Entering the Alchemy Hall, Qing Yi curiously looked around and saw quite a few people busily walking around.
Looking ahead at the senior brother that had led her inside, Qing Yi saw him coming to a stop in front of a desk at the corner of the Alchemy Hall.
The small desk had a sign above it reads out [Alchemy Apprentice Training Sign Up], what surprised Qing Yi a bit was how hidden away the small desk was and how empty it felt. From what Qing Yi knew about alchemy, there should be a line of people wanting to sign up every day! Imagine how much you could earn by becoming an alchemist!
"Ah! Elder! This is a new disciple of the Flying Sword Sect! She wants to sign up for the Apprentice training! ELDER! Wake up!" Walking over to the desk, Qing Yi saw the senior brother who had led her inside the Alchemy Hall shaking the elder at the desk awake as the elder slowly started opening his eyes.
"Damn brat, at least let me get a little sleep… Wait! Did you say someone is here to sign up?!" The elder groggily pushed the older disciple away as he looked rather annoyed at him, it was only when he realized that there was someone here to sign up for the Apprentice training that his eyes shot open and immediately focused on Qing Yi standing only a few meters away from the two of them.
"…" Qing Yi did not know what to say at the moment, as she felt the elders sparkling gaze lock on to her.
"Elder! Please stop staring at her like that! You will end up scaring her away at this rate!" Seeing the uncomfortable look on Qing Yi's face, the older disciple hurriedly jumped over and scolded the elder without showing any form of respect for his senior.
"Ah!? My bad, guess I was just a little excited when I heard we would finally have someone new join the Alchemy Hall this year…" Stroking his beard with an awkward smile on his face, the elder did not mind the older disciple's rude behaviour and instead just apologised to Qing Yi as he took a few documents out from under the desk.
The documents in question were the required documents for signing up for the Alchemy Halls Apprentice training.
"So, I'm going to just ask some basic questions and you will answer them, is that okay?" Taking on a more professional look, the elder held a pen as he waited for Qing Yi's answer.
"Okay Great! Let's start then, firstly, what is your name?"
"Great, great! So, Qing Yi, are you an Outer Disciple, Inner Disciple, Core Disciple or a Personal Disciple?" Seeing Qing Yi had answered, the elder wrote down her answer as he continued to ask.
"I see… Seeing as you are a Personal Disciple, this will be the last question, who is your master?" Not expecting for Qing Yi to be a Personal Disciple, the elder had a slightly surprised look on his face as he stopped for a moment before continuing to ask.
"Elder Xuan, I see, so it is Core Elder Xuan…" Hearing what Qing Yi said, the elder just wrote it down as he suddenly stopped and looked back up at Qing Yi.
"D-did you just say elder Xuan…?" Thinking he might have heard something wrong, the elder asked again with a slightly doubting look on his face. Not really believing that the disciple of a Core Elder would become an alchemist, let alone sign up through the normal way instead of just directly getting someone to come to their pavilion and teach their disciple for them!
"Yes! Elder Xuan is my master!" Feeling slightly offended by the elders doubting expression, Qing Yi loudly stated her masters name with a proud look on her face.
"I see… Little Yu, lead your new junior sister over to the library and get her the "Alchemy for beginners" and "Potions, Pills and other questionable concoctions" books." Not saying anything more the elder quickly left with the newly filled out documents in hand.
"Hah… Junior sister Qing Yi, please follow me to get the two books." Looking at the disappearing figure of the elder, little Yu sighed to himself as he told Qing Yi to follow him deeper into the Alchemy Hall.
"Senior brother… Little Yu? Why does the elder seem so surprised that I was signing up for the Alchemy Apprentice training earlier?" Not knowing how to call the senior brother in front of her, Qing Yi decided to just call him like the elder had as she asked something that had been on her mind since she entered the Alchemy Hall.
"… You see, alchemy is not really that popular compared to some other profession like blacksmithing, painting or calligraphy… Alchemy is extremely hard at the start with compared to other professions, causing many of the new disciples to just pick something that they can get good at quickly, instead of something like alchemy that requires years of dedication to even reach the lowest level of an Apprentice Alchemist…" Smiling a little awkwardly, little Yu explained the current situation of the Alchemy profession and why so few people even signed up to begin with.
"I see…" thinking about it, Qing Yi nodded her head and thought that it was reasonable. After all, if such a lucrative profession could be learnt easily, there would be alchemists everywhere!
"By the way, junior sister Qing Yi can just call me senior brother Yu, it feels slightly awkward when you call me little Yu…" Remembering how Qing Yi had called him senior brother little Yu, he quickly tried to correct the way she called him.
If some of his friends came along and a girl half his age called him little Yu… He really did not want something like that to happen…
"Okay, senior brother Yu!" Seeing Yu's face become slightly red from embarrassment, Qing Yi decided to correct herself as both of them soon headed off towards the library of the Alchemy Hall.