Chapter 3: Grade 1 Alchemist

Back at her abode, Xiao Hong pulled out several jade slips from the bag that Deacon Lu had given her and scanned the jade slips one by one with her Divine Sense.

The best part of having Divine Sense - according to Xiao Hong - was the ability to directly memorise massive amounts of information at an insane speed. Just one sweep with the Divine Sense and you can directly imprint it in your memory.

While it did not help in actually comprehending the contents, it definitely made it easier.

With Divine Sense all she needed to do was browse through the contents of the jade slip for a few minutes and - Bam! You have memorised thousands of different herbs and their properties.

If she had this back on earth her life would have been so much easier. Shaking her head and stopping useless thoughts she continued scanning.

When she'd finished going through all of them, she received a notification from the system.

"Yes."

Once again, out of nowhere, she felt a large amount of information appear in her mind.

Ingredients, their interaction with each other, with heat, with the cauldron, with the atmosphere, with the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth… All sorts of information appeared in her mind one by one. At the same time, the system also simulated the process of refining pills over and over in her mind, forming a muscle memory of sorts. After the system was done, it would feel as though she had refined the said pills thousands of times each.

While the system was mastering Alchemy for her, she pondered on how to go about becoming a 1st-grade Alchemist.

Going for the test as soon as she was done was a big no-no. She wanted to come off as a prodigious alchemist and not an old-fogie-possessed-my-body and is now cultivating again.

Going too late was also not conducive to her. She couldn't be low-profile either, doing things at an average speed. Her looks didn't allow her to be low-profile no matter how much she wanted to!

So, the best option was to look like an extremely talented junior alchemist worth investing in. With this, people will believe her talent in alchemy and underestimate her battle prowess. This was an effective way of buying time until she could fend for herself.

While Senior Brother Chen had been chattering away, he'd told her a lot of information about how much alchemists were valued: A 1st-grade alchemist received far better treatment than an outer sect disciple did. 2nd and 3rd grade alchemists received treatment equivalent to Outer Sect Deacons and Elders, respectively. A 4th grade received better treatment than inner sect disciples while 5th and 6th grade alchemists received treatment that was no worse than Inner and Core Elders. The only 7th-grade alchemist of Purple Spirit Sect - Master Su - received better treatment than the Deputy Sect Master. Even the Sect Master was respectful to him and all his demands were met.

Prodigious junior alchemists also were valued immensely by the Sect and received even better treatment. Chen Yu also told her that he'd become a 1st grade alchemist in just 2 years and reached 2nd grade in 3 more. Thus was quite valued by the sect.

The fastest one to become an alchemist was Master An, who as of now was a 5th grade Alchemist and was also the sole true disciple of Master Su. He had become a 1st grade alchemist in 5 months, 2nd grade in seven and 3rd grade in a year.

Therefore, she decided to be 'slightly less talented' than this Master An.

She had to be valued by the sect so that some random young master wouldn't throw his weight - read ancestors - around in front of her.

She had heard plenty of rumours about how a young master took a fancy to a particular girl because of her beauty, played with her and threw her aside when he was bored. The most infamous was Mo Tong, having done this multiple times with no consequences.

Though, this was mostly because the sect didn't really give a shit about outer sect disciples: to the sect, the outer disciples were just cheap labour that could be easily replenished. The sect wouldn't offend an Inner Sect Elder by punishing his relative over some worthless Outer Sect disciple.

When she learnt of all this from old Xiao Hong's memories, it had chilled her blood at the blatant disregard for human rights. This was the sorrow of the weak, and there was nothing she could do about it.

These things also became the driving force behind her planning.

Plus this Mo Tong fellow apparently had his eye on her, further strengthening her resolve.

Otherwise, with her character, she would be quite content with slowly cultivating while earning money in a low-profile manner.

Having fleshed out her plans, she sunk into the haze of secluded cultivation.

7 Months passed by in a flash and Xiao Hong had turned 16 earlier this month.

Xiao Hong stood up from her cultivation pose and stretched her body.

'Let's take a bath.'

Bathing had become her favourite pastime.

In the bathroom, Xiao Hong was once again staring at her naked self in the mirror. She had grown slightly taller from her initial 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 6 inches. At the same time, other parts of her body also had grown as if to maintain the sensual figure.

"Hmm…" she cupped her breasts and whispered to herself, "These fellows seem to have grown quite a bit. Now they don't even fully fit in my hands."

She smirked as she felt the supple softness in her hands.

Thus, she took her longest bath ever.

***

After taking an unusually long bath, she came out wrapped in a towel.

She sat down and intoned: "STATUS"

[Ding!

Name: Xiao Hong

Age: 16

Lifespan: 400 years

Primary profession: Cultivator

Secondary Profession(s): Alchemist (Grade 1)

Inventory (3.375m3): Empty

Cultivation Base:

Essence: 2nd Layer of Sky Spirit

Physique: 3-star Ancient Godling (Initial Divine Sea Equivalent)

Soul: 2nd stage Red Soul (Peak Sky Spirit Equivalent)

Cultivation Method: Celestial God Essence Cultivation Method, Ancient God's Physique Scripture, Spirit God's Soul Cultivation Method

Skills:

Soaring Crane Sword (Lowest-Grade) - Small Accomplishment

Flash Step (Lowest-Grade) - Small Accomplishment

Battle Prowess: High (Early Divine Sea Equivalent.)

Automatic Cultivation Slots: 4

Slot 1: Celestial God Essence Cultivation Method

Slot 2: Ancient God's Physique Scripture

Slot 3: Spirit God's Soul Cultivation Method

Slot 4: Empty

Details: Speed is 2.125x per Method

]

She noticed how her Physical Cultivation seemed to have blazed ahead.

'It seems I am quite talented in Physical Cultivation?'

"Now, I'm completely broke…" She looked sadly at the two piles of ashes as if she'd lost a piece of her heart. She was slowly, but surely, becoming a money-grubber.

Shaking her head, a determined look came over her face.

"Today's the day."

Indeed, about five hours from now there will be an assessment for 1st grade Alchemists.

In the past 7 months, she had attended Alchemy lectures that were held, showed ample participation during said lectures and showed she was a prospective genius alchemist - by showing understanding far beyond that of the normal disciples.

Now all she had to do was pass the test and certify herself as a 1st grade alchemist, and she would get a steady source of income.

***

At the foot of the Alchemy Hall's mesa, a figure in red-golden gracefully landed.

And as soon as she landed and her Qi coating dispersed, the usual hullabaloo wherever she went started. At first, it had been irritating but gradually she learned to get used to it; at some point, it even became a useful resource for her. For example, she once learned that bitch Mo Tong had been seen lurking around in the vicinity of the Alchemy Hall.

From then on she landed much further away, scouring the place thoroughly with her Divine Sense. Depending on the result, she would decide whether to attend the lecture or not. A special thing she discovered about her Divine Sense was that it was undetectable to cultivators. Even a Nirvana Realm couldn't detect her. However, she speculated her Divine Sense would still be detected by Fusion and above.

"Hey! Look, look! Junior sister Xiao Hong really came! Does that mean the rumours are true?"

"It looks like it!"

"I heard from my cousin that his master was quite optimistic about her and believed that she would be able to take the 1st-grade exam within a year!"

"But it's been only… what? Half a year?"

"... Maybe she's here to, uh, broaden her horizons? Experience the exam before actually properly attempting it?"

"Maybe? These geniuses rarely make sense. Especially compared to plebs like us. It's entirely possible she's her for real."

"She's beautiful today too…"

"... Senior sister, if you like her then you might as well give it a try."

"Good idea! I'm going to introduce myself during the checking for lady cultivators in the pill-refining exam!"

"... They assigned a deviant pervert like you as an invigilator? I really want to crack open the head of that person and check his brains."

Xiao Hong's ears perked up at the last exchange.

'Hehe~'

***

Walking into the main hall, she spotted Chen Yu and his master.

And apparently, he had been waiting for her.

"Junior sister Hong!", he waved excitedly, drawing all attention towards themselves. Xiao Hong could only sigh in resignation; this fellow didn't know even the 'D' of discretion.

"Good day to you too, Senior Brother. You seem happy?" queried Xiao Hong after a greeting. In this period of time, she'd made friends with this senior brother who was quite kind-hearted and straightforward. Although he was definitely interested in her, he had zero malice towards her. Thus, over time they became somewhat good friends.

Though the poor fellow ended up on the receiving end of malicious gazes almost everywhere he went. There was no need to guess the obvious reason: it was because he was the only male who was in contact with Xiao Hong. He went from moderately popular to the most disliked male in about a month.

Even other girls seemed to not like him. This phenomenon left Xiao Hong somewhat baffled. It stood to reason that girls would dislike her because of her appearance due to envy. But somehow, she was popular even among girls; especially that perverted senior sister whose name she regretfully still didn't know.

"Ah yes! According to Master, I'll soon be able to take the 3rd Grade Alchemist exam"

"Oh my… Congratulations senior brother…"

***

Looking at his disciple, Elder Ji couldn't help but sigh. 'This foolish disciple… If only he had half the enthusiasm towards Alchemy, he might have already been a 3rd Grade by now…'

Shaking his head inwardly, he carefully evaluated the target of his disciple's infatuation. He nodded inwardly, 'I can see the reason for his infatuation.'

Elder Ji was almost 600 years old now and had seen many beauties in his life, but few even came close to her in terms of looks. Even the Lunar Jade Sect's so-called No.1 beauty, Black Lotus Valley's Saintess, and Golden Demon Sword Sect's Holy Daughter were all inferior in terms of looks.

'She is also quite talented. With such a strong foundation she can rival those Core Disciples in the Inner Sect.' As an Elder, he had a much stronger cultivation base than Deacon Lu and therefore could see much more than him.

'Unfortunately, this foolish disciple has no chance…'

He could very clearly see that the girl had zero interest in Chen Yu.

'If she passes the 2nd Grade Alchemy test in 4 years, I'll take her in as a disciple. The rest is all up to you my disciple.

'Mhm. I'll also tell him that if he reaches 4th grade in 3 years, I'll 'help' him in his quest to win the admiration of his beloved junior sister by taking her in. Hehehe!'

As the saying goes, 'The older the ginger, the spicier it is': Elder Ji had already cooked up ways to fool his disciple into doing whatever he wanted.

***

Having confirmed her registration for the exam, she chatted with Chen Yu about alchemy, who was delighted to help her.

Listening attentively, she gained a lot. Although she had mastered everything there was to know about the 1st-grade alchemist, there was still a way to go for her to match a 2nd-grade alchemist, therefore she learnt a lot in the discussion.

At the same time, Chen Yu and Elder Ji were surprised.

'Junior sister Hong is really talented! In just half a year she has mastered 1st grade Alchemy!' Chen Yu thought.

'This girl is talented. Her comprehension of 1st-grade alchemy is impeccable. She is probably not much worse than Master An' Elder Ji couldn't help but recall that terrifying person. Every time he thought of it, he felt his centuries of study in alchemy were in vain. The art he had honed over his lifetime was casually surpassed by a brat who was but a fraction of his age.

But what could he do? That's how unreasonable geniuses were. All he could do was lament how unfair the heavens were. Now there seemed to be another one in front of him. He sometimes really doubted if Alchemy had been the right path for him?

***

Time passed by quickly as they discussed and time for the assessment was here.

The exam was divided into three parts: A general written test to weed out those who had just come to play, try out, or came with the mindset of getting lucky.

The second test was a rapid-fire questionnaire where they tested random things about alchemy, where the questions may not be related to the previous and subsequent questions. This was also a good measure of how well a disciple was likely to do. The process of refining pills required an incredibly agile mind, where they had to keep track of multiple ingredients, their interactions with each other, spiritual energy, heat etc. At one moment, a situation may pop up that needs to be resolved and the very next moment, some completely different problem could pop up. The second test somewhat simulated those situations. This gave the examiners an inkling of the examinee's talent, preparedness and stability of mind.

The third test was an actual practical test. No matter how well they'd done in the previous stages, it was all useless if they could not actually refine pills.

3 hours later.

Xiao Hong had breezed through the written exam as there was pretty much no challenge in the assessment.

As she was walking out of the Assessment Hall, she casually swept the place with her Divine Sense. Suddenly she froze.

'Fuck! What is this bitch doing here?! Dammit, he definitely got information from some idiot.' Xiao Hong cursed inwardly as she sensed a presence she disliked very much: Mo Tong.

She wanted to stay as far as possible from this bastard, therefore she directly turned around to go elsewhere. Unfortunately, fortune didn't favour her today.

"Senior Brother Mo! I found her! She is there!" some cannon fodder Xiao Hong wanted to rip to pieces shouted.

Mo Tong, who was looking around, turned her way. His eyes lit up as he sent an evaluating gaze her way as he walked towards her.

Xiao Hong wanted to pretend that she didn't realise his goal and was about to walk away when she heard Mo Tong say, "Junior Sister Hong, please wait."

She understood full well that she wouldn't escape this time, so she replied in a cool tone, "This senior brother, I don't think we know each other. Also if a senior brother has some business with me, please wait until I'm done with the assessment"

The meaning was pretty clear: Don't talk like we know each other, also please fuck off.

"Hey, don't you know who you're talking to-" the cannon fodder started, but was stopped by Mo Tong raising his hand.

"It's okay Junior Brother Du, I heard Junior Sister is a rather recluse person who cares for little other than alchemy. So she very likely doesn't care very much for brutish things like fighting and rankings."

And there was indeed such a rumour because multiple people tried to engage in a conversation with her - mostly male, only to be rejected with the excuse of studying Alchemy. She also hung out the most with Chen Yu, who was one of the most talented Alchemists of the 2nd grade.

Looking Xiao Hong up and down almost casually, he said, "Junior Sister, this won't take long. It's just an investigation from the sect about the death of Junior Brother Lin Fan. You seem to have had the last contact with him before he left the sect."

Xiao Hong was dumbfounded. "It's been more than half a year since his death, and the investigation is happening only now?"

Also, what is this? Why is the murderer leading the investigation? She had to reevaluate the power of an Inner Elder.

"Not really. The investigation has been going on for a while, but it's very hard to catch you for some reason. I had been waiting for you during the Alchemy Hall's lectures, but you seem to never appear." Mo Tong shook his head. "Our investigation seems to have come to an end. And you are our only lead now." Brother Mo Tong's eyes narrowed, and there was a slight smirk at the corner of his mouth.

"I see. What can I do for you?"

"Junior Sister, we just need you to answer a few questions."

"Very well. Please wait until I'm done with the assessments"

"Sure, I'll wait for you here."

"Thank you, senior brother." Xiao Hong said and gracefully turned away. 'So that's the angle. He will use the case of Lin Fan's murder to corner me and then lend a hand in clearing suspicions and gaining a favourable impression.

'Well, I'm not gonna make it easy for you.'

A cold light flashed in her eyes.

***

Entering the room, she saw two men and a woman sitting behind a table on an elevated platform such that they slightly looked down at the examinee.

'It's strange how far the cultivation world goes to establish the difference in status between people' shaking her head inwardly.

"Outer Sect disciple Xiao Hong greets elders" made sure to speak in a slightly loud, yet polite tone.

"Hm." The oldest-looking man on Xiao Hong's left - Elder Dong - just gave a cursory response. He had a Grade 3 Alchemy badge on his chest.

The one man on Xiao Hong's right, who also had a Grade 3 Alchemy badge, spoke with narrowed eyes, "Disciple Xiao Hong… is it? You have been studying Alchemy for how long now? Half a year? Do you really think alchemy - an art many struggle to understand - is a child's play? Hm?"

She wanted to roll her eyes, 'Such a cliche way of throwing someone off their game.'

"This disciple has immense respect for alchemy, Elder Meng. I won't do anything that I am not sure of."

"Hmph!" the elder did the classic contemptuous cultivator snort. "That remains to be seen. What do you do when the balance between Spirit Grass and Ice Thorn Ginseng is thrown off by the Fire Control <Form 2: Five Winding Dragons> changing to <Form 89: Ascending Phoenix> while preparing the Ice Spirit Pill?"

Without even batting an eye she replied: "Depending on the Spirit Grass's volatility and the Ice Thorn Ginseng's efficacy, I would choose between Leaf Extract of Flame Jade Tree or the Seed Oil of the Black Python Creeper…"

"Then…"

.

.

.

The Elders on the right and left fired questions like machine guns and Xiao Hong answered the questions calmly. They changed the topic suddenly to something completely different after asking multiple similar questions in a row, trying to throw her off.

Meanwhile the woman in the middle - she had a Grade 4 badge - had a look on her face that said: I'm surprised. Very surprised.

She looked at Xiao Hong answering questions fluently and with great interest.

After what seemed like hours of questions, "Alright, please tell us your decision, Elder Fang." the Elder on the right - Meng - said suddenly.

"Eh?" Xiao Hong was caught off guard at the abrupt pause. Elder Meng smirked somewhat triumphantly.

Xiao Hong suddenly realised what he'd done. She looked at the Elder speechlessly, 'You are a 3rd grade alchemist, a respected Elder; where is your dignity?'

Elder Dong covered his face in his hands, ashamed of his colleague's childish actions.

Elder Fang, who had not asked a single question until now, finally spoke in a charming voice, "Well, isn't it obvious? If we fail her, wouldn't we have to fail everyone in the past 500 years? Well, except that one."

Elder Dong replied with a nod: "Indeed."

Elder Meng also nodded: "Little girl, your talent is not bad! It is-"

"- much better than Elder Meng's when he was your age" Elder Dong directly cut him off before he could shamelessly brag.

"Dammit, you little-"

Elder Fang just rolled her eyes at their antics and said, "Disciple Xiao Hong, you may come back tomorrow for your practical assessment."

"About that Elder, can I get it done today?"

The two male elders stopped bickering. Elder Meng narrowed his eyes. "Hm? Why? Are you not tired? You must understand that impatience is not conducive to progress, little girl"

"This disciple is not tired, Elder. I am just very excited to learn Grade 2 Alchemy-"

"Tell me the truth, little girl."

Xiao Hong was stunned. How did he see through her at a glance?

Looking at her surprised look, he explained: "Your demeanour while answering questions was quite steady. You answered calmly, precisely and to the point. From this, I can tell you're not a hasty person no matter how excited you are. You are someone who can keep their calm, making it very unlikely for you to make such a decision. Therefore, you definitely need the status of an alchemist as a support. Hmm. Perhaps the Punishment Hall? Only that comes to mind. Ah yes. It is indeed, isn't it? Your face says it all. I recently heard that Inner Elder Mo's nephew was throwing his weight around in the Hall a little while ago."

Incidentally, to old fogies his age, a 'little while' meant a few months to half a year or even a year. This was because their perception of time changes as they age, and is drastically different from juniors.

"Does that have something to do with you?"

Xiao Hong was dumbfounded yet again. However, she calmed down soon enough. She realised that she shouldn't underestimate these old fellows; because despite them having spent most of their time in closed-door cultivation, they still were far more experienced than her in their understanding of humans. Whatever little experience she had in understanding the human heart, it was not much in front of these old monsters.

Therefore, she decided to directly tell the truth, from Lin Fan's death to Mo Tong's visit to the Alchemy Hall. She even told them the unsettling rumours about Mo Tong.

"Hmph! That little beast dares to touch a genius of our Alchemy Hall? See if I don't break his-"

"-Elder Meng." Elder Dong interrupted.

"Ahem"

On the other hand, Elder Fang's gaze was cold. "Are you sure about those rumours?"

"I don't know about the accuracy of those rumours. But I believe there is no smoke without fire. So I want to stay as far away as possible from him."

"Hmm. Very well. I'll allow you to take on the practical test now. Come with me." said Elder Fang as she strode out with Xiao Hong obediently following behind her.

***

As Xiao Hong followed Elder Fang along the hallway, she realised how much she underestimated these cultivators, forgetting her resolution of not basing them on the cultivation novels she'd read back on earth; while there may be similarities, they were still people who lived for a long time and had seen too many things.

Thus, she decided to change her plans.

She decided that displaying the image of an honest and simple girl who liked alchemy and sought the Dao was the best. The greatest deception she will ever use is the cliche trope of hiding her strength.

At the same time, she was more determined to find a powerful backing. Who knows when she'd unknowingly be used as a pawn in someone's plan and end up dead or worse? She wanted to be the chess master, not the piece.

Arriving at a Hall that was larger than the previous assessment hall, Xiao Hong broke out of her thoughts.

***

Elder Fang entered her room and made her way to the three elders sitting on a similarly elevated table. The difference was that in the middle of the room was a cauldron half the size of a human with flames flickering beneath it.

Xiao Hong felt very slight qi fluctuations from Elder Fang as she used qi transmission to say something to the three Elders. Generally speaking, even cultivators of the same stage couldn't sense other cultivators using qi transmission, but due to the overpowered cultivation methods she practised her sensitivity to qi was frankly monstrous.

As they were talking with qi transmission the elders turned to look at Xiao Hong. Apparently, the rightmost elder's comprehension of the Dao of Expressionless and Indifference was not up to the mark and he raised his eyebrow. Xiao Hong felt strangely smug.

"Hm. Very well, Elder Fang; we'll make an exception and advance her assessment." said the man in the middle who also sported a Grade 4 badge. Turning to Xiao Hong he continued with a pointed look, "We, however, won't show any leniency in our assessment."

"Disciple thanks the Elders for their generosity." she cupped her hands with a slight downward tilt of her head.

"Hm. Go to the adjoining room. A disciple will check you for any means used for cheating."

"Disciple understands."

Nodding, she walked into the said room, where she found a familiar senior sister.

The senior sister, who had looked up, was quite surprised.

"E-Eh? J-Junior Sister Hong? Aren't you here for the first two assessments today?"

She was quite surprised. She had specially asked the Deacon to give her the shift for inspection of disciples for all days, surprising the Deacon.

She liked girls. Which the Deacon didn't know. So he happily assigned her the job, while praising her for her hard-working nature.

The senior sister was especially excited for tomorrow because there was a certain girl she had an eye on, who was now in front of her; a day earlier. Thus, she was quite unprepared and accidentally called her out in a much more familiar manner than she intended. After all, she had many dreams, fantasies and imaginary situations involving Xiao Hong. The most prevalent was one where they were a happy couple, calling each other intimately while doing special things.

Xiao Hong cocked her eyebrow at the rather familiar way of address. But she didn't mind. It was a senior sister after all. She had to be lenient. She also recognised the voice and the face as the one who wanted to spend a night with her.

"Mhm, but there were some special circumstances, so mine was brought forward." She didn't fully explain.

"Ah! My name is Qiao Guiying. A 2nd grade alchemist." She gave her name even though she didn't need to.

"Nice to meet you, Senior Sister Guiying." She flashed a beautiful smile at the now-named senior sister, making her slightly flustered at the equally familiar way of address.

"A-Ahem. I need to check you for anything that can be used for cheating. Is that fine?"

"Mhm." Xiao Hong nodded in assent.

"Then I'll be rude," she said and started to pat her down… and continued patting her down…

Xiao Hong's expression was slightly strange. She wasn't entirely sure before, but she was completely sure now. This girl definitely had a thing for her.

She looked at Qiao Guiying carefully and nodded. Looking to be in her early twenties, she was a young woman in her prime. With slightly curly, dark brown hair, a heart-shaped face, willowy brows, a pair of clear, deep blue eyes, a shapely nose and sculpted lips. Her body was probably the most sinful one she'd laid eyes on until now, with huge peaks that almost burst out, a supple waist and wide hips.

She licked her lips as a smirk appeared on her face, 'Hehe~'

"Senior Sister, are you done?" she asked, the smirk only widening at the flustered reaction and the gentle bounce:

"A-ah? Y-yeah! I'm done! You're clean!"

"Then, I'll be going~! Wish me luck!"

"Y-yes! Best of luck junior sister Xiao Hong! I know you will dazzle the Elders!"

"Hehe~ With Senior Sister's blessings there's no way I'd not!" She walked out after hugging the surprised senior sister.

A while later, the senior sister opened her hand and looked at a piece of paper, which she opened to read:

"Bai Yu Peak, 247"

The senior sister blushed up to her ears.

"How indecent!" and skipped back to her seat with a spring in her step. No one knew what was indecent: her thoughts or Xiao Hong's implication behind giving her the note.

***

She returned from the room with a fake serious and focused expression on her face.

"Hm. You may begin. Refine a bottle of Qi-returning pills of at least 'good' quality. You have 3 tries." said the Elder in the middle.

'Not too hard, not too easy. Well, for beginner alchemists at least.'

A pill's efficacy could be ranked by quality, which was, from low to high:

Trash grade, which meant exactly that: it was useless and would bring more harm than good. A waste of ingredients.

Acceptable grades can be consumed. 50% of the medicinal efficacy of the ingredients is maintained.

Good grades are of a better quality, and you don't have to worry too much about pill poisoning; unless you take too many in too short a time. This is the most widely circulated quality in the market and can therefore be considered average quality. Up to 70% efficacy.

High grades. Even if you take too many, you are more likely to die from an explosion of too much energy than due to pill toxin. Up to 80% efficacy.

Top-grade medicinal pills can maintain up to 90% efficacy of the ingredients used. Very rare. This grade can only be achieved by really talented alchemists.

Supreme: Up to 99% efficacy is maintained. Only absolute geniuses are able to refine this quality of pills and even then it is mostly by luck. Or when some Master Alchemist refines a low-tier pill.

Perfect: 100% efficacy. It is basically a myth. Even a 7th-grade alchemist can't do it while refining a 1st-grade pill.

Xiao Hong decided to refine a High-quality pill to show off her talent. Even though she could refine perfect-grade pills, it would be too eye-catching to do that. Even if she was somewhat starting to like all the attention, that was too much.

Taking a deep breath, she started pre-processing the ingredients, separating the required parts of the herbs with a practised hand. Leaves, roots, stems, sap etc were all separated into different containers.

Done with the pre-processing, she moved over to the cauldron and used the flame control method to intensify the flames, before expertly throwing the ingredients one by one and refining them.

Finally, after all 37 ingredients were fully refined, she gathered them into small round pills before turning up the heat.

After keeping them in that state for a while, she slowly decreased the flames' intensity before completely lowering it to be the same as before.

On the elders' side, the four of them looked at the girl in front of them gracefully refining the ingredients like she had been doing this all her life.

The other 4th-grade alchemist, Elder Lu, turned to Elder Fang, who was now seated on his right and queried with a strange look on his face, "... You're saying she is a beginner?"

Elder Fang's eye twitched, "... Apparently"

The look on his face became even stranger, "Another monster. Great! I feel like my 'talent' in alchemy is actually fake now. Mhm, I must only be a normal person."

He'd been there for only two exams in his life: the first time he'd received a blow due to a certain monstrous prodigy. Now that he had somewhat gotten past that setback, he received another one.

The elders on each side had dark faces, 'Dammit! If you are normal, then what are we? Trash?'

But they didn't dare say it out loud. Wasn't it good to have face? Why would they want to throw it away?

Just as they were monologuing, Xiao Hong completed the condensation of pills with a hand seal.

"Elders, this disciple is done." She looked up at the few people who were staring at her with strange expressions.

'Oh my, did I accidentally fuck up?' She looked down at the bottle of still warm High-quality pills, 'Nope, these are perfect.'

'Perhaps I looked too beautiful while refining and they ended up enchanted?'

She became nervous, 'I wouldn't mind Elder Fang but others are a no-go.'

Looking at the increasingly nervous Xiao Hong, he misunderstood, "Relax, disciple Xiao Hong. We were just surprised at your proficiency in refining pills. Please bring over the pills"

She did so.

"Hm. High quality! Not bad, not bad at all!" Elder Lu snatched it over before exclaiming. Passing the bottle to the others, he looked at Xiao Hing and said, "You pass! Here is your alchemy badge, from today onwards you are an alchemist of the Purple Spirit Sect! I hope to see you working hard in your pursuit of Alchemy."

He passed over a badge made of black spirit jade and imprinted with a single golden pill and the words 'Grade 1' under it.

"Definitely Elder Lu! I'll do my best to live up to your expectations!" said excitedly before imprinting her mark on the badge and fixing it on her chest.