But of course this string of lucky draws couldn't last forever since there would finally be a round where there wasn't a bye.
Once the round of quarter finals were over, it was finally time for the semi finals.
This time there were only four contestants left, which gave an even number and meant that there would be an even number of matches.
Lin Fan once again went up to the stage to draw, but this time he didn't pick the ball with the piece of paper with the star on it since it no longer existed. Instead Lin Fan picked the ball with the piece of paper that had a 1 on it instead.
After he finished picking his number, the rest of the contestants quickly picked theirs and the matches were set.
Lin Fan and his opponent were the first ones up, so they were quickly brought up to the stage. But on the way up, Lin Fan was surprised to see that his opponent had been glaring at him the entire time.
Lin Fan also couldn't help feeling a bit strange since this person did look a bit familiar. Lin Fan was also strangely annoyed by this person, even though he didn't know why.
Once they got to the stage, his opponent didn't stop glaring at him.
Rather, before the host could even say anything, his opponent was already shouting at Lin Fan.
"So you're the genius Fan Lin are you? You don't seem that amazing!" This man was quite the fierce looking man, but Lin Fan didn't care at all.
Lin Fan just casually glanced over at him before turning back to look at his own station.
There were several girls who cheered and swooned at this.
While Lin Fan still had a mask on his face, these girls could tell that this Fan Lin was quite a handsome person just by how talented he was and how he acted.
Hearing the cheers of these girls, one of the cloaked people following Elder Hua had a cold look and they clenched their hands.
The fierce looking man couldn't take Lin Fan ignoring him so he exploded, "You think that you're so great! You're nothing more than a fake who's relying on tricks to fool everyone! If it weren't for your tricks, my little brother would have been here now!"
Lin Fan turned back to this fierce looking man with a confused gaze when he heard this, but when he looked closer, he found that this fierce looking man reminded him of a buffoon who had tried showing off to him during the qualifiers.
The fierce looking man didn't give Lin Fan a chance to speak as he said, "I will take revenge for Xiao Dun, I will make you bow down to him and apologize with my alchemy skills. You will remember the name Xiahou Tian as the one who defeated you!"
Lin Fan just shook his head at this and said, "Not interested."
Xiahou Tian's face turned red, but he calmed himself down and said, "If I win this match, you will bow down to my little brother and beg for his forgiveness."
Lin Fan just said, "Once again, not interested."
Xiahou Tian revealed a smile as he took out his cauldron, "I know that you'll be interested in this."
Lin Fan turned once again and his eyes narrowed when he saw the cauldron. This was quite the interesting cauldron because the different energy fluctuations that came from it showed that it contained many different flame energies.
This cauldron was called the Thousand Flame Cauldron, it was a cauldron where thousands of different flames were refined, creating a cauldron that had evolving flames. This was the treasure of the Xiahou Family, whose ancestor had once been an elder of the Alchemy Tower.
Still Lin Fan turned away still since while this cauldron was good, he had no use for it since he used his flames as a cauldron. He would rather not waste his time engaging with this idiot.
But when Xiahou Tian saw that Lin Fan still wasn't moved, he went on to use his final card.
Xiahou Tian called out, "Alchemy Master, please approve of our duel on behalf of our Xiahou Family! I am even willing to put this Thousand Flame Cauldron on the line just to get revenge for my family!"
While the Xiahou Family had declined since their ancestor eventually died and they hadn't trained another Grandmaster Alchemist yet, their family was still quite influential with several Master Alchemists.
Then there was Xiahou Tian who was actually one of the more talented younger alchemists of Green Wood City. It was said that he had one of the highest chances in becoming a Grandmaster Alchemist in the future.
With all this behind him, Xiahou Tian was certain that he could win the favour of the Alchemist Master and force this duel.
However, the Alchemist Master had a hesitant look on his face when he heard this.
On one hand, he had been trying to bring the Xiahou Family to his side for many years now and this was clearly the best opportunity. On the other hand, he didn't want to offend Fan Lin, who was clearly much more talented than anyone present. He was so talented that even the upper realm faction wanted him.
But then the envoy said something that completely scattered that hesitation.
The envoy softly said, "Just let them duel."
The Alchemist Master looked at the envoy in surprise, but then he understood what the envoy meant.
The Alchemist Master's expression relaxed as he turned back and said, "Alright, I agree to this duel."
Xiahou Tian's face lit up when he heard this and he profusely thanked the Alchemist Master.
As for Lin Fan, his eyes turned a bit cold when he heard this.
He immediately turned to look at the Alchemist Master's seat and his gaze met the envoy's. The envoy just looked right at him and revealed a faint smile.
Lin Fan could immediately guess what had happened.
It seemed like this envoy was still doubting him and wanted to use this idiot to force out his real skills. A genius had his pride and when it came to being humiliated, he would rather die. In this situation where he either won or was humiliated, the envoy believed that Fan Lin would use his real skills.
Lin Fan gave a cold laugh on the inside, but he was still fine with this.
Since this idiot was offering him a free cauldron, why wouldn't he take it?
Xiahou Tian turned back to Lin Fan with an absolutely confident look.
Even now, he firmly believed that this Fan Lin had used tricks to make it this far, but he had been exposed in the past few rounds. He clearly bribed someone or cheated to let himself draw the bye in all those rounds, which meant that he was afraid to compete and reveal the fact that he had used tricks to win.
Xiahou Tian was confident that with his skills, he would definitely expose this Fan Lin and make him pay for his actions. He would make this Fan Lin bow and beg for his forgiveness.
There was no doubt in his mind that he would win and he was certain that he would never lose this Thousand Flame Cauldron, but how wrong he was.
The pill they were assigned for this round was a High Mortal Grade Pill, but its effects were close to that of an Earth Grade Pill, which meant that it was difficult to refine.
Even for a genius like Xiahou Tian, he had only refined this kind of pill less than five times.
But since this was a difficult pill, Xiahou Tian was even more assured in his victory. He knew that with such a difficult to refine pill, it would be even harder for Lin Fan to play his tricks.
Once the round started, Xiahou Tian immediately took his ingredients and put them into his cauldron. The moment the ingredients entered the cauldron, Xiahou Tian released flames from both his hands that were sucked into the cauldron and began refining the ingredients.
While Xiahou Tian was fully focused on refining his pill, Lin Fan just stood on the side waiting and watching.
Since he was forced to take this duel, he would completely crush the other side otherwise he wouldn't be able to gain the trust of the envoy. This was a critical moment, he needed to prove his worth and gain the full trust of the envoy, otherwise his plan wouldn't work.
Xiahou Tian continued focusing on refining his pills while Lin Fan just stood there. The crowd was completely confused by Lin Fan's actions, but they were also expectant since Lin Fan had already created many miracles.
When Xiahou Tian came to the critical part of his refining, he couldn't help knitting his brows before losing control and causing an explosion.
Xiahou Tian gave a cough before looking up and he saw that Lin Fan was just standing there. It seemed like he had been watching him the entire time...