Chapter 21

In the alchemy room, more than a dozen alchemists were gathered, all staring intently at the young boy.

These alchemists were all quite old, most of them over forty, with the youngest being in his thirties.

Now, seeing a boy of fifteen or sixteen claim that he wanted to refine elixirs, everyone was surprised and found it hard to believe. Some even shook their heads in secret, their eyes revealing a hint of ridicule.

However, they were all astute people. They had long heard that Master Yun Qi had specially given a young boy a disciple badge, though they didn't know if it was true, no one would foolishly mock him.

"Long Chen, although I am the president, I cannot break the rules. To advance the ingredients, you need to refine an elixir in front of all the alchemists. Then we will decide the amount you can withdraw based on the quality of the elixir," Master Yun Qi said with a serious expression.

"I understand."

Long Chen understood this matter. After all, the Alchemist Guild was not a personal enterprise, and Master Yun Qi would never give him special treatment.

"Here are 187 first-grade elixir formulas. You can choose any one of them," an alchemist said, handing over a piece of animal skin paper, his eyes slightly gleaming with a hint of schadenfreude.

The elixirs recorded on that piece of animal skin paper were not ordinary first-grade elixirs. Their difficulty was in the upper-middle range of first-grade elixirs, and the success rate for most disciples was not high.

Moreover, refining elixirs in front of all the alchemists, with a master like Master Yun Qi present, would be nerve-wracking. Under such an atmosphere, successfully refining a finished elixir would be very difficult.

The person who handed the animal skin paper to Long Chen was also a disciple, already in his forties. When he was tested for his advance quota, he failed seventeen times before passing.

None of the people present were much better, mostly taking over ten attempts to pass.

It was evident that obtaining advanced ingredients from the guild was not an easy task, but once successful, it would be much more convenient.

Long Chen glanced at the animal skin paper and pointed to the last formula: "This one."

"What? Are you sure?"

The person's face showed a strange expression. The elixir Long Chen chose was called the Explosive Qi Pill, an extremely powerful elixir.

It could make a person burst with powerful combat strength in a short time, almost increasing their combat power by nearly thirty percent.

The Explosive Qi Pill was the most beloved item of adventurers. Although using the Explosive Qi Pill would leave a person in a weakened state for a long time and cause significant side effects, for those who lived under the claws and mouths of monsters, the Explosive Qi Pill was undoubtedly a life-saving treasure.

However, refining the Explosive Qi Pill was very difficult. It contained several extremely potent ingredients, and even experienced disciples rarely refined such elixirs.

After all, refining elixirs was risky. Although the price of elixirs was very high, the ingredients were not free; they cost money.

Moreover, the ingredients for the Explosive Qi Pill were particularly expensive. If one failed three times in a row, the alchemist would incur a loss.

Therefore, few people refined this elixir. After all, the high cost of ingredients was something adventurers could not afford. If adventurers were really that rich, who would still go on adventures?

"Correct, this one," Long Chen said calmly, completely ignoring the person's schadenfreude.

Master Yun Qi smiled slightly and instructed a medicine boy to prepare three sets of ingredients. This was the rule for the test; only three sets were provided, and as long as one set was successfully refined, it would count as passing.

When the three sets of ingredients were neatly placed in front of Long Chen, he did not hesitate. He took out his alchemy cauldron, and a pale yellow flame rose from his palm.

After a moment, Long Chen slowly channeled the alchemy fire power under the cauldron to heat it. After heating, he opened the cauldron. The so-called opening of the cauldron meant using soul power to drive the alchemy fire to circulate once inside the cauldron.

The benefit of this method was that it could thoroughly put the cauldron into the alchemy state, reducing the risk of explosion and nurturing the cauldron.

Actually, Long Chen had more advanced methods, but he had to use the most basic techniques he learned in the Alchemist Guild.

He didn't want to be too astonishing, as that would be detrimental to his future. If someone secretly harbored ill intentions, it would only cause trouble for himself.

Initially, the people present looked down on Long Chen, but seeing his precise and experienced movements, the disdain on their faces gradually diminished.

After all preparations were made, Long Chen did not hesitate and directly threw the first ingredient, Iron Wire Grass, into the cauldron to begin refining.

This action immediately turned the interest of many people into ridicule.

Iron Wire Grass required the longest time to refine and was generally placed in the middle to late stages, after the cauldron was thoroughly heated.

However, only Master Yun Qi's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, and he nodded secretly.

What surprised everyone was that when the Iron Wire Grass was only half refined and not yet completely powdered, Long Chen took it out of the cauldron and placed it aside, then began refining other ingredients.

When he had refined the sixth ingredient, Long Chen continued to refine the Iron Wire Grass, but still did not completely refine it, and began refining other herbs.

This action left everyone puzzled, but seeing the admiration in Master Yun Qi's eyes, they couldn't help but wonder if there was something special about the boy's technique.

Long Chen refined the Iron Wire Grass a total of thirteen times before it was completely refined. By then, over twenty ingredients had been fully refined.

Under normal circumstances, a typical disciple would take a break at this point to relax their tense spirit.

However, Long Chen didn't have time to waste. After refining the essence of the herbs, he immediately began refining the elixir, adding one ingredient after another to the cauldron.

What puzzled everyone was that Long Chen added the essence of the Iron Wire Grass in several doses.

"Phew."

Soul power circulated, and the alchemy fire rapidly rose, sending a wave of heat. Long Chen began the main process of refining the elixir.

"Such powerful soul power."

Everyone was surprised, but they also shook their heads. Starting to increase the fire at this point, what would they use to gather the elixir when it was complete? Young people were indeed young, too impatient.

Master Yun Qi watched the boy with interest. Only he understood the significance of Long Chen's actions and liked him even more. Strong soul power and a willingness to work hard to research made it easier to achieve success.

What no one expected was that after half an hour, Long Chen's soul power showed no signs of weakening; instead, it grew even stronger.

"Bang."

A sound echoed, and the cauldron trembled slightly, sending a strong wave of energy. Everyone's hearts tightened; they knew this was the critical moment.

The cauldron continued to shake. Normally, at this point, the alchemist should reduce the fire to stabilize the cauldron.

However, Long Chen not only did not reduce the fire but increased his soul power, making the alchemy fire even hotter, and the cauldron shook even more violently.

"What is he doing?"

Someone's face changed. This wasn't refining an elixir; he was clearly trying to cause an explosion, and it was clearly intentional.

"Boom."

Another explosion, and the cauldron lifted. Long Chen suddenly placed a large hand on the lid, and a powerful burst of soul power erupted.

"Bang."

The violent cauldron immediately stopped and returned to a calm state.

"This crude method is really exhausting."

Long Chen wiped the sweat from his brow. Using this method to refine elixirs was almost exhausting, and he couldn't reveal his true strength, so he had to follow the rules, which was a bitter experience.

Snap!

The lid of the cauldron was gently lifted, and a rich elixir fragrance instantly filled the entire hall, shocking everyone.

"Surprisingly, he succeeded."

All the experts present knew that just by the smell of the elixir, Long Chen had succeeded, and many were filled with shock.

"Very good, there should be at least one mid-grade elixir inside."

Master Yun Qi looked at Long Chen, his eyes full of admiration. Long Chen had far exceeded his expectations.

He knew that with Long Chen's soul power, successfully refining an elixir should not be difficult, but he wanted to see how solid Long Chen's foundation was.

Today, he saw that Long Chen's basic techniques were incredibly solid, not inferior to those of disciples who had practiced for many years.

Most importantly, Long Chen deeply understood the principles of medicine, knowing that the Iron Wire Grass needed multiple refinements to reduce its potency, making the elixir more effective and increasing the success rate.

Such a refinement method was unknown in the current Alchemist Guild, but it was recorded in some of the guild's secret books. Unfortunately, the records were very vague, only stating a theory: Iron Wire Grass, after multiple refinements, should reduce its potency.

However, most of these records were very general methods or immature ideas. How many alchemists would be great enough to share their hard-earned knowledge freely?

Others might not say it, but even Master Yun Qi knew the method of refining Iron Wire Grass, but he had never mentioned it to anyone.

One reason was that he had no obligation to teach others, and the other was that as an alchemist, if one dared not innovate, they would never achieve anything significant in their lifetime.

When everyone heard Master Yun Qi's words, they were shocked: a mid-grade elixir? Is that possible?

Long Chen smiled at the people looking at him, waved his hand, and used his soul power to draw out five plump, round elixirs.

Two of the elixirs had prominent patterns—elixir patterns—characteristic of mid-grade elixirs.

For a moment, the entire hall was silent. Everyone, except Master Yun Qi, was filled with shock, admiration, and a hint of jealousy.

Looking at the five elixirs in his hand, Long Chen sighed in relief. At this moment, Master Yun Qi said, "Long Chen has successfully refined the elixir. Grant him a second-level credit rating."

Master Yun Qi's words made everyone's eyes change. A second-level credit rating meant the right to advance second-grade elixir ingredients, which was something to envy.

With the complex looks from the crowd, Long Chen followed Master Yun Qi out of the hall. Master Yun Qi suddenly said to Long Chen in a serious tone:

"Long Chen, be careful of that woman."