PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Whatever the case, the medicinal pill refined by Sasha was somewhat difficult to assess due to its unique nature of it. As professionals, the judges did not want to pass judgment lightly, they had to go through all the details, which became more difficult and time-consuming when someone like Sasha submitted a pill like this that also happened to be an original prescription.

To the surprise of the public, Qiqi made an announcement less than a minute after Sasha presented her pill to the judges. “Due to many factors to consider to render the results satisfactorily, the judges have decided to take a few extra moments to carefully evaluate the pills and deliberate during the process. As always, the Eternal War Maiden Sect thanks you for your patience.”

Hearing the announcement, Desmond and company smiled wryly. Could it be even more obvious that Sasha had caught off guard the judges who had no idea how to evaluate her original creation? Even if it could be more obvious, it wouldn’t make much of a difference since everyone noticed it.

You didn’t even need to be a genius or a truly insightful person, you just needed to see the stage and the judges. Despite the explanations, the entire panel of judges was gathered around Sasha’s pill, evaluating its quality and value.

In addition to probing the pill with their Auras to feel its properties of it, the judges endured the embarrassment and questioned Sasha about the ingredients used to refine the pill. Normally, asking another alchemist for the details of an original recipe was a huge insult, if not almost a statement of ill intent at the very least, but in this case, the judges had no other choice, after all, they needed to form criteria to analyze the pill.

Despite her adorable appearance, even if a bit seductive, Sasha was more than just her beauty, she had a good head on her shoulders. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be such a good alchemist. Therefore, when she was questioned about the ingredients and details of the pill, Sasha was resourceful enough to speak in very general terms and not mention units of measurement and proportions.

Sasha also didn’t mention that the refining process had to be done step by step in an incredibly strict specific order. To the bad luck of the judges and any other opportunists, Sasha’s entire refining process looked like a bunch of flower-shaped fireballs coming and going. It was impossible to determine what was inside each cluster of flames and hence decipher the order of refining.

In the end, after nearly half an hour of deliberations, the judges somewhat helplessly withdrew, giving occasional greedy and curious glances at the medicinal pill that still seemed to contain a red and a blue phoenix dancing in circles around each other. Beyond its quality and its effects, even aesthetically the pill was marvelous, one could only feel helpless regarding how suspicious Sasha was of the prescription.

.....

Helpless, the judges now had to agree with the evaluations of all the contestants to order them from lowest to highest. The sorting process was only slightly shorter than his analysis period for Sasha’s pill. Meanwhile, the people in the audience seemed to be speculating and even taking bets.

“Who do you think will win?” Unknown viewer 1.

“If I had to bet I would say that masked girl, got really good reviews and she has done pretty well in the rest of the tests. Also, I bet over a thousand spiritual stones on her, I really need her to win.” Unknown bystander 2.

“You’re an idiot, clearly the old man from the thousand pills pavilion is going to win, the rest of the competitors have barely shown any talent or ability, nothing more than second-rate amateurs.” Unknown bystander 3.

“Dude when you’re going to spout shit at least have the decency to take off that thousand-pill pavilion tunic.” Unknown bystander 2.

“Want to die?” Unknown spectator 3.

“I’m not afraid of you pill-loving wimp.” Unknown bystander 2.

Similar arguments took place all over the place, although not everywhere they ended in a fight. In the case of Desmond and the girls, who watched everything from the VIP box they were in, they all had their own opinions.

Claire, Sasha, and Revna believed that Sasha would definitely win first place. Their beliefs were not without reason, you had to know that in more ways than one, Sasha’s pill was the most valuable and unique of all the competition, not to mention that it was an original recipe, which had to do something, right?

Interestingly, the fact that Sasha’s pill was an original creation did affect the verdict, putting her just a notch above the contestant before her. In fact, the panel of judges had a lot of trouble ranking Sasha, and since her heaven-defying refining method didn’t give her extra points, it was her pill being her original creation that ended up deciding her classification.

However, just as Desmond believed, Sasha didn’t end up in first place. Desmond had his reasoning for believing that. Overall, Desmond felt that despite the pill’s objective value as well as its unique nature, Sasha’s creation was inferior from a technical standpoint.

The cruel reality was that Sasha’s pill had a very low level of purity and efficacy, which was a huge flaw from a technical point of view in her performance as an alchemist, deducting her many points. After all, it was an alchemist contest, not a pill contest.

That was why Desmond was the only one who wasn’t surprised when Qiqi announced the results. “Ladies and gentlemen, the moment has arrived that everyone has been waiting for, it is time to announce the results. The overall rankings will be announced later for those interested in seeing the scores and other details, for now, I will announce the top three places.”

As always, Qiqi made sure to clear a few details for later before continuing to make her announcement. “Third place goes to none other than our mysterious alchemist whose white mask and robes do little to hide the outstanding person beneath, all a round of applause for Sublime Lotus.”

Despite Qiqi’s best efforts to soften the blow and liven up the atmosphere, those who were paying attention could notice the masked girl clenching her fists tightly as she walked stiffly to receive a token reward from the judges.

Although she felt a little sorry for the white mask girl, Qiqi had to do her job, she had always prided herself on her professionalism. “Miss Sublime Lotus, do you have any words that you would like to dedicate to the public?”

Despite her open and energetic attitude as well as her sweet voice and beautiful appearance, Qiqi was greeted with chilling indifference and awkward silence. Sublime Lotus stood still for a couple of seconds before taking her rewards and starting to leave the stage with an atmosphere of defeat around her.

Seeing Sublime Lotus withdraw like this, many sighed in sadness, but the judges shook their heads in disappointment. To the older and more experienced, it was obvious that Sublime Lotus was too young and too pampered if she couldn’t even take a clean defeat with dignity, such traits were undesirable in an alchemist.

Furthermore, Sublime Lotus could only blame herself for her defeat. The masked girl could have attempted to refine a less unique pill and obtain a higher quality product which would translate into a better evaluation of her abilities as an alchemist, but she had decided to gamble by crafting a powerful and challenging pill, ending up with a pill of low efficacy and purity in her hands. Sublime Lotus had made a risky bet and had lost, it was as simple as that.

Soon, all of that stopped mattering, as Qiqi announced second place. “For our second place, we have an alchemist that no one knew before today, but that no one will forget tomorrow. Beautiful, exotic, and hot as fire, making use of a never-before-seen refining technique, everyone gives a big round of applause for Sasha Kor Ignis.”

An unstoppable rush of applause shook the earth as soon as Qiqi finished her flowery introduction. It couldn’t be helped, Sasha had drawn a lot of attention both for her skill as an alchemist, her special bloodline as well as her beauty that could destroy kingdoms.

Sasha didn’t show much emotion on her face, she simply walked up to receive her rewards from the judging panel and responded politely to the compliments and comments on the spot. It was there that Qiqi intervened again. “You are truly a beauty as captivating as the fire you command, any words for the audience?”

Instead of answering, Sasha asked the judges behind her a question. “The pill that I refined, belongs to me according to the rules, right?”

Immediately, the judges who had planned to keep the pill to study it blushed with embarrassment and nodded against their will, they couldn’t just cheat the girl in front of the audience.

Seeing them nod, Sasha walked over and took the pill, still not answering Qiqi’s question. Although she felt uncomfortable being ignored, Qiqi’s hostess instincts told her to go with the flow so she continued to wait.

Completely ignoring the judges, Qiqi, the audience, and everyone around her, Sasha gazed into the distance, her eyes filled with love and longing as she held the pill in her hand. Helpless, Desmond stepped out of the box, and using a combination of physical prowess and manipulation of wind currents, Desmond was at Sasha’s side in no time.

Feeling the fervor, passion, and desire in the eyes of Sasha who was already preparing to make her move, Desmond felt touched and a little helpless, this was the most effective way ever conceived of cultivating the hatred of tens of thousands in one movement only.