Spirit's Awakening: The Path of Lightning and Water-Chapter 383: Alchemical Rivals

The sound of grinding mortar and pestles, crackling flames, and bubbling cauldrons filled the massive coliseum.

A storm of motion overtook the stage as pill refiners and potion brewers sprang into action, hands moving swiftly and precisely as they were the most talented to be chosen as Personal Disciples.

Lassim’s storm-filled eyes flicked across the competitors, watching them settle into their process. From his position in the VIP box, he could already tell—this was a high-pressure battle, just like any martial tournament. It was his first time watching a competition like this for alchemy, so he was eagerly observing all of the different disciples working at their stations.

Niko, from his vantage point above the contestants, spoke loudly as his voice carried effortlessly over the roaring crowd, "And they’re off! The competitors have begun their refinement processes, and already we can see some vastly different approaches! Let’s take a look!"

After pressing a button on the tablet, a massive holographic projection screen appeared to float directly behind Niko’s commentator’s platform. Lassim immediately tried reading the runes and realized it was connected to some odd looking square boxes positioned carefully around the arena.

As he was trying to figure out how it worked, the projection screen behind Niko zoomed in, showing side-by-side images of the potion brewing and pill refining competitors in real time.

Before the competition got too far ahead, Niko clapped his hands and called out, "For those of you new to our Alchemy competitions, let me explain what our competitors are aiming to create today!"

The crowd’s murmurs died down slightly as all eyes returned to the charismatic announcer.

"This wouldn’t be an Elder Summit competition if we didn’t make it tricky for these Personal Disciples! That’s why today, we’re going to challenge them all with some of the most volatile and tricky recipes to create!"

He paused for dramatic effect before continuing.

"The pill refiners have been tasked with creating a Lightning Meridian Rejuvenation Pill—a high-grade recovery pill designed to restore damaged lightning-attribute meridians and aid in refining the body’s internal lightning circulation after overuse. Something that our sect could still use more of after the Sect War and each of these pills will be donated by the Sect Master and Alchemy Division to the disciples with lingering injuries from their heroic efforts. This is a particularly difficult pill to refine, as it requires perfect synchronization between its core ingredients and must not be overheated, or the medicinal essence will burn away completely in a giant explosion!"

As if to illustrate his point, the projection zoomed in on one contestant who had already begun sweating profusely as they struggled to control the heat beneath their cauldron as they aimed for the perfect temperature before dropping in the first herb trimmings.

A few elders at the judges table chuckled knowingly.

Niko continued, motioning toward the potion brewing side. "And for our potion brewers, they are attempting to craft something equally volatile, the Storm Veil Elixir—an advanced potion that grants a temporary enhancement to lightning-affinity cultivators, increasing their reaction speed and heightening their perception of electric currents in battle. The trick here is achieving the right balance of stormgrass essence and refined arc-water infusion—too much, and the potion will become unstable, too little, and its effects of the potion will be minimal."

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Lassim hummed thoughtfully. That actually sounded useful, but only if he was still the same cultivator as before. His current movement technique superseded anything strictly lightning based. Nothing couldbeat [Storm’s Dance] or [Teleportation] at the same level.

The Pill Refiners’ side was already a flurry of burning furnaces, swirling medicinal essences, and glowing inscriptions activating across cauldrons as the refiners infused their lightning mana into the furnaces to control the essences.

Meanwhile—

The Potion Brewers’ side had become a mesmerizing display of shimmering liquid extractions with unique techniques, steaming catalysts, and showers of sparks as herbs were refined with mana before being carefully stabilized in large glass distillation flasks.

The differences were stark to Lassim’s perspective.

Pill Refining required absolute control of flame intensity, timing, and precise compression of medicinal essence into perfect spherical pills.

Potion Brewing demanded fluid motion, layered extraction, and the art of achieving perfect balance between each liquid.

Lassim’s eyes flicked to the screen again which now showed Calem Vren, the favored Pill Refining prodigy. The young alchemist stood perfectly composed, his expression one of absolute confidence.

Before him, his cauldron glowed with a deep golden hue, the flame underneath flickering but never faltering as he methodically added each crushed ingredient into the swirling vortex of medicinal essence.

"As expected, Calem Vren is already taking the lead among the pill refiners!" Niko called out, pointing toward the screen. "Look at that control! His pill essence is forming smoothly, no waste, no resistance—absolute efficiency! This is the level of Personal Disciples of the Alchemy Division!"

The crowd murmured in awe as they watched the golden essence within Calem’s cauldron swirl effortlessly, already beginning to take the form of three perfectly round orbs, floating in his cauldron like miniature stars.

Volten smiled, "Wonderful. That’s exactly the type of quality of product from someone who has refined hundreds of pills a month for years. He’s the top contributor to the reserves of pills for the Sect in the last year—Ranked 1st on the Alchemy’s 50 Stars ranking."

Lassim nodded slightly. Calem’s control was impressive.

But then—

A loud BANG erupted from the other side of the stage. A potion brewer’s flask detonated, sending a burst of violet-colored liquid spraying into the air.

Niko winced visibly, turning toward the accident as the failed competitor stood frozen, eyes wide with horror at their ruined station. Even their second set of herbs were completely ruined.

"Ah! Our first casualty of the competition!" Niko chuckled, shaking his head dramatically. "Remember, folks—stability is key in potion brewing! Too much elemental infusion at once, and the balance collapses entirely! We chose these high-level recipes for a reason, but failing at this stage is quite unbecoming for Elder Mirran’s Disciple. How unfortunate…"

Lassim tilted his head, watching as the disqualified disciple was escorted off-stage, their expression still stuck in shock. An Elder, an angry looking grandma, seemed to teleport from the stands and grabbed the disciple by their ear before whisking them away under the entire crowd’s gaze.

"Unfortunate," Niko continued, "Potion Brewing is far less forgiving than Pill Refining. If a pill fails, it simply crumbles into dust. But potions? If they aren’t carefully stabilized, they could explode, become toxic, or worse—turn into completely useless sludge."

Lassim’s eyes moved toward Tessa Myren, the potion brewing prodigy. Unlike the failed competitor, Tessa’s movements were steady, controlled—almost effortless.

Her potion cauldron was also in a unique state compared to everyone else’s on her side of the arena—shimmering with a vibrant emerald glow of emerald colored lightning. Her ingredients were swirling into a luminescent spiral, their energies layering rather than colliding, as the lightning mana worked its way through the extracted essences.

"Ah-ha! Now that is true potion-making mastery!" Niko announced, zooming in on Tessa’s workstation. "Look at how she’s letting the elemental properties stabilize on their own instead of rushing the infusion process. That level of patience is why she’s one of our top competitors today!"

Volten hummed in approval as he spoke to Lassim. "Not bad. She’s letting her Life-Lightning energy interact naturally with the other properties rather than forcing it. What a wonderful body constitution. She’s truly lucky to have been born with that physique."

Lassim narrowed his eyes slightly, observing the unique pulsing glow of Tessa’s mixture. Life-Lightning was just a small and mostly unsupported section of Famthar’s domain of [Lightning] Laws.

Seeing it used in person for the first time gave him ideas on how to possibly improve [Lifestream Aegis], which was currently mostly only water elementals favored. If he could incorporate and learn some aspects of the [Life-Lightning Law], he might be able to make further advancements to it.

As he contemplated how to approach her to ask to study her Life-Lightning, the Lightning mana’s energy in her cauldron seemed to enhance the other properties of the potion rather than merely mix with them, almost as if it was amplifying their potency. Tessa took a small vial of glowing blue liquid and carefully dripped a single drop into the main mixture.

The moment it made contact—

The potion shuddered, then released a faint, bell-like chime.

The crowd gasped.

Even Lassim felt a jolt of surprise at the strange resonance effect.

Niko grinned. "Ah! And there it is—the perfect balance in the initial refinement achieved! A harmonic chime caused by resonating with the ambient mana signifies that the potion’s elemental balance is flawless, meaning she is on track to creating a top-tier Earth-grade potion!"

The audience cheered.

Volten leaned back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Wonderful. If she maintains this level of control through to the end, she may just take the victory for not just the potion making side, but also take first for the overall most perfect creation. Congratulations Elder Gwen on raising such a good seed."

Elder Gwen, in her position to the side, beamed with a smile as she gave a half bow in acknowledgement of Volten’s praise. She was surely going to get many more benefits to her Elder stock if what he predicted came true."

Lassim offered a smile to her as she caught him glancing at her but said nothing, his gaze flickering back to Calem, who was now methodically condensing his pill essences into their final spherical forms.

The competition was moving along and as the time ticked down, the first signs of true success and failure were beginning to emerge.