"Brother Chen, come on! Win the championship and you'll be rich — ha ha!" Mu Gaoqi was one of Jiang Chen's most fervent supporters. He had absolute, unwavering faith that Jiang Chen would claim the title.
Ling Bier said nothing, but the encouragement shimmering in her eyes made it clear she was rooting for Jiang Chen just the same.
Elder Yun Nie chuckled. "Good, good. When geniuses clash and prodigies collide, a little extra motivation isn't a bad thing. I'm rather curious now — among your Genius Group, who will the championship ultimately fall to?"
After all, he was an elder of Danqian Palace. Standing before both Jiang Chen and Shen Qinghong, it wouldn't be appropriate for him to openly side with Jiang Chen.
Among the young geniuses, the rivalry was fierce. But among the elders, everyone was remarkably composed.
Clearly, most of them understood that there was very little suspense in this championship contest. It would come down to a handful of people fighting it out among themselves.
The forty-five-wager had also left every non-participating genius green with envy.
Those from fifth-rank sects were especially jealous. Originating from fifth-rank sects, they still lagged behind the top talents of fourth-rank sects when it came to alchemy.
This kind of grand competition, they could only watch from the sidelines.
Even if their alchemy cultivation had reached the level needed to contend for the championship, they likely couldn't have scraped together fifty thousand high-grade Spirit Stones on the spot.
Fifty thousand high-grade Spirit Stones — even elders of fifth-rank sects would struggle to produce that sum so casually.
Only the well-heeled heirs of fourth-rank sects would dare be so extravagant.
Once this lavish bet had been established, the atmosphere in the venue clearly erupted into fervor.
Watching the pile of four hundred fifty thousand Spirit Stones sitting there — the visual and psychological impact was absolutely electrifying.
During the break, none of the participating geniuses said much more. Everyone was conserving their energy, waiting for the competition to begin.
"Competition time has arrived. All participants, please enter the Fire Control Duel Hall. The Elder Group enters the left hall; the Genius Group enters the right hall."
This Fire Control Duel Hall was a grand undertaking from the ancient Myriad Phenomena Empire. Within it were a full three hundred sixty Fire Control Arrays.
Each array was independent, designed specifically for dueling in fire control.
Each array contained thirty-six fire sources — six sets of six. Every fire source housed various Heavenly and Earthly fires.
The fire control contest was simple: within a set time limit, see how many fire sources each participant could awaken and how many they could bring into resonance.
The more fire sources awakened, the more successful the attempt.
Each fire source was worth ten points. That made a total of three hundred sixty points. However, if a participant managed to awaken all thirty-six fire sources within the time limit, they would receive a bonus of forty additional points.
In other words, the theoretical maximum score for this first round of fire control was over four hundred points.
"Everyone, enter your arrays."
Above the alchemy competition hall sat a spectator platform with a commanding view of the entire arena, allowing the judges to observe every alchemy array at a glance.
Naturally, this platform was reserved for the judges — the domain where the sect masters of the six major sects held court.
With the command given, every participant entered their designated Fire Control Array according to their assigned number.
Jiang Chen's number was three. Since Danqian Palace had been the champion of the last Illusory Wave Mountain Alchemy Tournament, Danqian Palace's participants were assigned numbers first.
Shen Qinghong had the most seniority — his number was one. Ling Bier was number two. Jiang Chen was number three. Mu Gaoqi was number four.
This was not Jiang Chen's first time competing in a fire control contest.
The first time he had entered Danqian Palace and competed against Yan Hongtu, fire control techniques had been part of the challenge.
Jiang Chen had accumulated extensive insight into the art of fire control. Upon entering the array, he did not rush into action. Instead, he spent some time observing.
Alchemy arrays — Jiang Chen's mastery in this area was truly astonishing. After just a moment of study, he had grasled the general logic behind this particular array and held its inner workings completely under his understanding.
"This Fire Control Array isn't particularly complex. It simply uses formations to channel various fire sources for convenience in refining pills. In the Myriad Heavens Planes, this type of array would be considered barely introductory. I suspect it isn't even as profound as the most basic entry-level arrays in the Myriad Heavens Planes."
For Jiang Chen, an array of this caliber posed no difficulty whatsoever.
Before long, Jiang Chen had sorted out his approach.
He formed a hand seal, and a fire source stirred within his palm.
To activate the fire sources in this array, three elements were required.
First, the practitioner had to possess the innate ability to summon fire — they needed to be able to generate flame themselves.
Second, they had to clearly recognize the characteristics of each fire source.
Finally, through different hand seals, combined with their own Fire Element energy, they had to draw out the fire sources within the array and achieve fire source resonance.
Jiang Chen held a unique and decisive advantage: he saw through the array with perfect clarity, and his command over the various fire sources was rock-solid.
Not every fire source required complete understanding before one could activate it.