Chapter 154: A Simple Test

As much as Stella wished to leave immediately, she was unprepared for the day ahead.

"I wasn't planning on attending, so I'm not caught up on what the preliminary round entails," Stella said while cleaning her face off with a towel she had summoned from her spatial ring, "Can you tell me before we go?"

Elder Margret had thankfully returned to her usual self after taking a moment to regain her composure.

"Sure, but first, let me give you this," Elder Margret brought out a black robe with a fire insignia that all robes worn by the Redclaw family had on the chest area, "You will be participating on behalf of us. By wearing this, the guards at the entrance will recognize that you are a member of the noble houses, so you should be waved in without having to queue up or pay the entrance fee."

"There's an entrance fee?" Stella raised a brow as she took the robe and secured it around herself. A small smile appeared on her lips when she realized the robe hid her comfortable clothes, so she wouldn't need to wear that revealing dress anymore.

Elder Margret sighed, "We didn't plan for one initially, but far too many people were showing interest, so we had to add another barrier to entry. Any rogue cultivator out there actually able to create tier one pills should have no issue paying the Golden Crown entrance fee, whereas those frauds or people trying to cause trouble won't be willing to sacrifice a golden crown to do so."

"I see. That makes sense," Stella nodded thoughtfully, "But why would people not planning to participate or who aren't even alchemists want to attend?"

Elder Margret gave a weary smile, "The immortal may be able to grow alchemy ingredients with a wave of his hand. But the rest of us have to either risk our lives out in the wilderness to harvest the ingredients ourselves or choose between saving up for beast cores to advance our cultivation or buying a tier-one ingredient that will likely be ruined during practice."

"So they are really willing to travel all the way here just to have a chance at trying to remove impurities from a plant?" Stella couldn't believe it. Was it really that hard for someone to become an alchemist?

Elder Margret chuckled, "They would do far more for less. Everyone is convinced they are one opportunity away from their big break. I bet some imagine that today is the day they discover they have some hidden bloodline that allows them to effortlessly perform alchemy."

"Bloodline?" Stella latched onto that word, "What do you know about them?"

Ever since Diana's transformation, trying to discover her own bloodline had weighed heavily on her mind. Why hadn't she grown wings yet? What had Diana done to unlock her bloodline?

"Not much... they are mostly a legend popular among the common people as it gives them a ray of hope." Elder Margret waved it off as if it were a nonsense fairy tale. Her dismissive attitude toward bloodlines annoyed Stella.

Why did nobody know anything about these bloodlines when she saw Diana change her race right before her eyes? It wasn't some nonsense myth or legend. It was real...

Grumbling in her mind, Stella decided to put the issue of bloodlines aside and focus back on the tournament ahead of her, "So it's the preliminary round today and then the final round tomorrow?"

Elder Margret nodded.

"So, how is the round today structured?"

"I was about to get to that," Elder Margret replied, "It's a rather simple test. As the purpose of today is to reduce the number of participants by at least ninety percent, we don't have the time or resources to do anything that in-depth."

Stella nodded in understanding, so the Elder continued, "You will be asked a simple random alchemy question. After that, you will be requested to remove the impurities from a tier-one ingredient to show a basic level of alchemy capability. Most won't pass this part."

Wait, a question? I don't know much about alchemy. Stella began to panic slightly, and Elder Margret seemed to notice, "What's wrong? You should handle removing the impurities with ease."

"The question is what I'm worried about... how simple is it?"

"Oh, don't worry about the question," Elder Margret chuckled, "Even if you don't know the answer, so long as you remove the impurities from the ingredient, they will let you through."

Stella frowned, "The Skyrend and the other noble families will be watching me closely. If I failed to answer a simple question, it would reflect badly on me and the Redclaw family."

"That's true," Elder Margret rubbed her chin in thought, "This is where the fact we hired teachers from the academy to be the judges will cause issues. If they had been family members, I could naturally set up a question ahead of time and give you the answer..."

"Are you able to stay here today?" Stella asked, and Elder Margret nodded.

"I'm not needed at the tournament today. Why, you ask?"Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m

Stella summoned one of her carefully made Mind Fortress pills. Each one took half an hour of intense focus to create, so she was somewhat reluctant to hand it over, but if it let her pass the test with flying colors, then it was worth it.

"Take this pill. It will help protect your mind."

Elder Margret seemed confused as she reached out and accepted the pill. "What is this?"

"A pill I created." Stella shrugged off Elder Margrets stare, "I used one of the immortal's effect-giving fruits, you know, the Mind Fortress one that you likely used in the Mystic Realm?"

"Right... and you made a pill from it?" Elder Margret eyed the pill like a treasure, "Why would you give me something so precious?"

"As I said, it will protect your mind. I will take the test, and if I get stuck on the question, I will relay it back to the immortal and have him ask you for the answer."

"What am I protecting my mind from?" Elder Margret tilted her head in confusion.

Stella rolled her eyes and pointed at the fire insignia on her robe.

The woman relaxed slightly and then looked at the parchment in her hand. She read until the bottom of the second page before her eyes lit up, "Ah, here you are, Miss Roselyn. You were added to the list last night, so I wasn't briefed about you. My apologies. Please follow me to the testing area—"

Stella was about to follow when a shadow loomed over them, followed by a small explosion. Stella sighed as Kassandra dropped from the flying boat and appeared beside her.

"Roselyn, you should go back and pay the entry fee." Kassandra gestured with her chin to the line of tournament workers, "Only those with a family name have this privilege."

Stella looked up to meet the towering woman's glowing blue eyes, "Really? Why am I on the list to be shown in without paying, then?"

Kassandra snorted and walked past, "Ha! Who cares about a list? I go where I please."

To Stella's slight annoyance, the woman wasn't lying. Unlike her, who had been questioned by this Redclaw family member, Kassandra could just walk straight through with nobody daring to even look at her for more than a mere glance.

"Right this way, Mistress Roselyn, we will conduct your test in a quieter area along with the other nobles." The short woman said, pulling Stella out of her mood.

With a wordless nod from her, the woman turned and led her deeper inside the Colosseum. To Stella's surprise, they spent some time walking along a corridor with glassless windows showing the stands and fighting area.

"The rogue cultivators will take their test out there," The woman gestured to the sandy pit that had been converted into a testing ground with tables and examiners, "Whereas you will conduct yours just through here."

The woman gestured to an ajar side door with a Redclaw family member standing guard. The man gave Stella an odd look as she walked past and into the room.

Stella gulped as she felt many pairs of eyes belonging to all the nobles turn to stare at her. She couldn't even look at the floor to escape their gazes as nightmares lurked in the mental mist from Ashlock's telepathy.

The room she found herself in was rather lavish, with a high vaulted ceiling and decorated walls. If she had to guess, this was the relaxation room for nobles when they came to the Colosseum for any reason, as the place was well furnished with various lounge chairs surrounding small tables.

However, at the far end was a large ornate table that looked rather out of place with three grey-robed middle-aged people standing behind it.

Those must be the academy people Elder Margret was talking about. Stella concluded as she took a mentally hesitant but physically confident step into the room—she had the persona of the prideful Roselyn to portray, after all.

Although the room was large, the furniture was mostly occupied, and Stella didn't wish to stand awkwardly in the corner, so she began to seek a place to sit while she felt the intense gazes of the other nobles burn into her back.

Eventually, she settled for a red sofa with a golden trim that was only half occupied by a small boy in the middle. Oddly he had snow-white hair with streaks of crimson-like blood. Stella found it interesting as she had never seen mixed hair like that before.

Other than the boy, there was a large man that looked weirdly similar to Douglas perched on the end of the sofa. He gave her a disapproving look as he stood up, walked away as if repulsed by her presence, and stood near Kassandra Skyrend.

Makes sense. Stella mused as she saw everyone's reactions. I am some unknown cultivator, whereas Kassandra is from the well-established Skyrend family. They have likely all known each other since they were young or from previous social gatherings. How annoying.

Stella really hated the awkwardness of the dead silent room with everyone staring at her as if she was some caged animal. She didn't even know where to look but was thankfully saved by one of the academy people drawing everyone's attention.

"With everyone here, we can now begin the assessments. Kassandra Skyrend, please come and verify your knowledge and capabilities."

With a wide grin, Kassandra strode over to the table.

"First, a simple question," The middle-aged man with grey hair said, "Name a tier one pill."

That's it? Stella's eyes widened a little. That almost felt a little too simple... even some random mortal on the street should know at least a single tier-one pill.

"A minor wound cleansing pill," Kassandra answered, and the man nodded.

"Very good. Now please purify this small bundle of Qi Flowing Grass." The man passed over a small bowl with a ball of grass in it. "You have ten minutes and will be marked based on the volume of impurities you remove."

Stella's eyes narrowed. The Qi Flowing Grass looked almost dead from decay. It was likely overflowing with impurities. Wasn't this test a little too simple. Were alchemists really this inadequate?

The room became filled with thunderclaps and flashing lights as Kassandra blasted the ball of Qi Flowing Grass with blue lightning arcing from her fingertips. Thankfully for everyone's ears, she was finished in a minute.

The Qi Flowing Grass had a healthier shade of green, but Stella doubted it was usable as an ingredient. The bowl was caked in a thin layer of burnt impurities that smelled awful.

Honestly, Stella wasn't sure Kassandra would pass...

"Fantastic job, Kassandra Skyrend. You passed." The grey-haired man declared with a smile and gestured for a man Stella knew all too much about to approach the table.

"Dante Voidmind, you will be next." His gaze searched the room and landed on Stella. A slight smirk appeared on his lips, "And Miss Roselyn will be the last."

Stella felt weirdly targeted as all three examiners seemed to look at her with hostility.