Chapter 52 Damn it, he's pretending again
When Xiao Se entered the examination site, there were already many people gathered in the hall, talking and chatting in an endless stream.
At the top of the hall, two old men were sitting upright, both wearing fourth-grade alchemist badges on their chests. One of them was Otto whom Xiao Se had seen before, and the other was an old man with a thinner stature. Listening to their conversation, Xiao Se finally remembered the identity of this extra alchemist, the president of the Black Rock City Alchemist Guild, Falkland.
Next to Vice President Otto, Lin Fei pointed at Xiao Se from time to time, and then Otto gave Xiao Se an apologetic smile, which made Xiao Se speechless.
In the center of the hall, there were more than ten stone platforms separated from each other, and on the stone platforms were placed various medicinal materials and medicine refining equipment. At this moment, five young men were standing on the stone platforms impatiently.
"Falkland, I heard that you also accepted a disciple recently?" Otto gave Xiao Se a kind look, turned his head, and smiled at Foklan beside him.
"Haha, you old guy have accepted Lin Fei as your disciple, so why can't I accept another disciple? Let me tell you, Xue Mei is very talented. Sooner or later, she will surpass us two old guys." Falkland stroked his beard and said with a smile.
"Surpassing is the best. Right now the Black Rock City Alchemist Guild is in a period of transition, and it's just relying on the two of us old guys to hold it together. I'm worried that if this continues, the resources sent down from the headquarters will become less and less." Hearing this, Otto sighed lightly, and his eyes swept over the five people on the stone platform with a feeling of being disappointed in their talents. When he glanced at Xiao Se, his expression eased a little, and he thought to himself, I hope this little guy can bring me a surprise.
Noticing Otto's gaze, Xiao Se nodded slightly and smiled back at him.
Lin Fei, who was standing behind Otto, naturally saw Xiao Se and her teacher make eye contact, and she was furious. She pointed at Xiao Se and said to Otto, "Teacher, this kid pretended to be a fourth-grade alchemist and deceived the guild guards. Why are you still smiling at him?"
Falkland, who was standing by, heard someone pretending to be a fourth-grade alchemist. He put down the cup he had just picked up and frowned. The Alchemist Guild had zero tolerance for anyone pretending to be an alchemist. He then said in a cold voice, "How could such a thing happen?"
Seeing his old friend getting angry, Otto hurriedly stopped him and said, "Falkland, don't listen to what this little girl says. That guy just condensed the real fire, and he didn't say he was a fourth-grade alchemist."
After hearing what Otto said, Lin Fei realized that she had said the wrong thing. Because of a small awkwardness, she almost caused big trouble for others. She immediately closed her mouth and stopped talking.
"Real fire?" Upon hearing this, Falkland's eyebrows relaxed immediately, and his eyes lit up. He searched the table and finally found Xiao Se's information. He smiled and said, "Xiao Se, sixteen years old. He is so young. If he can condense real fire, even if he fails the assessment today, our Black Rock City Guild will have to try to win him over."
"Of course." Otto touched his round beer belly and smiled.
Soon, the test time arrived.
Otto glanced at the leaking hourglass on the table and said solemnly to Falkland beside him: "President, the time is up."
Falkland nodded slightly, stood up at the same time as Otto, and said loudly: "Now, I declare that the first-grade alchemist assessment officially begins."
"Ding" Otto struck the gong beside him, then changed the position of the hourglass and turned it around.
Hearing the start of the test, Xiao Se shrugged casually, walked slowly to his stone platform according to his test number, picked up the parchment on the stone platform, and took a look. This was a prescription called the Power Storage Pill, which was used to increase a person's strength to a certain extent. Among the first-grade pills, it was not too difficult to refine. However, for a newcomer who was taking the alchemist test for the first time, it was extremely difficult.
"Should I show off?" Glancing at the three pieces of medicinal herbs on the stone platform, Xiao Se raised his lips slightly and murmured in a low voice. But soon, he threw the idea away. He still needed to keep a low profile and not be arrogant just because he had some strength.
Immediately, he placed his right palm on one of the fire holes in the medicine cauldron and injected his fighting spirit into it. His soul perception then invaded into it. With a bang, the cauldron ignited a deep yellow flame. Then he put one of the three medicinal materials into the cauldron one by one according to an orderly manner. After a while, the medicinal materials in the cauldron were roasted into liquid medicine.
On the main seat at the top of the hall, Otto and Falkland stared intently at the newcomers taking the assessment on the stone platform. To be more precise, they were looking at Xiao Se. His skillful fire control skills and the smooth throwing of medicinal materials made him look like a master alchemist who had been honing his skills in medicine for decades.
"Wow, if this guy is not being mysterious, then we in Black Rock City have found a treasure." Falkland pinched his beard, revealing a look of enjoyment. For an alchemist, it can be said that there is nothing more enjoyable than to see a master alchemist making pills with his own eyes.
"That's true, but don't forget that the little guy hasn't used real fire yet." Otto stroked his round belly and continued with a smile.
"Do you mean that Xiao Se hid his strength?" Foklan asked in surprise.
"It's possible. You'll know if you keep watching. If he can really condense real fire, he will take part in the second-grade alchemist assessment." Otto replied with a smile.
"A second-grade alchemist. I'll have to wait and see." Falkland smiled, said no more, and continued to watch Xiao Se making medicine.
Lin Fei, who was standing aside, listened to the conversation between the two fourth-grade alchemists with a complicated expression, and murmured in her heart: "Is he that powerful?"
Soon, the assessment time ended.
As usual, the two guild presidents, Foklan and Otto, stood up and checked the pills made by the examiners. The result was just as they had expected, the first five people all failed to make pills.
When it was the sixth person's turn, Xiao Se, the two of them, with trepidation, picked up the jade bottle on the stone platform, checked the elixir that Xiao Se had refined, uncorked the bottle, tilted the bottle mouth, and rolled it into their palms. Otto and Falkland's pupils suddenly shrank, and they trembled and said, "Xiao Se, the power-accumulating elixir, flawless."
Hearing the sound, the hall fell silent instantly and fell into a dead silence. All eyes turned to Xiao Se as if looking at a monster. Even Lin Fei and those newcomers who failed the assessment were the same.
As we all know, in addition to the classification of elixirs from grade one to grade nine, each grade of elixir also has subtle quality differences.
Being able to refine high-quality pills is a very important existence in this alchemist level, and flawless means perfect and the quality has reached perfection.
It is not difficult to make a power-accumulating pill. Anyone who has obtained the alchemist badge can make it easily. However, it is difficult to make the quality flawless. Even some third-grade alchemists dare not say that they can refine a flawless power-accumulating pill. This requires not only talent and strength but also time. Otherwise, even with the guidance of a famous teacher, it is not something that ordinary people can easily achieve.