Page 1154 of Heaven, Earth, Me

Chapter 1154 - 1154. Kali's Test's Misjudgment.

Kali noticed a change in the gaze of the judges, but she didn't really understand it. Therefore, she didn't linger on it too much. After what they said, it was time to explain a few general rules for all competitions. The rules were about what was prohibited and what was not. For example, purposely tampering with the items given, using external sources to cheat or modify anything, etc. To make it even fairer, all the alchemy cauldrons, herb purifiers, and everything else were the exact same ones, prohibiting personal items.

The rules didn't speak about summons not being able to help, but Kali didn't want to use Valeria. Therefore, she decided to participate with her own strength and see her own limits.

With the rules explained, the competition started. The assistants stepped forward in an orderly manner and separated, reaching in front of the 12 competitors. Then, they waved their long sleeves simultaneously, summoning a jade scroll with the names and images of ingredients on it. The number of materials was many, reaching nearly 8600 individual herbs.

The announcer spoke aloud. "Now that the materials are on your tables, you have 20 hours to write as many earth-ranked and superior pill recipes as possible. We, the organizers, have asked many famous alchemists to give us what they think is the maximum number of recipes that you can guess. We won't reveal that number until the 20 hours have passed. Begin!"

The 12 alchemy masters took out another tournament-given scroll and began writing down the recipes. At first, it was easy, and the alchemy masters didn't even lift their heads from the scroll, writing hundreds of pill recipes per minute.

Kali was at a slight disadvantage. After all, the same ingredient might not be called identically in other locations. Thankfully, each ingredient was represented in a very realistic image, even describing its scent, location of growth, and other special characteristics that made it stand out from similar ones.

She didn't rush and instead decided to take a good look at the thousands of ingredients. With her powerful mind and soul, scanning the 8600 materials in the scroll took around 20 minutes.

In the meantime, Yesenia asked the Long family seniors. "Do we know how many recipes can be created with those 8600 ingredients?"

Ancestor Long shook his head. "We don't. From what we know, there shouldn't be more than 150,000. That's a number that hasn't been broken in past competitions. However, the list rarely goes under 100,000."

Yesenia nodded, and one senior from the Long family spoke derisively. "Does Kali even know more than 100,000 pill recipes? Look at her. She isn't even writing down names like the others."

Yesenia answered peacefully, not caring about her tone. "I don't know why she is doing what she is, but I trust her."

Her answer made that senior feel as if she had punched cotton, making her face turn slightly ugly.

In the stands, the public discussed the participants. While the first part of the competition was not very interesting, alchemy fans chatted about how many pill recipes the materials could make. Others also spoke about the competitors.

"Master Xian managed to decipher more than 12,000 the last time she participated, and that was more than a century ago. I've heard that this will be the last time she participates because she is going to be transferred to the main power."

"Really!? I only know about Master Fu. He said before the competition that he came to defeat Master Xian and ask her to become his Dao Companion."

"While I respect Senior Fu, no one matches up to Senior Xiao. Her appearance, talent, and background are unparalleled."

When Yasenia heard their conversation, she couldn't help but glance at the ethereal woman seriously writing pill formulas. Her white and fair skin made a perfect contrast with her dark hair. Her light brown eyes were like two honeypots, but her seriousness and incredible aura gave her the presence of a fairy untouched by mortal dust.

Tatyana glanced at her Little Treasure and smirked. "Does she look good?"

Yasenia blinked and smirked at Tatyana. "She does. What, jealous? Does Miss Gorgeous feel inferior appearance-wise?"

Tatyana clicked her tongue playfully. "Looked at the neighbor's grass because it is greener? I will need to punish you later."

Yasenia laughed and used her tail to place Tatyana in front of her and hug her from behind. "Do you think Kali can do well? I have no reference toward the usual level of Transcendence Realm Alchemists."

Tatyana pondered and spoke objectively. "I also don't know the usual standard of the Alchemists living here. However, taking into account the pills I've seen on sale in the shops, Kali shouldn't place in the last position. As for whether she can take first place... I don't think she can." She glanced at Master Xiao and muttered. "That girl is very good. It feels as if she breathes the Alchemy Dao. She might be good enough to teach Kali."

Yasenia hummed, feeling impressed. "That's not bad at all. Kali's talent is indeed monstrous for someone younger than 100 years old. However, these people are probably over 5,000 years old, right?"

Seeing that the question was directed at him, Ancestor Long answered. "From my knowledge, Master Xiao is around 2,000 years old, and Master Fu is around 3,000. However, the others are indeed over 5,000 years old. That old woman over there is 23,000 years old." Ancestor Long sighed. "It feels like yesterday when I spoke to her grandmother."

Yasenia's eyebrow twitched. 'So old... I wonder what my strengths will be when I start reaching their age?'

As she was pondering, the people around her started speaking about Kali. "Oh? Did she finally start writing down recipes? That junior is very slow."

"What do you know? She takes her time and checks the resources before starting to write them down. I find that admirable!"

"Not knowing every ingredient is not something that needs to be praised. She is lacking compared to the rest... Well, it was expected."

The judges were walking around the competitors silently, checking the recipes they were writing. An old man approached Kali, and seeing that she was writing seriously, a faint smile crept up his lips. Looking at the paper, his gaze couldn't help but flash with surprise. 'Oh? Her writing speed is not behind those other masters.'

His gaze looked at the large list of recipes, and his gaze turned serious. 'She has committed no mistakes yet... Impressive. From her bone age, I can tell that she has yet to reach 100 years of age. Her talent is indeed high.'

An old woman approached at this moment, another judge. At first, this old woman was somewhat resentful that the foxkin wanted to ruin the sacredness of the competition. However, seeing her previous eagerness, her prejudice turned around and became apparent. 'A young child wanting to measure herself against strong people should be praised, not judged.'

Once she stood behind Kali, similar to the other old man, her gaze couldn't help but flash with surprise. 'This child...' Her gaze became even more gentle when looking at Kali's serious expression. 'Good. Good. Good. New generations will surpass old ones. That saying is indeed the truth. She is much better than Little Xian when she was at her age.'

The two judges looked at each other, and after a small smile, they moved away silently, giving Kali space.

Time passed swiftly, and the 20 hours finished. "Finish writing your last recipe and put down your quills! It is time to evaluate."

Kali wrote down the last steps of the recipe and sighed. 'I could've written a few more, but my writing speed was not enough...'

Many people couldn't help but notice Kali as well. After all, there were some Masters that stopped writing because they couldn't think of more recipes. However, from start to finish, Kali's hand didn't stop even for a second.

"The pill recipes that the experts gathered with the materials have been recorded in the scrolls where you've written the answers. Now, the scroll will check the matches and show a number at the back. Please, say that number aloud. We'll give you one hour to confirm the mistakes."

Kali had written down 123,454 recipes during this time, almost two recipes per second! These pill recipes were common ones that could heal colds, make a blemish on the skin vanish, or perhaps give someone a better body scent for a few seconds. They weren't useful most of the time, but this time, what mattered was not quality but quantity.

The foxkin waited anxiously, and when the number came back, her face changed. 'Huh? 10,240?'

A deep frown appeared on her eyebrows, and she quickly checked the scroll. Her eyes moved through the recipes and checked the ones that were tagged as wrong. 'This... These recipes are fine. I even crafted some myself in the past.'

Thinking that her scroll must've malfunctioned, she raised her hand and called the judges over. The judges stepped forward, and the old woman asked gently. "What's wrong, child?"

Kali spoke somewhat awkwardly. "Um. Seniors, I think my scroll malfunctioned. I've double-checked the ones that the scroll has marked as wrong, but there are many that I have crafted in the past that are marked as wrong... Could the seniors check, please?"

The five judges were somewhat surprised, and the old woman quickly took Kali's scroll. When she saw the 10,240/123,454, her face changed. "This..." She quickly checked inside and started screening the ones that the scroll marked as wrong. However, as she checked, her face became subtle. 'What is this? , ...'

She understood that the competition was based on quantity and not quality, so she wasn't against Kali's tactic. However, she had never heard of these pills before!

Seeing the honest and gentle-looking fox woman, she didn't really want to doubt her. "So, child. How many of these pills that are marked as wrong are correct?"

Kali's tone became even more forced and awkward. "I've made mistakes in 3,240 of them. However, the rest should be correct."

The judges were speechless. 'Are you telling us that you've written over 100,000 pills that our masters haven't recognized!?'

Still, looking at the strange names and plausible pill recipes, the judges didn't know what to say. They couldn't really ask Kali to prove the recipes by crafting them in front of them. That would take ages.

"Child, give us a moment. We'll test a few ourselves since they are not that difficult. We'll try to see common patterns and include them for the scroll to check. However, if we are unable to do so in one hour, we will have to wrong you, and leave whatever number the scroll shows as your final score."

Kali sighed and nodded. "I guess I should've predicted it. My alchemy teachers are from a faraway place, and therefore, having different knowledge is normal."

The judges felt even worse that something like this happened, so they quickly dispersed and tried to solve the problem.

By the time the hour finished, Kali's scroll had shown 85,670. This jump in score made the judges even more sure that Kali was not tricking them. Still, they couldn't do much more.