The list of pills ca a few minutes later. It wasn't brought over by anyone at all. In fact, the list appeared by itself, hovering in multiple places around the hall like a giant illusory picture.
The list of pills had close to 200 nas in it, ranging from pills that gave 8 points to pills that gave 22 points. No doubt, the ones that gave 22 points were strong pills that were difficult to make even just by themselves. They were about as strong as the Heavensent Invincibility pill, which had taken Alex his everything to barely make it just half a century ago. He had gotten a lot better now, but even so, making 10 of them at once was not within his capacity.
He needed to acknowledge his own shortcomings and choose an appropriate one.
He began making a ntal list of what pills he would make. No one bothered him or ca to talk to him. They all took their own ti, making certain they knew what they were doing.
After a long thought, Alex selected 9 different pills, which ant he was going to try to make 90 different pills in half an hour. Had it been anyone else, it could've been considered suicidal, but Alex was sure he could do it.
He would just need to give it his all. Of course, he didn't imdiately go list his pills to the staff as his turn wouldn't co for another 16 days. He let the ones who had their turn tomorrow choose their pills first.
He finally turned down the barrier around him and began talking with his friends. Jai Heiyun had decided to take the lesser-risk option and chose to make many of the weakest of pills. Her turn would apparently co early 3rd month, so she didn't have much to worry about.
Thousandleaf and Riveroak didn't have much to say as they hadn't yet chosen anything. Their turn was toward the latter half as well, so they were waiting to see what would happen.
Aethersage had decided, however, that he would be making 9 different pills. Just like Alex.
Alex was surprised and wondered if he planned to do the sa thing as him. It was certainly possible.
They talked among themselves for a long ti, helping each other with choices, when the ti finally arrived. The screen that had been showing them the list of pills until now suddenly changed to show the massive stage that had been prepared outside, with millions of people seated all around the giant arena, waiting to watch the tournant. The Alchemy God arrived on stage, along with a host of other major alchemists, including Silvermist, and began welcoming the crowd to the tournant, explaining the purpose of this competition.
It wasn't just the participants that were kept in the dark after all. Not even the crowd knew what they were here to watch, other than the many alchemists that were going to be the future of the Human Immortal realms.
After a brief introduction and explanation of the upcoming tournant, it began.
The first 50 participants were called onto the stage, their nas flashing across the screen briefly as they made their way onto the stage.
'Nineheart. Master - Sixcloud Sage. Bloodhaven.'
'Liao Mozhe. Master - Windgrove. Celestial's Cradle.'
'Fang Guohan. Master - Silkbreeze. Fiend's Sanctuary.'
'…'
'…'
A list of their nas, their master's na, and the location where they had co from flashed on the screen briefly, but long enough for everyone to read the information.
There wasn't any na Alex recognized in the first 50 participants, so he waited and watched.
The competition started regularly and they began bringing out their cauldrons. So brought out one, so brought out two, and so brought out 3. The varying number of cauldrons spoke to either their skill or either their plan. Or maybe even just their level of confidence.
The competition started and a tir appeared in the sky on top of the stage that was also visible inside the hall on the screen. The participants all began making pills, and for a mont it was a simple matter of waiting and watching them do the work.
For the next half an hour, nobody said a single word, simply watching the screen, trying to notice who made a mistake or who was doing exceptionally well.
It was easy to tell who was doing everything right. They tended to be calm and without worry. The ones who had an issue appeared frustrated and sotis even angry. So began hyperventilating as they panicked, the fear of loss setting into them.
By the ti the first round of competition was over, the people were on the two sides of the extre. They were either happy with their performance or very much disappointed with themselves. There was no in-between.
The Alchemy God's people, who were waiting by the stage from the start, swooped in and collected everyone's pills, checking the points right there in front of the alchemists. Many of the alchemists were tired from having to make so many pills in such a short ti, but they were prepared for this. They spent a few minutes, helping the others co up with the numbers, and the by the end of it, the scores were recorded.
A na flickered into existence on a new board, a man who had earned a total of 2796 points. People were slightly surprised, trying to calculate how many pills he must have made, when another na flickered in, earning 3169 points. That was much higher.
Then another number flickered in and another, until all 50 nas were on the list. The na at the last had earned a total of only 1982 points, while the one at the top had earned a whopping 4828 points.
That set the stage for everyone on what sort of pills they had to make if they wanted to stay in the tournant.
The next 50 contestants were called out in the hall, who then made their way to the arena where either glory or failure awaited them.
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