The silence that had fallen over the arena seemed to weigh upon everyone present, an invisible pressure that spread like a blanket over the crowd.
Twenty-five participants had entered that final, each carrying hopes, techniques, and decades of experience.
Only twelve had managed to form a pill, a testament to the extreme difficulty of the trial. And now, after an hour of refinement, mistakes, successes, explosions, and countless attempts to reconstruct an incomplete rank 6 recipe, the moment everyone had been waiting for had finally arrived.
The elder responsible for the competition remained at the center of the stage, his imposing figure silhouetted against the sky of the Sky Caravan.
He held the jade bottles containing the results of the finalists, each one a small vessel of hope and accomplishment.
