Translator: Silavin
“Uncle Li, you found the time to visit me today?” Liu Qiong’er’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled at Li Yuanba.
“Hehe, my Little Niece, I’m just here to accompany him,” Li Yuanba scratched his head and smiled sheepishly at her.
“Oh?” Liu Qiong’er let out a soft ‘oh’ with her big eyes flickering as she looked at Qin Yichen with curiosity.
In her view, this young man seemed ordinary. Although she could sense a faint fluctuation of Spiritual Energy from him, it was very weak. It was nowhere near the level of condensing a Divine Soul Bead.
“This Little Brother presumably wants to come and attend lectures, right?” In Liu Qiong’er’s mind, she had basically assumed Qin Yichen was someone who wanted to enter the Alchemy Guild, through the Li Family’s connections, to study.
Still, she was very curious about what abilities this guy had to be able to get Li Yuanba to personally escort him here.
“I’m here to take the Alchemy Master qualification test,” Qin Yichen shook his head and said with a smile.
“Take the Alchemy Master qualification test?” Hearing this, Liu Qiong’er was visibly stunned. But judging from the fluctuations from his body, he obviously had yet to condense a Divine Soul Bead. [Could it be that this boy doesn’t even know basic common sense? Without condensing a Divine Soul Bead, he would not be able to refine Pills…]
Her gaze towards Qin Yichen had obviously changed. If it were not for the fact that he was brought here by Li Yuanba, Liu Qiong’er would not have paid him any attention.
“Little Brother, you’d better go back and cultivate for a while. Come back for the test after you’ve condensed a Divine Soul Bead. It’s not too late by then,” Liu Qiong’er politely reminded.
“Does the Alchemy Guild have a rule that those who haven’t condensed a Divine Soul Bead can’t take the Alchemy Master qualification test?” Faced with her somewhat sceptical gaze, Qin Yichen just responded with a light chuckle, his expression not changing.
“Well…” Liu Qiong’er thought carefully, [There doesn’t seem to be such a rule. But, isn’t it common sense that one would not be able to refine Pills before condensing their Divine Soul Bead?]
She suddenly seemed to think of something, paused for a moment, looked at Qin Yichen a couple more times, but ultimately did not say anything.
The Alchemy Master qualification test was divided into three parts.
The first part was herb identification.
As an Alchemy Master, the first and most basic necessity was being able to recognize all sorts of medicinal herbs. Not only must one be able to distinguish them by shape, but they must also be able to know their names by smell.
Of course, for testing ordinary Alchemy Masters, being able to distinguish them by shape was generally enough.
Second was the extraction of Medicinal Liquid. Generally speaking, as long as one can purify herbs to Third Grade, they pass.
Third was Pill condensation. Only by condensing Medicinal Liquid into Pills could one be considered a qualified Alchemy Master!
The third part was the most difficult part of the test.
There were misconceptions that many people have. They believe as long as they’ve condensed their Divine Soul Bead, they could refine Pills. In fact, that was not true. Among those who successfully condense Divine Soul Beads, if one-third could condense Pills, that was already an achievement. Sometimes, out of ten people who condense Divine Soul Beads, it was hard to find one or two who can become true Alchemy Masters.
That was just how difficult Pill condensation was. It was precisely because of this that Alchemy Masters have such noble status!
Of course, throughout history, there have been freaks. Talents that could only be described as Heaven defying. There have been examples of those who have succeeded in condensing Pills without condensing their Divine Soul Bead first.
However, such people were absolutely out of reach of the common man!
In the entire Heavenly Unicorn Dynasty, the only genius that was said to appear once in a hundred years, the Chief Alchemy Grandmaster… Gu Ye, only he had successfully refined Pills before condensing his Divine Soul Bead.
At that time, it caused a sensation, and Gu Ye became famous at that moment.
[Did this guy in front of me think he is comparable to the kingdom’s number one, Grandmaster Gu Ye!?]
“Arrogant fool!”
“Bullshit.”
One by one, undisguised mocking voices spread throughout the hall. Some naturally wanted to show off in front of their Goddess, Liu Qiong’er, by driving this fool out.
Of course, they would have physically done so if that hammer-wielding Li Yuanba was not there.
Faced with these taunts and curses, Qin Yichen remained unfazed. He just quietly looked at Liu Qiong’er, as if waiting for her to speak.
“Where did this ignorant brat come from? This is the Alchemy Guild, not a place for you to mess around. Quickly get lost!”
Whether it was because of Liu Qiong’er’s attitude or not, someone still stood out and sternly rebuked Qin Yichen.
It was a young man, and from his attire, it was not hard to see that he came from a wealthy Family. Moreover, his arrogant attitude was not something that could have been developed in a day.
“It’s the Lin Family’s Third Young Master, Lin Shiyun.”
Someone recognized him and understood why this guy dared to step out.
Lin Shiyun was the third son of Lin Aoqing. If he wanted to learn Alchemy, who could the Lin Family not invite to be his Master? Everyone knew his purpose for specially coming to the Alchemy Guild. Although they did not say it out loud, it was as clear as day. He came here for Liu Qiong’er, the most beautiful woman in Spreading Cloud City!
Now that he had a chance to show off in front of Liu Qiong’er, he naturally came out with his ‘tail’ up.
“Get out of my way!” Li Yuanba did not care who he was though. He glared at him, scaring him so much that Lin Shiyun did not dare take another step forward. He could only stand there with a dark face, embarrassing himself in front of everyone.
Still, his gaze towards Qin Yichen became gloomy.
Obviously, knowing he could not do anything to Li Yuanba. Thus, he pinned all this humiliation on Qin Yichen.
“Miss Qiong’er, what’s the harm in letting me try?” Qin Yichen only glanced at him, not caring. He returned to look at Liu Qiong’er calmly.
“Well…” Although Liu Qiong’er still seemed hesitant, seeing his demeanour, she absurdly thought that this young man must have come prepared.
“No clamouring allowed in the Alchemy Guild!” Just as she was hesitating, a somewhat vigorous voice came from the depths of the hall.
“It’s Guildmaster Liu.”
“The Guildmaster has actually come out…”
Upon hearing his voice, the previously noisy hall instantly quieted down. All gazes turned towards the source of the voice.
Qin Yichen’s gaze also followed in that direction. Not far in front of him, an old man was walking with a leisurely gait. He slowly came over. Finally, Qin Yichen’s gaze rested on the robe on the old man’s chest.
On the old man’s chest robe was an embroidered Pill Furnace. The surface of that Pill Furnace had two silver-white patterns that were carefully drawn.
“Spreading Cloud City Alchemy Guild Guildmaster, Second Grade Alchemy Master, Liu Wen!” Qin Yichen’s gaze suddenly focused. He was no stranger to this old man before him.
“It’s you, boy.” Liu Wen’s gaze directly landed on Li Yuanba, snorting lightly in displeasure, “What are you making a fuss about? Do you want to tear this place down too?”
Obviously, he had a deep grudge against Li Yuanba. Last time, because Li Lingyan did not return all night, this brute directly tore down his courtyard gate.