Seeing the strange expressions on the group's faces, Master Ji finally felt a sense of balance in his heart.
Little did they know that when he had first heard Shi Yu say she wanted to take the Tier-2 alchemist exam that day, he had worn the exact same dumbfounded expression.
Talk was cheap; seeing was believing.
President Song took a deep breath and made a decisive judgment. “Then without further delay, since everyone is here today, let us begin.”
With that, he turned to Shi Yu and asked, “Do you need any more time to prepare?”
Shi Yu had no desire to waste time and shook her head. “No need.”
Thus, the president and the elders filed into the examination room in single file, while the rest remained outside to watch.
Outside, the Zhou family drew closer. Father Zhou looked inside and could not help but ask, “Can Miss Shi pass the exam?”
Elder Zhou said, “Let us have faith in Little Friend Shi.”
The three Zhou siblings silently prayed. Shi Yu's alchemy skills directly concerned the success of refining the Lesser Longevity Pill, as well as the future survival of the Zhou family.
Inside, Master Ji instructed her: “Girl Yu, it is just like last time—go pick the spiritual plants yourself. Keep in mind that you must refine common, publicly known recipes like the Vitality-Restoring Pill or Qi-Restoring Pill so it is easy for us to evaluate.”
Shi Yu nodded, picked out a few herbs from the spiritual plant baskets, and walked up to the pill furnace.
“Vitality-Restoring Pill.” President Song looked at the spiritual plants in Shi Yu's hands and recognized that she was preparing to refine the Tier-2 healing pill, the Vitality-Restoring Pill, but...
“She only chose one set of spiritual materials?”
This meant Shi Yu would only have a single attempt.
Association rules dictated that candidates could not retrieve more spiritual plants midway through refining. If she made a mistake and had no spare herbs to continue, her exam would be declared a failure.
Was it a lack of experience that made her forget this, or was she... too confident?
Master Ji looked at her and thought to himself, Solid.
Immensely composed, he raised a celadon teacup, adopting a relaxed posture.
During her last certification exam, Little Yu'er had also taken only one set of spiritual plants.
This girl was no reckless fool. Doing this only proved she had complete confidence and had no need for a backup set of spiritual plants.
Standing before the pill furnace, Shi Yu glanced at the pile of Jade Light Charcoal stacked beside it.
For the Tier-1 alchemist certification exam, the spiritual plants, pill furnace, and charcoal all had to be provided by the association. But for the Tier-2 exam, there was no mention of charcoal, meaning candidates could presumably use their own natal fire.
Her own fire was much easier to control, but Shi Yu still asked to confirm: “May I use my own fire?”
“Of course.”
The others had assumed Shi Yu meant a fire generated by practicing a fire-control technique and channeling spiritual energy.
Yet in the very next moment, completely caught off guard, they saw a cluster of crimson flame flecked with radiant gold appear in the young girl's palm.
The flame burned brilliantly. The instant it appeared, a profound and ancient mysterious aura diffused from it. Around it, space itself seemed to subtly warp and fold, presenting a wondrous sight to behold.
Inside the examination room, charcoal was still burning in several pill furnaces, but those flames suddenly bent sideways, their tips dipping low as if bowing in homage to the flame in Shi Yu's hand.
Without a doubt, this scene could mean only one thing.
“A Heavenly Fire!”
“Cough—” Master Ji had just taken a sip of tea. Before the tea aroma could spread across his palate, he choked on it instantly.
The people outside were farther away, and the flame in Shi Yu's hand was only a small cluster, making it hard to see clearly. However, sharp-eyed individuals noticed the strange behavior of the raging flames in the other furnaces and cried out, “Look!”
Others channeled their own flames, only for the flames in their palms to likewise bend into a posture of bowing worship.
The abnormal behavior of the flames threw the crowd outside—who had been standing about reservedly—into a frenzy. Forgetting all restraint, they jostled and shoved against each other, clinging to the outside of the examination room and craning their necks, wishing they had a few extra pairs of eyes.
“It's a Heavenly Fire!”
“Good heavens, it actually is a Heavenly Fire...”
The Zhou family members also gasped in shock. Zhou Shuo's astonishment as a fellow alchemist went without saying, while Elder Zhou could not help but remark, “For Little Friend Shi to possess the fortune to refine a Heavenly Fire... such a flame is not only beneficial for refining artifacts and concocting pills, but also a supreme weapon against enemies.”
Inside the examination room, thanks to the Mind-Focusing Array, most external noise was cut off, so Shi Yu did not notice the commotion outside.
Just as she flicked the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame into the furnace and prepared to refine the spiritual plants, she heard Master Ji's aggrieved voice:
“Girl Yu, you really hid your strength deep! Why didn't you show this off earlier? You kept me in the dark for so long.”
Shi Yu casually replied, “During the last exam, you said I could only use the charcoal provided by the association.”
Master Ji and the others: “...”
That was because nobody could have expected a Tier-1 alchemist to possess a natal fire of her own!
The other elders were struck speechless, staring blankly at the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame within the furnace.
A Heavenly Fire was the desire and dream of every alchemist, revered as a supreme treasure.
Yet throughout history, how many had actually managed to obtain and master a Heavenly Fire?
To say nothing of the immense good fortune required to find one, even if found, whether one had the luck to survive refining it was another matter entirely. A single misstep, and one would be burned to ashes by it.
This was a monarch among flames; each variety harbored unfathomable power and mysterious force of laws, possessing a might that far surpassed ordinary fire.
However, in the Dao of alchemy, while the flame played a role, everything ultimately depended on the alchemist's own skill and attainment.
Suppressing their surging emotions, the onlookers gradually focused their attention on Shi Yu, who had begun refining.
The heat of the flame permeated the entire space, flushing the young girl's face red. She lightly closed her eyes, blending her spiritual energy with the power of the flame to envelop and calcine the spiritual plants dropped inside.
As the flames danced, the spiritual plants gradually melted into scalding medicinal liquid, floating within the furnace chamber.
...
Purification, fusion, pill division, spirit infusion.
Shi Yu completed every step methodically, precisely calculating the consumption of spiritual awareness and spiritual energy.
Her expression was serene, without a trace of hesitation or doubt, as though she had performed these exact steps thousands upon thousands of times before, displaying an effortless ease.
The air in the examination room seemed to fall silent. The onlookers stared spellbound at this smooth and fluid—even breathtakingly graceful—display, unwilling to miss a single detail.
President Song had initially intended to watch carefully with the mindset of offering guidance to a junior, but to his astonishment, he found he could not spot a single detail that needed guidance or improvement.
Her movements were practiced and deft; every action was perfectly measured, and every adjustment of heat and strength was spot-on.
In the end, no one knew how much time had passed until the setting sun cast its crimson glow, filling the room with a brilliant luster.
Shi Yu ceased her movements and retrieved the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, she lifted the furnace lid.
Instantly, an intoxicating, rich pill fragrance wafted throughout the room.
With pill fragrance present, it was at least a medium-grade pill. Furthermore, as the scent was so pure and refreshing, the quality was bound to be extraordinary.
President Song slowly exhaled and stepped forward to look inside.
Five round, plump pills lay within, their color pure as jade, with four of them emitting a soft halo of light.
Tier-2 Vitality-Restoring Pills: five pills produced—four high-grade and one medium-grade.
If told to outsiders, it would sound utterly scandalous, forcing people to doubt its truth.
Yet this certification exam had mobilized all the association's elders, occurring right beneath everyone's eyes—there was absolutely no falsehood to it.
President Song's hands trembled slightly. With a draw of spiritual energy, he extracted the five pills and suspended them in midair, letting everyone see them clearly.
A blanket of silence fell.
President Song burst into hearty laughter, all the gloom from their defeat at the Alchemy Exchange Conference vanishing as his eyes filled with pure exhilaration. “Our Lingtai Prefecture Alchemist Association has languished in decline for far too long—now, we have finally welcomed our opportunity to rise!”
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