Xuan stepped into the testing room, the doors slamming shut as a strong floral scent invaded his nose, causing him to momentarily stare at the three people in front of him with a dazed look.

Noticing that, the three were far from satisfied.

"To be overwhelmed by purified lavender..."

"What kind of amateur is this?"

"Do we even need to do the test?"

Xuan snapped out of it and rolled his eyes. All three of these old coots wore long red robes and had those snake eyes he had only read about in the past. Basically, they all seemed like shit people.

Still, this was like trying to apply for a corporate job, so Xuan decided to straighten up.

"Hello. My name’s Xuan. I excel in Pill Alchemy, and I’m here to become an Alchemist."

While it was the plainest shit he could come up with, the three Alchemists were satisfied.

"At least you know etiquette. Very well then, come over to the left."

Xuan glanced to the left and spotted a small alchemical cauldron meant for brewing pills. He had a really high quality mithril cauldron that Yuelan had given him, but he really doubted he could use it here.

He respectfully made his way to the alchemical cauldron and sat down. There were already a few materials prepared here, none of which he knew what they did.

But on the flip side, there was a scroll with the recipe written on it. The weird looking fungus was actually a testicle.

Touché.

"With the recipe, as well as the ingredients in front of you, you must brew a Breath Freshening Pill with a Purity of at least 60%. You must do so within 30 minutes. I don’t need to tell you the failure conditions. Begin the moment I put down this sand hourglass."

The Alchemist went ahead and flipped the hourglass, starting the timer without much hesitation or thought.

On the other hand, Xuan was a little spooked. In what world would someone use a testicle in a breath freshening pill? Welp. Instructions were instructions, and the requirements weren’t that intense, so Xuan went ahead and started working on the pill.

He heated up the alchemical furnace and tossed everything inside according to the instructions, handling the testicles in particular as though he had been practicing for 22 years.

It was a very fast process, and he managed to refine the materials within 8 seconds, something that the previous candidates hadn’t even managed to do in 10 minutes.

Seeing that, the Alchemists were stunned. They had taken this boy as a pushover, a good-looking pushover. He was startled at the aroma, and yet, he was handling this recipe like a professional.

The man whose beard was the longest had the greatest interest, wanting to test the boy while he was in the middle of the test, perhaps gauging which Great Sect he was from.

Alas, the moment the thought crossed their minds that Xuan must belong to a Great Sect, the tide of their attitude changed. Their expressions softened as miniature money symbols appeared in place of their irises.

Xuan noticed none of this, of course. He was too busy making it look like this was not that easy, when in reality, he could’ve finished this kind of easy pill within the first four seconds. But for theatrics’ sake, and the fact that he didn’t want these old men to pounce on him, Xuan finished brewing the pill after only two minutes.

And alas, it turned out as great as one would expect... Actually, a little too great, which made Xuan nearly want to scrap this pill. But it was too late as the golden glow caught the eyes of the Alchemists, causing them to rise abruptly from their seats and hold back the urge to go and grab that pill out of his hands.

After all...

—

<Breath Freshening Pill>

<Rank: Mortal>

<Pill Purity: 100%>

<Description: A comedic attempt at a mint. Upon consumption, your breath will smell like roses for 168 hours. Due to perfect Pill Purity, upon consumption, all Oral Cultivation techniques have a 15% increased affinity.>

—

Ah.

Well, on the bright side, this would really benefit Sierra. He would just... need to avoid telling her the recipe. Yeah. He would take the recipe to his grave.

On that note...

"Say, before I show you the pill, if I pay for the ingredients, can I keep it?"

The Alchemist with the longest beard was the first to speak:

"Boy... You can have my cane if you show me that pill. Of course you can keep it. It’s a memento... But before that, I’d like to extend you an offer." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

He puffed out his chest and took initiative. "I’m an Alchemist at the Earth Rank, and I have brewed several Master-level pills. If you become my disciple, I will teach you everything I know."

"Haaa?" the others immediately realized what was happening.

"Old coot, you’re far too sly for someone so old. Tsk... Young Alchemist Xuan, I may not be as qualified as that old coot, but I excel in Master-level brewing. I have fast hands, so even if you ever need an assistant, I am the best person to turn to."

"Stop acting like you’re special, I’m the same," the last Alchemist said.

Frankly, out of the three, Xuan found that the long-bearded old coot was the most capable. But hearing Master-level this, Master-level that, he was a bit puzzled.

Path of the Crafts: Become a certified Master Level Alchemist, a certified Array Arts Master, and lastly, a Master Enchanter.

His path mentioned that he needed to become a ’certified’ Master Level Alchemist. What did that mean? So far, he understood that Master Level Alchemy was alchemy involving greater than 10 ingredients in one recipe.

But that didn’t include the rarity and rank. So if he just brewed a Master Level Mortal Ranked pill, would it count as him completing 1/3rd of his Path?

Hmm...

Welp.

These three were old and wise for a reason.

"Hey, what does it mean to be a certified Master Level Alchemist?"