Chapter 2114 — So Infuriating!

And if one of these three failed to get everything right while someone among the rest got them all correct, that person could still take their place.

When the time was up, the others finally withdrew. Old Master Zhao pressed a few keys on the computer, and only then did the large screen display the formulation of each poison; every one was different, all randomly assigned. The Zhao family disciples serving as summit envoys began checking the contestants' answers against the screen and scoring them.

Before long, the list of the top three was out!

Rather dramatically, all three of the finalists had identified everything correctly! That being so, the rankings indeed had to be decided by how long each had taken to identify the poisons.

First place, Wei Zhao; second place, the Hidden Tang family; third place, the Hidden You family!

The announcement left everyone present speechless. Wei Zhao had won again, and had crushed his opponents by an absolute margin—he had used less than a third of the allotted time, while the You and Tang families, fast as they were, had still taken nearly half!

Superior and inferior were plain at a glance. Though the outcome left Old Master Zhao thoroughly displeased, he had no choice but to announce, "The champion is the Hidden Han family, second place the Hidden Tang family, third place the Hidden You family. Will the respective families come forward to claim their stakes!"

The Hidden You family's stake was the same Foundation Establishment Pill as before, which Wei Zhao simply ignored. The Hidden Tang family, however, put up an Antidote Pill, and that caught Wei Zhao's attention!

Wei Zhao possessed that Antidote Pill's formula as well; it required no refining—merely mixing certain herbs would produce it. Strictly speaking, it belonged to what alchemists called a zero-grade pill, one that could be made without any grounding in alchemy at all!

Of course, easy as the Antidote Pill was to prepare, some of the herbs it required were exceedingly rare. Wei Zhao had the formula and nothing more, for several of the precious herbs were beyond his reach. Old Man Wei's herb garden could not grow them either, owing to the climate, so Wei Zhao had never succeeded in preparing one.

The Antidote Pill was potent stuff—so long as the poison was not of some heaven-defying kind, it could neutralize it, including the Seven-Herb Life-Severing Powder Zhong Yongliang had concocted. So Wei Zhao's interest was stirred.

"Old Tang, for the sake of your grandson, I'll trade you for that Antidote Pill. What do you want?" Wei Zhao could not say why, but he felt an inexplicable fondness for Tang Yuyi. Had his own inclinations been otherwise, he might even have suspected he was looking for a male companion.

Yet Wei Zhao could not fathom where such a feeling came from, so he remained fairly courteous to the old man. Had he known the old creature was bent on doing him in, he likely would not have spared him a kind look at all.

For my grandson? Old Master Tang was slightly taken aback. What does he mean, my grandson? If anything, it should be my granddaughter!

Still, after that momentary start, Old Master Tang misunderstood. He thought Wei Zhao was calling him a grandson. But this was no time for a contest of sharp tongues; since Wei Zhao had let him choose, giving up the chance would be sheer foolishness!

After all, among the stakes of this contest there really was something his Hidden Tang family wanted—a venomous insect put up by the Qianshan Sect! The Qianshan Sect excelled at rearing spirit beasts, and items such as venomous insects came easily to them.

"I want that Heavenly Grass Giant Cap Beetle the Qianshan Sect put up," said Old Master Tang.

"Oh, take it." Wei Zhao had no use for the wretched thing anyway; bringing it home would only mean throwing it out. It was worthless to him, so if the old man wanted it, let him have it.

Old Master Tang handed over the Antidote Pill, and Wei Zhao traded back a pill of his own—better to have such a thing on hand. He would keep it at home; should he ever be away and the young lady or little Shu be poisoned, they could simply take it themselves.

"Wei Zhao, I too would like to exchange something with you. Would that be acceptable?" Old Master You hesitated a moment, then said to Wei Zhao, "You may keep the Foundation Establishment Pill—I will trade other things for that Jade Bracelet of Concentrated Spirit and Calm Heart in your possession."

"You're third place. Setting aside that you have no right to trade at all—even if you were second, I wouldn't trade with you! Day in and day out you put up junk as stakes. Had you offered something decent beforehand, I might have sought you out myself, but now I'm not interested!" With that, Wei Zhao swept the stakes into his storage.

Had Old Master You not brought it up, Wei Zhao would never have thought of any use for the Jade Bracelet of Concentrated Spirit and Calm Heart; it had merely seemed a little familiar. But the moment the old man asked to trade for it, Wei Zhao recalled that Zhang Liju's notes on alchemy seemed to mention the item—it helped an alchemist stabilize the consistency of his pill fire.

Naturally, Wei Zhao could not possibly trade such a treasure to the You family. Even if he had no use for it, Han Jingyi was waiting her turn in line.

"This..." Old Master You was choked with anger. Had he known Wei Zhao held the Foundation Establishment Pill in such contempt, he would never have put it up as a stake! But who could have foreseen that Wei Zhao would win match after match, and even come out on top in this poison-identification contest?

"I'm off to bed. Quite a haul!" Wei Zhao gathered up his things and turned to leave.

Han Tianba and Han Xiaopo chuckled and followed Wei Zhao out.

"***!" Old Master You could not help cursing. It was simply too maddening—what humiliation! Across so many contests, not one of his people had won a single match, while Wei Zhao won again and again.

"Something's uncanny about this!" Old Master Tang frowned as well. "How is this Wei Zhao so formidable?"

"Let's wait and see! Tomorrow's contest may not play to Wei Zhao's strengths!" With that, Old Master Zhao looked toward Diamond and An Mingyue.

"Quite right. When it comes to a contest of endurance, no one takes a beating better than the men of our Golden Bell Sect!" said Diamond.

"Heh heh, my people are tough to beat down as well!" An Mingyue had lost a match earlier. Though she had been compensated afterward, she had still lost face and hoped to shine once more.

"Good. In that case, tomorrow we absolutely must not let Wei Zhao win again!" Old Master You nodded. "You two, whichever of your families takes the victory is fine by me—only Wei Zhao must not win again! Carry on like this and we shall lose all face indeed!"

"No problem!" Diamond nodded.

"Heh heh, naturally!" An Mingyue smiled and nodded as well.

The night passed without incident. Han Tianba and Han Xiaopo had grown used to winning. The next morning, after breakfast, the disciples of the Hidden Zhao family came to the venue once more...(To be continued)