Chapter 29: Alchemist Tower

The first rays of dawn pierced through the clouds, illuminating a quiet courtyard.

Long Feng had ready stood ready as he decided to go Alchemist Tower today.

He was a inner disciple, and couldn’t became core disciple soon. The minimum cultivation requirement to become a core disciple was the Nascent Soul Realm.

While he had only recently entered the Golden Core Realm, reaching the Nascent Soul Realm would still take some time.

Since he couldn’t improve his status through cultivation, why not improve it through another way?

So he decided to take exam for Fourth Rank Alchemist. This way, his status and authority will increase in the sect.

Thinking about it, his lips curved upward.

Within the sect, a Fourth-Rank Alchemist’s status wasn’t inferior to many elders. Whether obtaining cultivation resources, accepting missions, or borrowing rare spiritual herbs, everything would become much easier.

Thinking this, Long Feng quickened his pace towards the Medicine Peak.

Unlike the other peaks specializing in combat, this place focused almost entirely on alchemy and spiritual herbs.

After walking for nearly fifteen minutes, a magnificent tower finally appeared before him.

It rose nearly twenty stories high. Its dark jade walls were engraved with countless ancient alchemical patterns.

A huge plaque hung above the entrance.

Alchemist Tower.

Like Pill Hall, this was also one of Medicine Peak’s most important locations. Every disciple who wished to advancing their rank, they have to came here.

Unlike the bustling Mission Hall, the surroundings here remained surprisingly quiet.

Although hundreds of disciples entered and exited the building every day, everyone maintained proper etiquette.

After all, most people here were alchemists. Compared to ordinary cultivators, alchemists generally possessed calmer temperaments.

Long Feng calmly entered the tower. The interior was vast, numerous counters lined the spacious hall.

He walked toward the nearest registration desk, behind it sat a young female disciple. Sensing someone approach, she raised her head.

"How may I assist you?"

Long Feng placed his identity token upon the table.

"I wish to participate in the Fourth-Rank Alchemist Examination."

She first picked up Long Feng’s identity token before carefully examining the Third-Rank Alchemist Badge hanging from his waist.

After confirming everything, she nodded.

"Please wait a moment."

She took out another jade slip and began registering his information.

"This is your first attempt to take exam for Fourth-Rank Alchemist, so you can take it."

Long Feng nodded upon her words.

In accordance with the tower’s rules, the first examination for each alchemist rank is free.

If an examinee fails and wishes to attempt the examination again, they must pay certain amount of contribution points for every additional attempt.

This rule existed for good reason.

Every alchemist examination consumed a considerable amount of spiritual herbs. If disciples could challenge the examinations freely, the Alchemist Tower would suffer enormous losses.

Therefore, only the first attempt was free and subsequent attempts required contribution points.

"A Fourth-Rank examination is about to begin. If you’re willing, you can join this batch immediately."

"Why not." Seeing his turn come so fast, he became very happy.

"Please follow me."

The female disciple stood up before leading Long Feng toward the upper floors of the tower. Soon, they arrived before a pair of massive bronze doors where she stopped at the door.

"You may enter."

Long Feng stepped inside.

The examination hall was extremely spacious, many pill platforms had been arranged neatly throughout the room.

At this moment, nine disciples were already waiting quietly. His late entry attract some gazes, nine pairs of eyes simultaneously turned toward him.

Long Feng merely glanced around before he went and stood at the end of line.

Not long after, the bronze doors slowly opened once more and an elderly man wearing dark crimson robes walked inside with calm steps.

His white hair reached his shoulders, while countless wrinkles covered his face. Although he looked old, his eyes remained incomparably sharp.

The most eye-catching object, was the badge hanging upon his chest with six golden stars.

A Sixth-Rank Alchemist.

Seeing the old man enter, everyone immediately cupped their fists respectfully.

"Greetings, Elder!"

The elder nodded indifferently. His sharp gaze swept across the ten examinees. Satisfied after confirming everyone had arrived, he slowly spoke.

"My surname is Xu. I shall be supervising today’s Fourth-Rank Alchemist Examination."

His voice wasn’t loud, yet every word clearly echoed throughout the hall.

Long Feng looked at the elder thoughtfully.

As much as he knew about the Alchemist Tower’s regulations, any examination shall be supervised by an alchemist at least two ranks higher. This ensures fairness while preventing cheating.

A Fourth-Rank examination naturally required a Sixth-Rank Alchemist to supervise it.

Elder Xu looked around once again.

"I won’t waste everyone’s time. There are two parts to today’s examination, so let’s start with the first one.

He slowly raised one hand and a white cloth covering an object in the corner of the hall flew away.

Everyone immediately looked over.

A black stone pillar nearly three meters tall stood silently there.

Embedded within the pillar were seven transparent crystal spheres arranged vertically from bottom to top.

Each crystal represented one alchemist rank.

"Channel your soul power into the pillar. The highest crystal your soul can illuminate shall determine your soul rank."

He paused briefly, before saying in hard tone.

"Only those whose soul power reaches the Fourth-Rank standard may proceed to the second examination. If your soul power is insufficient, you have to leave immediately."

No one objected with this rule, as this is not the first time to give such test for them.

Soul power was the foundation of every alchemist. Without sufficient soul strength, attempting to refine a Fourth-Rank pill was simply impossible.

"The examination begins."

A young man immediately stepped forward. Taking a deep breath, he placed one palm upon the pillar, invisible soul power surged forward.

Buzz—

The crystals began to lit up, until the fourth crystal emitted a gentle glow.

The young man’s tense expression immediately relaxed as he passed the test.

"Qualified. Next one."

Elder Xu nodded, as the disciple let out a sigh of relief before returning to his position.

One after another, the examinees stepped forward. Most successfully illuminated the fourth crystal.

However, not everyone possessed sufficient soul power. The fifth disciple only managed to light the third crystal before exhausting his soul strength.

"Not qualified."

Elder Xu’s indifferent voice sounded.

The disciple’s shoulders immediately slumped. He could only bow respectfully before leaving the examination hall with a bitter smile.

Soon, another disciple failed in the same manner.

Out of the nine examinees, only seven successfully reached the Fourth-Rank soul standard. The remaining two quietly left.

It’s then finally Long Feng’s turn came. Without saying a word, he walked toward the pillar and placed his hand upon the pillar.

The next moment, an enormous stream of soul power poured into the pillar.

Buzz!

The first crystal exploded with brilliant light, almost instantly, more crystals brighten with speed. Its radiance was far more dazzling than everyone else’s.

The surrounding disciples’ expressions changed.

"What powerful soul force..."

"Qualified." Elder Xu looked at him for several seconds before finally speaking. There was a hint of appreciation hidden within his calm voice.

Long Feng calmly returned to his position, his expression unchanged.

To him, this result wasn’t surprising.

After cultivating the Soul Dominating Seal and refining his soul with the natural treasures, his soul strength had long surpassed ordinary cultivators of the same realm.

"Let’s start the second part of assessment, that is Pill Refinement."

Elder Xu’s calm voice echoed throughout the hall. His gaze slowly swept across the remaining eight disciples, as he pointed out towards the platforms behind them.

"You have two hours to refind the pill of given formula. The examination begins now."

The atmosphere inside the hall instantly became solemn.

One after another, the examinees walked toward their assigned pill platforms. Long Feng also slowly stepped forward.

There was a black alchemy cauldron upon each cauldron, rested on the side was a jade box filled with spiritual herbs and a jade slip.

His gaze fell upon the jade slip. With a flick of his spiritual sense, the information flowed into his mind.

A smile gradually appeared on his lips.

This was the formula of a pill called Tiger Strength Pill, a Fourth-Rank medicinal pill capable of temporarily increasing the physical strength of Golden Core cultivators.

The refining difficulty wasn’t particularly high for someone like him.

However, when Long Feng’s gaze shifted toward the jade box beside the cauldron, he found over thirty different spiritual herbs there.

At first glance, many of them looked remarkably similar. A careless alchemist could easily mistake one for another.

"This is also seem a part of the examination."

Long Feng smiled faintly. Besides refining ability, an alchemist’s herb recognition talent was equally important.

Using the wrong herb, even one with nearly identical medicinal properties, would completely ruin the pill.

Without hesitation, he opened the jade box. One herb after another passed through his hands.

Golden Spirit Grass, Blood Leaf Vine, Purple Bone Flower, Earth Essence Root... his soul power spread out silently, examining every herb with precision.

Within only a dozen breaths, Long Feng had already selected the required thirteen herbs and placed the remaining herbs back into the jade box.

At this time, one after another, powerful spiritual energy erupted throughout the hall.

The examinees simultaneously raised their palms, streams of spiritual energy gathered before them before gradually transforming into flames.

Since they didn’t have Erath Flame in the assessment, they could only use ordinary flames condensed purely from spiritual energy.

This was the most basic method every alchemist learned.

Although their temperature couldn’t compare with special flames, they were sufficient for refining ordinary pills.

As everyone released their spiritual energy, Long Feng sensed their strength.

Previously, he had only sensed that these disciples had all entered the Golden Core Realm. Now, their cultivation levels became much clearer.

To his surprise, he was actually the weakest among them.

Among the eight examinees, his Second Level Golden Core cultivation ranked last. The second weakest had already reached the Fourth Level of the Golden Core Realm. The strongest had even stepped into the Seventh Level.

However, Long Feng merely smiled.

Cultivation wasn’t everything. An alchemist relied upon both flame and soul power, combine with his experience. And he didn’t lack in both, maybe even superior in something.