"My Brother Dalin's situation in this Great Alchemy Competition isn't looking good!"

"Indeed, my Brother Dalin is just too young! The third round of the Great Alchemy Competition obviously tests the overall strength of the alchemists! Brother Dalin is in danger..."

"And there's that damned Zhang Hao. You know, he completed the competition in just the time of three incense sticks burning. I'm really worried that our Brother Dalin might not even be able to climb onto that high platform..."

"Even if he climbs up, it's hard to surpass Zhang Hao..."

"Don't forget about that formidable Elder Herr. You know, he's not only a Seventh Grade Alchemist but also has impressive cultivation, clearly much higher than our Brother Dalin! Moreover, Elder Herr's results in the first two rounds of the Great Alchemy Competition were quite good. If Ding Lin's performance is too far behind in this third round, Elder Herr will easily surpass him!"

"I'm really sweating for my Brother Dalin!"

"Didn't you notice that older man? He's very low-key, but his results are also quite good, almost comparable to Elder Herr! He's also a strong competitor for Brother Dalin!"

"Only now do I realize Brother Dalin has so many opponents..."

...

For a moment, everyone started to discuss, clearly worried about Ding Fan, given he is so young, and his competitors are overwhelmingly strong in everyone's eyes!

Meanwhile, He Qianyao is still investigating Zhou Ruoran's situation. Fortunately, she later found out more about Zhou Ruoran. He Qianyao can confirm that Zhou Ruoran is indeed from the Jade Maiden Sect, and the women who took her were Zhou Ruoran's fellow disciples.

But why her fellow disciples wanted to take Zhou Ruoran back, He Qianyao still doesn't know. He Qianyao actually saw the situation at that time and could tell Zhou Ruoran wasn't at ease—she nearly fought back against her fellow disciples, clearly indicating an unfavorable situation.

While He Qianyao is glad to have found information about Zhou Ruoran, Ding Fan has started the Great Alchemy Competition. He Qianyao wanted to tell Ding Fan about it, but it's certainly impossible now, as the competition's security is very tight.

She simply couldn't get up to notify Ding Fan. Watching Ding Fan walk onto the competition stage, He Qianyao can only pray for Ding Fan to achieve good results, although she knows Ding Fan isn't very concerned about his results in this competition. Ding Fan is participating only to find his companions.

But seeing Ding Fan enter the stage amidst the cheers of tens of thousands of spectators, He Qianyao can't help but feel nervous for him, with a slight concern for Ding Fan. Although the competition is not essential to him, winning the title would still be beneficial.

However, He Qianyao knows this third round tests the comprehensive qualities of alchemists. She isn't worried about Ding Fan's cultivation, and hearing audience concerns about his strength almost seems laughable to her.

Given Ding Fan even slew Spirit Severing Elder, who dares say he's weak, people just don't know or are unwilling to believe it.

He Qianyao's worry lies in the Pill Recipe. Once on that high platform in this third round, they only have ten seconds to examine the recipe. That's definitely too short, as even simple pill recipes involve dozens of Spiritual Materials.

Ten seconds is clearly too little time, making this very challenging for alchemists. For older alchemists, these ten seconds may be slightly more manageable, having seen and recognized many Spiritual Materials.

Clearly, in ten seconds they would remember much more than Ding Fan. Ding Fan is simply too young. Moreover, He Qianyao recalls Ding Fan telling her he hasn't refined any Medicine Pills in quite some time.

His technique and familiarity with Spiritual Materials are clearly not what they once were.

If Ding Fan were completing the third round himself, it might be easier, but this competition isn't only about him. There are many elder alchemists, posing formidable competition for Ding Fan.

He Qianyao is aware that the current Great Alchemy Competition draws elite alchemists, many of whom are quite senior, boasting much richer alchemy experience certainly than Ding Fan—his notable weakness.

And then there's Zhang Hao, who He Qianyao knows isn't good news; he could very well have cheated to reach this point in the competition. The fact that Zhang Hao completed the third round, despite his Medicine Pills being only Fourth Grade, should be noted.

But knowing being able to complete the third round is already a commendable achievement for a contestant! Of the first group of alchemists, only Zhang Hao finished the round; clearly, this competition is extremely challenging!

But overall, He Qianyao truly believed in Ding Fan with all her heart, after all, Ding Fan was a being who created miracles. Ding Fan had created so many miracles that, despite He Qianyao's silent worry at this moment, she always had a feeling in her heart that Ding Fan would create another miracle this time.

At this moment, Gao Lian, an alchemist already eliminated from the first group, felt some regret. Clearly, his journey in the Great Alchemy Competition had ended, and he was thoroughly eliminated. Now he saw Ding Fan taking the stage, and felt a mixture of jealousy and satisfaction in his heart. Gao Lian was envious that Ding Lin merely appeared and had already garnered so much acclaim from the audience.

Clearly, Ding Lin had become completely famous. Gao Lian understood that even if Ding Lin were eliminated in the third round of the Great Alchemy Competition, many sects and powers would strive to recruit him, and his future would undoubtedly be far better than his own. Moreover, Ding Lin's displayed alchemic talent was already above his own.

This was something Gao Lian had to admit to himself.

But what made Gao Lian feel satisfied was that Ding Lin was evidently very young. Gao Lian had already experienced the pressure of that high platform himself, which was clearly not something ordinary cultivators or alchemists could handle. Although alchemists possessed strong spiritual power to resist the platform's pressure to some extent,

such resistance was only auxiliary at best. For cultivators or alchemists, clearly cultivation was the most crucial. If your cultivation wasn't strong enough, your spiritual power wouldn't be much stronger, as the growth of spiritual power accompanies the continuous enhancement of cultivation.

It was the same for alchemists, except their spiritual power tended to be somewhat stronger than cultivators of the same cultivation level, since alchemists needed to refine many medicine pills, which actively trains their spiritual power. But against cultivators with higher cultivation, that advantage was clearly ineffective.

So, in Gao Lian's mind, he felt satisfied, thinking that even if Ding Lin's alchemy skills were impressive, given his young age, his cultivation was likely below his own. Therefore, climbing that high platform would unquestionably be difficult for Ding Lin, possibly even impossible.

Gao Lian thought gleefully about how Ding Fan would soon be eliminated, feeling delighted. Clearly, even though he was eliminated, Ding Fan shouldn't expect any better outcomes! He Qianyao now seemed to him just a lost figure, incapable of comparing to him. Gao Lian knew he was living better than He Qianyao.

He wanted them to know how big a mistake it was for the Dayang Sect to abandon him!

At this moment, the judges watched Ding Fan and the other alchemists from the second group enter the stage, obviously filled with anticipation. Of course, their interest was focused on Ding Fan, Elder Herr, and the elderly alchemist in white. Clearly, out of the second group, only these three alchemists had any chance of completing the Great Alchemy Competition!

"It looks like the competition among the alchemists in this second group is quite fierce! The real talents are here!"

"I wonder if Ding Lin will continue to create miracles?"

"Hehe, maybe you're overthinking it! It's undeniable that Ding Lin's alchemic talent is outstanding, even making us veterans feel inferior. But Ding Lin is clearly too young, and the third round of the competition tests comprehensive abilities of alchemists. If Ding Lin is eliminated, it would actually be normal!"

"That's true, after all, Ding Lin is indeed too young! Even if Ding Lin were eliminated in the third round, it would be quite normal! But his consistent first-place performance could mean that his comprehensive scores won't be too bad even if he fails!"

"Yes, even if Ding Lin doesn't win the championship, securing a place in the top three is certainly assured!"

"But ultimately, it's somewhat unfortunate. If such an excellent alchemist could win the championship, it would be great! Sadly, it's just not possible!"

"Indeed, since Ding Lin is genuinely too young. I suppose merely attempting to climb that high platform would be an enormous challenge for him!"

"..."

For a moment, as the judges watched Ding Fan enter the stage, they couldn't help but feel a bit of pity for him. Clearly, in the eyes of most judges, Ding Fan was deemed incapable of winning the championship of this Great Alchemy Competition, specifically because he couldn't possibly complete the third round.

Given that Ding Lin was too young, evidently, cultivation was his shortcoming in their view.

Among the judges, there was an estimation that the champion of the third round of the Great Alchemy Competition would likely be either Elder Herr or the elderly man in white.

Elder Herr, undoubtedly, had strong abilities—not only as a Seventh Grade Alchemist but also at a commendable cultivation that was unmatched by average alchemists. However, the elderly man in white was also exceptional, even though he didn't flaunt it, his comprehensive strength was similar to Elder Herr's.

Moreover, his performance in the prior two rounds of the Great Alchemy Competition was quite impressive, on par with Elder Herr.

Clearly, the judges believed the championship of this Great Alchemy Competition might emerge between these two, while Zhang Hao was causing the judges some headache, as it seemed possible he had cheated. Hence, most judges wanted to reassess Zhang Hao, but obviously, Elder Wang hadn't spoken up!