387: Reported

Peng Yue waved his sleeve, and Peng Ling stood up from his seat, flying towards Lu Xingchen.

Taking the calamity breaking pill from Lu Xingchen's hand, Peng Ling symbolically inspected it, then announced loudly, "Refinement successful! Lu Dazhuang passes the first round!"

He knew that since Lu Dazhuang had succeeded before, he could succeed now, and there was no deception of the judges.

Lu Xingchen cupped his hands to Peng Ling and bowed, saying with a light laugh, "Thank you, Elder Peng Ling!"

Peng Ling nodded slightly and said in a deep voice, "Lu Dazhuang, your luck is good. I hope you have the same luck in the upcoming competition!"

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "I'll take your auspicious words!"

With that, he spread his Dou Qi Wings, flew down from the stone platform, and came to Lin Xu and Zuoqiu Qingluo's side.

Zuoqiu Qingluo hopped once, then patted Lu Xingchen's shoulder firmly, chuckling, "Not bad, Big Strong One! You're crushing the young generation of Alchemist Prodigies and bringing glory to Lingyun Sect!"

To help Lu Xingchen conceal his identity, Zuoqiu Qingluo would call him "Lu Dazhuang" whenever he used his disguise, which showed her thoughtfulness.

Lu Xingchen chuckled, "It was just luck."

He was truly lucky this time, but in Zuoqiu Qingluo's ears, it was a modest remark.

After Lu Xingchen, Peng Yu was the second person to submit her work.

Her first refinement failed, wasting half an hour, and her second successful refinement took an hour, making her the second-place finisher.

When Peng Ling announced that Peng Yu had passed the first round, the audience below immediately began to cheer.

"Damn, as expected of Saintess Peng Yu! She completed the refinement in just an hour and a half."

"But I find it strange! Even a powerful person like Saintess Peng Yu took an hour and a half, so how was that Lu Dazhuang so fast? Even if he's better than Saintess Peng Yu, it shouldn't be such an exaggerated difference, right?"

"Exactly! Without comparison, there's no harm. How did Lu Dazhuang do it? Could he have bribed the examiner and cheated?"

"That shouldn't be right. Medicine King Valley already has everything it wants. How many good things would Lu Dazhuang have to offer to bribe a judge? And this is just the first round; even if he got first place, it wouldn't mean anything."

"I don't know, maybe he's just used to showing off."

Three minutes after Peng Yu completed her refinement, Zi Chen also finished his refinement and submitted his work.

Then, a strange thing happened.

After Peng Yu and Zi Chen, Alchemists' Medicine Cauldrons started exploding one after another.

Especially an hour into the competition, which was the average time for ordinary Alchemists to reach halfway, dozens of Alchemists' Medicine Cauldrons exploded simultaneously.

Seeing this situation, the audience in the Plaza was somewhat bewildered.

"Damn, it exploded again? Why are so many Medicine Cauldrons exploding in this test?"

"I've been watching Saintess Peng Yu and Zi Chen, and I noticed both their Medicine Cauldrons exploded once. I originally thought it was just a coincidence, but I didn't expect others to follow suit. This isn't normal!"

"Something must be wrong. The Pill Formula or the Materials given by Medicine King Valley have a problem, otherwise, it's impossible for so many Medicine Cauldrons to explode!"

"What about Lu Dazhuang? Why didn't his Medicine Cauldron explode?"

Zuoqiu Qingluo and Lin Xu were also full of doubt.

"Lu Dazhuang, what's going on? Why are you the only one whose Medicine Cauldron didn't explode?"

Lu Xingchen smiled slightly and told them the whole story.

Zuoqiu Qingluo and Lin Xu were both greatly surprised.

"Damn, Medicine King Valley is really good at stirring things up! The first round is already so difficult!"

"Who's to say it isn't? Even with this ability, very few people would dare to challenge Medicine King Valley's authority. The number of people eliminated will probably be quite high."

Two hours passed, and all the contestants' Medicine Cauldrons had exploded once.

The contestants didn't immediately use their second chance; instead, they began to reflect on their actions and analyze the reasons for their failure.

After all, they only had two chances, and they couldn't afford to make any more mistakes.

A small number of contestants guessed Medicine King Valley's intention, removed the green Spirit Stone, and began their second refinement.

But more people dared not question Medicine King Valley, blamed themselves for the mistakes, and began their second attempt.

To pass this first round of testing, there were a total of three requirements.

First, you must have the ability to refine the calamity breaking pill.

Second, you must have the courage to question Medicine King Valley.

Third, you must have rich Alchemist experience to find the "Green Spirit Pill" stumbling block.

Four hours later, all the contestants completed their refinement.

Originally, there were over 1,200 young Alchemists participating, but the words "Seventh Grade" alone eliminated half of them, and ultimately only one-third passed the first round.

In the end, only over 200 people passed the first round of the test.

Those who failed the refinement eagerly sought out those who passed the test to inquire about the reason, only then understanding Medicine King Valley's ploy, and all were filled with indignation.

"No way? The Pill Formula given by Medicine King Valley is wrong! Aren't they just toying with people? No wonder both my refinements failed."

"You're stupid if you don't believe it. Senior Peng Yue did this on purpose. Only through extreme methods can true powerhouses be screened out!"

"Alas, what a pity! I didn't expect Medicine King Valley's first round to be so difficult. I didn't even get a chance to perform in front of the Elders."

"Strange, all our Medicine Cauldrons exploded, so why didn't Lu Dazhuang's? This is unscientific!"

As everyone chatted, their gazes all fell on Lu Xingchen, with doubt and incomprehension in their eyes.

Seeing that all the contestants had completed their refinement, Peng Yue stood up and said loudly, "Congratulations to these 213 contestants who passed the first round. Your strength is astonishing. Now everyone can return to the rooms provided by our Medicine King Valley to rest. Tomorrow morning at 8 AM, gather here again, and I will announce the topic for the second round."

No sooner had Peng Yue finished speaking than a young Alchemist stood up and shouted loudly, "Valley Master, I want to report Lu Dazhuang! He cheated!"

"All of us only discovered the problem with the Pill Formula after one attempt, and then discarded the green Spirit Stone. But Lu Dazhuang didn't; he succeeded in one go, being the only one present whose Medicine Cauldron didn't explode."

"Therefore, I suspect that Lu Dazhuang cheated, knowing the competition rules in advance and preparing early. I hope the Valley Master can investigate this matter, expel Lu Dazhuang from Medicine King Valley, and find the Medicine King Valley Elder who colluded with him."

One word stirred up a thousand waves.

He directly brought up the matter, and the other people in the Plaza also began to jeer.

"Exactly! Lu Dazhuang definitely cheated, otherwise, how could he succeed in one go?"

"This kid has some tricks up his sleeve, actually being able to bribe a Medicine King Valley Elder."

"This kind of black sheep must be removed quickly!"

"Since I can't pass the first round, I can't let others pass easily either. Lu Dazhuang, get out of here!"