SUPREME ARCH-MAGUS - Chapter 1101 - 1101: Unexpected Winner?!
The great courtyard still pulsed with the echoes of cauldrons cooling and incense burning down. The air was thick with the fragrance of herbs, the faint metallic tang of spent qi, and the restless whispers of tens of thousands of disciples who had just witnessed the most controversial trial in years.
Vice Matriarch Kim stood straight-backed on the dais, the Winter Autumn Leaf hidden now within her sleeve. Her voice rang with authority, though a weight pressed at her chest. “The trial of the Nine Lotus Bewitching Potion has ended. The results are decided. Ten disciples will advance to represent Celestial Light Mountain.”
The crowd held its breath, then erupted again into murmurs as she began to read the names aloud, her tone clipped, formal.
“Yun Fei.”
The flame-serpent wielder stepped forward with a smirk, his supporters cheering loudly.
“Lady Ruo.”
A roar of approval broke from the crowd. Her phoenix spirit still lingered faintly in the air, its wings flickering with embers. Disciples shouted her name in awe, and even the Yellow Blossom River Prince inclined his head slightly, his eyes alight with satisfaction.
“Han Qian. Mo Jing.”
Two more bowed, their faces flushed with triumph.
“Xu Min. Zhao Ling. Cheng Hao.”
The courtyard hummed, each new name another weight falling on the crowd. Some sighed with relief, others muttered in disappointment.
“Lei Man. Shi Tong.”
That was nine.
Disciples leaned forward, tension crackling. There should be only one name left. Many assumed it would be Lady Ruo who took the crown of honor, her potion blazing brightest. Others whispered about Yun Fei or Xu Min. None so much as glanced toward the empty stair where Kent had disappeared.
Kim’s lips pressed tight. Her eyes flickered down to the list she held, then to the leaf hidden in her sleeve. She remembered the white glow, the lightning spark. Her breath tightened, but her voice did not waver.
“The final name…” She let the silence stretch, sharp and taut as a bowstring. “…Kent King.”
The courtyard erupted into chaos.
“What?!”
“No—this must be a mistake!”
“He stormed off before the results were even called!”
“He failed! His potion turned the leaf white!”
Mockery turned to outrage, confusion, and disbelief. Some disciples shouted so loudly their voices cracked. Others laughed bitterly, convinced it was a cruel joke.
A senior disciple bellowed, his face red. “Vice Matriarch, how can this be? He mocked the test! He disrespected you! His potion was worthless!”
But Kim’s gaze cut him down instantly. “Silence. My word is law. These ten are chosen.”
The Yellow Blossom River Prince leaned forward, his brows furrowing faintly. “Kent King? The one with the strange flame?” His voice was low, uncertain. His attendants shifted nervously.
“Impossible,” one whispered.
“His potion wasn’t gold—it was white. That isn’t a grade at all!”
“Your Highness, perhaps Vice Matriarch Kim was pressured to save face.”
–
Lady Kim ignored the gossip and left the scene. She had the Winter Autumn Leaf clasped tightly in her hand, its veins still glowing white. She descended the stairs quickly, her expression grave. Without a word to anyone, she strode across the courtyard and disappeared into the mountain corridors.
She climbed the long spiral to the Mountain Treasury, an ancient hall carved deep into the heart of Celestial Light Mountain. The treasury was lined with relics: shattered cauldrons, crystal vials, and the ashes of leaves that had tested legendary potions centuries before.
At the far end stood the Book of Ten Thousand Brews, an immense tome bound in leather darkened by age. Its pages were yellowed, yet their characters glowed faintly with timeless qi.
Kim set the leaf carefully onto a jade plate beside the book. She whispered a spell, and the leaf’s glow seeped into the parchment. The book trembled, pages turning rapidly until it halted on a single record.
Her eyes scanned the lines—and froze.
The script described a rank so rare it was thought mythical: Divine-Grade Potions. Potions that surpassed the mortal limit of gold, transcending into white, infused with the essence of heaven and earth themselves. Potions that could alter fate, not merely heal or sustain.
Her hand tightened on the page.
“I asked for Nine Lotus Bewitching Potion… and he delivered something beyond it.” Her voice was a whisper, half awe, half fear. “Even I cannot understand the rarity of this brew. What exactly did he refine in that battered cauldron?”
For the first time in years, Vice Matriarch Kim felt unsettled.
–
Back in the courtyard, the Yellow Blossom River Prince had not moved from his seat. His attendants whispered congratulations, praising Lady Ruo and the chosen disciples. But his gaze lingered on the stairs where Kent had vanished, and his hand tapped slowly against the armrest.
At his side, the old man with the long beard—the one who had remained silent through all—shifted slightly.
“Your Highness,” the old man murmured.
The prince’s eyes narrowed. “You saw as well.”
The old man nodded. “The cauldron. It is awake. That boy—Kent King—his flame and his will awakened its spirit. A treasure like that will not appear again in centuries. If refined properly, it could become the core of an alchemist dynasty.”
The prince’s lips curved faintly, but his eyes burned. “I thought the phoenix girl would be my answer. But now…” He exhaled slowly. “That cauldron. That boy. Both are not ordinary.”
His attendants exchanged nervous glances. “Your Highness, he insulted Vice Matriarch Kim. He is reckless, arrogant—”
“All the better,” the prince interrupted softly. “Pride is a mask, but power… power cannot be faked. His arrogance is proof of his confidence.”
He turned his head slightly toward the old man. “Envoy, you will go to him. Speak carefully. I want to know everything about Kent King. His origin, his flame, his cauldron.”
The old man bowed, his eyes glinting. “As you command, Your Highness.”
The prince’s gaze drifted once more toward the empty stairs, his expression unreadable. “Kent King… the Academy mocks you, but I wonder. Did I just witness the birth of a rival, or the chance to claim something greater?”
The drums had long gone silent, but in the courtyard, gossip still buzzed like a restless hive. And above them all, the alchemy clouds lingered faintly, as though unwilling to leave, as though they too waited for the boy who had already walked away.
