Another person spoke up. "Same here. There was a half-burned letter stuck in my mailbox. I just threw it away."
Zhou Lei nodded. "Those letters were from my backer. I burned them all. Not just the ones sent to me, but also the ones sent to you. I didn’t want their influence anywhere near this team."
He looked around the room, his eyes calm.
"And remember, the other two traitors we caught before today... they were from different factions. Those factions have already been destroyed.
I thought my backer understood my position. I thought they knew I would never work for them.
But I see now they still wanted to make sure they could use my name for their gain. That is why they tried to put me in the official lineup ."
No one spoke. The room was filled with heavy silence.
The logic in Zhou Lei’s words was hard to ignore. If he had really been working with them, why would he destroy their letters?
And if he had known about the plan, why would the backer tell Qiao Feng never to speak to him directly?
Everyone slowly turned their eyes toward Qiao Feng.
Qiao Feng’s face had gone pale. His lips trembled slightly.
He looked down at the floor, then back up. His voice was quiet but rough.
"I... I never talked to Zhou Lei about this. Not once. Whenever I wanted to contact him, my backer told me to stay away. They said it was to avoid suspicion."
He swallowed hard, his mind racing.
"Now I realize... they wanted to keep me away from him because they knew he would report it. He would ruin their plan."
A murmur spread across the room. The truth was becoming clear, and for the first time, Qiao Feng’s earlier confidence was gone completely.
The stadium was buzzing. The crowd’s voices mixed together into a loud roar.
On one side, the Chinese team stood in their neat uniforms, their eyes sharp and focused. On the other side, the England team entered, looking proud but a little tense.
After Qiao Feng had been taken away earlier, the team had been quiet for a while.
Even though Zhou Lei’s name was cleared, some teammates couldn’t help but think about what might have happened if Qiao Feng and Zhou Lei had talked before all of this.
But in the end, they agreed nothing would have changed... Qiao Feng would still have listened to his backer for benefits.
Now, all their focus was on this last match.
The announcer’s voice boomed. "Welcome, everyone, to the final round of the International Alchemy Competition... China versus England!"
Cheers exploded from the stands.
"Gu Jin! You’re amazing!" someone from the crowd yelled.
"Captain Gu Jin is a blessing to the team!" another shouted.
"Golden Alchemist!" a group of fans screamed together.
Gu Jin stood calmly, her hands behind her back. She didn’t smile, but her eyes showed she was ready.
Some people in the stands began talking loudly.
"She’s the most talented person in the world!" a man said.
"No one can beat her," a woman replied.
The England team heard every word. Sophia Green, their captain, pressed her lips together. She stood tall, her green eyes locked on Gu Jin.
Sophia thought. ’If only I had changed my strategy then... maybe we’d still have a chance.’
But now she knew... her team’s chances of winning were almost nothing. Still, she refused to look defeated.
Leo Bennett, the easygoing boy with golden curls, leaned toward her. "Captain, maybe we can still pull a surprise," he whispered with a grin.
Sophia didn’t answer. She just kept her eyes on the competition table.
The judges explained the rules again. This time, each contestant would make a pill, and their pills would be compared to the pills of the other team’s contestants one-on-one.
The team with more high-quality pills would win.
The rule was clearly made because of Gu Jin’s strength. They didn’t want her to drag her whole team to victory by herself.
"Start!" the head judge called.
Both teams got to work. The sound of grinding, mixing, and the faint smell of herbs filled the stadium. The big screens showed close-ups of every contestant’s hands as they worked.
Zhou Lei worked steadily, his eyes narrowed in concentration. Lin Yue’s fingers moved quickly, her face calm.
Bai Yu and Meng Hao both looked determined, working with perfect rhythm.
Gu Jin worked in complete silence. Her movements were so smooth it almost looked like a dance.
On the England side, Sophia worked with stiff, precise movements. Priya Patel’s eyes stayed locked on her ingredients, her tight bun never moving out of place.
Finn Morgan smirked as he threw herbs into his cauldron with casual confidence.
Emma Woods, tall and pale, moved slowly but surely, her sleepy eyes not missing a step. Leo hummed a tune while grinding ingredients, acting was a picnic.
After what felt like hours, the signal rang. "Stop!"
The judges began inspecting the pills.
On the England side, the best they had was a yellow rank peak stage pill. Their weakest was still a Yellow rank advanced stage pill... good, but not enough to crush the competition.
On the Chinese side, Zhou Lei’s pill reached the Yellow rank advanced stage.
Lin Yue had made the Yellow rank peak stage. Bai Yu and Meng Hao also had yellow rank peak stage pills.
Then the judges reached Gu Jin’s table.
The moment they saw her pill, they froze. The cameras zoomed in.
The screen showed it clearly: an Earth rank advanced stage pill, shining with a faint golden glow.
The crowd gasped so loudly it was like a wave crashing through the stadium.
"Is this... real?" a woman shouted.
"No way! She’s only twenty-two!" another man yelled.
"Pinch me! I must be dreaming!" someone else called out.
The judges looked at each other, their eyes wide. One of them pointed at the pill, his voice shaking.
"Gu Jin... did you make this yourself?"
Gu Jin nodded calmly. "Yes."
The stadium exploded with cheers. People stood up, waving flags and banners.
"She’s the pride of China!"
"I’m going to hang her poster in my room so my kids can be inspired!"
On the England side, some team members couldn’t hide their shock.
Finn Morgan whistled low. "Well... we’re toast."
Priya frowned. "No one reaches earth rank advanced at that age. It’s... it’s impossible."
Leo muttered, "Unless... she’s lying about her age."
That thought spread quickly among them.
Sophia’s voice was low but sharp. "You’re saying she’s pretending to be young? That she’s actually older?"
Leo nodded. "Could be. Maybe she’s 300 years old and using some trick to look twenty-two."
Finn grinned mischievously. "Yeah, maybe she’s secretly a granny."
Priya crossed her arms. "We should question it. If it’s true, she cheated."
The England team’s muttering grew louder, and soon some of them began speaking to the judges. "We demand her background be checked! This is suspicious!"
The crowd murmured in confusion.
"Is she really lying?"
"Could it be a trick?"
The judges glanced at each other, then turned to the control panel.
"Very well," one judge said. "We will display her official competition record and qualification for all to see."
The big screen lit up again. Lines of official information appeared.
Alchemy Rank: Earth Rank Advanced Stage
The crowd went silent.
No tricks. No lies. It was all true.
Slowly, the murmurs turned into excited shouts again.
"She’s the real deal!"
"At twenty-two, she’s stronger than people twice her age!"
"China is going to make history!"
The England team stood in stunned silence. Sophia’s proud expression didn’t change, but inside, she felt a heavy weight sink in her chest. She knew it was over.
The judges began comparing the pills. One by one, the results came in. The Chinese team took the lead quickly. Even without Gu Jin’s pill, they were ahead. With her Earth Rank advanced stage pill, the win was certain.
When the final score was announced, the stadium shook with cheers.
The stadium erupted like a volcano after the announcement. People jumped up from their seats, waving flags and clapping so hard their hands turned red.
Confetti cannons exploded in the stands, sending shiny paper fluttering down like a colorful rain. The big screen kept showing the scoreboard, the glowing word "China" flashing again and again.
"China won! China won!" a group of kids screamed, hopping in a circle.
In the front row, an old man in a red jacket was laughing so hard he had to hold his stomach. "I knew it! I told you all! Gu Jin would never lose!" he shouted to no one in particular.
A young woman beside him had tears in her eyes. "She’s only twenty-two... this is history," she whispered, clutching a little red flag.
Someone started chanting, "Gu Jin! Gu Jin! Gu Jin!" and soon the whole stadium joined in. The sound was so loud it felt like it could shake the ground.