William returned his attention to the Inner Core Disciples up on stage. There were eight female Cultivators and two males, all of which were focused intently on a list of ingredients written on a slip of paper that was placed before them.
Neither William nor Yuming could see what was written on the slips from their location, but they could tell it was a difficult recipe.
Elder Arthur spoke again. "Your task is to name the Pill concocted by these ingredients and inscribe it on your slip, then refine the Pill. You have two hours, begin!"
William had even more questions now, but decided to ask the System instead of Yuming so he didn't look like a complete idiot.
System, why are they refining pills and not brewing potions like the other Alchemy Hall?
-Request requires 1 Potential Point. Yes/No?
Stop asking if the cost is only one point, the answer is always yes. William was annoyed with always having to confirm the request with the System.
-Noted. The System will no longer ask for confirmation when the Ask Function only requires a single Potential Point.
-The Alchemy Hall at Thin Creek Village also refines pills; however, they dilute them into potions so a normal human body can handle the medicinal effects. Otherwise, your body would have exploded from ingesting a pill. Even now, your body has not been enhanced by Qi and would have difficulty even surviving the aftereffects of the most basic pills.
So I'm still weak huh...
William understood what the System was saying and was annoyed by his weakness. It also explained why the potions in Thin Creek Village were not very expensive, since one pill could create multiple potions.
He tried to watch the Alchemy competition some more, but the process was so slow and William only understood the basics because of his Alchemy Talent. He could tell when an Inner Core Disciple made a mistake but couldn't understand the refinement process much since the pill being created was more advanced than his F Rank Talent.
Eh, it's just one point. System, upgrade my Alchemy Talent.
The upgrade was much like when William raised the level of his Arrays. His brain was filled with knowledge of hundreds of ingredients, the refinement process, and basic pills, but there were still many gaps in his understanding of Alchemy.
With the new upgrade, William could finally understand what each of the Inner Core Disciples was doing during their refinement process.
A girl with long black hair slowly dipped a Frost Grape into the cauldron, gradually lowering the temperature of the liquid without disrupting the precise mixture of ingredients inside. As the Frost Grape dipped further into the cauldron, the liquid continued to cool until it was almost ready to form a pill.
With a swift movement, she used a special tool that looked like two ice cream scoops put together to form some liquid inside the cauldron into a perfectly round ball. She grabbed another Frost Grape and touched it to the outside of the scoop to cool the liquid until it had formed a pill.
She repeated this process until she had six pills of nearly perfect condition, inciting a round of murmurs from the judges.
Elder Arthur stood up and announced with a gentle voice, almost like a golf commentator. "Lu Bingying has completed the task with a score of 93 points."
The announcement created a round of murmurs throughout the crowd. Lu Bingying's score was the highest one they had seen in the entire competition! She would most likely become a competitor for the overall position of first place in a few days!
Yuming looked at William's disappointed reaction, "What do you think? I know you're not an Alchemist but Miss Bingying's refining methods are so perfect that I always become absorbed in the process." he was a bit more friendly since William had been a great help today.
"She's pretty good, but it didn't seem all that perfect to me." William replied nonchalantly.
"What do you mean? Do you think you could do better?" Yuming frowned. This disciple had become quite arrogant in just a few minutes.
"I'm not interested in Alchemy so probably not, but did you see how her hand shook to the left every time she dipped the Frost Grape into the cauldron? The pills would have come out even better if she hadn't allowed the temperature on the left half of the cauldron to fluctuate by half a degree." William explained.
He kept forgetting that everyone in the room was a Cultivator except him. Their hearing was much more superior than his, and he was talking at normal volume.
The judges at their seats glanced in his direction with a hint of surprise, while Lu Bingying fell deep in thought. Upon reflection, she realized that William was right. Her odd habit of shaking her hand was the reason why her pills weren't scored above 95!
But how did an Outer Core Disciple notice that before her? She didn't understand.
One of the judges stood up from his seat and walked over to William and Yuming while the rest of the Inner Core Disciples were still focused on their pill refinement.
"I am Go Tianshen. I overheard your conversation just a moment ago and am quite impressed with your observation skills. You're the new disciple that's assisting Yuming for this competition, right?"
William nodded. "Yes Elder."
"Excellent. Have you ever thought about joining the Alchemy Hall? We do recruit Outer Core Disciples from time to time."
William didn't expect such a sudden invitation, but it made sense when he thought back to when he beat Briar and that Potion Master in a competition back in Thin Creek Village.
He had also been invited to the Alchemy Hall then, and when he declined the System notified him that it would be easier to join the Alchemy Hall in the future.
William hesitated to answer. He disliked the idea of Alchemy, but there were obviously ample rewards if he could perform well. William was especially tempted at the thought winning a Root for one of his Elements.
"Can I think about it a few more days, Elder? I really haven't seen much of the Alchemy Hall yet." he tried to come up with an excuse that wouldn't anger the Elder.
It seemed to work as Elder Tianshen nodded in understanding. "We can give you some time to think about it. Just talk to me when you've made a decision." Go Tianshen said his piece and returned to his seat at the judge's table.
"You got an invitation just like that and didn't accept immediately? Are you out of your mind?" Yuming scolded William.
"What's the problem with that?" William retorted.
"Well, nothing...but everyone else has to take a test when they enter the Alchemy Hall, yet Elder Tianshen was willing to let you skip the test and join directly. That's a huge bonus for an Outer Core Disciple!" Thıs text ıs hosted at novel⸺fire.net
William shrugged his shoulders. "I don't want to just jump into things, what if I'm terrible at Alchemy? I'd rather take some time to think." he chose his words carefully since the judges were probably still listening.
"Eh, suit yourself then. Don't come crying if you miss your chance."