Chapter 50 50 – Alchemy Test



"All right, let me have a look at him. If he passes, you must inform Grand Elder Giles, he might want to take him as a disciple."

Michael gave this instruction because Giles always was on the look for a talented disciple, yet he never found anyone talented enough to justify investing his precious time in.

The two went back to where Ken was waiting for them and found him there.

"Hello, Ken. I'm Elder Michael of the Alchemy Division. I will be your tester, are you prepared?"

As an elder, he didn't fear the elite families and could use Ken's first name without any title. Anyone who was an elder at the Alchemy Division was at least a fifth-rank alchemist, and those were rare. Even elite families needed their products and would give them respect.

"I am."

"All right, first you need to take the bone age test. Although we don't doubt your words, it's part of the bureaucracy. I hope you can cooperate."

"Of course, there's no reason for me to decline."

Ken placed his hand on the device, and it showed 6 after a minute of measuring.

"Good, you look a few years older than you are. I thought you were 10 when I first saw you."

"I get that a lot. What about the Alchemy test?"

"Come with me."

Emily bowed and left the place while Ken followed Michael to the testing room. Upon entering, Ken saw a classroom with four rows of tables. Each row had 3 tables, making it 12 tables overall. Each table was far from those next to it, so there was a lot of workspace for the alchemists.

"You can take a seat wherever you like."

Ken took a seat in the first row; it would be weird if he went to the back row as the only examinee. He took the cauldron out of his storage ring and waited for the instructions.

"I was told you claimed to be a third-rank alchemist, so I will just start from the test for third-rank alchemists instead of starting off the first rank. Would that be all right?"

"Of course, no need to waste our time."

"Great, the test will have three parts, and in each part, you will have to concoct a different type of third-grade pill."

Michael took out 3 sets of ingredients and a recipe for a third-grade Qi Absorption Pill.

"You need to concoct the Qi Absorption Pill successfully at least once out of three attempts, and the pill needs to have at least 70% purity. Good luck, you may start whenever you want. You have one hour for this test."

Ken used his Qi to make the ingredients float to him and threw all three sets into the cauldron in front of Michael's surprised eyes. One would have to be very confident to do that on a test.

In 3 minutes, 4 pills came out of the cauldron. Ken placed them in a jade bottle and sent it to Michael to check.

'4 pills? I'd have a hard time getting 4 pills out of three sets myself, and I can't do it successfully with every attempt even if I want to.'

Michael was surprised to see the results; as a fifth-rank alchemist, he only had around 70% success in duplicating Ken's feat.

"Let me check the purity level. I don't recognize your alchemy techniques, but they should be at least High Earth Grade."

After seeing the perfect white color of the pill, he nodded in appreciation. 

"they're all 100% purity, well done. Let's move to the next part of the test."

The same thing happened twice more, and Ken pumped out 4 pills with every three sets of ingredients, and all of them were 100% pure.

"Are you really just at the third rank?"

"Do you think a 6-year-old can be a fourth-rank alchemist?"

"I don't think a 6-year-old can be an alchemist. Yet you're not just an alchemist, but a third-rank one."

"I'm at the Soul Strengthening Stage, I don't have enough Qi to practice fourth-rank pills."

The reason Ken could perform feats that even higher-ranked alchemists couldn't was that although they knew more than him about materials of the fifth grade, he knew and understood much better the principles of alchemy and the attributes of the lower-grade materials than them.

When the time comes, he will also understand the higher grades far better than them.

"Elder Michael, did I pass the test?"

"You did, you are the best third-rank alchemist we have as well as the youngest one in our sect's history. As a third-rank alchemist, you can get 10,000 medium Qi Stones per month. Here's your token as a third-rank alchemist of our sect."

Third-rank alchemists had significantly more funds than second-rank alchemists because they had to experiment with fourth-grade materials to improve themselves, which cost much more.

"Thank you, Elder Michael. If you don't mind, can you delay the news from spreading in the sect? I'd like some privacy."

"Of course, don't worry about it. Although it won't be a secret for much time if you buy ingredients here and sell your pills."

"I understand. May I get access to the library?"

"Yes, you just need to get show your token. As a third-rank alchemist, you can have access to the second floor, which encompasses information on fourth-grade pills and materials."

"What if I want to learn about the next grade?"

"You'll have to pass the test for fourth-rank alchemists first or be a direct disciple of a senior elder since they have the authority to give you permissions beyond your rank."

"Senior Elder?"

"Fifth-rank alchemists can become elders of the Alchemy Division. Sixth-rank alchemists can become senior elders, and seventh-rank alchemists can become grand elders. Although there are over a hundred elders, the Alchemy Division has only 32 senior elders and 7 grand elders."

"I see. I heard I can apply for a master, is that correct?"

"Yes, but we still need to write down your info before we can take care of your application. How about coming next week?"

It was a lie. Michael wanted to get into Grand Elder Giles' good books, which prompted him to secure Ken as a disciple for Giles. If Ken applied for a master, another grand elder might get to him first.

'Now I only need to go quickly to Grand Elder Giles and tell him about this new disciple.'

The reason he was worried was that he might have to wait a few days before he could get an audition with a grand elder, despite being in his faction. The Alchemy Division was also divided into factions, although the competition between them wasn't as fierce.

"No rush, I will just come back next week then."

----------

The days passed and Ken went to watch Louis and Annie spar on the training grounds. During those days, Ken mainly practiced his formations, getting a better understanding of them with his new affinity.

He also purchased a new peak fifth-grade flexible sword for 200,000 medium Qi Stones. Just like in the Alchemy Division, those who could create fifth-grade weapons in the Blacksmithing Division were the elders. Thus, their products were far more expensive than the fourth-grade weapons.

Furthermore, not many could make high-grade flexible swords, so the price was twice higher as a normal sword.

"New boy, what are you doing here?"

Louis noticed Ken watching him and Annie preparing to spar and shouted toward him. Although he knew Ken was stronger than him, he didn't think it was a reason for him to back off. After all, his parents were stronger than Ken.

"I heard that Senior Brother Louis and Senior Sister Annie were fighting today, so I came to watch and learn from your experience."

Louis' eyes twitched when he heard this weird declaration. Ken was stronger than them, so there weren't many benefits for him to watch them spar.

"Forget about him, let's spar."

Annie stopped Louis from arguing and raised her sword to signal the start of the sparring session. She didn't care whether Ken stayed to watch or not, she just wanted to test her new sword art. 

After mastering a Higher Sky-grade technique to the Basic mastery realm lately, she received a Lower Earth-grade sword art to practice. 

Unlike Ken who didn't have a problem understanding the mechanism of high-grade techniques without practicing lower ones first, others had to do it gradually and train from scratch.

Elite clans and sects would have a sequence of techniques; each Earth or Heaven-grade technique would have its lower-grade counterparts. The disciples would first train in the lowest-grade version of that technique before slowly changing to the higher ones.

This way, they could understand the basics better, laying a firm foundation for their future.

Lately, Annie started practicing the Lower Earth-grade version of her sword art, and she wanted to use it in the sparring session and improve her mastery over it.

When she raised her sword, Louis had to ignore Ken and get ready to spar. Annie charged at him and struck his thigh with his sword, and he defended against it with his own sword art. Although his art was still at the Higher Sky grade, his mastery was better.

The two kept fighting, and Ken watched Annie execute her sword art carefully. He finally recognized it; he memorized all the Earth-grade sword techniques his clan had, so this one wasn't an exception.

After reviewing it in his mind, he could easily find Annie's mistakes. He waited until the spar was over with Louis' victory before walking toward them.

-------

"It's been a good practice, Louis."

"You too, Annie. I'm sure you will master your new art soon."

"I don't know. We don't have enough reviews for the novel, so new readers are less enthusiastic to give us a try. It's a shame, you know how much I get excited from being watched."

"True. I hope those guys will leave a review soon. Hey New Boy, ask them to leave a review too. You're their favorite anyway."

Ken could only sigh and comply. He never thought the day in which he will agree with Louis would ever come.

"Guys, please leave a review for the novel. We really need to hit the 10 reviews mark. Make sure to point out the writing style, character development, and anything else that caught your attention."