Ashlock snapped the portal closed and watched as Titus stood at his full height out in the wilderness. In his cupped hands far above the ground was Roderick Terraforge, trapped within twisting black wood coated in 5th-stage Star Core Qi.
"There's no way Roderick can escape Titus, and even if he could, he wouldn't make it back to the tournament in time to meddle with anything." Ashlock almost felt bad when he heard shouts from within the wooden prison.
After taking a while to make sure Roderick really did have no way to break free, Ashlock's vision blurred as he returned to the colosseum.
"It seems that I missed the end of the round," Ashlock mused while observing the flood of examiners dashing between the workbenches and noting down scores.
On their parchments were diagrams and a list of things to look for to determine the quality of a Body Strengthing Pill. Elder Margret had drafted the list and handed it out earlier so that all the examiners could give accurate grades, regardless of their alchemy knowledge.
Of course, one person's judgment wasn't enough, so multiple examiners had to agree upon the same score. While this did make the scores accurate, it made grading slow.
While the event had taken twenty minutes, it took just as long to grade everyone. But the crowd seemed to love hearing the examiners shouting out scores, and whenever someone got a very high or low score, the crowd would either cheer or boo.
Ashlock was actually rather impressed with the tournament the Redclaws had managed to throw together over the course of a month with little help from him and limited resources.
His gaze drifted to those standing under the shade of the demonic tree he had left there all those weeks ago. Ever since he got the {Progeny Dominion} skill, he had left at least one offspring near every landmark in Darklight City.
However, he was yet to use the {Progeny Dominion} as he didn't want his presence to be too obvious until it was time to carry out the grand plan. So, for now, he was using {Eye of the Tree God} to watch the tournament from above, and he had opened the portal via roots he had buried under the arena's sand.
Standing around the tree were his sect members, including Elaine. Due to Diana's mist that shrouded them and the Grand Elder exerting his presence on the area, there would be no way for anyone to detect her Void Qi, the only risk was if someone recognized her despite the mask and black hooded cloak she was wearing to hide her features.
Seeing how proud the Grand Elder looked as he surveyed the ecstatic arena, Ashlock could only reminisce about how far they had come together.
"It's already been a few months since that fateful day that Stella forced the Redclaws to sign an oath to me," Ashlock mused, "I remember when I promised the person who contributed the most to setting up the tournament a reward, but I already gave them all my truffles and access to the mystic realm."
Ashlock wondered if he should sign in for some low-grade items and give them as rewards instead. Would they even want his shitty items over his amazing cultivation resources?
"Spirit grade pill, score 89."
Ashlock had been lost in his thoughts, but such a high number being called out by an examiner drew his attention. To his surprise, the examiners gathered around Stella had engaged in an intense discussion.
"Did Kassandra get 89?" Ashlock asked Stella through the telepathic link, and he saw her shoulders sag a little.
"Yes, she did. If that Terraforge bastard hadn't gone and ruined my work, I would have created a better pill than her." Stella replied. It was rather funny hearing how angry she sounded in her mind while she stood there motionless before the examiners while they debated about her pill.
"I see... did you hear anyone else get a score near 89? I think the highest I heard was 58 from one of the rogue alchemists."
"That's very high. From what I've gathered, I think 70 is the cut-off point for spirit grade, so 58 from a rogue alchemist is impressive." Stella said, "However, I don't think the examiners have asked to see the other nobles' pills yet. They are the ones I am worried about."
"Why would you be worried? Look how excited the examiners are for your pill? What score do you think you will get?"
"Anything above a 90 would be great..." Stella paused, "But I believe that's unrealistic given that I made the pill in a rush. So maybe 80 something?"
Ashlock was about to reassure Stella that everything would be fine, but the examiners had reached a consensus, so he stayed quiet and waited for their verdict.
The young Redclaw man turned to face Stella with a smile alongside the two others. He cleared his throat, "Ahem, Roselyn, we have deemed this pill as per the guidelines to be a Spirit grade pill..."
Ashlock cheered as that likely secured her a spot in the top ten. He then saw Stella clench her hands as the Redclaw man continued after rechecking his notes, "With a score... of 78."
"Elder Brent, you bastard!" Stella screamed in her mind, "Why did he only give me five more minutes? Is he blind? Stupid? Did he not see what Roderick did? This is so unfair! If only he gave me ten minutes, I could have gotten a hundred points and spat in Kassandra's smug face."
"Stella, calm down. Look at Kassandra's expression right now." Ashlock pointed out and saw the blank-faced yet mentally raging Stella turn to look at Kassandra, who was frowning rather than smirking despite getting a higher score.
"She may have gotten the higher score, but you still made a Spirit grade pill within five minutes even after she got her accomplice supposedly detained by the Silverspires." Ashlock chuckled at Kassandra's worried look, "I bet she decided it would have all been worth it if you ended up with a Mortal grade pill and didn't make it into the top ten. Therefore winning her the bet. But you did it! You beat the odds."
Stella unclenched her hand, turned away from Kassandra, and stared blankly at the demonic tree. "But I lost... how can you twist it and say I won?"
"You may have lost the battle, but the war is far from over." Ashlock explained, "There is still one battlefield left... the only one that truly matters. The finals will begin soon."
As Ashlock finished his words, he saw Elder Brent make his way onto the wooden platform and begin to read from a parchment in his hands.
"I will now present the scores of the top 10, starting from the bottom."
Ashlock realized he had missed hearing the other nobles' scores while talking to Stella, "I wonder where she will place? A score of 78 should still be rather high."
Elder Brent paused for dramatic effect and then began to read up the list.
"Spot's ten to eight are tied at 55 points. Congratulations, Tabitha, Dylan, and Ezra."
Ashlock noted the lack of a noble name, so these three were likely rogue cultivators or people undercover like Stella with her Roselyn persona.
"Seventh spot goes to Alaina with 56."
"Sixth spot with 58 points goes to Marcus."
Elder Brent's gaze then drifted to the middle of the area where the nobles mostly were, "The fifth spot goes to Roselyn with a Spirit grade pill at 78 points."
The crowd roared with praises, but Stella looked far from happy.
"Stella, you got fifth place after learning alchemy for a single week, and I am sure you might have even won if you had been given more time. Put your chin up. You did fantastic."
"But Kassandra got higher. It's not fair..." Stella grumbled.
Ashlock sighed, "Life's not fair, Stella. Let Kassandra experience this final moment of victory as I'm sure she will think the world is far more unfair than yours when there's a void tendril through her heart as she draws her final breath."
Stella's eyes widened a little from his words.
"Next up is Kane Azurecrest with a Spirit grade pill at 81 points." Elder Brent called out, drawing Ashlock's focus back to the tournament.
It was hard to tell the Azurecrest teen's reaction to fourth place as he leaned against his workbench and hid his expression behind his long white and crimson hair. Despite his lacking presence, he stood out among the nobles even when beside Dante Voidmind and Celeste Starweaver.
Not only did he have a dual affinity for fire and wind, which was one of the first dual affinities Ashlock had ever seen. But Kane also likely had a nocturne living inside him. If all that wasn't enough, the teen seemed to also be a rather talented alchemist, able to make Spirit grade pills out of ingredients intended for a Mortal grade pill.
Elder Brent continued once the cheers died down slightly, "Now for the top three, which happens to be between three very notorious noble families."
Ashlock felt the energy from the crowd reach a new height as Elder Brent gestured to each of the nobles, "House Skyrend, Voidmind, and Starweaver sent talented representatives, but which will come out on top?"
If Ashlock had to guess, it would be between Dante and Celeste. "Their affinities were far too good at quickly purifying ingredients, so the winner will be decided by the one most capable of forming the pill. Hmm, I think Dante might take the lead. He seems like a man who is way too arrogant to tolerate losing."
Elder Brent was a rather good showman, as he even managed to get Ashlock a little excited about who got the highest score. However, it was clear the nobles were bored as they had likely already overheard each other's results, but they stood there silently and let Elder Brent continue his theatrics.
"In third place is the ever-proud Kassandra Skyrend with a Spirit grade pill at 89 points! Just one step below a Profound grade pill! Better luck next time..."
Kassandra's eyes glowed briefly, and tensed her arm but then relaxed. That little jab at her arrogance despite coming in third must have rubbed her the wrong way.
"Next up is a surprising one," Elder Brent grinned, "In second place with a Profound grade pill and 93 points is Dante Voidmind! Which means our victor is Celeste Starweaver at 95 points!"
The colosseum erupted in a thunderous roar as everyone stood from their seats and clapped.
Unlike the other nobles who stayed sullen, Celeste Starweaver waved to the crowd with a beaming smile.
Ashlock was surprised Celeste had managed to pull out ahead of Dante Voidmind. She had seemed rather clueless in the preliminary round, where she failed the easy question and then blew a week's worth of Qi on purifying an ingredient, but it seemed she also had some skill when it came to forming the pill.
"It's a shame Roderick ruined Stella's chance of being in the spotlight..." Ashlock sighed, "I wonder how Stella would have compared to these three if she had a fair chance."
He still wanted to recruit one of these alchemists for the Ashfallen sect, but someone like Celeste Starweaver was part of a noble family, so bringing her on board was unlikely.
Would he have to pick between the rogues that couldn't get a higher score than Stella when she had only five minutes to rush a pill? At that point, was there even a point to hiring them other than to be Stella's apprentice?
"If anything, this tournament gave Stella the motivation to learn alchemy. If I can't find anyone from the winners I want to hire, I can get the Redclaw twins to do everything with Elder Margret's help."
Ashlock felt that was a good compromise as the crowd settled down.
"Those not in the top ten, we appreciate your attendance but kindly ask you to vacate the arena," Elder Brent called out as the examiners began to politely nudge the rogues that had failed to make the cut out of the arena.
Hundreds of alchemists of various ages and backgrounds were all funneled out of the few exits, and soon there was a very empty arena with ten people standing a fair distance from one another.
"Without delay, we will begin the final round." Elder Brent gestured to the empty arena, "You may go and pick any workbench you wish. Just make sure to space yourselves out so we can avoid another incident."
Ashlock heard Stella click her tongue as she strode as far away from Kassandra as possible and began setting up her ingredients on a random workbench.
***
Stella let out a breath and tried to calm down.
Today had been too much for her.
Far too much hatred, bloodlust, and exhaustion swirled around her mind in a constant war that overwhelmed her to the point that even three Mind Fortress pills had no hope of relaxing her mind.
Stella's spatial ring dimmed as she finished retrieving her ingredients and placing them on the workbench. She had to admit there was some solace in not having to purify the ingredients.
"Thank you, Tree," She said quietly in her mind. In a way, they were like a gift from him.
"Mhm, what did you say?" Ashlock's presence entered her mind, and his harrowing voice echoed within her consciousness, "I was distracted by trying to study everyone else's ingredients so I can try and grow them later."
Stella shook her head, "It was nothing—"
"Is everyone ready for the final round?!" Elder Brent's Qi-empowered voice boomed through the colosseum, "Participants, you have thirty minutes to create any pill you please with your ingredients. There can only be one winner, so there's no room for mistakes!"
Stella rolled her eyes as she reached forward and tried to mentally remember the complicated recipe for the Heavenly Purification Pill that she had only managed to make one of after nine attempts earlier in the day.
You got this, Stella, just concentrate, and everything will be okay.
She carefully placed all the ingredients in the cauldron and was about to begin forming the pill within her soul fire when Ashlock spoke in her mind.
"I have bad news."
"What is it?" Stella sighed.
"To the surprise of nobody Kassandra has found another way to cheat."
Stella furrowed her brows, "How? We can do practically anything we want in this final round, so how could she cheat?"
"Well, to be fair, she hasn't exactly cheated, but she lied through her teeth. Remember when Elder Margret approved this final round because Kassandra agreed to provide them with a copy of the ingredients she planned to use to make her pill?"
"Yes..." Stella didn't like where this was going.
"How many ingredients do you have?"
Stella glanced between the Qi Flowing Grass, Dragon Marrow, Celestial Peony Petal, Heavenly Bamboo Essence, and a single droplet of a Nine-Tailed Fox's Tear.
"I have all five needed for the pill right here?" Stella grumbled, "So what's the problem?"
"Well, if I am counting correctly, Kassandra has seven ingredients instead of only five, and she put them all in the cauldron."
Stella's eyes widened as she shouted in her mind, "Wait, that means she has the recipe and ingredients for a Profound grade pill!"
"I will go and question Elder Margret, but it would seem Kassandra is going to try and make a superior version of the Heavenly Purification Pill as the ingredients are the same except the extra two."
"Does she even have the skills to create a Profound grade pill?" Stella asked.
"It might be a desperation play after seeing you create a Spirit grade pill in five minutes despite her best efforts to sabotage you," Ashlock mused, "So it might be a last-ditch effort on her part, but if she succeeds and manages to create this pill..."
Stella looked at her ingredients and bit her lip. She only had enough fox tears for a single attempt, but if she managed to make the pill absolutely perfect on the first try, there was still a chance she could win.
"Tree, you said this was my final battle?" Stella glanced at the sky with the fire of passion in her eyes, "The one to win the war?"
"That I did."
"Ever since I was a little girl, it's been you and me against the world, Tree." Stella grinned behind her mask as she glanced back down and lit the cauldron with her soul fire.
"And I can't remember a single darn time we ever lost! If the heavens can't strike me down, what does the Skyrend family have on me!?"
"I believe in you, Stella. Go make the best Heavenly Purification Pill the world has ever seen. If anyone can do it, you can."
With a smile, Stella set out to accomplish the impossible. She had one shot, one opportunity to get a final win against Kassandra Skyrend before she drew her last breath on the sand beneath her feet.
