The referee looked back at Yuki in shock.
Just who was this girl?!
At the same time, there was a bitter smile that appeared on his face.
It seemed like he had made a mistake…
He had taken the young master's money to mess with this girl because he had thought that it was a simple job. After all, he had never heard of this girl before and when he checked, there was no special information on her.
He had assumed that she was just some random commoner, so it would be easy for him to mess with her.
But now…
However, he still couldn't help asking, "But master, what about this smell?"
The head referee revealed a bitter smile and said, "Well, that's the one downside to this technique. It burns away the impurities that it separates from the ingredients and when those are burnt away, it creates a…"
He didn't finish his words, but it was clear what he was referring to.
He was clearly referring to the stench that was currently assaulting their noses. Even if they tried their hardest, they still weren't able to ignore it.
The head referee shook his head with the same bitter smile and said, "It's normally hard for people to ignore this smell and focus on their refining, but…" As he said this, he looked at Yuki with a look of admiration, "She's able to keep her calm even with this stench and slowly burn away all the impurities. This is true talent."
While he was saying this, many people in the crowd were getting close to vomiting. However, they were also very curious what kind of technique this was for the head referee to praise it this much.
There were even many young masters whose eyes lit up.
A beauty and an alchemy genius, if they could marry someone like that, they would be set for life.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThere were many young masters that started looking at her with even more fervour compared to before, as well as many more young masters that sent their servants to gather information on Yuki.
But in this entire arena, the people who were suffering the most were the people taking the exam with Yuki.
Refining pills was something that took great concentration and while they did have that, it was very hard for them to concentrate when their noses were being assaulted.
They tried to hold on as much as possible, but it was clear by the fluctuations that came from their cauldrons they weren't doing that well.
Then after five minutes, the first cauldron exploded.
This person wasn't able to maintain a steady flame with the stench that harassed his nose, so eventually he lost control of his flame. With this flame losing control, the pressure inside the cauldron built up until finally the cauldron itself exploded.
Along with this explosion, the ingredients that he had been refining and the medicinal essence liquid that he had made were all burnt away.
In the end, this person was left with a burnt face, a burnt cauldron, and nothing to show for it.
The Alchemy King Hall had given two sets of ingredients since even the best alchemists failed. As long as he restarted his refining now, he would still be able to make it in time to pass this round.
It was just too bad that there was still this powerful and foul stench in the air.
Even if he wanted to try again with a second refinement, he knew that he would fail in the end. There was no way he could maintain his concentration with this kind of distraction.
As he thought this, the person whose cauldron exploded looked at Yuki with a look of hatred and a bitter smile.
If it wasn't for this girl…
This stench was just too powerful and no one was able to maintain their concentration with it in the air.
Finally, the only ones that were still refining were the young master and Yuki.
The young master had been focused on one particular thing, so he hadn't been paying attention to the things around him. That fortunately also allowed him to ignore the powerful stench that had filled the air.
However, once he finished with the part of his refinement he had been focused on, his mind relaxed a bit as he prepared for the next step.
As his mind relaxed, his sense of smell came back to him and the foul stench hit him like a truck.
The young master was trained, so he didn't lose control of his flame right away, but it really was hard for him to concentrate like this.
The young master had been lost in his focus, so he didn't know what was going on or where that stench came from.
He quickly looked up around him and found that instead of looking at him, everyone was focused on Yuki. There was no one that was paying any attention to him.
As he turned his gaze over to Yuki, he finally noticed where the stench was coming from.
Without any hesitation, the young master turned to the referee and complained, "I want to make a formal complaint against that contestant. She's clearly using tricks to interfere with the other contestants! I advise that she immediately fail this exam and be escorted off the premises!"
The referee glared at the young master when he heard this as his heart almost jumped out of his chest.
With the young master's display, it made it clear that there was some special relationship between the two of them. If this was known by his superior, even his position in the Alchemy King Hall would be in danger.
Didn't this idiot hear what the head referee had just said?
This was a special alchemy refining technique that even the head referee couldn't use and he was calling it some tricks?
What a joke!
Even the crowd couldn't help looking at the young master like he was a clown.
He was nothing more than someone who was taking the alchemist exam and he was trying to dispute the words of a renowned Alchemy Master, this was just a little clown dancing his clown dance.
The young master was surprised to see the referee glaring at him, but he was still filled with confidence since he didn't know anything. In fact, he had been so concentrated that he had ignored everything that had happened since he started focusing, which was why he didn't hear what the head referee had said.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmSo the young master said in a righteous voice, "This is clearly a mockery of the alchemist exam. She is just playing tricks to make others fail instead of taking this exam seriously. This could even be considered an insult to the Alchemy King…"
Before he could finish, the head referee looked at him with a cold glare and said in a low voice, "Shut your mouth."
The young master immediately swallowed the words that he had been about to say.
He could tell from the way that the referee looked at this old man that he wasn't a normal old man. Before he knew who this old man was, it was better not to offend him since even the referee was scared of him.
But the more important reason was that he didn't have time to say anything since the next important part of his refining was beginning.
This was a part that would take most of his concentration to do, so he didn't have time to say anything in return.
However, the problem was that he wasn't able to enter a state of concentration.
Whenever he tried to focus on refining his pill, he found that the stench in the air would assault his nose, making it impossible for him to enter a state of focus. Every time he tried, the stench would hit him right in the face and he was forced to close his eyes as tears filled them.
This continued for several more minutes before he finally was unable to control the flames inside of his cauldron. The flames inside of his cauldron fluctuated several times as they became more and more unstable.
The pressure continued to build from this temperature gradient until finally the cauldron couldn't contain it anymore.
With a resounding boom, flames burst out of the cauldron and hit the young master right in the face. The young master had been so shocked by the explosion that he wasn't even able to raise his guard in time, letting the flames hit him right on for a few seconds before he raised his life energy barrier.
When the flames disappeared and the young master's face appeared again, his face had been scorched black and even his eyebrows were gone.
When the people in the crowd saw this, they couldn't help bursting into laughter since his appearance really was just too funny.
The young master had a stunned look on his face, but then he revealed a look of rage as he glared at Yuki.
Then without any hesitation, he tried complaining again to the referee as he said, "This is a clear attempt to sabotage this alchemist exam! I formally protest in the name of the Kong Family! I ask that this miscreant be dealt with immediately!"
Since he had failed earlier, this young master knew that it would be useless to make another complaint unless he dragged his family into this matter. After all, his family did have some weight in this Alchemy King Hall branch.
But the head referee just looked at him and said, "Focus on your own refining unless you're done."
The young master was shocked.
He had even brought out his family, but he had been ignored like it meant nothing.
Just what was going on here?