Damned Healer-Chapter 732: First Place Is Mine!

When the sun rose again, Darian opened his eyes, stood up, and stretched.

People in the arena stared at him, somewhat dazed... the nap looked pretty deep; they even saw him drool a little.

Darian had entered a deep meditative state while keeping his attention on the surroundings, especially on the special rune inside his pill furnace. That rune took a long time to disappear and for everything to be completed.

But, to the people outside... he definitely slept in the middle of this extremely important competition. Those from the Golden Crow Sect were somewhat embarrassed; it looked ridiculously absurd.

As he put away the chair and the parasol, Darian saw that only thirteen people remained. Many had left while he was ’sleeping’.

This was due to the order in which they refined the ingredients. They left the three most difficult ingredients for the end. Most likely, the majority failed at that stage.

After finishing the refinement of the last ingredient, they rested for the final stage of the process. At that moment, Darian saw that everyone was solemnly placing their medicinal powders into their pill furnaces. Everyone realized that was the only chance of success.

Darian also noticed that Mulloy had been waiting for him for a long time. It seemed he really wanted to compete with him until the end.

He couldn’t hold back his laughter. A mediocre bastard wanted to compete with him?

If Niara were there, she would be excited to slap him across the face. Darian, on the other hand, had picked up her lively manner and now felt a strong urge to take off his shoes and refine the pills with his feet.

But that would be too much, an affront to alchemy, and the Ancestor could expel him immediately. His Uncle was the greatest Alchemist in the world, and this sect was technically created by him; Darian would also be disrespecting his profession.

Darian’s flame reignited. He began heating the furnace. As expected, Mulloy immediately got to work as soon as he saw Darian start.

If he wanted to compete, then compete all he wanted. Darian was too lazy to bother with him. He focused his attention on his flame.

This was the first time Darian was making a high-level pill... and he had never even made a medium one. He needed to be careful. If he failed out of carelessness, he would end up looking like an idiot.

Another important point was that Darian was certain his Uncle was watching this, along with his sister and mother. If he failed so badly, the shame would be a thousand times worse.

Darian’s special rune had already done its job, nurturing the materials to the maximum. Now he needed to merge everything. Even if he had to do it in a rough way, using his domain and control to avoid waste, combined with the earlier nurturing, he had plenty of confidence.

And of course, if everything went wrong, he still had a hidden card.

’Huh? Why are Mulloy’s actions so rehearsed?’

Darian’s sense quietly probed Mulloy. He noticed that Mulloy’s refinement seemed very polished. He controlled the flame with extreme ease.

’A clear cheat. That bastard has definitely refined this pill before, and not just once,’ Darian concluded mentally.

The connections with the Hellfire Pill Sect that the servant mentioned earlier had were obvious. Someone inside the sect leaked what the final pill would be and even gave him the formula in advance. No wonder he was so confident.

It wasn’t just Darian who noticed this. Many in the arena sensed something was off.

As for Mulloy, he simply continued calmly. He pretended not to see their furious looks.

Seated on the highest platform, the central Ancestor simply watched. The tower and branch administrator whispered softly, "Isn’t this unfair?"

"Is there anything fair in this world?" the central Ancestor asked. "Without suffering and things outside your control trying to drag you down, no one would ever be pushed to the limit and ascend. This is part of life."

Everyone else fell silent. But obviously, they would launch a thorough investigation within the sect to find out who leaked it and severely punish those involved.

As for Darian, he didn’t care about this cheating at all.

On the other side, he also watched Limdiss working. She had a pale expression and was sweating heavily. Most likely, she didn’t have many recovery pills to push through the refinement to the end, unlike everyone else who swallowed several throughout the test.

But she wasn’t willing to give up. Even if all the energy of her soul went out and she died, she would finish it. Even with soul pain and exhaustion, her persistence was admirable in Darian’s eyes.

Six hours passed in the blink of an eye.

The entire crowd was silent. The only sound was the crackling of the pill flames.

Finally, a loud bang drew everyone’s attention.

"Mulloy was the first to seal his furnace!"

The sealing of the furnace represented an important part of the refinement process. Normally, it indicated that the refinement was ninety percent complete and only the final stage remained.

Darian also sealed his furnace. Cries of shock echoed the moment Darian sealed his pill furnace. The two were refining at almost the same speed.

Mulloy released the full power of his bestial flame. Scarlet flames wrapped around his pill furnace, distorting the space.

The final stage of this pill required an extremely powerful flame. The stronger the flame, the higher the final quality. This part was crucial.

Darian also pushed his combined flame to the peak. Multicolored flames danced over his pill furnace. At the same time, a powerful pressure descended.

"Heavens, Darian has gone crazy! He’s already feeding his flames with spiritual power!"

This was a battle of endurance. Most people conserved their strength for the end of the refinement process. But he started burning spiritual power just for his flame right from the beginning.

Wasn’t he afraid of running out of energy halfway through the process? Even if his spiritual power was extremely strong, it shouldn’t have reached this level, right?

"Darian has no other choice. His combined flame is actually weaker than Mulloy’s flame, and flame power is crucial for this final stage. If Darian wants to win, he’ll have to use everything he has. But what he’s doing is completely insane," sighed a low-level but highly experienced alchemist in the stands.

Not even an above-average Alchemist Emperor could last an hour at the rate Darian was using his spiritual power. But this final stage of refinement would require at least twelve hours. Did he really think he could endure this level of exhaustion for twelve hours?

Moreover, in the final moment, the flame temperature had to be constantly adjusted to seal the medicinal energy inside the pill. That was the truly exhausting part.

According to the general perception of Darian, although he was indeed skilled, his biggest flaw was liking to show off... and right now, he just looked like an idiot who would soon embarrass himself in front of everyone.

After refining for so long, to completely fail midway due to a lack of energy would be absurd.

At that moment, the others also sealed their furnaces.

Limdiss spat out a mouthful of blood. She was the last one, but she also began the final process.

Like Darian, everyone was certain she wouldn’t reach the final stage, but her effort still moved some people.

Time passed.

Even the spectators were extremely tense. The winner and possible new Alchemist Emperor will be decided soon.

Taking first place didn’t mean becoming an Emperor. The Elders would evaluate the result and say whether the winner had truly reached that level. But even if they failed, first place in other competitions earned the chance to go to the sect and study there. So normally, those figures eventually did become Emperors later.

One hour... two hours... three hours...

An alchemist suddenly collapsed from the stage. He had exhausted all his energy and lost consciousness.

Another alchemist fainted. They were all people of great perseverance. They endured until the very end, until their strength ran out and they passed out. Since they hadn’t shown off earlier, this wasn’t any shame to them.

The sky darkened again and then slowly brightened. There were still two hours left before the time limit.

*Bang!*

Suddenly, someone finished the refinement and opened the furnace. Everyone hurriedly looked, but soon couldn’t help sighing.

There was no pill inside the furnace. There was only a pile of residue. Obviously, in the end, that person didn’t have enough spiritual power and failed to condense the pill.

Other furnaces opened.

Many had only a sphere that looked like a piece of charcoal, a total failure. But in some, in the middle of a pile of remains, there was indeed a pill.

Although the medicinal aroma was extremely faint, it could still be considered a low-quality pill. These were called Spiritual Pills, and they had no circles.

Actually, it wasn’t that bad. At least they had condensed the pill. Those people were indescribably excited and even shouted in joy.

In the end, only three figures remained to finish. And they were exactly the top three from the preliminaries.

Those from the Golden Crow Sect were relieved, and some in the stands were slightly surprised. After all, Darian really didn’t collapse halfway and embarrass himself. But... the center of attention was someone else.

Even the Ancestors were astonished, staring at Limdiss. Blood slowly flowed from her eyes and lips. She was so weak and trembling that it looked like any stronger wind could easily blow her away.

Her soul energy was like a candle flame flickering under a strong wind, almost going out. But... she was holding on until the very end, her eyes completely focused.

"Hahahaha! Brat Darian, first place is mine!" Suddenly, Mulloy’s loud laughter echoed, clearly drawing attention to himself.

Darian said indifferently, "Oh, really? I’d really like to know where all that confidence of yours is coming from."