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It should be mentioned that Desmond had helped Sasha in a small way with some of her experiments when he had time, so he was not a stranger to alchemy. However, because of this, Desmond believed that unless one was involved in the process, as he was, watching as a bystander would not be very rewarding.

Sure, Desmond had come to watch the tournament, but his main interest was in Sasha, not the tournament itself as a means of entertainment. However, Desmond realized that maybe he was wrong, otherwise so many people wouldn’t have come so excited. “Maybe it’s a cultural thing.” Desmond muttered, thinking it was a matter of perspective.

Along with Desmond, the rest of the girls had their own opinions on the subject. Cecilia and Claire thought alchemy was quite fascinating even though they didn’t understand it one bit. Revna, on the other hand, found the whole thing quite alien to her, so she rarely paid attention.

As for Kyuru? Including her on the list was basically useless as the fairy showed the same mischievous interest in it now as at any other time on any other day. Besides honey and a very short list of very special things, little could excite the fairy.

There was no need to wait long after arriving for the excitement to begin. After just a few minutes, a very familiar girl stood on stage wearing a very sensual white Qipao.

Desmond showed no reaction to seeing a beauty on stage, something all the girls noticed to varying degrees, little did they know that Desmond wouldn’t be interested in any women besides them for a while.

The host of the Alchemy tournament, Qiqi, was the same girl who conducted the auction, it seemed that her charisma was so legendary that she was assigned to lead this tournament as well. Of course, even though she was running the show, a trained eye would find some very influential figures from the Eternal War Maiden Sect paying attention from a special box.

“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Qiqi, and I will be hosting today. I appreciate your enthusiasm and presence here to see who are the best alchemists of our continent.”

.....

Wearing; no, wielding her charms, Qiqi captivated the audience and led them through explaining the rules as well as naming all the participants. After the qualifying events, there were thirty-two participants left, a fairly large number, but that was going to change very soon.

During appointments, many people shouted to support their friends or allies, that was especially the case for alchemists already affiliated with some sect or power. It didn’t take long for Desmond and the group to hear some familiar names.

As the name Ai Zuling was called onto the stage, Desmond squinted at the girls, wondering if they knew of his heated encounters with the alchemist during his last visit to this world. Seeing that they didn’t react, Desmond realized that perhaps he was overthinking things, he certainly wasn’t as relaxed as he would like to be.

The name of Sasha Kor Ignis immediately caught Desmond’s attention, taking his mind off unnecessary thoughts. As always, Sasha seemed calm and warm, like an ordinary girl that everyone wanted to get along with. An opinion that would change very soon.

“That’s all the participants this year. Ladies and gentlemen, a big round of applause please.”

Clap* Clap* Clap*

Amid roars of excitement and applause, the candidates bowed respectfully, which made Qiqi nod approvingly. “Alright, for the first round, we have a very peculiar test developed not by a master alchemist but by a master blacksmith, but I assure you, this test will test essential skills an alchemist must have.”

As Qiqi spoke, rows of people entered the stage carrying trays of metal ingots and precious herbs with them. A minute later, all the tournament participants had their trays, and only then did Qiqi explain the details of this round. “Fire is the most fundamental basis of alchemy. Fire nourishes purify and refines, but it also destroys. As alchemists, you must have masterful control over the fire you wield and that is what this test is for.”

Pointing to the trays next to all the competitors, Qiqi continued. “The trays next to your workstations contain metal ingots and precious herbs in sets of two. The task is simple, enter both the metal ingot and the herbs into your furnaces and melt the metal without incinerating the herbs.”

There was no lack of people who wanted to spit blood when they heard Qiqi call out a task like that, something simple, but no one dared to accept they didn’t think they could pass that test.

“Every ingot and herb is different, so you’ll need them to monitor and adjust your fire every step of the way. Those who melt down the fewest metal ingots before burning the grass will be kicked out; only half will advance to the next round.”

Hearing the description of the first test, many people, including the participants, frowned. Even people who weren’t too familiar with alchemy understood that this test was difficult, much more difficult than normal.

After letting the participants take in her words, Qiqi raised her jade-delicate hands. “Participants begin on my signal.” And with that, she snapped her fingers. “Now.”

Immediately, the previously quiet stage was turned on, quite literally. Each one depended on different means, the participants invoked flames under their ovens and got to work.

Among the participants some more spectacular cases caught the attention of the public, either because of the size or the color of their flames. Such was the case with Sasha, who summoned a huge, detailed fire rose in full bloom below her oven. Ai Zuling was also not far behind with her green fire being quite conspicuous. The same happened with the mysterious alchemist, Sublime Lotus, who summoned a river of an intricate flow of white fire, being more beautiful and imposing than any other flame on the stage.

Nearly a dozen meters away, Sasha raised an eyebrow as she felt the presence of that white fire. That flame was unlike anything she had ever felt before, it was dangerous but also extremely pure, and it felt almost sacred, it was a very strange sensation, especially for Sasha who had never felt threatened by fire before.

Back in the audience, people clamored with excitement at the sight of the flame spectacle. Especially, when some alchemists went so far as to play with the fires of their furnaces to make things more flowery and dramatic, although one would note that only young and inexperienced alchemists would do that, experts found such acts quite ridiculous.

In Desmond’s box, everyone seemed quite interested in seeing how things played out. It is worth mentioning that Desmond and the girls turned their attention to the expert alchemists like Ai Zuling, Sublime Lotus, Sasha, and a few others. Although the performance of the experts was less spectacular in an aesthetic sense, to the trained eye or those with the high perception, there was much more to observe.

Onstage, Sasha concentrated, controlling the intensity and temperature of her flames. With one hand she placed the first metal ingot inside the furnace and with the other, she placed the first medicinal herb inside. Immediately, like ice, the metal melted at terrifying speed, while the medicinal herb was gently held away from the metal by a faint strand of low-temperature fire.

Using a thin, finely woven web of low-temperature flames, controlled with masterful dexterity, Sasha managed to melt her first metal ingot successfully and moved on to the next. Unsurprisingly, the second ingot required higher temperatures to melt away, making it more difficult to maintain control over the two sections of flame, or would have if it wasn’t Sasha we were talking about.

In a matter of a couple of minutes, while at least five participants failed by burning the medicinal herbs, Sasha had already melted just over half a dozen metal ingots.

Sasha only met with a challenge when she tried to melt down a metal ingot that way made of multiple layers of dissimilar metals. Not only was there a constant variation in the high temperatures required to melt each layer of metal, but some metals even reacted violently to fire.

Sasha broke out in a cold bead of sweat as she managed to contain the explosive reaction generated by one of the metal layers, only to be scared to death when the next layer reacted as a catalyst for her flames. Hurriedly and with all her will, Sasha forced her flame to stay in check to avoid burning the grass in the furnace, barely succeeding.

Sasha wasn’t the only one who had trouble with that particular metal ingot, even Ai Zuling frowned as she dealt with that challenge and the same was true for other expert alchemists. In the case of Sublime Lotus, a girl who wore simple white robes and a white mask, although her expression could not be seen, it was still possible to read the tension in her body language, she also had trouble with that part of the test.

All the expert alchemists turned stern after passing that part of the test, ready to face the next metal ingot, inside, many of them had already changed their derogatory opinions towards the blacksmiths who had designed this test.