Chapter 285: Pressure

Translated by Kollumceti of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

You XiaoMo plucked the dark green magic pill that flew out of the cauldron from the air. There was excitement and pleasant surprise expressed on his face. Truth to be told, he did not have much confidence in refining a successful Bone Growth Pill before he had started.

You XiaoMo had tried to refine the Bone Growth Pill before the competition, but his chances of success were not high. Thus, he had a hint of apprehension in his heart when he was refining the Bone Growth Pill this time.

If he failed, he could only resort to the next best thing, which was to refine a low-grade magic pill. He could also refine a mid-grade magic pill, but there may not be enough time to complete the pill. Fortunately, he had finally succeeded in refining the Bone Growth Pill.

As his station was near the rear, he had to wait for his turn to arrive to submit his pill for assessment.

You XiaoMo held his magic pill out and eagerly waved his hand at Ling Xiao below, with excitement etched on his face.

Ling Xiao evilly mimed a biting action in his direction. The former immediately retracted his hand when he saw that, and he schooled his face to display solemnness and fixed his gaze to wait for his assessment.

BaiLi XiaoYu and Jiang XiaoFeng who had seen this exchange snickered. Tong YueXu and Teng ZiXin were at stations that were in front of You XiaoMo, so it was not long before their turn came.

As Tong YueXu and the nine other participants walked up together, almost all the eyes of the spectators were upon him. His speed of jumping from a level four mage to a level six mage in nearly a year could be compared to You XiaoMo. Although forcibly raising one’s foundation was not advisable, everyone was still quite curious about his score.

“Put your pills inside the apparatus.” The Fifth Elder said as he indicated to them.

Tong YueXu was the first to walk up once the instruction was given. He respectfully clasped his hands and bowed to the Fifth Elder before putting the pill he had refined inside.

A highly-concentrated beam of purple light instantly burst out. The Fifth Elder looked at it and immediately announced, “Low-grade level six magic pill, with a high-grade quality. The total is four points.”

At once, gazes of envy fell onto Tong YueXu. As he had refined a low-grade magic pill, it only got him one point, but the quality of his magic pill was high-grade, which got him a high score of three points.

Although the pills of the other participants were mid and high-grade level six pills, the quality of most of the pills was low to mid-grade. Therefore their total score was lower.

After that, the participants submitted their pills for assessment one after another. Most got two or three points, and several participants were even eliminated.

After another round, it was finally Teng ZiXin’s turn.

In actual fact, this form of assessment was just a type of formality. Everyone already had an estimation of their score in their hearts. Teng ZiXin also knew the number of points she could get, and there was no excitement on her face.

However, the one in front of her was the Fifth Elder, one of the Eight Giants in the academy. Even she did not dare to offend him. She clasped her hands and greeted in in a respectful voice, “Student Teng ZiXin offers greetings to Fifth Elder!”

The Fifth Elder signaled for her to put her pill inside. Teng ZiXin took out her pill and put and put it into the apparatus.

The Fifth Elder looked at the strong ray of light emitting from the apparatus and gave a slight nod before announcing, “A mid-grade level six magic pill with a high-grade quality, it’s a total of five points.”

This score was very high, and was tied for first place with the several earlier participants. The other participants did not have high-grade magic herbs, but the level of their magic pills was higher, so their points and Teng ZiXin’s were the same. They were currently tied for first place.

However, Teng ZiXin’s face held no trace of joy, and after she calmly withdrew, she glanced back at You XiaoMo.

The crowd followed her gaze, but was speechless when they found that that the person she was looking at did not notice the situation here. His head was tilted, and he seemed to be chatting with a person below the stage with no sense of tension at all.

However as long as one’s nerves were not too thick, it was impossible for them to miss the gazes of the audience. You XiaoMo looked back in surprise, and saw that everyone was watching him. He stared blankly then rubbed his nose in embarrassment. It should not be his turn yet ba?

No matter how one looked, this appearance and attitude gave off a hint of thoughtlessness.

Everyone directed their gazes away when they saw this. It was true that it was not yet his turn.

After another two rounds, it was finally You XiaoMo’s turn. All at once, a multitude of spectators focused their attention on him. The highest score so far was five points. If You XiaoMo could not get a total of six points, it was very possible for his score to tie with Teng ZiXin and the three others who got five points.

You XiaoMo walked to the Fifth Elder, respectfully clasped his hands and said, “Student You XiaoMo offers greetings to Fifth Elder.”

The Fifth Elder exposed a rarely seen slight smile. Although it was only a light tug of the lips, it was still discovered by others, “It’s your turn now. Let me see what kind of ability Duan QiTian’s disciple has!”

You XiaoMo was somewhat taken aback, and after pausing for a moment, he put the magic pill into the apparatus.

The Fifth Elder pushed the button, and looked at the distinct ray of light and number on the apparatus, “A high-grade level six pill with a high-grade quality. The total – six points!”

At this announcement, the venue fell silent. A moment later, exclamations of admiration echoed out, You XiaoMo was indeed worthy of being Great Master Duan’s disciple!

Though it had been expected, it was quite shocking to personally witness this. The news of You XiaoMo and Teng ZiXin advancing caused a buzz a while back, therefore many knew of his current level. The audience could not hide the wonder and envy in their eyes when they looked at You XiaoMo.

The two’s scores may only differ by one point, but the chasm of this one point was enormous.

Teng ZiXin looked at You XiaoMo’s back. Her heart that was full of jealousy and resentment now stilled, but it was as if there were now torrents of flames burning in her eyes. She definitely would not give up. Sooner or later she would surpass You XiaoMo and crush him beneath her feet.

When the attention of the spectators was concentrated on You XiaoMo, Teng ZiXin glared at his back for a while, before she suddenly turned and left.

You XiaoMo took his pill back and was about to turn and walk away.

Suddenly, the Fifth Elder called out to him, “Your master asked this old man to pass a message to you.”

You XiaoMo was stunned as he looked back. The old geezer had something to say to him?

The Fifth Elder gave a faint smile, “Your master knew that you were going to participate in this year’s competition. So a few days ago, he asked this old man to pass you a message. He said, if you cannot get into the top three, don’t show him your face.”

You XiaoMo’s mouth twitched. That shitty old geezer, he was clearly not in the academy, and he actually went back to his old tricks?! Did he not know that his current level was only a low-grade level six mage?!

It was impossible for a person of this level to enter into the top three unless one had some special strategy. He seriously doubted that the old geezer had even thought about this point.

You XiaoMo restrained himself and left after giving his thanks. Although getting into the top three put some pressure on him, it was not impossible to achieve that. However he soon discovered that the pressure on his shoulders had increased.

This was because there were two other strong mages who went up after him.

You XiaoMo now discovered that one was Qing Qiu, and unexpectedly, the other resembled Chai Jun.

Ling Xiao whispered in his ear, “That person should be Chai Jun’s older brother, Chai Zheng.”

You XiaoMo nervously twiddled his hands, “I remembered that Gao-dage said that Chai Zheng was a level five mage. He’s now a level six mage, this speed of advancement is so fast.”

Hearing their conversation, BaiLi XiaoYu interjected, “No matter how fast he is, it can’t be faster than yours. Before you entered the academy, Chai Zheng was already a peak level five mage. Although his innate skill was not as high as Teng ZiXin’s, he is one of the leaders of the younger generation.”

You XiaoMo was now mostly certain that the uncomfortable gaze he felt before the competition belonged to Chai Zheng. But this person behaved quite reservedly, from the start of the competition till now, he no longer showed any hint of hostility to him.

Just as he thought this, the Chai Zheng abruptly looked in his direction.

You XiaoMo met his eyes. It was a pair of eyes that held a faint provocative and contemptuous expression. Although it was not too noticeable, he was able to see through it with a single glance.

Chai Zheng and Qing Qiu were quite famous in Block Two, especially Qing Qiu with her strength and beautiful looks. The most important point was that she did not put on airs, so she was very popular in Ward B. Once she went up, the atmosphere became lively again.

Qing Qiu slowly walked to the front of the Fifth Elder, and gave a poised bow, “Qing Qiu pays her respects to Elder Wang.”

Seeing that Qing Qiu had stolen the first move, unhappiness flashed in Chai Zheng’s eyes. Not to be outdone, he soon stepped forward and clasped his hands and gave a respectful bow.

The Fifth Elder stroked his beard and nodded, “Separately put your magic pills into the apparatus.”

Qing Qiu looked at Chai Zheng. There was only one apparatus in front of the Fifth Elder. Unless they went one by one, one of them would have to use the apparatus at the side.

Without further ado, Chai Zheng walked to the side and put his magic pill into the apparatus. The teacher in front of him then immediately announced, “A high-grade level six pill of high-grade quality. It’s a total of six points.”

The audience was in an uproar within seconds.

Who would have thought that after You XiaoMo, there would be another participant with six points?

With this development, the favored and specially privileged Teng ZiXin had been abruptly shaken off.

Chai Zheng was four years older than Teng ZiXin and his innate skill was not low, so it was normal for her to be outstripped. With Teng ZiXin’s innate skill, sooner or later she would be able to catch up and surpass Chai Zheng, but at this moment, it was Teng ZiXin’s loss.

Teng ZiXin flicked her sleeve in anger and left while the audience was looking at Chai Zheng in amazement.

But the most surprising thing was yet to come. The result of Qing Qiu’s assessment was also six points. All of a sudden, there were three participants with the high score of six points. Never before had this situation happened.

You XiaoMo was stupefied, it appeared that he had indeed underestimated these people. Little did he think that there were mountains beyond mountains. These two people, Chai Zheng and Qing Qiu, were likely to be his biggest rivals in this competition.

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