Long Chen recognized the old man, and it wasnât just Long Chen who would recognize him. In the imperial capital, there were only a few people who wouldnât recognize him the alchemist guildâs chairman, grandmaster Yun Qi.
âSenior Yun Qi, this brat suddenly ran over to make trouble. I was just about to expel him,â the old man hurriedly explained when he saw grandmaster Yun Qi.
Long Chen rolled his eyes. Feigning an extremely grateful expression, he said, âYou are grandmaster Yun Qi? Wonderful, Long Chen thanks you for the favor of saving his life.â
Originally Yun Qiâs expression was displeased, but hearing Long Chen say this, he couldnât help but become distracted, asking, âChild, are you misrecognizing me as someone else?
âMisrecognizing? No, definitely not.â Long Chen shook his head. Pointing towards the old man, he said, âThrough this grandmaster, my mom paid several thousand gold coins to buy a Tiger Bone Pill from you. Only through this was I able to recover from my wounds. This little one truly cannot thank you enough.â
Hearing Long Chen recount this affair, the old manâs expression immediately changed and Yun Qiâs expression turned cold. Looking at the old man he said, âGuan Cheng, what is this about?â
âSenior chairman, donât listen to his rubbishâ Guan Cheng hurriedly tried to explain.
âHuh, why arenât you acknowledging it? To think that the people of our alchemist guild are of such a noble character than they donât even put their names on the good deeds they do. Only, the matter of you selling my mother a defective grade Tiger Bone Pill is very well known.â Long Chen coldly smiled.
Although Guan Cheng was continuously shooting Long Chen meaningful glances, Long Chen continued to act as if he hadnât noticed. Did you really think my Long familyâs money was so easy to swindle?
Guan Cheng was currently a senior member of the alchemist guild. He was taught a bit by grandmaster Yun Qi, but he wasnât someone extremely talented.
However, after Guan Cheng had carefully and attentively followed Yun Qi for a few decades, Yun Qi had felt some pity for him and given him the position of an attendant with some low-grade random jobs to do in the alchemist guild.
Occasionally, when he refined a garbage pill, he would hand it over to Guan Cheng to handle. Normally, these garbage pills would have their useful portion extracted out for some medicinal liquids; they definitely would not be allowed to be sold on the market.
This was related to the professionâs personal integrity. If it was leaked that grandmaster Yun Qi had actually sold a garbage pill, then he would become a joke amongst his fellow alchemists.
Grandmaster Yun Qi sighed. Looking at Guan Cheng he said, âYouâve followed me for several decades, so you already understand my character. Leave and donât ever come back.â
Guan Chenâs old face became deathly pale. His eyes holding a trace of unwillingness, he begged, âSenior, IâŚâ
âGo.â Yun Qi indifferently responded, waving his hand.
Guan Cheng nearly became paralyzed and fell to the floor. Yun Qiâs declaration was equivalent to expelling him from the alchemist guild.
An originally high and aloof attendant in a flash became someone completely lacking of anything. Guan Cheng appeared to age several decades.
âHey, Iâm talking to you; stop faking. Youâve cheated and swindled people for so many years outside this guild. Right now, youâve already earned so much evil money that you wonât even be able to spend it all before dying. Why are you acting like youâre so deserving of pity?â Long Chen disdainfully said.
As an attendant of the alchemist guild, this old man had become extremely close to quite a few noble families. After muddling along for so many years, he had definitely obtained many benefits. Looking at his face caused Long Chen to feel sick and disgusted.
Guan Chengâs expression became furious; his eyes filled with bitter resentment. However, he didnât say anything and merely slowly walked out with his head down.
Watching Guan Cheng go away, grandmaster Yun Qi shook his head. Towards Long Chen, he said, âThank you young man. Otherwise, this old man would still be completely in the dark.â
âHehe, that old man was someone who cheated my family of one of our fortunes. I purposely came for revenge; thereâs no need to be so courteous.â Long Chen laughed.
Contrary to oneâs expectations, grandmaster Yun Qi replied, âHaha, not bad. A young fellow who is so straightforward is clearly not suited for a treacherous and deceitful life.â
âHaha, how could this youngsterâs intentions and manner be concealed for a whole lifetime? Since itâs impossible to conceal, I might as well act like a good person.â Long Chen spread out his arms candidly as he replied.
Grandmaster Yun Qi couldnât help but laugh. Over his last few years, everyone would treat him with reverence. This was the first time someone would speak to him in such a joking manner, so now it was quite an enjoyable experience.
âLittle fellow, surely you didnât come to my alchemist guild just to report this complaint.â
âOf course not. I came here to take the alchemist exam.â After saying this, Long Chen held out his right hand.
PuffâŚ
A tiny flame leaped out of his fingertips. In order to leave a deep impression onto the grandmaster, Long Chenâs hand trembled, and the flame started to act like a wild monkey, playfully leaping around.
âNot bad.â
Originally, when he saw the flame, Yun Qi had only faintly nodded his head. Being able to agglomerate a Pill Flame at that age could be considered not bad. But Long Chenâs following actions caused him to actually be somewhat moved.
The ability to control the flame relied mostly on the amount of Spiritual Strength one had. Long Chenâs ability to control it in such a lively manner demonstrated that his Spiritual Strength had surpassed an ordinary person by quite a bit.
What he didnât know was that Long Chen was still holding back. If he were to bring out the secret arts from his memories, then he might completely terrify this grandmaster.
âVery good. Your Spiritual Strength is at least twice as strong as an ordinary person, making you a good sapling to learn pill refining.â Yun Qi nodded.
Hearing Yun Qi said this, Long Chen felt a weight fall off his shoulders. Being able to hold as much hidden strength as possible was still the best.
âCome, Iâll bring you to do the test.â Saying this, grandmaster Yun Qi brought Long Chen away.
Looking at the two people leaving, everyone who had previously been in the hall refining medicines with their Pill Flames couldnât help being stunned.
âWhat? He didnât need to be appraised before directly going to do the test?â
âHow is this possible? Is he a relative of grandmaster Yun Qi?â
âNonsense, heâs not a relative. Isnât that kid the imperial capitalâs famous trash, Long Chen?â
The ten plus people in the hall were all there in order to take the alchemist exam, but according to the usual convention, they had to meet the requirement of refining a certain herbal medicine first to show that they met a certain qualification before advancing to take the exam.
But Long Chen immediately skipped over this step, causing them to be incessantly furious. However, there was no alternative for them. This was the alchemist guild, a supreme existence. No one would dare do a thing; they could only swallow their anger into their stomach.
In an underground room of the alchemist guild, grandmaster Yun Qi pointed towards a water crystal in front of them. âUse your flame on it.â
Long Chen nodded. Extending a finger, he condensed a flame and placed it on top of the water crystal. Several lines appeared on the water crystal when the flame touched it.
Grandmaster Yun Qi faintly said, âYour Pill Flame has reached the low Huang class, just barely meeting the standard.â
Pill Flames were split into Tian, Di, Xuan, and Huang class, with each class also having three ranks. Long Chenâs Pill Flame was agglomerated from himself and was not a beast flame or a heaven and earth Spirit Flame. Therefore, being at the low Huang class was very normal.
Grandmaster Yun Qi then brought Long Chen to a shallow water pool. The water pool was only half a foot deep, and the bottom was covered with hundreds of sparkling pearls.
âCirculate your Spiritual Strength and see if you can cause the pearls to float up.â
Obviously, this water pond wasnât a real water pond. Close examination revealed that the water was clearly spiritual mercury water. When Long Chen carefully touched it, he discovered that the water magnified his Spiritual Strength by greater than ten times.
This immediately relieved him as his current Spiritual Strength was not strong enough to move objects without touching them. Apparently, he had been worrying too much.
Circulating his Spiritual Strength, he immediately found a dozen or so pearls being influenced by his Spiritual Strength as they slowly floated up.
Suddenly, Long Chen noticed that grandmaster Yun Qiâs expression was completely bewildered and shocked as he looked at those pearls.
Damn, Iâm about to be exposed!
Long Chen hurriedly released his Spiritual Strength. He used spiritual energy to make his face extremely pale like he was about to collapse, faking that his Spiritual Strength was overdrawn.
âGrandmaster⌠what rank do I count as?â Long Chen gasped for breaths as he asked.
âXuan classâŚâ Grandmaster Yun Qi murmured. It was as if he hadnât even noticed Long Chenâs current overdrawn state.
Only a while later did Yun Qi notice that Long Chen was already weakly lying on the ground. If one had to give Long Chenâs acting skills a rank, he would be âGod of Actingâ.
Not only was his face as white as paper, but his eyes seemed weak and listless, giving him the appearance of someone who had excessively overexerted himself.
âExcellent, your Spiritual Strength is exceptionally strong. Your talent is definitely mouldable; Iâve definitely found a good sapling this time.â Yun Qi smiled.
Long Chenâs eyes brightened when he heard this. âGrandmaster Yun Qi, this little one very much wishes to study the Dao of the Pill. Is it possible for me to become your official disciple?â
Yun Qi shook his head, âI canât. Go carefully train and later, I will present an opportunity for you that will let you jump to the peak of the pill path.â
Hearing Yun Qiâs refusal, Long Chen laughed with embarrassment, âActually, the main thing is I want a higher reputation so that no one will dare to bully me again when I go out.â
Yun Qi stared blankly before bursting into laughter. Someone like Long Chen, who spoke so directly, caused him to not know whether to laugh or cry. How many years had it been since he had met such an interesting youngster? However, Long Chenâs abnormal Spiritual Strength did cause him to have an excellent opinion of him.
âDonât worry. Later, Iâll give you a Pill Apprentice identification plate; who would dare continue to bully you?â Yun Qi laughed.
Long Chen became excited. Normally, if a person wanted to join the alchemist guild, they had to first pass the exam to become a medicinal expert, and after that, they had to wait another year before they could obtain the qualifications to take the test to become a Pill Apprentice.
Medicinal expert was just an entry-level rank, but it still caused countless peopleâs eyes to turn red in envy. As for Pill Apprentice, it was the actual start of pill cultivation.
âWith your current Pill Flame and Spiritual Strength, itâs still quite difficult for you to refine a pill. However, within a year, you will definitely be able to refine pills, so this canât count as violating rules; Iâm simply giving it to you a bit early,â smiled Yun Qi.
Long Chen was extremely grateful. Although in terms of technique and skill, he had enough mastery to look down on anyone, Yun Qi was definitely a senior who was worthy of respect.
Grandmaster Yun Qi personally made a Pill Apprentice identification plate for him, and then in addition, he also gave him a medicinal cauldron and a set of pill robes. The pill robe was extremely luxurious, and there was a single embroidered pill star on the abdomen, the sign of a Pill Apprentice.
The medicinal cauldron was made of fire copper and pure gold, and its design was very elegant. It was many levels higher than the old cauldron he had bought.
Other than these two things, what pleasantly surprised Long Chen was that grandmaster Yun Qi had even given him a spatial ring.
This was a miraculous kind of ring. As long as you sent your Spiritual Strength into the ring, you could open up an interior space connected to the ring and store any random things.
As for its value, it was an extravagant commodity worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins. Before, Long Chen hadnât even dared to dream about obtaining one. Inserting his Spiritual Strength into the ring, he found that the space inside was three meters wide, causing him to be extremely grateful.
Under grandmaster Yun Qiâs advisement, Long Chen used his identification plate to buy medicinal ingredients for half the price. He could also study the senior generationâs pill refining experiences free of charge.
Long Chen suddenly had a feeling like he had leaped from being a chicken to being a phoenix. Within the alchemist guild, he bought a large amount of the FengFu Pillâs medicinal ingredients and some other herbs.
By the time Long Chen left the alchemist guild, he felt like a completely different person than when he entered; previously, he had been worthless, but now he was worth millions. Even his back was held completely straight. In the future, he could look down his nose at others.
When Long Chen finished collecting this vast harvest, he returned home. Just as he entered, he saw Bao-er at the entrance. As soon as she saw Long Chen, she straightaway brought him to Mrs. Longâs room.
As soon as he entered, he became dumbstruck, his heart jumping wildly in chagrin.