Elder Godari didn't expect that someone would improvise his alchemy formula during this competition.

"So, she left the Windroot out and added more sequences in the mixing step. I added Windroot because it was a common agent to merge wind and speed-based essences, but she didn't need it because the added sequences were sufficient enough to merge them. Both ways have their own advantages and disadvantages."

Although his formula was made hastily with little optimization for the purpose of the competition, the knowledge and experience required to come up with it still far exceeded their current level.

Usually at the contestants' level, even if they could create something new, four or five ingredients combinations would be the max.

This was why he gave them a way out and made it easier by telling them the exact ingredients to make the Skyflare Elixir. All they had to do was find out the mixing ratio and sequences.

Ultimately, what Mia Fafifa achieved was absolutely impressive and her creativity far exceeded her peers. It was no doubt that she was the best in this round so far by far.

Although there was less than a day left before the round ended, he doubted anyone would be able to surpass her.

And sure enough, he was right! Time had passed quickly.

At this moment, the Grand Stadium was full again. The audience had returned from a few days' break to witness the end of the fourth round.

The Leyan Family filled their seats again as they prepared to cheer for Anda once more.

On the stage, Anda stopped her experiment because she knew the round would end at any minute.

As she expected, nothing she tried worked, and it all ended with an explosion. She realized once again how hard alchemy was.

The only reason it became easy for her and most alchemists was due to the predecessors who had paved the path for them, creating alchemy methods, alchemy techniques, and alchemy formulas for everyone to use.

Even with the help of Alchemy Vision, she was incapable of coming close to creating anything new.

Soon, Elder Godari stood up and walked to the podium again.

"Ehem, my dear alchemy geniuses, as of now, round four of the alchemy competition officially ends. Please stop what you're doing." As soon as the sentence ended, explosions could be seen and heard simultaneously happening on the stage as they were forcefully stopped by the formation.

The next moment, the isolation disappeared, and they finally saw each other again, with many of them looking haggard from the frequent explosion.

Laughter broke out among the contestants seeing their miserable appearances. Some were shy, some didn't bother, and some were annoyed. After all, this was something that usually happened in private, not in front of so many people.

"Please present your product so it can be evaluated and scored accordingly." Elder Godari continued.

Soon, all the products were collected by the Alchemy Association's personnel into a certain room.

"Please wait here for some time while our Alchemists, led by the President confirm the effects and properly evaluate them. Don't worry, it won't take long." Throughout the round, he paid attention to a few people and knew how well they did, but he wasn't sure about the rest.

However, he was completely confident nobody was better than Mia Fafifa in this round.

In the evaluation room,

"President, we haven't seen a talent like Mia Fafifa in a long time. We should recruit her."

"That's right, although her alchemy skill wasn't considered top-tier, her alchemy knowledge is far better than you, President."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Oi, are you picking a fight with me? I keep failing to make new products, but I still can create new alchemy techniques, ptui!"

"Dammit, President! Stop spitting, you idiot!"

"Hahaha! That's what you get! Okay, I will recommend Mia Fafifa to the higher-ups. Our Alchemy Association's Research and Development Department has been declining for a long time. This Mia girl can make those lazy idiots over there move their asses more."

"Wow, the President can actually think and say something that I agree with. I'm impressed."

"Huh? Are you picking a fight? Don't make me use my special saliva bomb attack!"

"Stop! Stop! Dumbass President!"

"Yo, look at this tier-1 product. Someone made a product that could increase my spitting speed by 20%. Ptui, ptui!"

"Guys, let's beat him up! I can't hold it anymore!"

"Guys, relax! I was testing the product! Arghhhhh help!!"

2 hours later, Elder Godari finally received the results from them.

"They were late by an hour. What the heck were they doing in there?" He complained.

"The results are here and sorry for the delay. All the products have been tested and evaluated accordingly. The Alchemists of the Alchemy Association who evaluated the products were some of the best in the South Region, so you can rest assured."

"Without further ado, here are the results of the fourth round and their overall rankings!" With a flick of his hand, the screen refreshed, showing new information.

1. Mia Fafifa (60+92.3+180+400)= 732.3

2. Anda Leyan (90+98.4+199+315)= 702.4

3. Norin Homun (100+91.7+190+280)= 661.7

4. Ori Oregano (80+96.1+180+280)= 636.1

5. Victor Goldstone (60+82.6+185+300)= 627.6

6. Natalie Clover (70+93.1+160+210)= 533.1

7. Amelina (70+79.9+170+210)= 529.9

8. Dante May (0+78.5+170+275)= 523.5

9. Sarah Goldstone (60+77+175+210)= 522

10. Lars Vomil (60+85.4+162+210)= 517.4

11. Minami Clover (50+89.2+160+210)= 509.2

129. Asmondol (60+87.9+165+100)= 412.9

As soon as the results appeared, the crowd instantly buzzed with excitement. The rank this time had massive changes compared to the previous rounds.

Some raised significantly while some dropped far down.

There were only 5% of the contestants successfully figured out the correct mixing ratio and sequence of the Skyflare Elixir introduced by Elder Godari.

The majority of them could only make publicly known alchemy products, getting only 100 points maximum.

One of them was unexpectedly Asmondol. He was someone who was previously in the top ten consistently. However, he dropped so far in the ranking because he failed to find out the correct ratio or create a new alchemy formula.

Although many contestants failed to impress, it wasn't like there were none. Among over five thousand of them, a few did brilliantly in this round by creating or improving alchemy formulas.

The most outstanding alchemist in this round was the representative from the Longevity Academy, Mia Fafifa! She had directly improved the Alchemy Formula of the Skyflare Elixir created by Elder Godari, netting her a total of 400 points in this round alone, sending her straight to the top of the ranking.

Even though she only made a low-grade elixir, the scoring criteria for this round favored those who were innovative and she did exactly that to rise to the top, pushing Anda to second place.

Besides Mia Fafifa, Victor Goldstone also improved an existing alchemy formula, using only four of the original five ingredients for that product. He was now closely trailing behind the fourth placer, Ori Oregano.

The other notable contestant who managed to storm his way into the top ten despite receiving zero points in the first round was Dante May. He landed straight to eighth place after creating a new alchemy product that allowed the user to increase the speed of projectiles shot from the body.

As for the 5% of the contestants who managed to make the original Skyflare Elixir, only Anda successfully increased its quality to the top grade. Even so, it still pales in comparison to the points earned by Mia Fafifa.

While everyone was looking at the ranking, Elder Godari's voice sounded. "I would like to use this moment to congratulate contestant Mia Fafifa specifically, who went above and beyond by successfully improving the alchemy formula of my Skyflare Elixir. It was truly the greatest achievement in this alchemy competition so far! Congratulations!"

Seeing his ranking drop again, Ori Oregano was extremely furious, but he controlled his fury much better this time. It wasn't like the last time when he almost lost control.

"Three women... three bitches humiliated me this time... I swear I will torture them all in the future...I will make sure they realize that they are inferior to me!" Ori whispered to himself. Although he managed to control his emotions better, his face would still be contorted from time to time.

Elder Godari sighed when he saw Ori. In reality, Ori did outstandingly well, considering his young age. After all, he had much less experience compared to others.

He hoped that Ori wouldn't be too affected by the rank this time and come back to dominate the competition 10 years later. He would still be 26 years old at that time.

Meanwhile, Norin Homun saw that her rank dropped again, but instead of feeling disappointed, she became more excited.

"Hehe, there's another girl who is better than me. I did my best and made a high-grade product using the seven ingredients, but she actually improved the alchemy formula directly. Simply amazing! Another rival for me!"

She didn't care about her rank anymore. She only cared about having fun competing with other geniuses. Norin enjoyed alchemy more and more as the competition progressed, and she could feel that her alchemy was advancing at a high pace.