Whilst Edrick’s great club was being slobbered upon, he was laser-focused on the new prey introduced to him. Yet another protagonist of a major script… This particular script’s name left little to the imagination, however.

This guy very clearly had a strong focus on alchemy, but Anoteros wondered how far his protagonistic skills truly extended. Regardless, the scion needed to take this occasion to observe this new prey to see how advanced this script was.

As far as Edrick could guess right now, if this man was taking part in this competition, it was probably because he was only getting started and needed the main prize–The furnace. Thus, he certainly was only getting started in his journey.

There were also other things to find out about. Such was whether or not this protagonist was a local from this world, or had come from another one. Depending on which option was true, the manner in which he could be approached and dealt with could potentially change drastically.

Naturally, the way his ‘protagonist powers’ worked also mattered… Was he just incredibly talented in alchemy? Did he have something special to help him? Was his approach to alchemy different? Did he own a special item? Did he have some great master backing him? Did he already have a powerful identity? Et cetera, et cetera…

The possible parameters were plentiful.

“Lui. I have a good feeling about this one over there…”

He immediately called out without hesitation. There was a certain saying that held a lot of truth: ‘Keep your friends closer, and your enemies closer’… If Edrick could get this new protagonist to become part of the Elt clan and basically trap him inside of it, then shattering his script should become much simpler.

These main characters had a halo of protection that prevented them from being killed, after all. So even if this one was just a feeble alchemist, Edrick couldn’t just waltz down there and spin that guy’s neck by one hundred and eighty degrees. It just wouldn’t work out.

His Jhila quickly found out who he was talking about, analysing the young alchemist from head to toe whilst maintaining the dancer’s head in place, as the girl was all the way down to the base.

The alchemy hero had long, white hair. This hair colour was surprisingly not that uncommon amongst younger people. Edrick had already met several, including Lui, who was right here, as well as Jingyi and Bai Xing. Naturally, the shades of white weren’t the same, but the point still stood.

The young man also possessed azure-blue eyes, giving him quite a striking appearance as he dressed in robes featuring both brown and green–Rather common colours when it came to alchemists. His robes were also thicker than normal, which was another trait of alchemists. They often wore such robes in case something went wrong with their work.

Of course, despite having Fanqia at home, Anoteros had never gotten to see such things. In the end, she did not practice craftsmanship like the majority. She did things like a Velvet Pixie… This made the noble wonder, though…

Between his wife and this protagonist, who actually had the greatest talent to uncover? The obvious answer would be the man Edrick was looking at. He was the center stage of a major script, after all… But Edrick was not so certain.

Fanqia might not have been the main part, but she had also been part of a major script, having been originally supposed to be the hero’s first harem member. According to Xiaolie, the Velvet Pixie bloodline had actually always been an intended part of the plot, merely something the ‘true’ story had glossed over and eventually completely left on the side of the road.

As such, Edrick’s lovely first wife might actually be able to outdo this alchemy prodigy. Especially since she didn’t need any equipment–Only the ingredients…

Regardless, Lui spent a long few minutes staring him down. The protagonist was about one meter and seventy-seven centimeters tall, definitely masculine. As such, the lightning-attuned Elt knew from the get-go that Anoteros was actually talking about alchemy talent, and wasn’t implying that they should ruin this fellow in bed. Though Foppoof or not, Lui herself didn’t really mind.

“Mmh… I do feel a little something from him. A bit odd”

She wasn’t quite able to put her finger on what it could be that seemed weird to her, but she was definitely intrigued.

The two clansmen discussed what they thought of each participant while still having their noble tools worked upon. Lui, in particular, was using the dancer’s throat to its maximum extent. She enjoyed the benefits of being near Edrick to get all of her Duookois meat down the girl’s neck.

Meanwhile, Anoteros was simply having his own club licked and kissed, not really focused on that at all. He was more interested in learning about this new protagonist…

Without realising it just yet, Yechen had the gaze of two incredibly dangerous predators locked right onto him… Unfortunately, He couldn’t sense the danger at all and was thus only paying attention to the upcoming tournament.

He wasn’t exactly comfortable with this place. It felt a bit weird for a competition to take place while there were skimpily-clothed women all over the place, dancing on poles under the gaze of many… 

However, the main prize was too alluring for him to ignore. He knew himself to have the means to become a great alchemist, but he lacked the funds and connections to truly make use of his natural talents.

Winning a furnace of this quality could definitely help him kickstart his alchemy career, allowing him to prepare all sorts of pills.

However, he needed to win first–And although confident, he knew that it wasn’t a guarantee just yet.

The stage was arranged with as many furnaces as there were participants. The goal of this first part of the competition was simple: The participants would pick an item from a pile of identical goods, place it in a furnace of their choice, and then they would need to control the flames of the furnace as they kept trying to get stronger and stronger without input.

If the item was damaged, broken, or if something otherwise disqualifying happened, the person would be immediately eliminated from the tournament.

In short, the first challenge was about being able to control a furnace, the main tool of all cultivation alchemists.

Yechen looked intently at the pile of supposedly identical items, and then at the rows of furnaces. As expected, part of the challenge was being able to determine the differences between everything…

The furnaces were all truly identical, but the items that were meant to go in them? Not at all. This was why there were far more of those items than there were participants. Some of them were going to be damaged far more easily, while others would be able to resist even if the alchemist in charge of the furnace was doing a poor job.

The alchemy hero focused his gaze. He was going to find the greatest one in the pile… 

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep