Translator: Silavin
Pills were divided into the lowest grade… Ordinary Pills, generally used for ordinary Martial Artists.
First Grade Pills, used for Martial Masters.
Second Grade Pills, used for Martial Grandmasters.
To pass the Alchemy Master qualification test, one only needs to refine an Ordinary Pill.
However, to become a First Grade Alchemy Master, one must pass the First Grade Alchemy Master qualification test, which means being able to refine First Grade Pills.
There were quite a few Ordinary Alchemy Masters in Spreading Cloud City, but less than ten First Grade Alchemy Masters.
Second Grade Alchemy Masters are even rarer.
“Test official, I’ve finished refining. Please examine it,” Qin Yichen said, handing the refined Pill to the test official before the latter and Liu Qiong’er could react.
Although this action seemed casual, Qin Yichen’s arm, which was holding onto the box, was visibly trembling. There were even beads of sweat on his forehead.
This was not due to exhaustion, but a sign of Spiritual Energy depletion.
Although the third stage of the test allowed three attempts at refining, with Qin Yichen’s current Spiritual Energy level, he could barely manage this one attempt. Moreover, it was only possible due to the powerful Spirit God Technique and his exceptional Alchemy Technique. Otherwise, success would have been impossible.
“This is…” The test official looked at the round Pill in the box, dumbfounded.
Although he had not examined it carefully yet, just from its smooth and lustrous appearance, the Pill showed signs of being a Third Grade Pill.
First and Second Grade Pills have no lustre, especially First Grade Pills, which typically do not even come in a complete round shape. Second Grade Pills were only slightly better, having a somewhat normal spherical shape.
The characteristic of Third to Fifth Grade Pills was that they were round and lustrous, with higher grades naturally being more brilliant.
Sixth to Eighth Grade Pills were accompanied by a strange fragrance when they came out of the furnace.
According to records, when some Alchemy Grandmasters open their furnaces, the fragrance would spread for ten metres. Just smelling this fragrance can be more effective than Medicinal Liquid!
This shows how miraculous High Grade Pills were.
Of course, High Grade Pills must also be well-sealed. Otherwise, if too much fragrance was lost, their efficacy would be reduced.
As for Ninth Grade Pills and above, some records in Spreading Cloud City did not have information about them. Thus, no one knows what miraculous effects Ninth Grade Pills might have.
However, from this, they could tell that the difference between First and Second Grade Pills and Third to Fifth Grade Pills lies in the proficiency of the Alchemy Technique used.
Generally, after becoming a true Alchemy Master, with two to five years of practice, as long as one was not too stupid, refining Second Grade Pills would not be difficult.
As for Third Grade and above, it was simply impossible without decades of experience.
Take Ran Rui and Liu Wen, these Alchemy Grandmasters. Although they could refine Sixth Grade Medicinal Liquid, when it comes to refining Pills, they could barely reach Fourth or Fifth Grade.
Although they were already Second Grade Alchemy Grandmasters, when refining Second Grade Pills, let alone the success rate, if they could achieve Third Grade after successful refinement, they would probably wake up laughing from such a dream.
It was precisely because refining Pills, especially High Grade Pills, was too difficult. Due to how difficult it was, the prices of these Pills were over the Moon!
This was unavoidable since every Alchemy Master’s Spiritual Energy was limited. Take Ran Rui for example, although he was a Second Grade Alchemy Grandmaster, he could at most refine about three Second Grade Pills per month, and their grades vary between two to three.
In the entire Spreading Cloud City, there were less than five Second Grade Alchemy Grandmasters like Ran Rui. Together, they could only produce about ten Second Grade Pills a month.
However, although there were not many Martial Grandmasters in Spreading Cloud City, there were still at least several dozen of them. These ten Pills are clearly not enough to meet the demand, so naturally, the price of Second Grade Pills would rise.
…
Therefore, when the test official saw the Pill Qin Yichen handed over, he was so shocked that he could not come back to his senses for a long time.
To think that during the test, a Third Grade Pill would be refined!
How could a youth of just over ten years old possibly possess such a skilled Alchemy Technique? How could he possibly have this level of control over his Spiritual Energy?
It should be noted that when the kingdom’s top Alchemy Grandmaster, Gu Ye, refined a Pill before condensing his Divine Soul Bead, it was barely a Pill at all. It could even be considered a defective product among First Grade Pills.
However, just this achievement alone made Gu Ye famous throughout the country. He got crowned with titles like ‘Alchemy Prodigy’ and ‘freak of nature’.
So, what about Qin Yichen?!
Liu Qiong’er was equally shocked.
If it were not for Liu Wen’s reminder when she came in, after seeing Qin Yichen’s random actions, she would not have paid attention to how Qin Yichen refined his Pills, nor would she have noticed his Alchemy Technique.
The control of fire, the use of Spiritual Energy, Liu Qiong’er could only describe it with three words… ‘they were perfect’!
Especially in the use of Spiritual Energy, Qin Yichen did not waste a single strand. He used more when needed and less when appropriate, which simply left her in awe.
However, the final result was still beyond her expectations.
A Third Grade Pill!
This meant that Qin Yichen, who had not even condensed his Divine Soul Bead, already had mastery over Alchemy far above her, who had two years of Alchemy experience.
[Could it be that his Spiritual Energy control has already reached… the Entry Realm?!] This thought suddenly appeared in Liu Qiong’er’s mind, and she immediately had a look of shock flashed in her eyes.
Her Grandfather, the Guildmaster of the Alchemy Guild, Liu Wen, had only just stepped into the threshold of the Entry Realm!
How old was this young man before her, how could he possibly have such high attainment?!
Moreover, in her heart, there was an even more terrifying thought… [His mastery over Spiritual Energy is probably not just at the Early Stage of Entry. It could even be higher!]
Liu Qiong’er naturally could not be certain, because in the entire Heavenly Unicorn Dynasty, only Grandmaster Gu Ye had reached the Mid-Stage of Entry.
*Huff… huff…* While these two were in shock, Qin Yichen’s face had become even worse, He even had to lean against the table to avoid falling.
With the Spiritual Energy in his Knowledge Sea completely drained, he felt exhausted and fatigued. If it was not for his strong will, anyone else would have collapsed long ago.
“Are you alright?” His unusual state finally brought Liu Qiong’er back to her senses, and she immediately walked over, wanting to support him.
But the moment she touched him, Qin Yichen’s entire body fell towards her embrace…
Liu Qiong’er did not have time to react before Qin Yichen’s entire body was pressed against her. She wanted to push him away, but seeing his pale face, she held back her hand.
It was just that when he fell over, as luck would have it, he buried his head into her protruding chest. This made Liu Qiong’er extremely embarrassed. However, she did not know whether she should push him away or not, as neither action seemed appropriate.
Especially, after she could feel his difficulty breathing. He would occasionally nuzzle, causing a strange sensation in her chest, which made Liu Qiong’er’s face blush bright red.
The consequence was that she instinctively pushed him away, and he fell miserably to the ground.