Chapter 306 - Second Round 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 ------------ Regarding Wu Qianqian’s speed, Chen Xiang was not surprised at all. She had the Blue Star Fire Spirit, and Fire Spirit users in regards with the manipulation of flames and its temperature were many times better than regular alchemists. As the sand in the sandglass trinkled down bit by bit, the atmosphere on the stage became very tense. There were some alchemist whose candle still didn’t melt, in particular on the low-rank tournament stage, where this occurrence was the most common. The level of the alchemists on the high-rank tournament stage was the definitely highest, all of the alchemists were able to take out those red ice particles. As the final grain of sand finished its journey down in the sandglass, the first round was declared finished. Next, the inspection of each and every red ice particle the alchemists took out began. Those who were unable to melt the candle or had taken out the least amount of the ice particles would be eliminated. On the high-rank tournament stage, Chen Xiang was in the forefront in the amount of ice particles taken out, not to mention he had already finished early. The least amount of ice particles taken out in the high rank stage was still seventy ice particles. In accordance with the rules of first round, the five participants who had taken out the lowest amount were eliminated from the high-rank tournament. Some of the 6th level Alchemists felt very envious of Chen Xiang, simultaneously, some of the alchemists felt rather sorry. A lowly 5th level Alchemists could actually pass through the first round, however, they were eliminated, this made them feel extremely uncomfortable in their hearts. There largest amount of eliminated participants were from the low-rank tournament, there were many alchemists who were unable to take out a single ice particle. All of a sudden, more than half of the participants had been eliminated. From this point of view, most of the participants level of control was not enough on the low-rank tournament stage. Next was the second round, and according to the common sense, this round was going to be harder than the previous one. "Now the second round will start!" As Mrs. Li’s voice resounded, a few people walked up on each tournament stage and then placed a ton of dried herbs on the empty space on the tournament stages. These herbs appeared to be of very poor quality, some of the herbs had aged to the point where they were not far off from death. Some of the herbs were even rotten, in the eyes of these alchemists, all of these herbs were nothing but garbage. "I know these herbs are just trash in your eyes, but in second round of the tournament you need to use these herbs to refine out dans. Then, in accordance with the quality, the number of dans refined and the time taken, you will be judged. In the high-rank tournament, the five participants with the lowest end result based on the quality, number of dans refined, and the time taken will be eliminated. Let the second round begin!” Mrs. Li took out an hourglass, although the sand was being drained very slowly, it was quite clear there was not much time, even less than the first round. Chen Xiang just glanced over those rotten herbs before he recognized that the majority of the herbs were part of the recipe for the True Elemental Dan. It could be seen Danxiang Taoyuan had planted many sets of herbs for True Elemental Dans. However, one of the main ingredient, the Spirit Crystal Essence, was missing. In the eyes of many alchemists, this was an indispensable ingredient for refining the True Elemental Dan. Of course, even if it was not available, it was still possible to refine the dan. However, the number of dans would be lessened, not to mention the quality would also fall. When Chen Xiang had refined the True Elemental Dan previously, he had actually not used the Spirit Crystal Essence. This was because he cultivated the Black Tortoise True Qi, and could produce a kind of liquid which could act as a substitute for the Spirit Crystal Essence. Chen Xiang walked over, and picked a few rotten herbs. The main ingredients of the True Elemental Dans were the Xuan Zhen Grass, the ten thousand years old Spirit Fruit, Spirit Crystal Essence and the Grand Elemental Nut. Besides the Spirit Crystal Essence, the other three ingredients happened to be in the pile of herbs. However, they were all very rotten, and lacked in Spirit Qi. In order to make up for the inadequate herbal Spirit Qi, Chen Xiang could only rely on his experience and increase the amount of ingredients. On the other stages, all the other alchemists who picked those garbage herbs were lamenting, even if some alchemists used better herbs, they would not necessarily be successful in refining, not to mention using this kind of garbage herbs. This was why this round was a huge challenge for these alchemists, no matter if they were high-level or low-level alchemists. The dan Chen Xiang had refined the most was precisely the True Elemental Dan. Although these herbs were a bit rotten, it still didn’t pose any great difficulty for him at the moment, which left him quite disappointed. Chen Xiang was the first one to select the herbs, while the other alchemists were actually fighting with a bunch others to gain some slightly better herbs to have a slightly higher chance in their refinement. There was no lack of rotten True Elemental Dan’s herbs, yet there was no one selecting them, simply because there were no Spirit Crystal Essences. Noticing Chen Xiang picking the True Elemental Dan’s herbs, Mrs. Li reminded, "Young master Chen, during the alchemy process, you can not privately add your own herbs." On the stage, a sharp look flashed through the eyes of several old men. These individuals were all at least a 6th level Alchemist, no matter who it was, whatever they were doing would all be clearly noticed under their eyes, Chen Xiang picking the True Elemental Dans was not hidden from them. Mrs. Li was worried about Chen Xiang not being aware of the rules, and be eliminated in such a way. Chen Xiang smiled, "I know, but while refining the True Elemental Dan, the Spirit Essence Crystal is not necessarily needed. I had never used this kind of thing to refine the True Elemental Dan before anyway." Mrs. Li was a little taken aback. The other alchemists also looked at Chen Xiang with an inconceivable look in the eyes. If the Spirit Crystal Essence is not used, the number of dans refined out would definitely be less, not to mention it would have an adverse effect on its quality., Wasn’t this a waste of the True Elemental Dan’s herbs?" Wu Qianqian was same as Chen Xiang, she too chose to refine True Elemental Dan. Chen Xiang had once guided her in refining the True Elemental Dan, this allowed her to learn a unique way to gather Spirit Qi, and the technique to transform the Spirit Qi into liquid form. This could replace the use of Spirit Crystal Essence, and she was proficient in this process already. The same was true for Yao Haisheng. After all, he was Chen Xiang’s apprentice. Chen Xiang would certainly pass on some of his alchemy techniques to him. Even now, no one else was choosing the True Elemental Dan herbs, which allowed all of them to find relatively better herbs very easily. Chen Xiang sat down crossed-legged on the ground, and took out the Brilliant Flame Dragon Furnace. He placed it on the tabouret, and waited for Mrs. Li and those old men to inspect. He began processing the herbs in the meantime, he removed the dead parts of the herbs, got rid of the unwanted peel, and then quickly rinsed them. In the blink of an eye, Chen Xiang had already finished processing the herbs. His movements were very skilled and quick. While the other alchemists were still picking the herbs, he had already placed his herbs inside the alchemical furnace. Chen Xiang didn’t have any Spirit Crystal Essence, the several old men supervising the tournament and Mrs. Li on the stage had all carefully examined Chen Xiang’s alchemical furnace, and they didn’t find anything hidden. They just couldn’t believe that Chen Xiang was actually going to refine the True Elemental Dan without any Spirit Crystal Essence. They were sure even if he was successful in refining, it would have a very large impact on the quality and quantity. On the high-rank tournament stage, the highest rank herbs in that heap of garbage was for refining the True Elemental Dan, the rest were for some middle-grade spirit level dans, like Martial Elemental Dan, Melting Poison Dan and so forth. If it was not for the lack of the Spirit Crystal Essence, the other alchemists would definitely choose to refine the True Elemental Dan. The time was very short, the majority of the alchemist picking the herbs were all aiming for perfection, but now they could only pick some rotten herbs before hurrying off to their furnaces. Otherwise, once the time was finished, they would be eliminated. Some of the alchemists were already regretting. If they had chosen to refine the True Elemental Dan at the beginning, maybe they would have save a little more time overall. Although they would have refine poor quality True Elemental Dans, or maybe just refined a single True Elemental Dan, it was still better not being able to refine anything within the stipulated time. The alchemists of the high-rank tournament were all feeling hey had committed a major mistake. It was even more true for the alchemists on the other stages. The majority of the alchemist here were attending Danxiang Taoyuan’s alchemy tournament for the first time, it was a lot harder than they had imagined. A translated work of Xianxiaworld