100: Poor Lu An

Lu An's voice wasn't loud, but it fell clearly into everyone's ears. That sense of excitement and joy caused the hearts of the others who were still refining pills to sink, feeling their pressure double.

On the throne, Zheng Tingtao, who was resting with his eyes closed, didn't make a single move, as if he hadn't heard the sound at all.

Having successfully refined the pills, Lu An looked at the Medicinal Pills in the Pill Furnace with a face full of pleasant surprise, his mood soaring.

Although he wasn't the first to succeed, he was confident that he would surpass anyone present in both quantity and quality.

As for Zhou Luo...

Heh.

The man wasn't even worthy of being compared to him.

He was certain to win this competition.

Retracting his thoughts, Lu An turned his head and looked through the screen at the blurred figure to his left.

Seeing the other party working hard at Alchemy greatly boosted his confidence.

However...

Who exactly was faster than him?

Lu An first glanced at Zheng Tingtao on the throne, then cautiously left his Pill Furnace and approached the screen, casting his gaze toward the area on the left where Zhang Sheng was located.

Of the nine people present, the only one he was wary of was Zhang Sheng.

The other's Alchemy level was comparable to his own, and he had entered the Immortal Sect to study multiple times.

Only he could possibly be faster than Lu An.

But when he poked his head out to look at the man, he was surprised to find that Zhang Sheng was still in the process of forming the pills and hadn't finished yet.

Strange.

Who else could it be besides him?

Filled with confusion, Lu An followed Zhang Sheng's direction and looked at the other two people on the left.

Those two were also busy.

It wasn't them.

Lu An turned his head toward the right side.

There were only two people on the right: one was Wang Yuwei and the other was Zhou Luo.

He saw at a glance that Wang Yuwei was still at the fourth step of Alchemy, her speed lagging far behind his own.

In an instant, Lu An's body stiffened as a terrifying thought surfaced in his mind.

Could it be that Matrilocal Son-in-law?

Unable to believe it, he abruptly looked toward the area where Zhou Luo was.

He was shocked to find that this fellow was standing in front of his Pill Furnace, staring blankly.

Yes, staring blankly.

It really was this guy!

A terrifying fact appeared before Lu An.

His body shook, and he retreated several steps, nearly falling to the ground.

How is that possible!

His eyes widened as a storm raged in his heart, and his face turned deathly pale without a trace of blood.

This was a result he could not accept no matter what.

Why would a Matrilocal Son-in-law form pills faster than him?

Didn't he have an extremely high failure rate every time he performed Alchemy?

Lu An's mind was in a mess. He supported himself against the screen with his right hand, taking deep breaths continuously to calm his heart.

On the other side, Zhou Luo was unaware of the changes in the other man; he was merely contemplating Zheng Tingtao's performance just now.

Clearly, the man was satisfied with him.

But what did that final shake of the head mean?

Feeling it was a pity?

Then what was a pity?

He suddenly thought of his Nine-Rank Spiritual Root and then came to a sudden realization.

It seemed that Zheng Tingtao felt that even if someone like him with only a Nine-Rank Spiritual Root had high Alchemy talent, he wasn't worth cultivating.

If he had even a Medium Grade Spiritual Root, perhaps the man would have taken him as a Disciple.

If an ordinary person knew they had brushed past a chance for immortality, they might be filled with regret and grief.

But Zhou Luo was different.

He remained calm throughout, without the slightest sense of loss.

Because becoming an Immortal Sect Disciple was not his pursuit, and although he currently had a Nine-Rank Spiritual Root, it didn't mean it would stay that way forever.

As long as he had enough descendants with Spiritual Roots, his own Spiritual Root would transform sooner or later.

On the other side, Lu An had gradually calmed his mood, forced to accept the fact that a Matrilocal Son-in-law was faster at Alchemy than him.

Fortunately, the Martial Trial didn't just compare Alchemy speed.

Lu An's expression darkened as he returned to his Pill Furnace.

So what if he was fast at Alchemy?

He must have only used a small amount of Materials.

After all, the fewer the Materials, the faster the Pill Formation and the lower the technical requirements.

Unlike himself, who had increased the dosage of every medicinal herb to boost speed.

The downside of this was that he needed to spend more mental effort on Alchemy, and the risk of failure would greatly increase.

The benefit was that his final quantity of formed pills would be far higher than others.

Looking at the five Spirit Pills inside the furnace, Lu An's panicked heart found peace.

He sneered inwardly.

With Zhou Luo's Alchemy speed being so fast, he might have only refined one pill!

Even if it was more than one, the quantity would definitely not match his own!

He still held the victory in his grasp.

Soon, the others successfully finished their Alchemy one after another, and bursts of pill fragrance wafted out, drifting through the great hall.

Only after the last person had formed their pills did Zheng Tingtao open his eyes.

With a wave of his right hand, a long mahogany table appeared before the six people, with a Glazed Cup placed upon it.

"Place your Medicinal Pills in front."

Everyone brought out their respective pills and placed them into the Glazed Cups.

As Lu An stepped forward, he intentionally glanced at the people beside him and found they only had four Wash Marrow Pills. He couldn't help but straighten his back, a smile on his face.

But in the next moment, when his gaze fell upon the Glazed Cup in front of Zhou Luo, his smile froze. His eyes widened again, and as if struck by lightning, he stood paralyzed on the spot.

Not just him, but the others were also incredibly surprised when they saw the six Wash Marrow Pills in that Glazed Cup.

Such a high quantity?

Wang Yuwei's beautiful eyes flickered, extremely astonished.

She had heard rumors about Zhou Luo's high daily Alchemy failure rate.

She had thought he was being a bit overconfident this time.

But from him being the first to succeed earlier to now having the highest quantity, it shook her heart and left her feeling quite surprised.

Compared to her surprise, Lu An's mood could probably only be described as having seen a ghost.

He stared fixedly at those six Wash Marrow Pills without blinking, unable to believe this was real.

How did he do it?

At this moment, Lu An's mind held only this one question.

"Ahem."

At this point, Zheng Tingtao cleared his throat.

Lu An snapped back to his senses, realizing he was currently standing alone in a daze in front of the Glazed Cup.

He hastily bowed and retreated.

While retreating, he couldn't stop comforting himself inwardly.

Quantity is useless; the key is still the quality.

That's right.

This guy's quality must be very poor.

"Zhou Luo, full marks!"

Boom—

Just as that thought surfaced, Zheng Tingtao's voice exploded in his ears like a clap of thunder. He looked up abruptly, his heart feeling a sharp pain as if pierced by a blade.

"Lu An, eighty-five points!"

"Zhang Sheng, eighty-three points!"

...

Zheng Tingtao's voice continued to ring out.

But Lu An could no longer hear it.

His mind was a blank, his eyes vacant, standing there with a dazed expression like a wooden stake.

The remaining few also had surprised expressions, finding it inconceivable.

Someone actually got full marks?

They couldn't help but look at Zhou Luo.

He, however, looked calm, without any emotional excitement from receiving this score, as if he had expected it all along.

This caused the others' opinion of Zhou Luo to rise to another level.

This newcomer seemed even more formidable than imagined.

"The relevant rewards will be distributed daily. You may leave," Zheng Tingtao said with a wave of his hand after reading the results.

The crowd didn't dare to question the results in the slightest. Even Lu An, no matter how much he couldn't accept the fact, could only walk out of the hall in a state of soul-crushing despair.

Outside the hall, Lin Xin had already been waiting for a long time.

She had naturally heard Zheng Tingtao's words earlier.

So when she saw Zhou Luo come out, her face bore an incredibly joyful smile.

"Zhou Luo, you did very well!" she said loudly, her voice filled with delight.

Zhou Luo smiled and nodded, then turned to block Lu An's path: "Where is your item?"

The despondent Lu An looked up at him, his expression looking worse than if he had lost a relative. With extreme reluctance, he took out that High Grade Magical Artifact.

Seeing this, Zhou Luo directly reached out and snatched the artifact away.

Lu An wanted to stop him, but didn't dare to. He could only let the other party take it, which seemed to drain the last ounce of his strength along with it.

Thud—

Having suffered one blow after another, he finally couldn't hold on any longer and slumped to the ground.