Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 67 - Full Score

Liu Wuxie’s golden soul sea surged, forming a spike that stabbed into Xiao Mingyi’s eyes. This forced Xiao Mingyi to kneel before Liu Wuxie in front of everyone. Despite the anger on his face, Xiao Mingyi had lost control of his body. His head had been struck by a sharp sword earlier, causing his legs to give out.

“I won’t kill you today, but I hope you remember there’s always someone better than you in this world,” Liu Wuxie said with disdain as he sheathed his blade. He reacted as though he had just done something simple and returned to his place, waiting for the formula’s points to be finalized.

A breeze blew past, and Xiao Mingyi trembled violently, gritting his teeth. When he looked at Liu Wuxie’s back, the murderous intent grew even stronger in his eyes.

“Brother Xiao, are you alright?” Xue Chou and Wen Song ran over, helping Xiao Mingyi back to his feet. After all, there was no point for Xiao Mingyi to continue kneeling when Liu Wuxie had already left.

With that, the drama ended in a way that made everyone feel conflicted and unsure of what to say. When they looked at Liu Wuxie, there was a mix of reverence and doubt in their eyes. They couldn’t figure out how a genius like Liu Wuxie had gone unnoticed until now.

The Imperial Academy would dispatch people to various cities annually to recruit talented students. Xu Lingxue was such a student, having caught the eye of Baili Qing and been taken on as her disciple. Logically speaking, a genius like Liu Wuxie should have been invited to the Imperial Academy long ago and be cultivating there. But it was weird that they had never heard of a genius like Liu Wuxie.

The three judges smiled wryly because they had unshirkable responsibility for today's events. They didn’t stop the drama in advance and didn’t expect Liu Wuxie to be so strong. There were six formulas placed in front of them. Four formulas came from Liu Wuxie, one from Ji Yang, and one from Qin Letian.

“What do you guys think?” Master Mao asked. They had reviewed the six formulas multiple times and were still discussing them.

“I have tried analyzing it in my mind. There is only a 30% chance of success in Ji Yang’s formula, while Qin Letian’s formula only has a 10% chance because of a huge mistake. As for these four formulas, we have analyzed them ten-odd times, and the success rate is 100%.” This meant the formulas written by Liu Wuxie could be refined and would produce pills of a high grade.

“Since that’s the case, let’s rate it then!” Master Mao did not refute those words. As a four-star alchemist, he had noticed no issue with the formulas Liu Wuxie provided and noted that the steps were written in detail. So it was easy for him to tell if the formulas were feasible with a rough analysis.

“We will now announce the points for formulas!” Deacon Hua stood up, and his voice carried throughout the venue, drawing everyone’s attention as they looked at the three judges.

“10 points for Qin Letian’s formulas!” Deacon Hua announced, and a burst of applause erupted from the crowd. In addition to 45 points from the first section, Qin Letian surpassed Liu Wuxie. From the perspective of those present, it seemed impossible that Liu Wuxie could have come up with four legitimate formulas in such a short amount of time. They assumed that the formulas he had provided must have been nothing more than scribbles.

“Brother Qin, congratulations!” Zuo Hong congratulated him. He had obtained 44 points in the identification section, but catching up to Qin Letian was tough because he had skipped the formula configuring section.

Qin Letian smiled wryly and shook his head. Only he knew that the 10 points he had received were more of an encouragement than anything else.

“20 points for Ji Yang’s formula!” Deacon Hua announced the result of Ji Yang’s formula, which was 10 points higher than Qin Letian's. In addition to Ji Yang’s 45 points from the first section, he was close to catching up to the highest score in history.

“Brother Ji, congratulations!” Another burst of congratulations came from the surroundings. The fact that Ji Yang could write a formula was enough to surpass countless ordinary people. But Ji Yang had no expression on his face.

The crowd waited in anticipation to see if Liu Wuxie’s four formulas would bring any surprises.

“Why aren’t scores for Liu Wuxie’s formulas announced?” Many alchemists voiced their doubts after waiting for a long time. Even if Liu Wuxie didn’t receive any points, his name should be announced.

“The four formulas are probably random scribbles in my perspective, and the three judges chose not to announce because they didn’t want to embarrass him.” The mockery directed at Liu Wuxie continued, with then-odd alchemists siding with Du Mingze, who had befriended many of them.

After a brief recovery, Du Mingze regained his composure as he looked at Liu Wuxie coldly.

“Master Wu is right. They’re probably garbage formulas, so they didn’t announce the result.”

Despite hearing the sarcasm directed at him, Liu Wuxie remained composed and stood indifferently in his spot. Only a few people remained silent as the delay grew longer and more unusual. The three judges were discussing how many points to award Liu Wuxie for his formulas.

Wan Yichun chuckled sarcastically, saying, “I bet that brat will be ashamed when his score is announced. Four formulas? Who does he think he is, the God of Alchemy?” He moved to sit beside Du Mingze.

Gu Yongshuang expressed her displeasure at the situation, saying, “These bastards. Even if his formulas are invalid, do they really need to humiliate him like this?” She couldn’t stand it any longer and wondered what kind of mentality these people had. Were they afraid that Liu Wuxie was stronger than them, or were they psychopaths?

“Some people are born with a sense of superiority and enjoy stepping on others before reprimanding them with a righteous expression,” Gu Yongshuang continued. “You’ll lose if you pay attention to these people; the best way is to ignore them.” Liu Wuxie, who was seated not far from them, was touched by her words and realized not everyone was mocking him.

“That’s right. We’re superior, so what can you do to us? We’re students of the Imperial Academy, and we’re on a whole new level compared to country bumpkins like you,” Wan Yichun sneered. They were all students of the Imperial Academy, and they naturally had a far higher status compared to Liu Wuxie. Since they couldn’t beat Liu Wuxie, they could only try and use this method to humiliate him.

Liu Wuxie shook his head in disappointment, saying, “So the Imperial Academy is just nurturing a bunch of garbage? I was planning to take their assessment at the end of the year, but now I might have to change my plans.” He wondered if it was even worth it to join the Imperial Academy if it was full of people like those he had encountered. In the worst scenario, he would have to find another way to earn resources.

“Brother Liu, that’s where you’re wrong. There are bound to be scum everywhere, and you can’t see them as representatives of the Imperial Academy. The Imperial Academy represents the Great Yan Dynasty’s highest institution. So if possible, I hope Brother Liu can join the Imperial Academy.” Zuo Hong found Liu Wuxie pretty promising. He was also a student of the Imperial Academy, and elites still occupied the majority.

Liu Wuxie agreed with those words. After all, competition and fights were unavoidable wherever there were people.

“After much discussion, we are ready to announce Liu Wuxie’s score!” This time, it was Sang Yan, not Deacon Hua, who made the announcement. Everyone listened intently, eager to hear the results. Only Liu Wuxie remained calm and seemingly unbothered by the announcement.

The thirty-five pavilion masters were also intrigued by the four formulas that had kept the three judges in discussion for so long. They were curious to find out what was so special about them.

“We have unanimously decided to give a perfect score for the four formulas. But this has never happened before, and we have no idea what to do about it. So we can only score according to one formula. That means Liu Wuxie received 55 points!” Sang Yan said with a helpless look on his face. After all, one formula was enough for Liu Wuxie to receive 55 points, and Liu Wuxie wrote down four formulas. But they could do nothing about it because the max score was only 100.

An uproar burst out as soon as Sang Yan announced the result. No one had received a perfect score for their formula in history.

“Senior Sang Yan, are you sure about that? A perfect score for all four formulas?” Nangong Qi stood up to question the three judges’ decision once again. After all, Liu Wuxie had only used a few minutes to configure those formulas, and it was unrealistic for the four formulas to receive a perfect score. But the strange thing was that Nangong Qi was the only one standing up. Shangguan Cai and Li An, on the other hand, showed no signs of doubt or skepticism in their eyes.

“We’ve gone through them ten-odd times before coming to this conclusion. Pavilion Master Nangong, do you want to verify the formulas yourself?” Sang Yan replied bluntly. This was because Sang Yan was unhappy with Nangong Qi’s attitude. After all, questioning the judges was no different from insulting them.

“I dare not!” Nangong Qi stepped back because he knew he would be courting humiliation if he continued questioning the judges.

The other pavilion masters had disbelief on their faces. After all, it was unprecedented for someone to write down a formula that received a perfect score, not to mention coming up with four. This was far beyond their comprehension.

“How is it possible for the four formulas to be correct? He must’ve copied the formulas from elsewhere instead of configuring them!” Wang Yichun and others refused to believe that the formulas were authentic. They would rather believe that Liu Wuxie copied the formulas from somewhere else.

“Hmph, that brat must be lucky. We’ll just watch how he embarrasses himself tomorrow when we’re required to refine pills.” Wen Song showed a hint of viciousness on his face. People like them had been exposed to alchemy since they were young and were all proficient in refining pills. On the other hand, Liu Wuxie was only eighteen, and he must’ve just reached the apprenticeship stage at his age.

So it was futile even if he was full of knowledge because refining pills didn’t require knowledge but control over fire.

Everyone nodded in agreement with Wen Song’s opinion, seeing the next day as an opportunity to humiliate Liu Wuxie.

“Does anyone still doubt the result?” Sang Yan looked around, but no one stepped forward to refute this time, acknowledging that the four formulas were real and effective.

“Since no one has any objections, the first round of the competition has ended. We will go into the refining round tomorrow. All of you should rest early and bring out your best performance tomorrow.” Sang Yan waved his hand, announcing the conclusion of the first round, with Liu Wuxie receiving a perfect score, breaking the historical record. Ever since the competition was held, no one had received a perfect score before, and Liu Wuxie was the first to do so.

“Brother Liu, congratulations on obtaining an unprecedented score!” Zuo Hong came over and cupped his fists together with a hint of respect and envy in his eyes.

“I’m just lucky!” Liu Wuxie stood up and cupped his fists together. At the end of the first round, it was also time for him to return to his courtyard. When he was done chatting with Zuo Hong, he was the first to leave the venue.

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