"The reason why I became an alchemist? It's simple really," the Crown Prince said. "I just wanted to follow in the footsteps of my father."
"Footsteps of your father?" Alex was a bit surprised. "Are you saying the Dragon Emperor dabbles in alchemy too?"
"Dabbles isn't the correct term here, I'm afraid," the old woman said from the side with a face that said she was proud of what she was speaking about. "Not many people know about this, but His Majesty is actually the best Alchemist in all the Empire."
"The best Alchemist?" Alex couldn't help but feel a little skeptical about her words. After all, they were coming from a woman who would obviously talk well about the emperor of the empire she lived in.
"Yes," the Crown Prince responded from the side. "Which is why I'm trying my best to follow in his footsteps."
"But you say he is the best alchemist. Does that mean you haven't reached his level yet?" Alex asked.
"No," the Crown Prince said. "I doubt I can truly ever reach his level. After all, his Majesty is the only person in the past 10 thousand decades to reach the 10th Level in this school and graduate from the school."
Alex was genuinely astonished by this information. "Wait, so no one else has reached Level 10?" he couldn't help but ask. "What about the Headmaster and the rest of the elders?"
"Haha, most of us were expelled after not being able to pass the 7th or 8th level," the woman said with a slight smile. "Of course, while I say expelled, I would like to make it clear that there is no negative connotation to this term when it comes to the Royal Schools."
"If you are expelled, it just means that you were unable to reach the next level that was required. That still made you someone capable of more than what your current level required."
"Most people that enter the 6th level go on to become important alchemy figures in other countries. 7th or 8th and they can join this school to become elders here," the older woman said. "I myself was once a 9th-level alchemist. But I've never managed to reach the 10th level even now as His Majesty has."
"Sounds like it is rather difficult to reach level 10. Would you mind telling me what the requirements for reaching that level are?" Alex asked.
"Of course," the older woman said. "There are two requirements. First, you have to come up with your own Saint rank pill that has never before been seen in this empire."
"And second, you have to make that pill 3 times in a row, each pill ending at 90% harmony or above."
"90% harmony?" Alex asked.
"Yes," the older woman said.
"3 times in a row?" he asked again.
"I know," the woman said. "It's difficult."
Alex struggled to keep a normal face. 'That's it?' he thought. He had been expecting something extravagant like making pills for as long as one could or even making pills without using any formations. What turned out to be the actual requirements felt… very lackluster.
Of course, he understood that it was only him that felt this way. The ones behind him could not compare to the feats that the Dragon Emperor had achieved.
After all, while individually, the two tasks were simple enough under the right circumstances or even through just sheer luck, you needed more than that to be capable of doing them at the same time.
Not only was coming up with a new pill recipe hard, but coming up with one that was efficient enough to make a pill over 90% harmony, while also dealing with problems of ingredients and techniques as such was also almost impossible for most alchemists.
Even if they could, then making that sort of pill 3 times in a row was near impossible as well.
'Although even with all that said, it's still impressive how far the Dragon Emperor has reached. I wonder if he had help from the Azure Dragon,' Alex wondered.
He spoke a few words of compliment for formalities sake and then continued going through the school to look at the rest of the stuff.
There were more faculties, more gardens, and more alchemy rooms. There were libraries with books of all kinds and a training ground to train while you were there. They finally arrived in the dorm room that on the eastern side of the school, an entire wing of which was emptied to make rooms for the alchemists from the Eastern Continent.
"We have prepared guests for all 20 of the alchemists that have come today. They have been through a long journey, so it might be better to let them rest for today," the old woman said.
Alex nodded and told the others to go rest. Elder Liang was made to stay here for today and Alex would come visit tomorrow to get her back.
For now, he was going to leave.
"How strict is the school actually?" Alex asked. "Can they leave to go around the city if they want?"
"Oh, of course," the old woman said. "Most of our disciples don't even come to the classes anymore and instead learn on their own in their place. Anyone can go in and out at any time they want as long as they have a nameplate belonging to the school."
"I see," Alex said. "I didn't sense any such formations. Were they closed for today?"
"Yes, your Majesty," the woman said. "Making the nameplate is a rather difficult job right at the moment without the person, so we had to shut it down for today."
"Now that you are here, we can prepare one from every one of you," the woman said.
"Great!" Alex smiled. "As long as my alchemists don't have to be holed up in the school, I am happy."
He turned to leave, not before giving Hao Ya a simple nod. With this, she could go around the city without any worry.
As they walked away from the dorm, the Crown Prince spoke. "Your Majesty, I must say I was surprised when I heard Royal Father mention the Alchemy Exchange program he was planning with you."
"I wasn't aware of anything about you at that point, so I didn't understand why he wanted to do it. However, after hearing what you were rumored to be capable of, I looked forward to the day you arrived, and now you have."
"So, if it isn't so much to ask, would you mind showing off your skills a bit?" the prince asked.
"My skills huh?" Alex thought for a moment. "Sure, why not. Let's head to an alchemy room then."
"Oh, you are okay with this?" the Crown Prince asked. "Haha, let's head on over to the north. There are better alchemy rooms there."
"No," Alex said. "It's fine if we do it here. Wasn't that building full of empty rooms earlier? Let's go there."
Alex pointed to a nearby building and started walking. The rest followed and a minute later they arrived.
"What pills should I make?" Alex asked as he walked into the room and looked around. "Bring me anything you wish for me to make. I will do my best with that."
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