "It's not too much," Xu Xiaoshou affirmed.

Xu Xiaoshou patted his head and said earnestly, "Wanfeng, never limit your vision narrowly among your peers. Otherwise, you'll never surpass legends and become the supreme being."

Xiao Wanfeng's eyes lit up, and his spirits lifted. Young Master Xu actually didn't consider any of the contestants present as his equals? His true enemy was only himself! "Constantly surpassing himself..." Xiao Wanfeng murmured to himself, his gaze at Young Master Xu now filled with reverence. Regardless, being able to say such words proved that Young Master Xu truly had boundless ambition. And wasn't this precisely the fighting spirit, a desire to compete with the heavens, that a swordsman needed?

"I'm about to begin," Xu Xiaoshou declared, ignoring Xiao Wanfeng, who was lost in his own reverie. His fingers slid over the sixteen blank jade slips spread out on the table, one by one, and his mind began to race furiously.

It had to be said, the judging panel was indeed formidable. After he encountered the incomplete alchemical formula, the sixteen variations that flashed through his mind were all rare formulas. At least, Xu Xiaoshou himself had never refined even one of them. And the key to the assessment lay precisely here.

For pills they hadn't refined or even encountered, ordinary contestants couldn't restore the formula. This was because an alchemical formula recorded not only the entire refining process but also intricate details and various special precautions, all of which required extensive attempts to deduce. So even if someone looked at an incomplete formula and felt they had seen something similar and vaguely remembered it, without ever successfully refining it, no one could be certain they could perfectly restore the formula.

Xu Xiaoshou was confident that if the contestants in the arena couldn't refine the pills successfully, even if they eventually restored the formula based on experience, it would absolutely not be perfect. At the very least, for pure formula restoration, they couldn't get a perfect score on this item. In the end, everyone was just competing to be the best among the mediocre.

But he was different! "Culinary Mastery" had given him all the underlying fundamentals—everything!

Originally, he had doubted his own lack of creativity. But the hints given by the incomplete formula were too much for him. With one main ingredient and seventy-two auxiliary ingredients, he could instantly filter out a rough selection of the low-tier formulas given by Elder Sang from his memory. Then, through comparative verification and medicinal property fusion deduction, just by mentally pre-enacting the deductions, Xu Xiaoshou felt he could get it about ninety percent right.

"First variation, rank ten, Extinguishing Fire Pill." Settling his mind, Xu Xiaoshou took out the alchemy cauldron Shi Ti had given him and squinted, beginning his analysis.

The Extinguishing Fire Pill's main function was to calm the mind and spirit, allowing spiritual refiners to enter meditative states more effectively. It also had a minor function of removing inner demons that arose during cultivation. This pill's efficacy was very strong, but the Extinguishing Fire Pill was expensive to produce, its refining technique was extremely complex, yet the final pill was only rank ten.

This type of rank ten pill was generally only used by spiritual refiners in the Post-Heaven Realm. However, among Post-Heaven spiritual refiners, geniuses didn't have problems with failed meditation, while the untalented either couldn't cultivate or couldn't afford such expensive pills. As for inner demons, someone who had just started cultivating generally wouldn't have any. This led to no one using the Extinguishing Fire Pill, and over the years, it had practically become extinct; one couldn't even find the finished pill on the market, let alone its formula.

Xu Xiaoshou knew about this pill because it was recorded in the comprehensive collection of alchemical formulas given by Elder Sang, but he had only glanced at it and couldn't recall the details clearly. If even he, with his exceptional memory, was like this, imagine other contestants.

But now, through "Culinary Mastery," boldly verifying and carefully experimenting, Xu Xiaoshou meticulously perfected the details of this formula step by step.

"Xiao Wanfeng, request the following ingredients from the judging panel: Flower of Annihilation, Quiet Seed, Ice Heart Lotus Seed..." Xu Xiaoshou turned his head, closed his eyes, his mind replaying the alchemy process repeatedly, muttering to himself. Xiao Wanfeng noted each item, raised his hand inside the spiritual array, and requested the ingredients from the summoned staff. Soon, the medicinal materials were delivered.

"He's started!" The spectators who witnessed this scene were astonished. Young Master Xu was the first person to begin refining pills! How much time had passed?

Excluding the commotion he just caused, the time this guy spent seriously thinking wasn't even a few minutes. Meanwhile, other seemingly more serious contestants in the arena hadn't even heated their cauldrons yet, let alone having any alchemy ideas in their minds.

"He really started?" Yu Chuchu in Spiritual Array No. 2 had her thoughts interrupted once again. Young Master Xu's movements were too conspicuous. Setting up the cauldron, summoning the chickens, selecting ingredients, refining pills... the refining process flowed smoothly, as if he had rehearsed it countless times in his mind, or as if he had encountered that type of pill before.

"This can't be real, can it?" Yu Chuchu's head throbbed. She had only just deduced that a possible pill from this incomplete formula was the rank-seven "Minor Thunder Pill," but the main spiritual ingredients hadn't even been produced yet, and Young Master Xu had already started. "Darn it..." Yu Chuchu felt immense pressure.

Usually, she was the one who put pressure on others by submitting early. Now, the "top student" was being crushed by the "academic god," and Yu Chuchu felt a qualitative difference in their abilities.

"Well?" On the judges' panel, a group of presidents eagerly stared at the slip of paper in Dongling's hand. This was the list of missing spiritual ingredients Xiao Wanfeng had written down for the judging panel to provide. Without a doubt, if anything on this slip of paper was incorrect, it would prove that Young Master Xu was truly grandstanding.

Dongling, with a solemn expression, scanned the contents of the slip from top to bottom. She was silent for a moment, then handed it over, saying, "There's not a single problem. He's going to refine an Extinguishing Fire Pill."

The elder presidents were immediately shaken. Lu Chenghui shook his head, calling it impossible. "How much time has passed?" he exclaimed. "Did someone really deduce the Extinguishing Fire Pill?" He snatched the slip, his eyes quickly scanned it, and then he fell into a daze. "It really is the Extinguishing Fire Pill..." he murmured.

The group of presidents nearby, seeing this, realized something was amiss. The slip of paper was quickly passed around. Soon, after the old-timers read it, they seemed to have been drained of all energy, slumping into their seats, silent for a long while.

"Did we set the question too simply? Did someone come into contact with the Extinguishing Fire Pill beforehand?" one president wondered. "We can't rule out that possibility, but it's unlikely!" another countered. "Look at the other contestants in the arena; they're completely clueless. So it's not us who have a problem, it's Young Master Xu..." "Is he truly not cheating?" "Cheating should be impossible. Now, let's see the details of his alchemy. He can list the spiritual ingredients for a rank ten Extinguishing Fire Pill, but that doesn't mean he's refined this pill. Perhaps he's only encountered it, but doesn't know the details." "Exactly!" another agreed. "Details are key. A formula requires details; otherwise, anyone could just list the spiritual ingredients, couldn't they?"

As the elders spoke, they all looked towards Spiritual Array No. 1. Rows of black chickens were selecting ingredients as if going to their deaths. Young Master Xu had his eyes closed, taking the time to inscribe the alchemy details onto the first blank jade slip...

"Is he joking?" Lu Chenghui's face twitched as he watched. "Does he not need to monitor the process when refining pills? Or has he refined this Extinguishing Fire Pill countless times?"

The black chicken alchemy technique that had provoked countless complaints in the previous round went uncriticized by any of the elder presidents at this moment. Young Master Xu was too crazy! He was refining pills while simultaneously inscribing the jade slips. This scene of multitasking, especially in alchemy, a task requiring utmost concentration, was incredibly impressive.

Time continued to pass. The elders silently watched the leisurely scene at Spiritual Array No. 1, collectively speechless. "Smooth as flowing water..." someone quietly murmured, they didn't know when. The elders all nodded, then quickly reacted and all shook their heads. After that, they looked at each other, exchanged glances, and awkwardly laughed aloud. They didn't want to admit it, but they had to: there wasn't a single flaw in the details of Young Master Xu's alchemy!

Soon, the alchemy process reached its end. *Whoosh!* A ray of colorful light burst forth, soaring into the sky. On the viewing platform and among the outside spectators, people watched in a daze. Another pill-forming glow! Another early submission!

The other ninety-nine contestants in the arena were still at a loss, yet Young Master Xu had already completed a batch of pills? Was he cheating?

"Quick, quick, quick..." The elder presidents on the judges' panel were in a frenzy, one by one, instructing the staff to bring up the finished pill from Spiritual Array No. 1 for an early inspection.

In the other ninety-nine spiritual arrays, the contestants simultaneously turned their heads. "What?" The pill-forming glow was too exaggerated. Even if they didn't want to pay attention, they couldn't help but be disturbed. After all, there was a precedent...

"Young Master Xu, he's already completed a pill?" Yu Chuchu's face was full of bitterness as she looked down at herself, who hadn't even started warming her cauldron. She realized that she, a rank six alchemy grandmaster, was like trash in front of Young Master Xu, completely incomparable!