Nadran did not waste any time and immediately got to work. The pill he was planning on forging was called the Dust Gathering Pill. Its primary purpose was to temporarily boost a person's cultivation speed, allowing them to grow their internal energy pool faster than they could otherwise. This was one of the only mid-slate pills he knew.
Nadran reached the ingredient shelves and began collecting the ingredients he needed. This pill required a total of 8 separate ingredients, and he was quickly able to identify them and bring them over to his station. He looked at the measuring tools he had been provided and frowned. Up until now, he had been forging pills without any measuring implements, so changing to using these devices felt a little strange to him. He measured out the necessary amount of azure grass, then looked at it, feeling something was off.
[Oh, since the grass is of a slightly lower quality, I probably need a bit more of it to compensate,] Nadran thought, adding a tiny amount of grass before placing it aside and starting with the next ingredient. His gut feeling was telling him this was right, and up until now, this feeling had only helped him in refining pills, never leading him astray. Thus, he tended to prioritize these feelings over the exact words that were written, even though he didn't know the source of the feelings in the first place.
Meanwhile, a few of the instructors were watching Nadran from a back room as he worked. They were curious as to the skills of the one who had such incredible results in the first exam. When they saw him measuring the ingredients, they were impressed. "He was able to gather the exact amount of herbs required so easily," one of the exam assistants commented. "That is pretty impressive for an examinee… wait, what is he doing?"
The assistant blinked in confusion as Nadran frowned before adding a tiny amount of additional herbs to the measuring container, causing the level to raise just above the line that was marked on the side. "He had it perfect, then he added more. Why did he mess it up like that?" he asked, not understanding Nadran's actions.
Suddenly, a voice spoke out from behind him, catching him by surprise. "No, what he did was correct." The voice was quiet, but seemed to contain boundless force and conviction within it.
Sweat began dripping down the assistant's forehead as he turned and looked over at the head examiner. "Professor Berylin, uh, why is what he did correct?"
Berylin smiled faintly and replied, "He was able to assess the quality of the herb, and adjusted the amount of herb he added to account for its strength. This level of ability… I wonder who his master is?"
The assistant looked back at Nadran in shock. To get such praise from Professor Berylin, it seemed he was more than met the eye.
Meanwhile, Nadran continued measuring out the ingredients. However, he quickly became frustrated after he measured out a specific amount, felt it was incorrect, then adjusted it every single time. Due to this, he completely gave up on using the measuring devices and began measuring without them, nearly giving the assistant who was watching a stroke.
[You know, it's strange,] Nadran thought, not for the first time. [It seems like I inherently know the exact amounts of herbs needed for all of these pills. I mean, I have a pretty good sense for the weights of herbs after having sold so many in the past, but that still doesn't explain this. Isn't this the kind of thing that would be acquired through countless hours of practice? I feel like it should be, but if so, how am I able to do it with almost no past experience? Well, I guess I can wonder more about this later. For now, let's just get this pill done with and stop getting distracted.]
Nadran used a sigil to light a fire beneath the cauldron, causing it to heat up. [If only I had a higher sigil realm, I would be able to control this fire better. I can barely manipulate the heat at all. I really need to find a cultivation manual I can use once I enter the academy, or I won't even be able to improve in alchemy.] Nevertheless, Nadran tried his best to manipulate the flame, but the minute control quickly caused his internal energy reserves to deplete, and his brow became beaded with droplets of sweat.
As time passed, Nadran's concentration began to waver. After all, the exhaustion of internal energy caused mental fatigue, and if the energy was completely expended, he would pass out. [Oh no! The two grasses have started to separate into layers! How did I not notice that was happening!] Nadran reprimanded himself, angry about his lapse in concentration. Since this was the exam he had been preparing for, he was pushing himself harder than he normally would. This resulted, however, in a large amount of strain being put on his mind, leading to a mistake. While he quickly fixed it, his face looked grim. [That mistake may have been enough to drop the pill by a grade,] he thought in frustration, but he tried to push it to the back of his mind and finish the pill forging.
Zosal, who had been watching Nadran the entire time, broke out into a smile at the sight of Nadran's distressed expression. "Hah, looks like he finally realized he can't succeed in the second exam. He thought that pure knowledge would allow him to enter Mirror Dragon Academy? He's too naïve! In the end, if you can't make the pill, having all the knowledge in the world won't help you!" Zosal exclaimed and laughed at Nadran's misfortune.
Nadran finally finished refining, and he pulled three pills out of the cauldron. They were spherical, glimmering like pearls, but he looked at them in dissatisfaction before bringing them over to the examiners.
One of the examiners began speaking as Nadran approached. "Looks like he's not too happy with the results. It seems like he might not pass after all. That's unfortu…" He trailed off as he picked up the pills, his expression changing to disbelief, and quickly walked into the back room. Upon reaching the back room where several teachers were relaxing as they waited for the test result, the examiner exclaimed, "Someone just refined two mid-grade pills! And he even made a high-grade pill!" His voice raised half an octave in shock.
The other examiners rushed over to look. "You're right!" a teacher exclaimed as she picked up the high-grade pill, examining it with her internal energy. She suddenly gasped. "This pill has a quality of 68%!"
"This was forged by one of the examinees?" another teacher asked in confusion. "Who has such precision among the examinees? I thought I knew their capabilities, but to be able to accomplish this before even entering the academy? This person is incredible! So, who made this?"
At the same time, Nadran was standing awkwardly outside the room, not sure what to do. [What is he doing?] Nadran wondered as he stared at the closed door. Most of the other examinees had been judged on the spot, and this was the first time Nadran had seen an examiner rush into the back room upon seeing a pill. [Is my pill so bad that he needed to bring it over to the other instructors so that they could all laugh at it? I wasn't happy with how it turned out, but I didn't think it was THAT bad. I guess I still have a lot to learn about alchemy.]
At this point, several instructors walked out of the back room and looked over at him. After a few seconds of silence, Nadran asked shyly, "Uh, so, did I pass?"
The instructors' gazes immediately became strange at this question. They looked at the young man standing before them, incredulity clear in their expressions.
"I understand," Nadran sighed, misunderstanding the cause of their expressions and looking visibly deflated. "I guess I'll see myself out then." He then began walking toward the exit.
This action sent one of the instructors into an uncontrollable coughing fit, and the others looked on, unsure whether they should laugh or cry at this preposterous situation. Why did this incredibly talented boy automatically assume he had failed? Was he just messing with them? They stood there like stone statues, unsure how to deal with what had just occurred, when one of them regained their wits and spoke up. "Please wait, Mr. Drasnor."
Nadran turned around, surprised. "Yes?" he asked, unsure of what the instructor's intent was.
"Um, there is no need to leave like that. Actually, you passed," the teacher explained with an awkward expression.
"Oh, really?" Nadran asked, growing excited.
"Yes, really," the instructor replied with a wry expression. "If you couldn't even pass with a high-grade pill at 68% quality, who could pass this test?"
Nadran tilted his head with a thoughtful expression. "Huh, I guess so." [Now that I think about it, wasn't Zosal bragging about refining a mid-tier pill or something? I was mostly ignoring him, so I almost forgot, but I'm pretty sure he said something like that. I guess I'm still tired from using up almost all of my internal energy on that pill refinement. I jumped to conclusions too quickly.]
"So, take this jade slip," the instructor said. "Bind your internal energy to it, and this will allow you to enter Mirror Dragon Academy tomorrow. The entrance ceremony and orientation will take place at noon tomorrow, and I encourage you to be there. It will help you understand the inner workings and structure of the academy."
"Alright, got it. I'll be going, then." Nadran nodded and turned around, then quickly stopped and turned back around before running over and placing the book he had been reading on a table. "Thanks for letting me read this, by the way," he said, smiling, then walked out of the building.
Curious, one of the instructors walked over, wondering what book he had borrowed. The instructor's eyes widened once more upon reading the title, 'Basic Alchemy Herbs, Volume 1.' He then looked at Nadran's departing back, a complicated expression on his face. He could not understand this strange young man, who seemed to be a walking pile of contradictions.
Meanwhile, Zosal was watching Nadran's departing figure, even more confused than the instructor. [Did he really pass? And he even made a high-tier pill with a quality of almost 70%? I can't believe it…] Upon remembering the condescending words he had thrown at Nadran earlier and his boasting about his own results, he lowered his head, cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, and wanted to find a hole to bury his head in to avoid the mocking gazes of his peers. Unfortunately, he could not escape their gazes until he rushed out of the building, wishing he had never provoked that young, poor-looking man.