บท 38: The Alchemist Practical Exam.

Outside, Krune found Ao as the latter came forward and asked Krune for help, telling him, "I'm going to take my mercenary test now, come and take a look."

With that, Ao then went to take the test. As always, there were three puppets with a cultivation level one stage higher than his. After the battle started, it didn't take long for Ao to cut down the first one. With his Wind Movement, he was much faster than the puppets, after all. The puppets attacked at the same time but couldn't do anything to him. In the end, Ao was able to defeat all the puppets. And just like that, he became a Three Star Mercenary.

Yusa was the next one, and she took longer to defeat the three puppets. After all, she wasn't exactly an attacker, but in any case, she completed the test with the highest grade as well.

When the headquarters obtained news that two mercenaries defeated all three puppets during the test at the same place, they thought something was wrong with the report. Nevertheless, after checking the testing video, they couldn't deny that they did not cheat on the test. But how could two mercenaries at the same time beat the test with the highest grade? The chances of something like that happening was extremely slim.

When the Mercenary Guild headquarters checked, they found out that those two were part of Krune's team. Even though the names of Krune's team members were hidden from the public, as the headquarters, they obviously had access to the information.

Kassius Ruli was looking at the report given by one of his employees. Two mercenaries called Yusa Shen and Ao Sulian passed the test with the highest grade one after another, and they were part of Krune's team. After investigating Yusa and Ao's past, he didn't find anything wrong. They were pretty common cultivators, nothing to pay much attention to. However, after they got together with Krune, their combat power soared to the point that they could easily pass the test to get a Three Star Badge.

'That's weird. I have no doubt that Krune's the reason for their explosive improvement, but how did he do that? From what I found, these two didn't use any forbidden pill or cheat in the test in any way, which means that it's purely their combat power that allowed them to do that. If more people from our side could have accomplishments like the two of them, the position of our Yule Continent headquarters would definitely get higher.'

He pondered over it a bit more. The issue behind this was that it was probably some secret that Krune had. Although Krune was a member of their guild, Kassius couldn't simply go there and ask Krune to tell everything. There was no cultivator in this world without their own secrets, after all. However, he can't simply let it go either since Krune might be the key to the martial arts gathering two years from now.

There were five continents in the world, and every single one had a Mercenary Guild headquarters responsible for that continent. The Mercenary Guild as a whole had five slots for the Martial Gathering. If their continent could send at least one for the gathering, that would prove that their continent's Mercenary Guilds could also breed talents just like the others. It would boost the morale of the Yule Continent guilds as well. In the last ten or so gatherings, their Yule Continent wasn't able to send even a single cultivator.

The Mercenary Guild would start a competition of their own between the mercenaries of each continent to decide which five would be sent to the martial gathering. He wanted to send Krune into that qualifiers, but the only problem was that Krune's cultivation was too low! Although the martial arts gathering accepted anyone at the Foundation Establishment Realm, the majority of the powers would send their 8th and 9th Stage Foundation Establishment members. It didn't matter how much of a genius Krune was. He just couldn't jump so many realms so fast.

That's where he thought about using Krune's methods to raise the level of their own late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. Kassius pondered if he should talk to the head of the Mercenary Guild in the Yule Continent, Bary Kasfiu. However, he decided not to do so. For the time being, it was still too early, and they couldn't scare Krune away as well. If they forced the issue and Krune left the Mercenary Guild, they would only be left with tears.

Eventually, Kassius called one of his assistants, "Keep one eye on that Krune. I want to know anything that happens related to or with him from now on." In response, the person on the other side agreed with the request.

Kassius then looked a bit more at the files in front of him before putting them back in the drawer, muttering to himself, "Let's see what will happen first. Maybe Krune will be able to catch up with the other cultivators and demon beasts. If that happens, I won't need to ask him about how his group members' combat power increased so quickly."

---

Back at the Mercenary Guild, Krune was preparing to leave. He had already finished memorizing all the content of the Alchemist Exam, and only the practical test was left. The practical test was 10 o'clock in the morning, just like the mercenary test back then. Krune, as always, arrived just a few minutes before the starting time.

He then went to the testing room. There, he could see another twenty or so participants. Seeing this, he thought to himself, 'It's just like Casfer said, people with good control over the elements are few but become quite a lot when put together. The problem is to find talents regarding alchemy itself.'

Krune then went to his table. When it turned 10 o'clock, three alchemists entered the room, and one of them just so happened to be Julies Rof! The contestants were taken aback when they saw her.

"Isn't that the Four Star Alchemist, Julies Rof? Why is she helping with the practical exam?"

Another alchemist by his side then replied, "A few weeks ago, that guy over there got 2796 points during the comprehension test. She's probably here because of him."

"2796 points? That's too crazy! No wonder she came to preside over the alchemist test by herself."

Krune noticed that people were looking at him while commenting about his element control. He couldn't help but sigh after hearing that, lamenting inwardly, 'Why is it so hard to keep a low profile? I just want to be forgotten by everyone.'

Julies Rof, who was above the stage, started to speak. "The practical exam to enter the Alchemist Guild is starting now. We'll show you how to concoct some simple pills. However, do not look down on those pills. Whether you pass or not will depend on your performance with them."

"I believe that the majority already know this, but I will explain just in case. Pills are separated by their quality, and the Alchemist Guild has formulated nine levels in total. This is the so-called Star System. what you will need to concoct here is the most basic level, a One-Star Pill."

She then took out three different pills from her spatial ring as she continued, "You can choose one of these three pills to go through the exam. The Fasting Pill, the Qi Gathering Pill, or the Stabilizing Pill. Those are the most common pills sold in our Guild and are also the easiest ones to make."

"You will pass as long as you can make a low or middle-quality One-Star Pill. From that moment on, you will become a One Star Alchemist and can join the guild for further studies."

"For those who make a high-quality One-Star Pill, they will be rewarded with 500 low-quality Rank Three Spirit Stones. Of course, they will also get their One Star Alchemist Badge."

"If you can concoct a Two-Star Pill, you will immediately become a Two Star Alchemist and will receive a one-time reward of 1000 middle-quality Rank Three Spirit Stones."

"But you better forget about that. Let alone being able to concoct a Two-Star Pill, I doubt there would be more than one or two of you who can barely qualify as a One Star Alchemist. In short, focus on passing first. Once you are recognized as a real alchemist, you can start thinking about raising your rank."

"Now pay attention. We will show you how to make each pill once! After that, you're on your own. The material for studies that we gave you after the comprehension exam also explained how to make those pills, so the three of us will follow exactly the same process as described in there."

Krune then paid attention to the alchemists on the stage. He had already memorized all the content of the study material. Nevertheless, it's always better to see the thing personally. He decided to go with the Qi Gathering Pill, which was the one being made by Julies. The reason was very simple. It looked much easier to make when it was done by her.

Thirty minutes later, Julies and the other two alchemists finished the process, and they all succeeded. However, even with very simple materials, Julies was still able to make a Two Star Pill. It goes to show how good her talent for alchemy was.

"Alright, you all saw how it works, so the test will now start. Although we finished our pills in thirty minutes, you will have two hours to try them out. Each one of you has three batches of medicinal herbs for each pill of your choice. Even if you fail once, you can try again. You can start...now!"

Everyone in the room moved to action. They only had two hours, and they weren't as good as real alchemists, so they would take longer for each try. They had to spend every second of their time efficiently. Well, everyone except for one, Krune didn't move a single muscle as he simply closed his eyes.

Outside the testing room, Go Gao was looking at the practical exam through a monitor. Naturally, he noticed that Krune wasn't doing anything after the start of the test, which puzzled him as much as Julies, who was there on the stage. In the end, he could only call her, "Do you know what's happening to him? Why is he not moving?"

Julies could only give a guess as she replied, "There are two possibilities. First, Krune didn't understand anything from the demonstration at all, and because of that, he doesn't know what to do. But I think this option to be quite improbable."

"The second one is that he is revising what he saw during the time the three of us were concocting the pills. He's probably making sure that he understands each step. This seems to be the more likely case."

Julies was right! Krune could remember everything he saw as long as he willed it, so he was looking at the process in which Julies concocted the pill in his mind. Some of the alchemists around Krune noticed that he wasn't doing anything. Some thought that he had given up, while others felt that he was being conceited and was waiting for the last thirty minutes before starting to concoct his pill. Whatever the case was, they didn't have time to pay attention to him, so they put their attention back on their pills again.

Twenty minutes later, the first cauldron exploded. The burnt smell could be smelled by all the contestants. With that, it had distracted another two of them, and because of that, they also failed their first try. As for Krune, he still had his eyes closed.

It wasn't after thirty-five minutes after the start of the exam that he started to move, recalling all of the steps. 'During the process, she heated the cauldron first. She heated it very slowly before putting any medicinal herbs inside. With her realm, she should totally be able to heat the cauldron several times faster than that. It seems like the gradual rise of the temperature helps control the medicinal effects inside the cauldron.'

Krune then converted his spiritual energy into a fire. He did the same and slowly increased the temperature, continuing through the steps in his mind. 'The temperature shown in the digital thermometer on the side was around 275 degrees. It changed a little every now and then, but it never went more than five degrees up or down. If I'm not wrong, a constant temperature is an important key to the process.'

Five minutes later, the cauldron reached the same temperature as it did for Julies.

Krune was totally immersed in his pill concocting, and whatever happened around him didn't matter anymore. Alchemists needed high control over elements, and it made Krune feel very good during the process. He could feel that the elements of the medicinal herbs were fusing together. Of course, it wasn't perfect. This was the first time Krune ever tried to concoct a pill, so there were several mistakes here and there. Nevertheless, if one compared him with the other contestants, he could already be considered the best of the best.

Julies watched Krune concoct and was left amazed. That's exactly what the Alchemist Guild was looking for, alchemy talents! She called Go Gao while paying attention to Krune, leaving the task of checking the other contestants to the two alchemists beside her. They didn't even complain. To be able to work with this Four Star Alchemist was something that wouldn't be possible for them in normal situations, not to mention that she was quite the beauty herself. Naturally, Go Gao answered the call straight away, and he hadn't stopped looking at the monitor even for a second.

"Can you see his control over the temperature? Believe it or not, he is doing that without adding Wood Element in the mix. Usually, those without the capability to use two elements at the same time would stop using Fire Element to add some Wood Element. Like that, when they use Fire Element to create fire again, it'll be easier to raise the temperature and control it, but he doesn't need Wood Element at all!"

"I believe you're also using your Divine Sense to check the concoction inside as well. Krune's control over the elements of the medicinal herbs can't be considered perfect. However, if this is really his first time trying to concoct a Qi Gathering Pill, then he can only be considered a genius!"

Go Gao agreed with Julies's view. He, too, was a Four Star Alchemist. With his Divine Sense, he could see what was happening inside Krune's cauldron.

"It seems like we will need to have a talk with the Mercenary Guild. A talent like him can't waste his time doing meaningless missions. He definitely has the talent to become a Four Star Alchemist in no time!"

While they were discussing, Krune was nearing the end of his concoction. Just as he was about to gather the medicinal properties and turn them into a pill, he noticed that the elements of the medicinal liquid inside were not in sync, which confused him. Just a second ago, he could feel that the medicinal liquid was good to go, fusing without problems. Krune was sure that he could definitely make a pill the way the things were at the moment, but the out-of-sync elements inside the medicinal liquid looked odd.

In fact, only Krune could see that at the level of cultivation that he was at the moment. The Myriad Energies Technique's control over the elements isn't only for show, after all! Other than him, only those at the Core Formation Realm would be able to notice that issue. That's why only when one became a Core Formation Realm cultivator can one become a Four Star Alchemist.

First, because one would need to be able to feel the elements inside of the medicinal liquid formed with the herbs to a much higher degree than a Foundation Establishment or a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator could. Second, it's because only when one is at the Core Formation Realm could one freely control more than a single element at once.

Krune pondered over it for a bit if he should try to bring the elements in the medicinal liquid back in order or if he should just get over with it. In the end, he decided to try it once. He still had two more batches of medicinal herbs to make the Qi Gathering pill. So, if this one failed, he would just try again.

When Krune started to control the elements inside the medicinal liquid, Julies and Go Gao noticed that straight away. Soon, Supervisor Go immediately stood up from his chair.

"Impossible!"

He wasn't the only one thinking that. Julies's eyes almost popped out of their sockets as well.

"This is not a genius. This is a monster!"