Following the constant increase in temperature of the flame, Qing Yi suddenly began to feel herself losing control over the flame under the cauldron.
The reason for this, was not that she couldn't control the flame herself. After all, she had controlled way hotter and more dangerous flames when she had fought people in the past. Instead, it was the pressure covering the mountain that had begun to interfere with her flame after it reached had reached a certain level!
At first, Qing Yi had only thought it would affect her physical strength. However, now the pressure had begun to influence her control of the fire!
If not for the fact that she was naturally gifted when it came to fire manipulation, Qing Yi was certain that she would have lost control of the flame below the cauldron and in turn ended up causing the potion mixture to explode!
Not to mention it exploding because it got too cold, the potion mixture could also explode if the temperature increased too quickly!
Fwoosh!
Having first-hand experienced how the pressure from the mountain had begun to influence her control over the flame, Qing Yi grew even more cautious as she did her utmost to make sure that the flame steadily continued to increase in temperature along with the potion mixture.
This time around, Qing Yi also paid way more attention to the pressure that covered the mountain in case it caused even more problems than it already had. The last thing she wanted, was for it to suddenly mess up her control once again and catch her off-guard at a crucial moment…
With this in mind, Qing Yi carefully observed as the potion mixture got closer and closer to completion.
"Only a little bit more…"
Muttering this to herself as she watched the crimson red potion mixture begin to settle down, Qing Yi narrowed her eyes dangerously. Not daring to relax in the slightest.
Failing on the second test was one thing and failing just before passing the second test was another. The latter was way more painful than the first…
Blob~
Along with the mixture bubbling wildly for a few seconds, Qing Yi smiled happily as she watched the potion mixture suddenly calm down before turning from a crimson red colour into a more orange colour.
Looking at the potion mixture, Qing Yi knew that she had succeeded and quickly retracted the flames below the cauldron, while waiting for the alchemy trial to take away her potion mixture and give her the points for completing the second test.
This time around, Qing Yi did not dare to have any thoughts about the remaining spiritual herbs. After all, she had just lost five points recently due to her trying to take away some of the spiritual herbs from the alchemy trial…
Whoosh~
Just as Qing Yi had expected a few seconds after she had completed the potion using the Smoldering Earth Flower, she watched the cauldron filled with the potion mixture sink into the ground before disappearing from sight.
Not paying too much attention to where the potion mixture had disappeared to, Qing Yi instead focused on the small stone slab with her information written on it, as she focused on the area where her points were noted down slowly begin to change.
"35 points…"
Seeing the number change from five to thirty-five, Qing Yi soon looked away and focused on the path leading further up the mountain that had become visible after she completed the second test.
"I wonder how many managed to pass the second test…"
Thinking out loud as she gazed back towards the place where the cauldron had been just a second ago, Qing Yi had a feeling that the second test should have eliminated quite a few people among the twenty remaining participants…
"Hah… No use thinking about that…" Shaking her head as she thought about this, Qing Yi focused back onto the path leading towards the next test with a determined look.
From the second test, Qing Yi had already realized that the tests increased by quite a lot in difficulty compared to the last and the dangers involved were not small either.
Just looking at the fact that every single one of the recipes available to her that used the Smoldering Earth Flower could explode at some point during both the preparation and brewing process, Qing Yi felt that the danger during the third test might even directly threaten her life!
Not that she thought the Artisan Alchemist would just allow them to die inside the alchemy trial, but it would never be wrong to be on the safe side in case something unexpected happened…
Thinking about the upcoming third test and the dangers that might be involved in the test, Qing Yi began making her way up the narrow mountain path that had appeared just after she cleared the second test.
No matter how hard the third test was, Qing Yi was determined to pass it! If she could pass it, she was certain that she would be among the top of the participants and at that time would be guaranteed an extremely good reward!
Just thinking about the spiritual herbs, she would be rewarded with for getting into the top five caused Qing Yi's determination to reach an entirely new level…
…
Outside the alchemy trial, Xuan Hao was happily smiling to himself as he watched Qing Yi successfully pass through the second test before moving on to the third test of the alchemy trial.
From looking at how the other participants were preforming in the third test; Xuan Hao could tell that the third test was likely to be the last and at the same time most difficult…
Other than that, Xuan Hao spent most of his time going over the Drifting Cloud Steps without paying too much attention to anything else happening around him.
Given that the enemies of Yi Min had already been dealt with together with the demonic rat and the demonic cultivator, Xuan Hao did not feel like anything more could happen.
After all, Yi Min had in a sense experienced three different enemy groups that could destroy her kingdom if she was not careful… There was no way she would be unlucky enough to encounter a fourth enemy on the same day…
…
At the same time Xuan Hao was relaxing while eating some of the snacks inside the spectator room, Fang Shi was looking over towards the area where the participants who had been eliminated during the alchemy trial was located with a depressed expression on his face.
Fifteen people! Fifteen out of the twenty who had moved on to the final stage and entered the alchemy trial had been eliminated during the second test!
Even if he had expected for a large number of the participants to be eliminated during the second test, he had never expected for so many of them to be eliminated!
Not to mention the reason why they had all been eliminated was that they had all chosen the same Spirit Grade Spiritual Herb!
The Smoldering Earth Flower!
Somehow, the spiritual herb had ended up among most of the participants choices and in the end most of the participants had ended up choosing this spiritual herb!
It was not that he didn't understand their reason, as the Smoldering Earth Flower looked like a simple fire based spiritual herb from the outside… But Fang Shi knew very well that this was not the case!𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
Not only was the Smoldering Earth Flower among one of the most difficult spiritual herbs to prepare and use for its grade, but it also tended to explode with the smallest mistake during the preparation and concocting /brewing process!
During the last half hour, Fang Shi had already exhausted himself quite a bit in an attempt to safe the unfortunate participants who messed up and caused an explosion…
To make a pill or potion using the Smoldering Earth Flower, was a task that took the utmost precision when it came to both control of fire and preparing the spiritual herb itself!
"Someone actually succeeded…"
For this reason, Fang Shi was extremely surprised when he witnessed Qing Yi successfully make a potion using the Smoldering Earth Flower!
Among more than half the participants who had ended up trying to make a pill using the Smoldering Earth Flower, Qing Yi was the only person who had succeeded and moved on to the third test!
"Looks like I was not wrong about her!"
Smiling to himself as he thought his earlier judgment of her was indeed correct, Fang Shi could not help but look over towards the crown prince of the Dark Sky Kingdom and the little girl who had already started the third test of the alchemy trial.
Looking at these three young people, Fang Shi had a feeling that his future disciple would likely end up being among one of them. Deep down, he hoped that it would be one of the two girls, as his first disciple, Cai Yu, would not complain to him if she ended up getting a cute junior sister instead of a smelly junior brother who chased after her…