Those brilliant names weren't ones that many people would recognize. But there were still many people from the alchemist world who were somewhat familiar with the name of one among them.
"Is this Tang Yeye from the Tang family in City A?"
"Probably. In this entire country, there's only one Tang family that's a family of alchemists."
"But I haven't seen the Tang clan head today. If his descendants are really competing, wouldn't he show up?"
The voices of many viewers who used to be people from the martial world rang out noisily. It wasn't strange that no one would know them. No matter how prominent Bai Fanxian was as a figure known throughout the entire industry, how many people could there be who knew and remembered the names of her followers?
It was like how we remember what the name of this country's leader is, but we can't remember the assistant who walks behind that leader.
"By the way, has anyone seen what they look like?"
"If they know raw materials this well at Tier 2 level, they must be pretty old already..."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Probably women in their thirties or so."
While the viewers were debating among themselves, the male host received information through his earpiece from backstage. The staff members responsible for taking care of all three of them were rather startled as they reported the situation from the other room.
They didn't describe the three's outward appearance. They only said that they were about to come out.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a big round of applause for our three contestants with perfect scores!"
That male host acted even more excited than when Fu Rong had come out. Right now, everyone had forgotten about the young man sitting dejectedly on stage. Even the mic that was still in the middle of an interview was snatched away by the crew.
The stage lights were directed by the program director himself. They gathered at the entrance. The sound effects were as urgent as could be. Just at the entrance alone, there were more than five or six cameras crowding around waiting to capture images of this historic group.
The moment the door opened, everyone who was staring held their breath without realizing it. They all wondered about these unknown identities.
"Eh? Why are there so many cameras here?"
The one who walked out first was a little girl who was holding a red doll in her arms. Her big round eyes stared wide at one of the closest cameras.
The male host who'd been about to rush forward and request an interview also froze in the same position because he didn't know what to do either. He had no idea that the director was ordering the cameraman to capture a good shot of him with his mouth hanging open. This would definitely be an important shot that would draw laughter from viewers.
"Yeye, what's wrong?"
"Sister Hui'er, there are so many people blocking the entrance. I can't get out."
Mei Ying, who was the oldest, stepped forward. The young girl asked the host, who was probably the one who had brought so many cameramen to block the way.
"Um... could you please let us through?"
Because of her words, the male host came to his senses. He quickly moved aside without thinking before realizing what he was supposed to be doing!
Wasn't he supposed to interview all three of them?
And without him needing to ask, the director had already sent a message through his earpiece. He could hear the director's laughter and could guess that the director had known all along but just wanted to capture a great shot that even surprised the host himself!
"...Alright then. I need to get to work."
The young man quickly changed his mood and walked over to the children with a wide smile.
"Hello. You're Tang Yeye, Hui'er, and Mei Ying, right?"
The little ones nodded in confusion. But that was just what the young host wanted. He stuffed mics into all three of their hands, one each, and dragged them up onto the stage without paying any attention to Fu Rong's displeased gaze as he walked past going down.
The moment the young man saw that one of the three people with perfect scores was the same little girl who'd embarrassed him this morning, his angry mood flared up once again. He stomped out of the room with no one paying him any attention. Because today, after this first round of testing, there was nothing else. The second round of testing would be held tomorrow.
.
.
.
That evening, because this was an outing away from home, Huang Zihuan had used the Tang family's authority to book a first-class hotel. The building was more than thirty floors tall, and the rooftop had been converted into a restaurant that served fine dining and a luxury bar for hotel guests and outside visitors to come enjoy the nighttime atmosphere.
Bai Fanxian sat watching the children who were happy with their dinner. She knew about them secretly going to eat snacks earlier and didn't say anything about it. This past week, because she'd had to cram them full of massive knowledge about Tier 2 raw materials, all three of their stomachs had been filled with herbs and strange raw materials instead.
She herself, even though she'd come to this place, was still only drinking fine tea that was a famous specialty of the hotel. The old butler stood serving at her side constantly.
"My lady, where were you today?" Hui'er cut the meat into small squares before popping them in her mouth. Today she hadn't seen her lady who'd traveled here with them at all.
"...Those people held me back and wouldn't let me return."
Bai Fanxian sighed. "Those people" she was referring to were the elders of the Alchemist Association. As soon as she'd arrived, they swarmed around her to ask questions. It ended up taking until after noon just like the contestants before they actually started.
Today Bai Fanxian had come to discuss with them and listen to briefings in her capacity as a judge. Her work would truly begin tomorrow along with filming in a smaller but more fully equipped studio. The number of contestants had been reduced to only one hundred per division, making everything much more manageable.
Because it was rare for Bai Fanxian to agree to come out from that residence, the Association elders had practically carried their research work and things they didn't understand to bring to Bai Fanxian the moment they saw her.
But what was more important was that today Bai Fanxian had brought various types of "raw materials" that none of the elders recognized. And it was Elder Fang Niang, who'd studied a great deal of history, who after staring for a while suddenly jumped in shock.
"Th-this is Sun Grass!"
"Mm. Tier 2 raw material."
Bai Fanxian could still remember the shocked and trembling expression of that middle-aged woman. And when she brought out type after type of raw materials that barely appeared in this era anymore, it nearly made her faint right there.
The Association elders even rushed about to bring back many texts from the Association that might have recorded information to compare. When they were certain that many of the Tier 1 and 2 raw materials that Bai Fanxian had brought out were real, they looked at the young woman as if she were a strange creature.
But when they thought about all her previous feats, they were able to accept it rather quickly.
"So what would you like us to do with these?"
"...I'm just sharing them with you. As thanks for sending those practice cauldrons." Bai Fanxian was talking about the hundreds of practice cauldrons piled up like a mountain behind her residence.
"But... these are..." They had hesitant expressions. Because even though these raw materials were low level, they were raw materials that could barely be found in this era anymore. So it wouldn't be wrong to call them a small treasure trove.
"Take them..." Bai Fanxian cut them off, making the old people of the Alchemist Association smile so wide they couldn't close their mouths. As for other types of raw materials, that wasn't much. But if they took these herbs to research, perhaps they might be able to revive them in this era.
And that was what made them, after continuous consultation, decide to use some of these raw materials in the material identification test as well, to see if there might be people with knowledge or familiarity with these ancient herbs who would emerge. Bai Fanxian, who'd been sitting listening quietly, opened her eyes wide in surprise. She didn't object and let them decide everything themselves.
And the result was as seen. Her three little disciples got perfect scores as expected.
Coming back to the present, Bai Fanxian could still remember their expressions when they turned to look at her.
This wasn't her fault at all. They'd decided on their own without consulting her.
That night seemed to end in that manner. Bai Fanxian, who was in her private room, looked at the city's nighttime view through the glass. She was in a private room on the thirtieth floor. After the children had gotten close to each other, they no longer came to bother her at bedtime like before, making nighttime the young woman's personal time.
As Bai Fanxian was thinking of going back to bed, her gaze suddenly caught a glimpse of some shadow moving at high speed outside. It was a shadow like a group of two or three people jumping above buildings. And in just the blink of an eye, those shadows had moved and disappeared in another direction of the city.
With that level of speed, she thought that only someone at least at Grandmaster level could keep up.
Bai Fanxian didn't intend to get involved in other people's troublesome affairs. Although she was rather curious, since they hadn't come to cause trouble for her, she was too lazy to care.
But the moment she was opening her laptop to find books to read tonight, the white mobile phone that Huang Zihuan had prepared for her earlier for convenience if they weren't together vibrated along with a blue light on the screen.
Bai Fanxian had learned about these things already. She'd even called someone else herself once. So she picked it up and used a finger from her other hand to awkwardly swipe up the screen.
"..."
"...Grandmaster Bai?" The voice on the line sounded surprised. He looked at his own screen somewhat confused because he didn't hear a response.
"It's me..."
"Ah! Grandmaster Bai, it's Chen Deming!" When he saw that Bai Fanxian had responded, he quickly introduced himself. He was the elder who held the position of temporary president of the Alchemist Association, Elder Chen Deming himself.
Today after they'd talked, because they would be working together from now on, Huang Zihuan had suggested that his lady exchange phone numbers with others. The old butler had hoped that Bai Fanxian would make friends and open up her social circle a bit wider.
"What is it?"
"This is terrible! The ancient herbs you gave us... they've been stolen..." The end of his sentence he spoke in a soft, guilty tone.
"Someone actually managed to steal from your Association?"
Bai Fanxian herself was surprised. Because the Alchemist Association had been around this long, both the power and prestige accumulated over many centuries made it so no one dared become enemies or provoke this Association much.
Because it meant becoming an enemy of the public.
"...We're truly at our wit's end this time. This was probably Night Shadow's doing."
"...Night Shadow?" Bai Fanxian didn't know why, but she thought the group of people who'd moved and disappeared just now were probably related to this matter.
"World-class criminals that every country wants... the Night Shadow thieves."