Personally, giving out the rewards to the different participants, Fang Shi soon handed over an interspatial ring to the crown prince of the Dark Sky Kingdom, Chu Yang before signalling for him to leave like the rest of the participants.
Now that he had two potential personal disciples, there was no need to keep someone like that around. Especially given how much his disciple, Cai Yu, disliked him…
"Hmph!"
Frowning angrily before casting a longing look towards Cai Yu, Chu Yang grabbed the interspatial ring before angrily making his way out of the testing ground. Clearly not happy about how things had turned out.
"…"
Seeing this, Fang Shi didn't really care too much as he just decided to ignore him before moving over towards the place where Li Yao and Qing Yi were standing with a large smile on his face.
Compared to how he had treated the other participants, Fang Shi underwent a complete change in both temperament and expression by the point that he arrived in front of the two young girls.
…
Having talked a bit together with Li Yao, Qing Yi soon watched the participants being handed an interspatial ring filled with the rewards that they had won by Fang Shi before leaving the testing ground and making their way back to their elders and seniors waiting for them.
An interspatial ring!
Realizing that she would get a free interspatial ring along with the rewards she had won for getting second place, Qing Yi could not help herself from getting a little excited, as she watched Fang Shi get closer and closer to the place where her and Li Yao were staying.
"Hm? Looks like the elder will give us our rewards personally!"
Noticing what Fang Shi was doing as he got closer to them, Li Yao also looked over towards Fang Shi who slowly made finished up handing out an interspatial ring to the other participants before making his way over towards both of them last.
"Li Yao and Qing Yi, this is your reward for getting the first place and second place, but as you might know, the reason why I-"
Before Fang Shi could even mention the reason why he had set up an alchemy competition to begin with and start the process of taking in the two talented young girls, Qing Yi had suddenly moved forward and grabbed away the interspatial ring that he was about to hand her.
Even with his cultivation, Fang Shi did not get to react in time before the interspatial ring he was about to hand over to Qing Yi had already disappeared, as the person in question had directly proceeded to hide it away somewhere in her clothes.
More so than Fang Shi not reacting in time, it was more like he simply did not expect for Qing Yi to suddenly snatch away the interspatial ring before he managed to hand it over to her...
"-The reason why I set up this alchemy competition was to find a new personal disciple and both of you are more than talented enough! If both of you are willing, I will be more than happy to take both of you in as my second and third personal disciple! So, what do both of you think…?"
Watching how smoothly Qing Yi had taken away the interspatial ring, Fang Shi decided to pretend nothing happened as he handed Li Yao her interspatial ring before continuing what he was about to say earlier.
Not only did he want to take in Li Yao, the winner of the alchemy competition as his second personal disciple, but he also wanted to take in Qing Yi as his third personal disciple!
Even if Fang Shi had only planned to take in one new disciple at the start, he wouldn't mind getting one more. After all, given his current status inside the Sky Empire, it would be easy for him to raise a dozen or so personal disciples to the Artisan Realm!
"Personal disciple…?"
"I will have to ask my elders first…"
"Haha, its fine, I will give you some time to talk it over with your elders and seniors first!"
Hearing the response from both Qing Yi and Li Yao, Fang Shi smiled understandingly as he motioned for both of them to go back and talk with their elders about it first.
"But… I already have a master…"
Not having fully understood that the elderly alchemist was currently in the process of snatching her away from her master, Qing Yi could not help but say this as she looked up towards Fang Shi standing in front of her with a confused expression on her face.
"This…"
Seeing Qing Yi's expression, Fang Shi had no idea what to say.
He could not just outright say that he was better suited to teach her alchemy than her master and wanted to take her away, could he?
Thinking about this, Fang Shi suddenly had an idea as his lips tugged slightly upwards into a small smile.
"How about this, we can ask your master what he thinks about it, what do you think? If he is not sure of my skills, he can always test out my skills personally if he wants!"𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
Saying this, Fang Shi looked towards Qing Yi.
No matter what happened, Fang Shi was confident in being able to successfully take in Qing Yi as his personal disciple. After all, in Fang Shi's eyes, there was no way the master of Qing Yi was better than him when it came to alchemy and at the same time, there was no way he would refuse him taking her in as a disciple.
No matter what, Fang Shi was still someone who was only a single step away from the Master Alchemist Realm and at the same time he was also a renowned Artisan Alchemist from the Sky Empire!
"I…"
Hearing what Fang Shi said, Qing Yi was just about to look over towards the direction of her master and the other elders from the Flying Sword Sect. Not knowing what to do in her current situation.
…
"That old man really is trying to steal away other people's disciples!"
At the same time Fang Shi had begun trying to steal away his disciple, Xuan Hao instantly knew what was happening as he narrowed both of his eyes and stared down towards the elderly Artisan Alchemist.
There is no way I will let that old man steal away my disciple!
Just as Xuan Hao was about to make his way down to confront the old man, the system inside his sea of consciousness suddenly began moving as a new quest appeared…
[Side Quest: Someone is trying to snatch away one of your disciples! Make sure your disciple does not get taken away!]
[Punishment in case of failure: Cultivation base will be reduced by three minor realms.]
[Reward: Not losing a disciple.]
Reading the quest that he had just gotten from the system the moment Fang Shi began trying to take away his disciple, Xuan Hao could not help frowning.
Not only did he get anything from completing the quest itself, but he would also be punished if he failed!
This was the first time where he would be directly punished by the system if he ended up failing a quest! Not like the survival quest he had gotten back in the secret realm where his death would likely come along with the collapse of the secret realm itself…
Thinking about this, Xuan Hao could not help but let out a sigh internally. No matter what, he should never let his disciples get taken away by someone else…
At least the system was against something like that happened and was more than willing enough to punish him severely if he let it happen.
Losing three minor realms would directly send him back to the First Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and who knows how the system would reduce his cultivation base in the first place.
What if it ended up directly erasing the things, he had comprehended over the last half year? Not to mention the fact that his Ice Domain might also end up getting erased if that were to happen…
No! I can't let that happen!
Whoosh~
Feeling even more motivated to ensure Qing Yi did not get snatched away with the 'kind encouragement' from the system, Xuan Hao directly stood up before moving down toward? the place that Qing Yi, Li Yao, and Fang Shi were standing.
"How about this, we can call your master over and ask what he thinks about it! If he is not sure of my skills, he can always test out my skills personally if he wants!"
"I-"
"No need, I'm already here…"
Arriving beside Qing Yi just as she was about to look up towards the spectator room where he and the other elders from the Flying Sword Sect were sitting, Xuan Hao calmly placed a hand on Qing Yi's shoulder before turning around to confront the elderly Artisan Alchemist.