I am an incredibly handsome man, and my fiancée refuses to call off the engagement even at the cost

Gu Yan smiled slightly: "I'm used to it."

His smile was an instant hit with the entire audience, captivating countless girls and causing many to scream in their hearts.

Bang! A table nearby overturned, and a young man fell to the ground, chair and all, clutching his chest. His companions helped him up and frantically pressed on his philtrum to provide first aid.

Liu Feiyan was stunned.

Even men were bewitched!

I've heard plenty of stories about beautiful women causing trouble, but this is the first time I've heard of a handsome man causing trouble.

Liu Feiyan stared at Gu Yan's face, thinking how handsome he was and how many suitors he must have. Could he already be engaged and married? A variety of thoughts surged through her mind.

"You, you..." Liu Feiyan said softly.

"What's wrong?" Gu Yan asked.

Liu Feiyan lowered her head and shook it: "It's nothing."

After waiting for a long time in the hall, an apprentice from the association came down from the second floor. He was a middle-aged man. As he descended the stairs and entered, he sensed something was off; it was too quiet. Then he saw Gu Yan and was utterly astonished!

His gaze was fixed on the ground, and he lost his footing, tumbling down the stairs.

Everyone was startled, then burst into laughter.

The middle-aged man awkwardly straightened his clothes and cleared his throat a few times: "It's time for the assessment. Follow me."

One by one, the crowd stood up and followed the middle-aged man to the examination venue.

This is a main hall, with seats set up inside. After everyone took their seats according to their examination numbers, they waited for the examiners. There were three examiners in charge of the first-grade alchemist examination: the chief examiner was a second-grade alchemist surnamed Chen, and the deputy examiners were a first-grade alchemist surnamed Jiang and a first-grade alchemist surnamed Qian.

As soon as the three examiners entered the examination hall, they sensed that something was amiss. Everyone's gaze was directed in one direction, and when their eyes followed theirs, they saw Gu Yan.

The boy, dressed in white as snow, possessed a divine appearance that astonished the three of them, leaving them speechless.

The second-grade alchemist surnamed Chen was an old man. The moment he saw Gu Yan, his heart, which was over two hundred years old, skipped a few beats.

After finally regaining his composure, he addressed the crowd: "Fellow examinees, I am your chief examiner, and my surname is Chen. The content of this First-Rank Alchemist Examination is to refine seven specified First-Rank pills within two hours."

With a wave of his hand, a scroll unfurled in mid-air, displaying the names of seven first-grade pills. Alchemists are responsible for providing their own furnaces and medicinal herbs for the examination.

"Alright! You can begin!"

Upon hearing this, all the examinees took out their alchemy furnaces from their storage rings. Suddenly, alchemy furnaces of various qualities appeared one after another.

Everyone busied themselves as they put the medicinal herbs into the alchemy furnace.

Alchemy is a delicate craft, and if one is distracted while doing so, it's common for the alchemy furnace to explode. Every year, some candidates explode their furnaces during the exams, and the examiners are used to it, especially for the first and second-grade alchemists, because these candidates are of lower rank and therefore more likely to explode.

boom!

One of the alchemy furnaces exploded.

boom! boom! boom!

Inside the main hall where the first-grade alchemist was being assessed, the alchemy furnaces were exploding frequently.

Even if it didn't explode, all sorts of problems arose, some were ruined, some were reduced to ashes, and the sight was appalling.

Why did it turn out like this?

Gu Yan is so beautiful!

No matter who it is, they can't help but glance at him a few times. His alchemy technique is so smooth and amazing that it's impossible not to take your eyes off him. As a result, problems keep arising.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In a large hall at the top of the Alchemist Association, Medicine King Mu Qinghe was chatting with several fifth-grade alchemists.

Mu Qinghe was over eight hundred years old, but he looked like an old man in his fifties. He was neither fat nor thin, and his face was very kind and unpretentious. At first glance, he looked like a kind old man rather than a sixth-grade alchemist who was famous throughout the empire.

Mu Qinghe was only in charge of the fifth-grade alchemist assessment. The fifth-grade alchemist assessment took a long time, and the pills made required about seven days to be ready. He would just go to the examination hall to go through the motions, then come back and wait for the pills to be ready after seven days before he would go to appraise them.

As for maintaining order, do we really need a sixth-grade alchemist like him to maintain order?

The time required for each grade of alchemist exam varies. The first-grade alchemist exam has the simplest pills and requires the least time, so it is the fastest to finish.

Although Mu Qinghe will not be present for the first-grade alchemist assessment, he will still ask questions, especially since his disciple Liu Feiyan is also participating in the assessment this year.

When it was almost time, someone came to deliver the report cards.

"Elder Mu, this is the list of those who passed the first-grade alchemist exam." The second-grade alchemist surnamed Chen presented the list, his heart filled with trepidation.

Mu Qinghe took the list, and there was only one name on it: Li Bai.

The name Li Bai sounds familiar? It's like I've heard it somewhere before, but…

"Only one person passed?" Mu Qinghe couldn't believe it.

Those nearby were also puzzled. A red-haired female alchemist chuckled, "Is the quality of this year's examinees really that bad?"

This red-haired female alchemist is named Pan Yan. She is at the early stage of the Heavenly Spirit Realm and is quite famous among the fifth-grade alchemists in the Ruohe Empire.

"Even if the quality is poor, it's impossible for only one person to pass. Fei Yan should be able to pass, so what's going on?" another middle-aged man in purple said.

The middle-aged man in purple was named Huo Tiandu, a fifth-grade alchemist with an early-stage Heavenly Spirit Realm cultivation.

Mu Qinghe looked at the second-grade alchemist surnamed Chen and asked, "What's going on?"

"Well... among this year's candidates, there's one who's just too, too eye-catching. The other candidates are all too busy looking at his face, and they're all distracted."

Upon hearing this reason, Mu Qinghe and the others were dumbfounded.

"What kind of stunning beauty could distract all the examinees?" asked a young man who was eating melon seeds. This young man was also a fifth-grade alchemist. His surname was Wan, his given name was Yun, and his strength was at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Spirit Realm.

"It's not a beautiful woman, it's a man," said the second-grade alchemist surnamed Chen.

What?

Or was it a man?

"What's your name?" Pan Yan immediately became interested upon hearing the name of the stunningly handsome man, and asked with a smile while holding her fan.

"Li Bai was the only one who passed the test."

"Where is he? Has he left?" Mu Qinghe stood up. He was determined to see what kind of stunningly handsome man he was that could bewitch so many people.

Pan Yan and the other fifth-grade alchemists were also intrigued and wanted to see what kind of unparalleled beauty had such great magic.

"They didn't leave. I left all the examinees in the main hall," said the second-grade alchemist surnamed Chen. Because the assessment was so disastrous, he didn't dare let anyone leave. He came to report first and then make plans.

"Go and call that person over, and call Fei Yan over too," Mu Qinghe said.

"Yes."