Fury Immortal Doctor

Chapter 1794 - 1797: Alchemist Top 100 Ranking

At the very moment the stunning campus beauty Qin Yurou eagerly anticipated Shen Qiang, outside the airport in Shanghai, in the parking lot, an off-road military vehicle with a military plate and an imposing aura sat. A man about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, a colonel, was in the passenger seat, turning his head to speak to a man in the back seat who was dressed in military uniform but bore no rank."Are you sure you don't need a private plane? In fact, this Elixir Pills conference hasn't changed much compared to three years ago, except for the newcomer Shen Qiang. Right now, the alchemist landscape in the Cultivation World is solid as a rock."

The man without a rank smiled calmly, saying, "Alchemists are so precious because without inheritance, immense wealth, or exceptional talent and comprehension, it's tough to become one. But Shen Qiang is an anomaly; we still haven't figured out his teacher's lineage, yet every one of his elixirs is astonishing, so I wouldn't feel at ease not checking him out."

The thirty-five or thirty-six-year-old colonel hesitated for a moment and said, "According to the information we have and the evaluation report from professionals, this Elixir Pills conference is still teeming with strong participants. The Four Junior Danqing won't participate as usual, so the actual contenders in this Elixir Pills conference are only the Thirty-two Skillful Hands, Medicine King Valley, and Shen Qiang's Heshenghe, totaling thirty-four groups."

"Tell me something I don't know," the man without a rank said.

The thirty-five or thirty-six-year-old colonel hesitated before taking out a tablet, tapping it a few times before turning his head to look at the man without a rank. He said, "According to our statistics on the Four Junior Danqing, Thirty-two Skillful Hands, Medicine King Valley, the Dragon Group, Abyss, and some cultivation alchemists, Shen Qiang is currently ranked outside the top 100 alchemists, at 112th place. Right behind him, in 113th place, is Yu Xinghuo from the Four Junior Danqing."

The man's eyes brightened up: "Shen Qiang is incredibly impressive; in just over a year, he's grown to such a level. If he accomplishes anything at the Elixir Pills conference, there's no doubt he'd make it into the top 100 alchemists."

The thirty-five or thirty-six-year-old colonel smiled and nodded, saying, "Indeed, it's an astonishing rate of growth and talent, but after integrating various data, we are not optimistic about his performance at the Elixir Pills conference."

The man without rank was taken aback and asked, "Why? I remember him as an alchemy prodigy."

"He's the only alchemist ranked in the top 500 who neither takes customized elixir requests nor has anyone ordering from them. Moreover, most of his elixirs are primarily for making money, with very few truly capable of treating and saving lives, completely unable to prove his talent, meaning he's a bit unorthodox."

"Didn't he just come up with an elixir that can cure cancer?" the man without a rank asked.

The thirty-five or thirty-six-year-old colonel chuckled, saying, "Yes, but I fear this elixir of his might not win the grand prize because the more miraculous the elixir, the higher the cost, and the more difficult the materials are to acquire. So I'm not hopeful, and the teachers in the Dragon Group's Elixir Medicine Bureau also don't expect anything astonishing from him."

"And the Alchemist Ranking will have a major update after the Elixir Pills conference, and for the next three years, it will be updated quarterly. But usually, there isn't much change, because alchemists are a peculiar group of people."

"Internally, they suppress each other, but externally, they band together, with many strange unwritten rules."

The man without a rank nodded and said, "Then how does Shen Qiang rank in alchemy skills within the Dragon Group now?"

"Based on his previous elixirs and his performance during the Dan Fighting with Yu Xinghuo, the teachers of the Elixir Medicine Bureau believe that purely in terms of alchemy skills and finesse, even with a conservative estimate, he has the ability to enter the top three. It's just that Shen Qiang doesn't seem to make many elixirs that can solve urgent problems."

"So according to those teachers, if Shen Qiang could learn humbly and was willing to join the Elixir Medicine Bureau to be a professional alchemist, completing the Bureau's tasks as assigned each day, with access to the pill recipe and materials, he'd be at least in the top three. But if he doesn't agree to this, then based on his current elixirs, he'd probably rank outside the top 30 within the Dragon Group."

The man without a rank laughed and said, "No, it's not possible to lock him in the alchemy room and have him focus on making elixirs for life."

"So…" the thirty-five or thirty-six-year-old said, "The most optimistic estimate is that if Shen Qiang performs well enough at the Elixir Pills conference, he might have a chance at breaching the top 100 rankings."

The man without a rank smiled and said, "That holds no significance. If he can't become one of the top ten peak alchemists, I think he should continue researching his Poison Skill, because at least then, our Huaxia would have an additional ace to deter other forces."

The thirty-five or thirty-six-year-old colonel nodded, then said, "So, in this Elixir Pills conference, the truly noteworthy ones are actually three other young people. One is the Young Valley Master from Medicine King Valley, Qin Yurou. She has outstanding talent, is gentle and kind. The other two are named Lin Fenghang and Chu Xiaotian, both disciples of the Thirty-two Skillful Hands, with extremely formidable alchemy skills and excellent talent; though young, they are both within the top 100."

"Qin Yurou is ranked 73rd on the Alchemist Top 100 list, Lin Fenghang is 61st, and Chu Xiaotian is 62nd—all exceptional geniuses, given that the top fifty alchemists mostly consist of family elders. As far as new-generation alchemists go, for now, it's just these three entering the top 100."

"Shen Qiang..." The man without a rank slightly furrowed his brow, saying, "He might be the fourth."

"There's that possibility, but the likelihood isn't high. After all, the Alchemist Top 100 list isn't the young ones' exclusive domain. Among the top ten at the peak, there are those acclaimed for over a hundred years."

The man without a rank nodded, "I understand, I'll keep an eye on them."

As the man without a rank was about to get out of the car, the thirty-five or thirty-six-year-old colonel urgently asked, "Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you? After all, this is the Cultivation World's triennial grand event, everyone in the Cultivation World will be watching, and having no one by your side..."

"If necessary, I will contact the Dragon Group members there." The man without a rank smiled, then calmly said, "The Elixir Pills conference is a stage for young cultivators. I, an old-timer, can simply watch quietly from the side."

With that, he calmly got out of the car, rejecting anyone's company, and headed into the airport alone.

Watching his back, the captain in the driver's seat, with bright eyes, said, "Colonel, I really didn't expect that the legendary War God of the Dragon Group would be so approachable, but I just don't understand—hasn't the Dragon Group sent someone to gather intelligence? Why does he go through the trouble of going personally?"

The colonel sighed, then with a tinge of disappointment, said, "He doesn't care about alchemists nor the elixirs; he just wants to see if the young man he appreciates has what it takes to inherit his legacy."