Chapter 1044: Jiang Chen, Looked Down Upon by Everyone

Every seat was separated by an array that blocked all communication with the outside world, eliminating any possibility of cheating.

The impatient ones had already unrolled their question scrolls.

One glance at the problems, and many participants immediately felt cold sweat trickling down their backs.

The questions were arranged from level one to level ten, each level harder than the last, like climbing a staircase. The first few levels didn't seem too tiring, but the higher you climbed, the greater the jump in difficulty with each step.

By the ninth and tenth levels at the end, the difficulty had practically shot through the heavens.

In this situation, forget about crossing into other disciplines—whether anyone could even finish these questions within the allotted time was uncertain.

Who would have any energy left to attempt other fields?

Almost every participant in the selection was secretly groaning in despair.

With one exception.

That was Jiang Chen.

In the field of alchemy, whether at the Danqian Palace, the Glazed Royal City, or right here in Pill Fire City, Jiang Chen had never encountered any stumbling block.

This selection was no different.

He didn't even glance at the earlier levels. His eyes locked straight onto the tenth-level questions. The tenth-level problems had indeed reached the tier of a ninth-level Pill King, or even a half-step Pill Emperor. One or two even surpassed the half-step Pill Emperor level. Even a legendary Pill Emperor wouldn't necessarily be able to answer them with ease.

But for Jiang Chen, none of these questions posed any real problem.

Jiang Chen took his time. The selection had been given a very generous time limit—a full three days. That meant as long as the questions were completed within three days, one would pass. However, the final ranking was still determined by score.

If scores were tied, the person who finished earlier would have the advantage.

Jiang Chen unhurriedly read through all the questions once. There were thirty problems in total, divided into ten levels, with three questions per level.

The difficulty progressed from simple to complex, from complex to tricky, from tricky to speechless-inducing, level by level, clearly delineated.

Jiang Chen cut through them like bamboo. With pen flying, he finished all six levels' worth of questions in four hours.

The earlier problems held no real difficulty for an alchemy master with the foundation of a high-ranking Pill King.

Everyone's answering speed was probably about the same—as long as one had reached the seventh-level Pill King tier, there shouldn't be much trouble.

At the seventh level of difficulty, the challenge rose considerably.

Even a seventh-level Pill King would have to think carefully.

But for Jiang Chen, seventh-level difficulty was merely the level of introductory alchemy knowledge from his previous life.

What was introductory? The kind of knowledge a small child first learns when beginning their studies.

In the blink of an eye, the seventh-level questions were also handled by Jiang Chen.

The eighth level jumped up another tier. But to Jiang Chen, it was merely like going from a three-year-old's problems to a five- or six-year-old's problems.

Riding the momentum, Jiang Chen knocked out all three ninth-level questions as well.

Only after finishing the ninth-level questions did Jiang Chen realize that his answering speed seemed a bit too fast. At this point, most people were still struggling with seventh-level problems. Only one or two had just barely started on the eighth level.

And not even a full day had passed yet.

Jiang Chen couldn't look around, nor could he pay attention to anyone else's progress.

"What I'm aiming for is a sensational impact—there's nothing worth holding back. Since I've entered the selection, I'm destined to make a splash. Why hesitate now?"

After a moment's thought, Jiang Chen knew he had no retreat.

Since he'd entered the selection and signed up for the bounty arena, sooner or later he would have to show his true colors. Why suppress his ability now? Why hide?

If he had the skill, he should show it off!

So Jiang Chen wasted no more time and continued tackling the three tenth-level questions.

The tenth-level questions were considerably more complex and tricky. While they weren't a major challenge for Jiang Chen, they did require some time to work through and explain.

Early the next morning, Jiang Chen had finished every question on the scroll. He went back and double-checked twice more to make sure there were no issues.

Jiang Chen filled in his participant badge number and stamped the scroll with his badge's seal, marking it as his exclusive scroll. No one could swap it out now.

When Jiang Chen completed his answers and submitted his scroll ahead of schedule, the expressions on the judges' faces became extremely animated in that instant.