?Chapter 2369 The Stage for the Next Competition


    Alex felt a hint of jealousy and regret upon seeing Leafheart get the pin. Given that he was just one step behind her in thepetition, had she made a mistake, it would''ve been his. Everyone else was jealous as well, but only he felt regret.


    "I wonder," Killersky said from the side. "Do you have to have won thepetition to use that pin, or do you just need to have it?"


    The group around her turned toward her. "Are you thinking of stealing it, Sister Killersky?" Riveroak asked.


    "I''m merely wondering," Killersky said. "If I were to win the next one, I will need to know if I need to be able to defend myself or not."


    They watched Leafheart return to her ce with the pin in her hand. "I don''t think we''re finding out," Aethersage said. "Poor girl might get attacked as soon as thepetition is over."


    "You all don''t have to worry about her," Alex said. "She''s Senior Pinkflower''s disciple. If anyone is stupid enough to go after her, let them."


    "Pinkflower? Now that''s interesting," Killersky said. "That makes five disciples of the Stars of Alchemy. I wonder if more joined"


    Alex quickly counted and looked at her. "Five?" he asked. He only knew four.


    "Skylight, disciple of Lakelily," Killersky said. "I believe he didn''t perform that well in thestpetition. But he should''ve passed." She looked around to search for him but didn''t see him from where she sat.


    The Alchemy God spoke next, and their attention moved back to him.


    "As you all should know by now, the nextpetition is one to test your speed. All of you will need to make 20 pills as soon as you can to pass thepetition."


    Alex, along with everyone else, was taken aback by the information.


    "Twenty?"


    "Was it not ten?"


    "What''s going on?"


    "I knew it," Killersky said. "Or at least I had an inkling this would be the case."


    "So... the head start we did get wasn''t as big of a head start as we had previously hoped," Alex said.


    "Seems so," Aethersage replied.


    The Alchemy God continued.


    AMAMA TAMAN ANN AANAAN


    "Thepetition, of course, won''t be so simple asst time. And while it is meant to LAAAAA』ADRI YLTSHa ?? !! VAL ? ??? F DIFIL O ELEVE YAALATI determine which one of you is the superior alchemist, we still have to give our audience something to enjoy. So..."


    The Alchemy God snapped his fingers, and a massive panel appeared, showing a top-down view of what looked like a circr hedge maze. It was a massive green maze with many rings that had straight paths connecting each other with a very symmetrical design.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Alex didn''t find the logic in why they were going to have to go through a maze during an Alchemy contest when he realized something. ''Wait, that''s not a maze at all.''


    Looking through it all with a keener eye, he realized that he wasn''t looking at a maze at all. The connecting paths were straight, and there was no dead end. Calling it a maze would be rather stupid. It simply lookedplex when seen overall.


    "In the uingpetition, we will have a total of 128 of youpete at a single time. You will be ced in these 64 entrances on the outside along with anotherpetitor. As you can see, there are a total of 20 rings within this ce, all of which will be blocked at the start."


    "To enter, you must make a pill that has more than 85% harmony and show it to the staff that will wait by the gate. As you will bepeting against someone else, if you end up going after them, 2 seconds will be added to your overall time in every ring." "You will only bepeting against a single person in the first four rings, so even if you do lose to your opponent there, 8 seconds will be added in total."


    "However, Ring Five through Ring Eight will have four opponents in total as two pairs will be mixed into one."


    The Alchemy God pointed on the screen where two of the pathways that were separate for the first four rings merged into one another. The 64 total pathways for the 128 participants became 32 at that point.


    Alex looked on ahead and saw that they merged again once further in. From Ring Nine to Ring Twelve, it merged again, where there would be eight participants at once.


    From Ring Thirteen to Ring Fifteen, there would be 16 participants.


    From Ring Sixteen to Ring Eighteen, there would be 32 participants.


    And for thest two-Neen and Twenty-there would be 64 participants each.


    The Alchemy God continued and exined how each time they werete in any of the rings, more time would be added to their overall timer. There were so many seconds to lose if you weren''t fast enough.


    "Two seconds for each person that went before you,'' Alex thought. ''So a participant can lose over a minute at each of the final two Rings.''


    It was immediately apparent to everyone that it was no longer just how fast they were but also how fast they werepared to their opponents. Unlike the first one, where you were mostly focused on only doing the best for yourself without worrying about the others, now, you had to actively try and beat the other person.


    It truly became an actualpetition.


    Once the Alchemy God finished exining what it took toplete each round, he went on to exin the rules. They were mostly simple.


    They weren''t allowed to take any storage artifacts with them except the one that would be provided to them. They were not allowed to interfere with another alchemist in the slightest, whether it was to harm them or help them.


    Finally, they could not get any help from anything else for themselves, including formation tes and whatnot. They could only rely on their own knowledge, skills, and their cauldron.


    Once the Alchemy God exined as much, he wished them the best of luck for thepetition and left the hall.