Zhanrou got 20 points in the first round and another 20 points in the 2nd round, bringing her total up to 108, 6 points higher than Alex.
More people came along as more rounds were held and they got high scores too. Soon, Alex was starting to reach the lower end of the top 10.
With 3 more rounds remaining, he was sure he would fall out of the top 10.
Zhou Ren walked out with the 8th group and sat down to make his pill. The fire that was burning red and yellow a moment ago suddenly turned white as Zhou Ren used his powers.
The white flame burned smoothly like liquid smoke and after a few minutes, Zhou Ren put in the first ingredients.
There wasn't anything fancy about the rest of the moves he did, but the white flame made it look amazing regardless.
Soon his pill was done and it came out with 58%. Without even waiting, Alex knew he had gotten the 20 points.
The white fire burned for the 2nd competition as well as Zhou Ren finished first and got another 20 points.
Another person from his group also did really well, coming in 2nd at each round and got a total of 38 points and caught up with Alex.
The rest of the 2 groups also had 3 people that ended up getting equal or above Alex in the ranking.
By the time the third day was over, Alex was in 12th place.
"Don't worry son, you'll be fine," Helen tried to console him. "Besides, you just want your arm back right? You can reach Saint realm for that."
'And cultivate behind closed doors for who knows how many years,' Alex thought.
"It's fine, mother," he said. "I'm still not out of the running. Since the final competition counts the pill's Harmony as points, I just need to make better pills than everyone else."
"Oh, okay. You can do that," Helen said.
"Hey, brother Yu," Zhou Ren spoke as he walked toward Alex. "I saw the ranking and couldn't help but be surprised. What happened? Why are you so low?"
"I was just off my game today. I will bring my best on the final day," Alex said.
"Oh, okay," Zhou Ren said. "I must have been stupid to think you were only good on the theoretical stuff and couldn't actually make pills. Well, see you later."
"I don't like that guy. Why is he so snarky?" Helen asked.
"He was born to a big family and is kind of a big deal amongst the younger generation. His ego is inflated as a result. Let's not worry about him. I'm going to the guild again to see what I can do for the next competition. You two should go back to the hotel room. I will go back to the guild and see what I can do."
Alex left the competition grounds and went to the guild once again to practice.
The entire time he was there, he did nothing but make the one pill he had told the staff members he would.
As it was a healing pill, there were plenty of ingredients available for him by the guild.
Alex started making the pills and realized he was truly getting terrible. Most of the pills he made ended up being in the high 60s, not even touching 70s.
When he did do almost everything perfectly, there was still enough mistake to cause him to get 72%.
Unless either Zhou Ren or Xue Meirong got 63% or less on the final round, he was screwed.
Alex started to get anxious but calmed himself. 'I don't know how well they can do. I just need to do better,' he thought.
Before making the next pill, he took some time to take in every yang energy he had been releasing subconsciously.
Then, he split his attention to keep his Yang in check. This made him incredibly slower than normal, but that was a trade-off he was willing to make.
Even with that, it wasn't like he wasn't making mistakes, but he did end up getting more than 75% this time around.
He tried some more and took it slow for the most part. Soon, he realized that if he wasn't being hasty, and made sure to get rid of all the yang around him and stash it within him, he could perfectly reach 78% too.
'That's good,' he thought. He didn't like the feeling of having all the yang inside of him, but he had no other choice.
Over the course of the night, Alex cultivated to get ready for the next day.
In the morning, he walked out with newfound vigor and hope in himself for the next competition.
Alex arrived at the competition ground not long after and met up with his mother.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Great," Alex said with a genuine smile. "I think I can do it."
"Good, now go," Helen sent him off.
Alex went over to the staff that took him to the waiting list and was assigned group 10.
After a few minutes, Zhanrou came in and she got group 10 as well.
"What a coincidence," Alex said.
"No, it's not," Zhanrou said. "It's the final day so they are going to make it exciting by making the highest rankers in the same group. Brings out more competitiveness."
"Oh, so that means—"
"It seems we're in the same group finally," Zhou Ren said from the side as he walked over the Alex.
"It seems so," Alex said.
"Oh, my bad. I was talking to sister Zhanrou here since she and Xue Meirong are the only ones that have a chance against me today," Zhou Ren said.
Alex didn't let his emotion waver at the blatant disrespect and instead channeled his anger into motivation.
"If you think you have a chance of beating me, you are sorely mistaken," Xue Meirong arrived to say to Zhou Ren.
"We will see who's right later," Zhou Ren said and moved away.
Xue Meirong turned away from him and Zhanrou and humphed away as well.
"Group 1 gather up!" the staff started calling for the first group. "The rest of you can leave and go watch the competition. Group 2, make sure to come here as soon as the Group 1's round is complete. If you are missing when it's time for you to go on stage, we will mark you absent."
Alex and the rest walked out of the waiting area while Group 1 left for the stage where the host was already starting the competition.
"How do you think your chances are?" Zhanrou asked.
"It's good. I should be able to get a lot of points," Alex said. "What about y—"
"What pill are you making today, young man?" the host asked out loud to the first person that entered the stage.
"Disciple Ascendancy pill," the young man answered.
Next up, a girl came up and the host asked the same question.
"Disciple Ascendancy Pill," the girl said.
Another person came up and once again the host asked the same question.
"Disciple Ascendancy pill," the third person said as well.
Alex watched curiously as of the 20 people that entered, 18 of them were making the Disciple Ascendancy pill.
"What's going on?" Alex softly asked Zhanrou.
"You don't realize?" Zhanrou asked.
Alex shook his head.
"Do you remember the test you had us take when we tried for the Royal Alchemist job?" Zhanrou asked.
"Yes, I made you make my… Disciple Ascendancy pill." Blood drained from Alex's face fasther than his mind understood what was going on.
"No way!" he said.
"I'm afraid that's the case," Zhanrou said. "You gave your recipe to so many people that over the last year, it was spread throughout the empire."
"It isn't talked about much because it is such a low-level pill, but it is the best recipe we have for in the whole empire, so everyone is going to use that recipe, including me," Zhanrou said.
"No, but if that happens then…" All forms of motivation Alex had been feeling just moments ago were gone.
Who cared if he could make 78% pill after trying really hard if others could easily reach 75%.
"It seems everyone is making your pill, brother Yu," Zhou Ren said from the side. "Seriously though, it's an amazing recipe and you should be proud of yourself for refining it to such perfect… even though you lack the ability to make good pills."
Alex was feeling so angry that he nearly punched Zhou Ren. Instead, he ignored the man and walked directly to his mother, and sat down beside her.
"What's wrong? You seem mad," Helen asked.
"I am," Alex said. "Everyone is using my recipe today and they will use that to beat me."
"Your recipe? What? But they are so much better. If they use that then…"
"They will easily close up on me and I won't get the necessary points," Alex said. "Dammit! How the hell do I get 9 points more than them when I will now barely get 3 points more if I'm lucky."
Helen started to panic as well. "How did they get your recipe?" she asked.
"I used it for a test a year ago for the royal family," Alex said. "I had no idea such a simple thing like that would come back to bite me."
Helen didn't know what to do and only watched her son become restless and panicked.
Just then, she saw a girl appear behind Alex and place a hand on his shoulders.
"Brother Yu, I finally found you," the girl said.
