"Woah. It''s the Spirit God."


    "It''s the Spirit God!"


    "Spirit God is actually participating in thispetition?"


    "Who is that woman next to him? Is she his wife?"


    "She is Firia Merona, the genius Alchemist from Eulja. She has a reputation as a good Alchemist even among the Highest Rank Alchemists."


    As one would expect, the silence turned into an uproar the moment Alex and Firia entered the stage. However, it didn''te only with surprise. There were many who questioned his participation since his reputation was well-known.


    Most people actually got scared because Alex might kill them if they dared to defeat him in thispetition.


    Some even wondered whether to ept their defeat this time and let the Spirit God do whatever he wanted this year and participate in anotherpetition.


    To calm their anxiety, Alex enhanced his voice with Spiritual Energy before saying with a calm expression. "Rest assured. If I lose, I will admit defeat. There is no need to be scared because I won''t hold a grudge or whatever. I can guarantee it with my status as the Spirit God."


    They began whispering with each other as they suddenly thought another thing after Alex''s assurance.


    "Hey, doesn''t this mean the Spirit God has no intention to harm us?"


    "Maybe he has another agenda?"


    "That''s right. Maybe if we win against him, he will scout us?"


    "There is a possibility. If we can show our talent, he may y some importance on us."


    "We will be able to get many benefits if we enter Eulja."


    "That''s right. I wonder what it takes to be scouted by him."


    There was a talk about him using this chance to get the talented alchemists. After all, Alex was still in the middle of a war and he won the first battle. The momentum was him and with his prestige, there was a huge chance to win.


    This would be the perfect time to join Eulja since Alex would also guarantee their lives ording to the rumors about him.


    After thinking for a while, somehow, most of the participants became even more fired up to win this battle. They tried to strike the chance no matter how slim it was.


    Alex, on the other hand, never thought of that at all. However, he agreed that this might be a good ce to see a talented young Alchemist.


    Meanwhile, Firia prepared their furnace, ignoring all those people''s reactions. They could specte everything they wanted, but they needed to beat them first to even be considered. And it was almost impossible since Alex and Firia were the most anticipated winner this time.


    There was only one person that could challenge her. It was none other than the idiotic guy, Rio Lindao. His power might have gotten to his head, but it by no means lessened his worth as Alchemist.


    Alex thought for a moment and asked. "What do you think about every single round?"


    "Ehm, are you sure? Although I hate to admit it, I''m not confident of achieving it. After all, every single Alchemist has their own strength."


    Alex nodded with a serious expression. "I''m serious. I will try to help you."


    "I understand."


    Little did she know that Alex''s true reason for wanting to finish first was to test the idiot Roy Lindao. He wanted to see his reaction and triggered him to make sure his choice.


    After thinking for a moment, Alex came up with something good.


    There were ten elders observing thispetition. One of them stood up and asked Alex politely. "I would like to confirm that Your Excellency, the Spirit God, won''t take anyone ountable if they somehow defeat you. Is that correct?"


    "Yes. I have no hesitation in killing people, but I won''t kill someone as long as they don''t offend me. Beating me is not considered one… At least for me. This is my principle, so you can rest assured. I will alsopete fairly." Alex smiled.


    His statement was all they needed to hear.


    Meanwhile, Alex ced the Memory Crystal inside his clothes, where it was visible to look anywhere. He needed to do this because he had a suspicion against Roy.


    "!!!" Suddenly, he widened his eyes and saw Roy remained calm even though he should''ve known about his identity. He felt something bad about this but decided to remain calm for the time being. He thought, ''I need to know about him first because this is an important thing to do. The moment I know if he is rted to one of them, I will kill him and every single of the people in that world while trying to acquire information about those weapons.''


    "Since we have gotten confirmation from Your Excellency, then I, Xivana, announce the start of the dualpetition. The first stage of thispetition will eliminate most of the people here, so be prepared. As you may already know, our me intensity can roughly determine what kind of pill we can make.


    "Now the question is what determines me intensity for Alchemy? After long research, we have found that there are five important aspects that need to be considered for Alchemy. They are control, power, type, purity, and temperature.


    "Hence, we''ve built a special crystal that can calcte every single of them and turn them into a number. For example, if you can make your me enveloped the crystal in an even proportion, your control over the me is perfect.


    "Type and Power are obviously rted. For example, Pure Fire is the strongest type of fire which also gives the strongest power for Alchemy. Of course, its purity is top-notch too. Hence, Pure Fire is considered not only as a terrifying power but also the best me in Alchemy.


    "Last but not least, temperature. Even a Pure Fire has its own stage such as a normal Pure Fire and the awakened type. There was even a person who could evolve it even further, suppressing every single person who had Fire Element. Their temperature might vary, and the higher the temperature you can infuse, the better condition you get when refining the pill.


    "This crystal can feel all of that and range it between one to one hundred points. It means if you have the perfect quality to be an Alchemist, you will get five hundred points. Since this is a duopetition, you may get help from your teammate in any form of assistance."


    As he exined, ady brought the crystal to the middle of the arena. The translucent pink-colored crystal immediately became the focus of the entire arena as they wondered what kind of crystal the Pill Tower produced.


    Still, many people were baffled when they thought that this palm-sized crystal was actually the one that would determine the fate of the participants.


    Meanwhile, after listening to those words, Alex felt like he knew what to do. He sent a thought transmission to Firia. ''Do you have confidence in getting the five hundred?''


    ''Ehm, I''m not sure. Although I have confidence in getting a high score, I don''t know if I can get the top one.''


    ''I will channel my power a bit to you. After my Pure Fire evolved to Godly Pure Fire, your fire wouldn''t lose against a Pure Fire. And I will try using my Space Element to improve your control.'' He smiled, assuring her that she would get the perfect score.


    ''I understand. I will be relying on you.'' She smiled. ''Although I feel that my control is great, I can''t say that it''s perfect.''


    ''It''s fine. I''m not confident in my own control at first. I needed to see hell first to understand how important control is.'' Alex smiled and patted her shoulder.


    "Then, who would like to try first?" The elder asked. "By the way, anyone with less than 350 points is to be eliminated. This may be strict, but it''s natural to think this way. If you don''t like it,e again in ten years."


    The majority of people here gulped down, having no confidence in themselves. They looked at each other, wondering if they should go first. Obviously, among so many participants, there were a few reckless and brave ones.


    This time, a pair of men stepped forward. The first man had a nine-pointed star too, but the color of its badge symbolized that he was only a Low Rank 9 Alchemist.


    Meanwhile, the other guy seemed to have the power of Rank 9 Array Master too, so he should be able to help him during this ordeal.


    "You are to hit the ball with your fire from fifty meters. Of course, we will keep monitoring the influx of energy here, so no one can go away from cheating." The elder announced while frowning.


    After getting the rification from the elder, the two men walked back, distancing themselves ording to the elder''s instruction.


    The Alchemist then released his Fire while the Array Master started creating the array in front of him. When the array was ready, the Alchemist released his fire, hitting the array.


    Surprisingly, the array absorbed the fire before creating a stronger fire. It reached the crystal and enveloped it.


    Suddenly, a number popped out from the crystal as if the crystal projected it.


    376


    "Oh?! We have gotten someone qualified in the first try."


    "It seems to be not that hard. We should try it first before getting scared."


    "Indeed. Let''s go."


    More and more people gained confidence after seeing this. The elder arranged the order for the people as one by one started to show their strength.


    Unfortunately, not a single of them managed to pass. Many people started getting angry because of this and tried to protest, but the elders had their own stand. They didn''t ept any of their pleas and expelled them from thepetition.


    Since so many people finished their assessment, more and more pairs took the test.


    250


    "Ugh. No! How can it be?!" The Alchemist shouted his unwillingness before the guard escorted him out of the arena.


    Suddenly, Roy came to the stage with a confident smile. He even pushed his assistance, who turned out to be the same woman he brought when he met Alex.


    His Pure Fire gushed out of his body, revealing its might. People would feel the burden in their hearts because of the natural suppression.


    The me burst and turned into a bigger one. He then concentrated everything into his fist and punched forward as the Pure Fire created a vortex, hitting the crystal.


    Surprisingly, what came out from the crystal showed his true value.


    470


    "Ooh!"


    "This is the highest score we''ve gotten so far. As expected from a Pure Fire user. His type, power, and temperature should be top-notch. As for the Purity, I feel like the me still absorbs a bit of the natural element from the surrounding and the control over it is not perfect. That must be the reason he can''t reach 500 points." The elder showed his amazement, exining it to the audience so everyone could understand.


    Suddenly, Roy raised his hand, pointing it toward Alex and Firia. "You''re next."