"That should be the last of them…"
Putting down the pill he had been looking over with a slightly disappointed expression on his face, Fang Shi made his way back onto the platform before coming to a stop in front of the large cauldron he had placed down at the start of the alchemy competition.
"I should test out that girl's potion and see how effective it is." Muttering this quietly to himself as he looked over Qing Yi's potion that he had been carrying around, Fang Shi could not help feeling himself grow excited.
After all, there was nothing more exciting to an alchemist than discovering a brand-new pill or potion!
Smiling a bit to himself as he lifted the potion bottle up to his mouth as he drank it.
Scared of any side effects or other things that might happen if the potion was not made correctly?
Fang Shi didn't fear any of those things! Qing Yi had broken through to the Expert Alchemist Realm, so Fang Shi was certain that she had successfully made the Spirit Grade Potion.
If the Spirit Grade Potion had really failed, Qing Yi would not have been able to breakthrough and become an Expert Alchemist!
"Master!?" Letting out a surprised gasp upon witnessing her master drink the potion from one of the participants all of a sudden, Cai Yu looked over towards her master with a bewildered look on her face.
Why had her master drunk one of the participants potions by himself? If he really wanted to test out its effects, he could have just gotten one of the elders from the Iron Sky Kingdom watching over the competition to try it out! Why would he drink it himself!?
Feeling confused upon witnessing her master's reckless behaviour, Cai Yu soon found herself taking a few steps back.
The potion began to take effect!
"Pft-"
Witnessing first-hand as the potion took effect, Cai Yu tried her best to hold back her laughter as she watched how her master 'changed'.
"Wha-"
"Pft- What is that!?"
"Hehe, what an evil potion… I should ask if I can get the recipe after the competition."
The rest of the participants watching from the side did the same, as all of them tried their best to stop themselves from laughing out loud at Fang Shi.
After all, it had to be remembered that he was the sole judge of the alchemy competition and at the same time an Artisan Alchemist! They could not just laugh at him!
"Haha! Look at that! The Artisan Alchemist, he-"
"Hahahaha, I'm so happy I decided to come to the alchemy competition!"
"Indeed, where else would we be able to see an Artisan Alchemist like that!"
The spectators on the other hand were not limited like the participants still waiting to know if they moved on to the third stage of the alchemy competition, as laughter erupted all across the large crowd of people gathered in the spectator stands.
"Hm? Is something wrong?"
Not having any clue as to why everyone suddenly laughed at him, Fang Shi first felt confused before realizing that there was something wrong with the potion, he had just drunk.
Now the question just became, what in the world did the potion do that caused everyone to start laughing at him?
Thinking about this, Fang Shi quickly checked his current condition through his divine sense.
Hm… My defensive capability has increased by so much! This is far better than an ordinary skin strengthening potion made using the Verdant Jade Bamboo! Now why is it that everyone is laughing at me? Perhaps the large increase in strength comes with some sort of temporary physical deformity or alteration?
Not the least bit bothered by the people laughing at him due to the likely alteration that had occurred to his appearance, Fang Shi calmly went over the effects that the potion had on him. After all, he was an Artisan Alchemist. How could he be bothered by something like a small alteration to his appearance?
"This is!?"
At least that was what Fang Shi believed until he began inspecting his current appearance with his divine sense.
The current Fang Shi no longer looked the same as he did before he drank Qing Yi's 'Skin Strengthening' Potion. Instead, the current Fang Shi was covered in a thin layer of white fur that had grown out all over his body.
This, however, was not what had caused Fang Shi to suddenly freeze up.
"W-why do I have rabbit ears?!"
Not knowing what to say as he saw the large pair of rabbit ears on top of his head, Fang Shi carefully touched them and felt like they were a part of his body, it was almost like he had gained another pair of ears…
The potion strengthens one's defence, but it transformed one into some sort of humanoid rabbit?
Having reached this conclusion as to the effect of the potion he had just drunk without thinking about the consequences, Fang Shi suddenly thought about something…
How long would the potion last?
Even if Fang Shi did not normally care much about his appearance, there was no way he wanted to proceed with the competition in his current condition.
Not to mention his own mental health, there was no way any of the participants would take anything he said seriously given how he looked, they would most likely just be trying their best to stop themselves from laughing…
Thinking this as he looked over the participants who were all trying their best to not burst out laughing upon seeing him look over, Fang Shi felt embarrassed for the first time in a long time.
"You will get some time to rest while I go over everyone's results during the second stage and pick out twenty people to move onto the next stage of the competition!"
Whoosh!
With that quick announcement, Fang Shi quickly left the platform and disappeared from view. Likely to hide away until the potion lost effect…
…
"Do you think this will affect my results…?"
Asking this to the young girl standing beside her, Qing Yi could not help feeling that there was close to no chance that she would be moving onto the third stage of the competition.
"Who knows… At least it was a Spirit Grade Potion."
Not saying anything more, the young girl soon began laughing to herself as she recalled Fang Shi's appearance after drinking Qing Yi's Potion
Other than the white fur covering his body, Fang Shi had also gained a pair of cute whiskers…