Ashlock watched the colosseum from high above. Tensions were high as the final round was nearing the end, and the majority of the participants had completed their pill and stood idly next to their workbenches while watching their competition.
Dante Voidmind and Celeste Starweaver had already completed Profound tier pills, and Kane Azurecrest was on his way to joining them. But Ashlock didn't care for them. His focus was on Kassandra Skyrend, and it wasn't looking good—her pill seemed almost done with no signs of a significant setback that could cause it to fail at the last hurdle.
Stella was going to lose. There was still time to hatch a plan and make a comeback, but the girl appeared zoned out as if she were in a trance. He tried calling out to her many times, but something was blocking his {Abyssal Whispers} skill from reaching her.
Her eyes were vacant and unfocused on the colosseum wall before her, and her expression was blank.
He wasn't sure what had suddenly overcome Stella. Since the final round started, she had been acting weird and unresponsive—had someone poisoned her? Was she possessed?
"Stella! Are you there?" Ashlock shouted through their telepathic link, but there was no response. He was about to ask the Grand Elder to pause the tournament and check up on Stella when there was a sudden roar from the crowd.
"Oh no," Ashlock panicked as he glanced to the other side of the colosseum and saw Kassandra Skyrend holding a beautiful pill in her hand that radiated majesty. Even if it weren't perfect, it was most certainly a fully formed pill of the Profound tier.
"Kassandra Skyrend has successfully created a pill in the Profound tier!" Elder Brent announced, and the crowd went ballistic.
How the pill compared to Dante and Celeste's wouldn't become apparent until the examiners carried out a closer inspection, but to the average spectator, the fact cultivators from three rival powerful families had created pills that could compete with one another made them excited to see who could come out on top.
Meanwhile, Ashlock was worried as all eyes turned to Stella, including Kassandras, as she was one of the only ones still working.
"Stella!" Ashlock kept shouting into her mind, and then as if someone had smacked her on the back of the head, she tumbled forward and caught herself on the desk.
Ashlock felt the weird barrier that had sealed Stella's mind from his {Abyssal Whisper} skill vanish, and he could exert his presence into her consciousness.
He shouted her name a few more times, and eventually, she responded. While she looked around the colosseum a little dazed, he tried to explain that Kassandra had already created the profound tier pill, but she somehow already knew. Had she been conscious while in that trance?
After asking what she wanted to do about it, he was somewhat surprised that she calmly agreed to try and make a Profound tier pill while thousands of eyes were glued to her every movement.
"Since when was my daughter this confident?" Ashlock wondered and was genuinely baffled as she calmly stood there, waiting for him to confirm if it was possible with Elder Margret.
Reinstating his connection to Elder Margret, the woman winced as he asked, "Stella wants to try and create a Profound tier pill. Do you know any recipes?"
"Well, what ingredients do you have access to?" Elder Margret replied, and Ashlock listed every ingredient Stella had on her table and all the ones he had managed to analyze with his system from the other nobles.
"Mhm, from that list, I think the best one would be the Profound tier Spiritual Nullification pill. It's popular among cultivators as it allows them to conceal their aura and appear like an average mortal," Elder Margret massaged her temples, "If I remember, the recipe goes something like this..."
Ashlock didn't have some godlike memory, and focusing on two conversations at once with {Abyssal Whispers} was tough. Luckily, Elder Margret and Stella were both within his line of sight, so he relayed the recipe to Stella as Elder Margret recited it since Stella claimed she only needed to hear it once.
Within Stella's consciousness, Ashlock saw the recipe manifest—as golden words on a ghostly parchment—at the forefront of her consciousness like a royal decree. It was bizarre to see an invisible quill writing down his words in real-time, and he tried to ask Stella what was happening, but she was being unresponsive again.
However, the moment he finished reciting the recipe, the parchment within Stella's mind flashed a brilliant gold and then dissipated into the darkness of her consciousness like golden snow.
"Tree, I am missing the Celestial Peony Petal, Dreamweaver Orchids, Nine Star Soul Grass, and Moonlight Calla Lily."
"Straight to business, are we?" Ashlock grumbled to himself before replying to Stella, "I'll go and grow them right now. How do you want them delivered?"
As they were both spatial users, even with many people watching, there were various ways they could exchange items without anyone noticing, and even if they did, the final round allowed people to bring their own resources, so it wasn't as big of a deal.
"I will start making the pill now," Stella replied, "So just create a small portal within the cauldron and pass me the flowers that way. It will look like I was summoning the flowers from my spatial ring."
"Okay, give me a moment," Ashlock said as his vision blurred, and he found himself back in the cavern under Red Vine Peak. He quickly opened his {Blooming Root Flower Production} menu, selected a few farm plots with Qi Flowing Grass growing, and told the system to replace them with the new plants.
After depleting some of his Qi reserves, his system's godlike power flooded the area. The Qi Flowing Grass wilted away to make way for a new batch of flowers and even a new type of grass, the Nine Star Soul Grass, described to him as a rare herb that grows in the regions where nine stars shine brightly. It cleanses the soul and spirit, bringing clarity and enlightenment.
In fact, almost all of the ingredients used in the Spiritual Nullification Pill helped cleanse the body.
"The Heavenly Bamboo Essence has the property to cleanse and purify the body and spirit, while the Celestial Peony Petal is also believed to have a high concentration of pure celestial energy that's beneficial for purification," Ashlock mused as he watched the new flowers and grass bloom from the soil at a supernatural speed.
"Then Stella will need to add the Dreamweaver Orchids to give that illusion shroud that helps conceal the Qi aura of a cultivator. What a useful little pill." Ashlock hadn't been terribly impressed with the pill recipes he had been shown previously, as they did nothing he couldn't accomplish with his own fruit and mushrooms.
"But this Spiritual Nullification Pill has an actual effect that makes it worth creating, and other than the Dragon Marrow, it's made entirely from flowers and grass, which makes it an ideal pill for me as growing rare flowers is no issue."
Ashlock waited another moment, and once the flowers were fully grown, he used telekinesis to pluck a few petals from the Moonlight Calla Lily, Celestial Peony, and Dreamweaver Orchids. He also grabbed a bundle of freshly grown Nine Star Soul Grass that glowed in a myriad of colors.
In a moment like this, he could truly appreciate just how broken his production skills were.
Just from looking at flowers on a workbench long enough, he had stolen them from the other contestants for free, even though they likely paid many spirit stones for them.
Then he grew the flowers many miles away from the tournament within a minute in a cavern devoid of any sunlight, starlight, or even moonlight which some of these flowers required.
"Not to mention they are completely devoid of any impurities, which is a lifesaver in this situation as Stella won't have time to remove the impurities from all these ingredients within the little time she has left," Ashlock sighed as he felt the weight of the situation.
Yes, Kassandra would die, but he wanted the Roselyn persona to help sell pills to the merchants, and if she came almost last in the tournament, the merchants would brush her off as a nobody.
That aside, Ashlock had to deliver these ingredients to Stella as soon as possible, so keeping the flowers and grass floating there with telekinesis, his vision blurred as he arrived back at the colosseum.
"Stella?" Ashlock said through their telepathic link, but he was locked out of her mind again.
"How does she do that? {Abyssal Whispers} is an A-rank mental attack skill, so how can she block me out?" Ashlock wasn't sure what else to do, so he snuck a sliver of his spatial Qi into the cauldron and opened a tiny portal.
Stella didn't even flinch as her focus was entirely on the pill she was creating, but her spatial ring did flash with power to pretend she had the required flowers in there, and then she reached into the portal and pulled through the flowers and grass from the cavern and into the flames of her soul fire.
"Ten minutes remain!" Elder Brent shouted, and the crowd began to drum their feet and cheer.
A moment passed, and then a small pulse of fire Qi spread throughout the colosseum, and everyone turned to see Kane reach down into his cauldron and retrieve a blood-red pill.
"Another Profound tier pill from one of the nobles!" Elder Brent announced.
Meanwhile, Kane Azurecrest placed the pill in the wooden bowl on the workbench and closed his eyes as he leaned against the table.
Ashlock wanted to know what the blood red pill was, but he hadn't been able to analyze half of the ingredients used in making the pill as they weren't flowers but rather weird vials containing suspicious viscous liquids.
"Mhm, although many pills use flowers and other plants, there also seem to be pills that have hardly any in them." Ashlock grumbled, "If I want to create any of those getting the necessary ingredients is going to be a pain without a good relationship with the merchants, so I can only pray that Stella pulls through and attracts their attention."
Diana had met with a group of merchants back at the Immortal Gourmet Pavilion, and they seemed somewhat interested in working together, but if word could spread that there was such a talented alchemist, they might take more of an interest when it came to buying her pills and then giving her good deals on ingredients.
***
Stella felt her body fighting against her as she entered the final stage of creating her first ever Profound tier pill. All she could hear was the blood rushing faster and faster past her ears, her body felt sickly with sweat, and something was squeezing her mind.
But she didn't stop. Nothing short of collapsing on the spot would deprive her of this hard-earned victory. So much had led up to this very moment that to fail here would break her on a deeper level than was possible to recover from. Not to mention, her throne was at risk.
Stella hadn't had time to contemplate the deeper meaning behind this mysterious trance-like state, but she knew this wasn't the first time she had entered it, nor would it be the last, and she planned to use it to its limit today to surpass the odds presented before her.
It had taken her an hour and nine grueling attempts to form a half-decent Spirit tier pill with only five ingredients just a few hours prior, and now, under the scrutiny of thousands of people, she would have to craft a Profound tier pill first try with eight ingredients and within a tight time limit.
She had always been one to defeat the odds, but at what point did it become arrogance? Stella didn't know and didn't want to fail to find out. So long as she kept defeating the odds, who could call her arrogant for her confidence?
Before her, bathed in her exhausted soul fire, was a mostly translucent pill apart from a milky white consistency that had appeared once she had added the sixth ingredient, the Moonlight Calla Lily.
"And now for the 8th," Stella muttered as she reached forward. Her hands were shaking slightly from a mixture of stress and fatigue. She felt ready to collapse there and then, and only sheer willpower was keeping her standing.
Why does using my bloodline tire me out so fast? Is it due to the complexity of the task? The time I have spent on it? Or have I not yet bloomed into a true ruler like Larry suggested?
Useless thought's aside, Stella carefully plucked a petal from the Dreamweaver Orchids and carefully wrapped it around the translucent milky pill. Inserting some Qi directly into the petal made it melt into the pill as if it were greedily absorbing the offering, and the milky substance sloshing around in the pill took on a purple luster which immediately faded.
Stella frowned behind her mask at the now utterly translucent pill. It was so see-through that it felt like she was holding a pocket of air in her fingers. Had she messed it up somehow? Why did it look so strange?
Fear began to grip her heart. Had she really messed up at the final hurdle?
The moment she removed the pill from the cauldron, she felt the pressure on her mind vanish alongside a sudden burst of golden flakes at the edge of her consciousness. Like the last few times, the world hit her in full force as the trance shattered, and she emerged from her focused state.
"Just in time, our final contestant Roselyn appears to have completed her pill!" Elder Brent announced, and Stella stumbled back from the workbench as she saw everyone looking at her with excitement. They were all standing from their seats and cheering while waving their arms wildly.
Stella just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. This level of attention, coupled with her absolute exhaustion, making even standing difficult, was the last thing she needed right now. Had she succeeded or failed!?
Could nobody tell her?
"And it's in the Profound tier! We officially have five people that managed to create Profound tier pills!" Elder Brent's Qi-empowered words reverberating through the colosseum didn't feel real to Stella. Had she really done it? Such an impossible feat?
"You did it, Stella," Ashlock's presence entered her mind, "I don't know how... but you really did it."
Stella looked down at the pocket of air she was seemingly holding. It was so empty, yet it meant so much to her. Weeks of slaving away in the cavern to learn alchemy was finally paying off.
"Thank you, Tree, but without you, I wouldn't have done it, nor would I even be here." Stella smiled behind her mask. For the first time ever, she felt on par or above the other scions and members of noble houses. They had received so much more education and care while growing up that she felt like she was always playing catch up. But now she was here, standing beside them as an equal.
Stella looked up and glanced around at the faces of the nobles littering the colosseum. Dante seemed indifferent to her achievement, Kane had closed his eyes, and Celeste seemed lost in thought and was staring into space.
They might not care for her or even see her as a threat. But it was all worth it for Kassandra's stare of utter disbelief. The pure confusion on her face was revitalizing, and Stella felt her back straightening a little with pride and strength returning to her weary body.
An examiner clad in the grey robes of the academy then came up with a wooden bowl, "Please place your pill in here so we may take it to be appraised."
Stella absentmindedly complied and placed her pocket of air that was most definitely a pill in the wooden bowl. The examiner, who was a rather pretty woman with sky-blue hair, gave Stella a reassuring smile as she wrote on a parchment in her hand, "A Spiritual Nullification Pill, one of the most sought after Profound tier pills, good choice."
"Thanks?" Stella wasn't sure what to say as the examiner left with her bowl and walked through a tunnel alongside other examiners carrying the other people's freshly made pills.
Elder Brent surveyed the colosseum from his podium with his arms behind his back and explained, "As all five nobles created Profound Tier pills, they will be scrutinized and graded by a hired expert. This expert will not be informed about who made each pill to avoid bias."
His gaze shifted to the rogue alchemists in the finals, "All five of you performed admirably, but as none of you managed to produce a Profound tier pill this round, there is no need to stick around."
To Stella's surprise, none of the rogues seemed particularly annoyed or angry. They just exchanged glances with one another and light smiles.
"Did they expect to lose?"Stella asked Ash, "Why do they have such calm attitudes?"
"It was mentioned in the invite that the top rogues would be offered jobs under the Redclaws if they so wished to take them,"Ashlock replied, "We need grunt worker alchemists to mass produce the more simple pills that we can easily sell. They can handle that part of the business and maybe even help train up some of the Redclaw family."
Stella hummed in understanding and patiently awaited beside her workbench for the results. Only the five nobles remained now, with all the rogues gone.
Time passed by excruciatingly slowly, and Stella had her eyes glued on the dark passageway that must lead deeper into the colosseum where the pills were currently being graded.
After a few minutes, she really started to feel the fatigue of using that weird trance setting in, and right as she was about to either sit down or lean against a wall to cultivate some Qi, she saw movement within the dark passage.
Is it finally here? Stella wondered as a bearded man emerged with a parchment. He easily jumped up a few feet, handed the parchment to Elder Brent mid-air, and landed gracefully back on the sand, earning him a roar from the crowd.
The bearded man chuckled and wandered off back down the passageway without a care in the world.
Elder Brent seemed slightly baffled by the display but regained his professional composure, "Ahem, it appears the list of pill grades has been delivered. In fifth place is..."
There was a pause, and then Elder Brent furrowed his brows as he seemed to reread the list a few times. Eventually, he glanced up over the parchment and did a sweeping gaze at all the nobles present.
He didn't seem to be looking for anyone in particular, but Stella disliked how his gaze lingered on her for longer than the others before he returned to the parchment with the same confused look.
Please, not me. Stella tensed as Elder Brent cleared his throat.
