Ten Lucky Draws: I Became OP-Chapter 421: Stunting For Power (3)

The Third’s eyebrows rose sharply, a mix of irritation and disbelief crossing his face.

For one, he had never once even seen Ash a day before... nor had he ever remotely heard of Luna even secretly training someone.

He turned his head toward the other top alchemists, voice carrying clear skepticism.

"Do any of you recognize this... disciple?"

The Second — a stern woman — shook her head once.

"No, I’ve never seen him."

The Fourth, a portly man, grunted.

"He looks like a child...."

The Fifth and Sixth exchanged glances before both shrugging.

"Negative.... he’s unknown to us."

The Seventh, the youngest looking among them, simply stared with narrowed eyes and said nothing.

"He’s quite handsome, though," she murmured, loud enough for those nearby to hear.

The Third rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed by the comment.

"Looks mean nothing in Alchemy," he said dismissively, then turned back to Luna and Ash.

"Fine," the Third said, his tone clipped. "If your so-called disciple is so confident, then let’s make this a proper demonstration. I’ll send up one of my own disciples to challenge him."

He raised a hand, and a young man in white and green robes rose forward from the crowd of floating zafus. The disciple looked composed, his aura steady and refined — clearly a talented alchemist in his own right.

The Third’s lips curled into a thin smile.

"Show us what your ’master’ has taught you, boy. Let’s see if this mystery disciple is worth the hype."

The entire domain buzzed with anticipation as the crowd leaned forward, eyes locked on the dais.

-----

Luna stepped forward, raising her hands to quiet the murmurs.

Her voice carried clearly across the vast realm, calm and authoritative.

"Very well. ...Since the Third insists on a demonstration, we will make this simple and fair. Each of you will create three pills or elixirs using only the materials and tools provided on the dais."

"You have one hour. The one who produces the highest quality pills or elixirs in the least amount of time wins. Quality will be judged by potency.... and time will be the tiebreaker."

In True Reality, there was one primary method to judge the purity of pills and elixirs: the script that formed on them, which directly stated their purity.

As soon as she finished speaking, two identical alchemy stations appeared on the dais.

Each held a cauldron, a mortar and pestle, a small assortment of basic herbs, minerals, and a few vials of neutral essence liquid. Luna motioned toward the stations.

"You may begin when I say so. There will be no external aids, no pre-prepared items. Pure skill." Her steady yellow gaze shifted between Ash and the Third’s disciple.

"Ready?" They both nodded.

Luna lifted her hand. "Begin."

-----

The competition had been underway for thirty minutes, and throughout it all, the Third’s disciple worked with steady, practiced precision.

His hands moved without hesitation as he ground stalks of grass into fine powder, distilled dew into a clear base, and layered in delicate threads of conceptual fire essence.

At the twenty-eight-minute mark, he finished his first elixir—a deep crimson vial that shimmered and pulsed with steady, warming energy.

With a satisfied nod, he sealed it and set it on the judging tray, drawing murmurs of approval from the crowd at his clean, professional execution.

Without missing a beat, he immediately began crafting his next creation.

Meanwhile, Ash hadn’t even started concocting.

He stood casually beside Luna on the dais, hands in his pockets, leaning slightly toward her as they spoke quietly.

"You’re supposed to be demonstrating Alchemy..." she said, baffled at why he was just standing there.

’I don’t even know why I agreed to this stupid competition,’ she thought, inwardly facepalming.

Ash chuckled softly, easily reading her mood. "Oh, don’t worry about that," he said, glancing at the guy working on a second elixir.

"He’s just wasting his time, honestly."

Luna shook her head, trying to keep her focus on the disciple’s progress.

"Focus now! Don’t you..." Her gaze shifted to him as her words slipped into his mind—before, they’d just been speaking aloud.

’Don’t you dare tarnish my reputation!’ Her eyes flashed with something... something beyond pure alchemy.

Ash raised a brow, then chuckled. "A mean streak, huh?"

He turned back to the cauldron.

"Alright, I’ll keep my word, dear ’master’~"

-----

Ash finally made his move.

He tapped into the perfect mastery of Alchemy inherent to his Unus heritage.

In that moment, as he glanced at the grass, the dew, and the other simple tools on his station, blueprint-like overlays appeared before his eyes.

They were flawless, glowing step-by-step guides detailing exactly how to reach ranks up to Origin Summit (17D) with perfect purity.

With just one look, he understood the Third’s disciple couldn’t achieve more than 65% Primordial Hierarchy at best.

So... he calmly decided to craft three perfect Primordial Hierarchy Pills without even using a cauldron, relying entirely on pure divinity to merge them.

Before him, blades of grass, droplets of dew, and bits of minerals drifted upward, guided effortlessly by his divinity.

To the watchers, it looked like the pieces were assembling themselves, turning slowly in the air as faint, barely visible sparks of light flickered between them.

There was no flame, no script, none of the usual flashy alchemical theatrics—just a smooth, perfect blending, as if the materials followed his will without any push or force.

The Third Alchemist’s green eyes widened in shock, his usual composure slipping as he leaned forward.

"What?" he murmured. "Is he... using conceptual weaving without a catalyst?"

The Second Alchemist, a stern woman, clutched the armrest of her platform, her voice taut.

"Why... why can’t I feel any mana being used?"

While the other alchemists were clearly baffled by how Ash was pulling off this feat, it was obvious how the lesser alchemists felt about it.

Up on the dais, Luna stood beside Ash, struggling to maintain her composure.

Her yellow eyes stayed locked on the floating ingredients, her hands subtly clenching at her sides.

Like the other top alchemists, she instantly recognized what he was doing—it was, after all, the very thing that had made her famous.

There were countless ways to practice alchemy, but Luna, the Weaver of Alchemy, had never once used a cauldron.

At her peak, she could weave pure nothingness into any form she desired.

Though it wasn’t without fire, of course, since she, like everyone from True Reality, knew the script, and most alchemists only knew scripts for flames or other alchemical purposes.

But watching Ash work without a script, without even using mana...

’This... we’re witnessing the pinnacle of conceptual weaving,’ she thought.

Before she could even take in the moment, Ash was already done—three pills completed in barely a minute.

They formed at the same time, small, perfectly round, each glowing with a gentle, pure golden light.

HUMMMMM!!!!!!

As soon as they solidified, three golden rays of light descended from the sky above the domain, enveloping the pills in a divine glow.

The crowd gasped in awe as the light lingered, and when it finally faded, three lines of script appeared on each pill.

"One... one hundred percent purity?!" the top Alchemist in all of Reality exclaimed, his voice echoing the astonishment everyone felt as they saw it clearly.

[Luna’s Affection 55%]