"We can't delay this; we have to deal with the demonic cultivator before he manages to breakthrough!"
Frowning even further after she had told Xuan Hao why she was worried about what the demonic cultivator was doing, Yi Min would definitely already have left in search of the demonic cultivator if there wasn't currently a fight happening just outside the barrier…
Glancing over in the direction of the fight currently taking place between the demonic rat, Zi Hui and the elderly Domain Lord, Yi Min knew very well that she couldn't just leave to find the demonic cultivator, as the people outside would likely take advantage of the fact that she was gone if she didn't manage to deal with the demonic cultivator before they had finished off the demonic rat.
"That's it! Can I ask for your help once again…? " Having thought about something, Yi Min turned around and looked over towards Xuan Hao who was still lost in thought thinking about what she had told him just a moment ago.
"Hm? Sure… What is it?" Seeing that Yi Min was once again asking for his help, Xuan Hao had a bad feeling. Not really sure what she wanted his help with…
Could it be that she wants me to deal with the demonic cultivator alone!?
"No need to look at me like that, I just wanted to ask you to keep an eye on these people while I go deal with the demonic cultivator and inform me whenever they finish up their little fight… Did you think I would ask you to take care of the demonic cultivator by yourself after just barely running away?"
Rolling her eyes upon seeing the expression on Xuan Hao's face, Yi Min already knew what he was thinking before Xuan Hao could even say anything.
"Ah… I'm more than willing to keep an eye on these people…" Smiling wryly as he realized his thoughts had been seen through, Xuan Hao happily agreed to the simple job of looking after the people outside the barrier for her.
No matter what, Xuan Hao had already joined sides with Yi Min by helping her out, so there wasn't anything wrong with just keeping an eye on the fight happening outside while she dealt with the threat of the demonic cultivator.
Even if she did not manage to deal with the demonic cultivator in time, Xuan Hao was confident that the giant formation covering the capital would be able to resist against the people outside for some time in case they decided to try and destroy the formation while Yi Min was absent.
"Great, you can contact me through this in case anything happens!"
Whoosh!
Throwing a high-grade communication talisman over towards him, Yi Min quickly disappeared in the direction of the eastern part of the capital to deal with the demonic cultivator.
"…"
Left alone, Xuan Hao soon descended and found himself a good spot to stay, as he began watching the fight happening outside the formation.
At the very least, it was quite insightful for him to see someone at the Peak of the Domain Lord Realm give their all while fighting. After all, he had not really had too much experience when it came to fighting between Domain Lords.
Now, Zi Hui and the other Domain Lords outside the formation, provided a great opportunity for Xuan Hao to learn more about how Domain Lord's fought…
…
Having calmed down after Fang Shi's short speech to the participants, the alchemy competition proceeded without being interrupted by the fact that the formation protecting the capital had been activated.
"Looks like we were a bit too hasty earlier…"
"Yeah…. From the looks of it, the formation has not even been attacked once, it does indeed look like someone is just fighting nearby."
"The formation was likely activated to protect us in case some of the aftershocks from the battle reached the capital!"
The fact that the formation had not been attacked even once since it activated just caused the spectators and participants to grow more confident in what Fang Shi had said about someone powerful fighting nearby.
After all, if someone was really attacking the Iron Sky Kingdom, would they not first try to destroy the formation protecting the capital city?
Given that the formation had yet to be attacked after it had already been activated for such a long time. Many people in the Iron Sky Kingdom's capital concluded that it was just some powerful cultivators fighting nearby.
For the formation to be activated meant that the people fighting would at least have reached the Domain Lord Realm!
Even if their target was not the capital itself, the aftershocks from two experts at that level clashing with each other was more than enough to directly destroy anything within a few thousand meters… And that is not mentioning when both parties began using their domains to their full extend, as the area affected would increase exponentially!
At that point, it would not be weird if the entire Iron Sky Kingdom would be affected!
The fight between Domain Lords was simply terrifying for anyone not at that realm watching from the side.
In a sense, it could be considered quite lucky for Yi Min that the battle happened just outside the capital instead of somewhere else in the Iron Sky Kingdom.
The reason for this was that there were not many towns or smaller cities located close to the capital itself, as the land had mostly been covered in countless big and small mines over the years, that were easy to inside of in case someone started fighting on the surface…
"Now that everyone has calmed down a bit… Let's move on to the third stage!"
Narrowing his eyes as his gaze passed over the twenty people who had made it into the third stage of the alchemy competition, Fang Shi was way more serious than he had been before, as he already knew that one of the twenty people remaining would likely end up as his second disciple!
With this in mind, Fang Shi did not intend to take it easy and planned to make sure he chose the best among them to be his second disciple.
Even the crown prince that Cai Yu was not so happy about entered his eyes. However, the crown prince had not yet shown enough talent for Fang Shi to take him in and have to deal with the guaranteed anger of his first disciple…
"As many of you already know, as the finale of the alchemy competition, the third stage will of course be the hardest! Other than that, all of you have already reached the Expert Realm! Because of this, I have decided to allow all of you to take on the Alchemy Trial of the Sky Empire!"
Following what he said, all the participants except the crown prince from the Dark Sky Kingdom, had a confused expression on their faces.
From this alone, one could tell that none of them except the crown prince had any idea what the Alchemy Trial that Fang Shi mentioned was…
"The Alchemy Trial is a special trial that the Sky Empire requires one to go through to become an official alchemist of the Sky Empire. The minimum requirement for taking on the Alchemy Trial is for one to have become an Expert Alchemist!"
Finishing his explanation, all the participants, including Qing Yi, felt their curiosity towards this mysterious alchemy trial increase. The only person not showing a single change in his expression was the crown prince from the Dark Sky Kingdom, who remained completely focused on Cai Yu standing beside Fang Shi the entire time.
"Now all of you should be quite curious what the Alchemy Trial is..."
Before any of the participants could react, Fang Shi suddenly appeared beside the large cauldron located in the middle of the platform as he waved around both his hands, causing dozens of different symbols to manifest before sinking into the cauldron.
Whoosh~
As the dozen or so different symbol appeared to line up around the cauldron before sinking into it, Qing Yi and the other participants suddenly felt themselves lose control over their body, as they were directly sucked into the large cauldron before any of them could react.
Soon finding themselves inside a weird empty hall filled with a thin mist, the participants all looked around with both curiosity and fear at their new environment.
"Haha, all of you don't have to worry, you are currently inside the trial cauldron where the alchemy trial will take place. The trial is mostly automated and controlled by the artifact you are currently inside of and will begin shortly.
During the trial, you will be able to gain points depending on how well you do and of course, the person with the most points will be the winner of the alchemy competition!"
As the participants were all looking around their new environment, the voice of Fang Shi suddenly echoed out from somewhere above them.
However, before any of the participants could react to what Fang Shi had said, they suddenly felt themselves being pulled away from the empty hall before appearing somewhere new.