Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Alchemist Assessment
"Meng Yi, I want you to tell me exactly what happened, from beginning to end. Do not leave out a single detail."
A man in a yellow robe and purple crown sat on a wide, stately chair. His chilling gaze, like ice that hadn’t thawed in millennia, was fixed on those below.
Opposite him, Meng Yi and two others were kneeling on one knee, cold sweat beading on their foreheads. The arrogant girl sat to the side, her gaze icy.
"Yes, Your Highness. This is what happened..." Meng Yi immediately recounted everything he knew.
"A Tier Four Celestial Martial Artist, and a court Alchemist to boot?" Prince He, Zhao Xun, frowned and muttered to himself.
"Father, you must avenge Jing’er! I’ve never been slapped in my entire life!" The arrogant girl gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with venomous hatred.
"Jing’Er, rest assured, Father will get justice for you. Why don’t you tell me what happened as well?"
"Yes!" The arrogant girl, Zhao Jing, immediately recounted the entire story of how Ye Xuan had slapped her.
"A boy, only sixteen or seventeen, could easily block your attack, Jing’Er?" Zhao Xun frowned. "Such a genius is rare, even at the Profound Spirit Academy. Could he be a high-level student from your school?" He knew his daughter well; though she was arrogant, overbearing, and willful, she was also a genius at the Profound Spirit Academy, having reached the Third Layer of Warrior at just seventeen.
The fact that the boy who hit his daughter was, by her account, around the same age yet even stronger, took him by surprise.
"Father, he is definitely not a student of the Profound Spirit Academy. At least, I’ve never seen him at the academy before." The arrogant girl pouted, dissatisfied. "Father, don’t tell me you don’t want to avenge me anymore?"
"Rest assured." Prince He gently patted Zhao Jing’s head, but a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. "No matter who he is, daring to strike Zhao Xun’s daughter is a slight against me, Zhao Xun. How could I possibly let him go? However, know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated. To get revenge, we must first know his background."
"Meng Yi!"
"At your command!"
"Go investigate immediately. See if there is anyone named Hua Luoxuan among the court Alchemists. I want a report back within half an hour."
"Yes!"
At Zhao Xun’s command, Prince He’s intelligence network rapidly went into motion.
In less than half an hour, a report was placed on Zhao Xun’s desk.
"Hm? Hua Luoxuan, President of the Alchemist Association in the kingdom’s Blue Moon City, Third-Grade Alchemist, Earth Martial Artist Third Layer, court Alchemist..."
Since Hua Luoxuan had given his name, Prince He’s resources had naturally made it easy to find plenty of information on him.
’So he’s just the president of an Alchemist Association from a minor city.’
’A Third-Grade Alchemist.’
’The report says he’s an Earth Martial Artist Third Layer... but it seems he’s had a breakthrough.’
With every detail he read, the sneer on Zhao Xun’s lips grew wider.
"Father..." The arrogant girl, Zhao Jing, looked at him with an expectant gaze.
"And here I was, wondering who he might be. A Third-Grade Alchemist is just the entry-level standard for a court Alchemist. The president of some backwater city’s Alchemist Association dares to act so arrogantly in my Royal City?" Zhao Xun laughed coldly and stood up abruptly. "Jing’Er, Father will avenge you right now! Men!"
"At your command."
"Follow me to the Royal City’s Alchemist Association to demand the man’s custody. I want to see just what gives him the right to be so brazen."
A savage sneer formed on Zhao Xun’s lips.
Meanwhile, on the fifth floor of the Alchemist Association, a tense assessment was underway...
Hua Luoxuan stared intently at the Pill Furnace floating in mid-air. His hands constantly formed one seal after another, sending them into the Array’s patterns. Streams of Profound Fire, as if alive, continuously refined the furnace, which had been heated until it glowed crimson. Searing heat radiated outwards, raising the temperature in the entire refining room to an extreme high.
In a corner across the room, four elderly men in Alchemist robes were completely unaffected by the scorching heat. They simply watched Hua Luoxuan’s alchemy with focused expressions, their Profound Sense swirling above the Array to observe his process.
Hua Luoxuan’s movements grew faster and faster. He shot out one seal after another, continuously activating the Array. Profound Fire of varying intensity performed a comprehensive refinement of the Pill Furnace, and a rich fragrance began to slowly emerge in the room.
Suddenly, the entire Pill Furnace began to tremble.
Hua Luoxuan spread his five fingers, and a vast expanse of Profound Sense plunged into the Pill Furnace like a great net. The sound of the violent reaction inside the furnace grew louder, and the fresh medicinal aroma became increasingly rich.
A sharp light glinted in Hua Luoxuan’s eyes as he became completely immersed in the Pill Furnace’s reaction, forgetting everything about the outside world.
A look of surprise flashed in the eyes of the four elders across the room, and they began to whisper amongst themselves.
The alchemy continued, Hua Luoxuan’s expression remaining calm throughout. Suddenly, a brilliant light erupted in his eyes. His hands blurred into several Seal Skills, and the entire Refining Array suddenly spewed forth a pillar of Profound Fire that shot toward the heavens.
The Pill Furnace’s shaking intensified abruptly, then returned to calm in an instant.
"Retract!"
With a low shout, the vast Array shut down. The Pill Furnace above it gently landed on the floor, and a dense fragrance quickly spread throughout the refining room.
The four elders’ eyes were all glued to the Pill Furnace before them.
Hua Luoxuan smiled faintly and opened the Pill Furnace. Four Pills suddenly shot out. With a flick of his fingers, they landed in the hands of each of the four elders.
A confident smile touched his lips as he said, "Masters, please take a look."
The four elders repeatedly swept their Profound Sense over the Pills in their hands, their faces showing unconcealed amazement. Their admiration was plain to see. After a moment, three of them focused their gazes on the man in the center.
The man in the center, whose aura was clearly stronger than the others, sighed in admiration. "There’s no need to look further. Hua Luoxuan, the Fourth-Grade Mystic Transformation Pills you’ve refined are all plump and round, with a fresh aroma. Their medicinal properties are perfectly fused—every one of them is Upper Grade. I truly didn’t expect that you could produce such high-quality Pills so soon after becoming a Fourth-Grade Alchemist. This old man is utterly astonished. Hua Luoxuan, you’ve passed the assessment."
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
The other three elders immediately began to applaud.
"Hua Luoxuan, congratulations! You are now one of us."
"Only a Fourth-Grade Alchemist can be considered to have truly embarked on the path of alchemy. The Liuyun Kingdom’s Alchemist Association has gained another master."
"Hahaha, your technique was exquisite, and your bearing confident. Hua Luoxuan, I never imagined your assessment would be so flawless."
Voices of praise echoed in the refining room, and everyone’s face was filled with admiration.
Hua Luoxuan smiled faintly. "Masters, you praise me too much."
"Ah, Hua Luoxuan, you’re a Fourth-Grade Celestial Level Alchemist now. You don’t have to be so formal with us."
"That’s right." The elder in the middle smiled faintly. With a raise of his hand, a Token flew out. "Hua Luoxuan, this is the Token of a Fourth-Grade Alchemist. From this day forward, you are the ninth registered Fourth-Grade Alchemist of the Liuyun Kingdom’s Alchemist Association."
Hua Luoxuan accepted the Token, his voice tinged with excitement. "Thank you, Master He, and all the other masters."
He Zhen shook his head and smiled. "This is the result of your own hard work; it has nothing to do with us. I am merely curious. Refining the Mystic Transformation Pill requires incredibly crucial, complex, and precise control over the heat. It is one of the most difficult among all Fourth-Grade Pills. Yet, during your refinement, you managed to use the same Array to release fire of different temperatures, heating different parts of the Pill Furnace with perfect and exquisite transitions. A technique like that leaves even this old man utterly shocked."
He Zhen was the president of the kingdom’s Alchemist Association, a Fifth-Grade sect-level Alchemist. Along with the court’s chief Alchemist, Yang An, he was one of the strongest Alchemists in the kingdom. Yet even he was shocked by Hua Luoxuan’s earlier technique for controlling the Array.
The other three elders also quieted down, all looking at Hua Luoxuan with curiosity.
An image of Ye Xuan teaching him flashed through Hua Luoxuan’s mind. He smiled calmly and said, "Every Refining Array, depending on its level, is constructed from twelve to one hundred and eight basic arrays. These basic arrays merge with each other to form a complete Refining Array. By manipulating each individual basic array, you can adjust the temperature and heat of any part of the entire Refining Array."
"Once you can do that skillfully, controlling the heat of the Array’s Profound Fire becomes second nature, and refining the Mystic Transformation Pill is no longer a difficult task."
"So that’s how it is!" He Zhen was enlightened. "I’ve heard of the basic composition of Arrays, and I’ve vaguely heard of the theory you speak of. But to actually put it into practice is as difficult as ascending to heaven. The fact that you can do it shows that you truly possess a talent for alchemy that ordinary people cannot hope to match."
Hua Luoxuan smiled faintly without explaining. In truth, he had only mastered a portion of this Array control technique under Ye Xuan’s guidance.
’Some principles sound simple but are incredibly difficult to execute,’ he thought. ’Just like the secret to controlling the Array’s heat—I could explain it, and Master He and the others could understand it, but without Young Master Ye’s guidance, actually achieving it would be impossible.’
He Zhen smiled. "Hua Luoxuan, to celebrate the Liuyun Kingdom gaining another Fourth-Grade Alchemist, I will have someone report this to the king tomorrow. His Majesty will surely be overjoyed, and there will definitely be rewards."
"As for the Alchemist Association, I will temporarily grant you the status of an elder. If other positions open up in the future, we can arrange something then. What do you think?"
A Third-Grade Alchemist, while high in status, was not exceedingly rare—the Liuyun Kingdom had eighty, if not a hundred of them. But a Fourth-Grade Celestial Level Alchemist was a different matter entirely.
Including Hua Luoxuan, there were only nine Fourth-Grade Celestial Level Alchemists registered with the Liuyun Kingdom’s Alchemist Association, a testament to their rarity.
