Lord of the Demon Sect

Upon hearing this, the guard was taken aback. He quickly whispered a warning, “Miss, the number of people who come to take the alchemist examination on a given day is at most five or six, and sometimes not even a single person shows up. Moreover, I fear there may be only a handful who actually pass the exam in a year. Waiting here could be a waste of time!”

Liu Mo sighed softly, “Am I not aware of that? It’s just that I have to hold onto a slim hope. I don’t want to entirely give up on our family’s alchemy workshop! My father thinks that selling the pill furnace and transferring the workshop will show weakness to the Shang family, but he is completely mistaken! Others will only look down on the Liu family, believing we truly cannot compete with the Shang family. Right now, some of the staff in the talisman crafting room and the artifact crafting pavilion are resigning, and our family business is in a bleak situation. This is closely related to his original decision…”

Though Jiang Chen was slightly curious about Liu Mo’s story, he couldn’t afford to focus on anyone else’s affairs when he had his own issues to deal with. After paying one hundred spirit stones and receiving a card similar to an admission ticket, he entered the Alchemist Guild.

As he walked into the Alchemist Guild, a faint scent of elixirs greeted him, providing a refreshing atmosphere.

Inside the hall, there were not many people; only a few individuals were quietly attending to their own tasks. Upon hearing the footsteps, some looked up and glanced at Jiang Chen, who was wearing a red and black uniform of the Ghostly Slaughter Sect, with a trace of confusion in their eyes.

“A kid at the fourth layer of qi refinement, and with impure spiritual roots, is here to take the alchemist examination? Does he really think it’s that easy to become an alchemist? Just being a cultivator doesn’t mean you can do it!” one person thought.

“Perhaps he’s here to find someone, not to take the exam,” another speculated.

Standing in the rather quiet hall, Jiang Chen glanced around before quickly walking to the counter. He addressed a young woman in a red dress, saying, “Excuse me, I’m here to take the alchemist qualification exam!”

He then handed over the card.

The young woman, appearing to be in her twenties with bright eyes and a lovely smile, accepted the card, stamped it, and then elegantly took up a pen. Looking up at Jiang Chen, she smiled and said, “Honored Master, please state your name, age, and sect. I will register you right away.”

“Uh, my name is Jiang Chen, I’m eighteen years old, and I’m a disciple of the Ghostly Slaughter Sect,” Jiang Chen replied after a brief hesitation, then smiled.

“Ah, Master Jiang is quite lucky. You are the first to register for the examination today. Please come this way!” The young woman in red was a mortal and couldn’t discern Jiang Chen’s spiritual root or cultivation level, so she was quite courteous to him.

She quickly tidied up the items on the desk and held the tagged card with his name in hand, gesturing for Jiang Chen to follow her. “May I ask if you know the process of the examination?”

“Well… not really. Could you explain it to me?” Jiang Chen scratched his head as he replied.

With a gentle smile, the young woman said, “You are applying to be a junior alchemist. According to the exam requirements, all you need to do is use ten portions of low-level alchemy materials to refine a single low-level pill within 12 hours. The examination process is actually quite simple.”

“Got it!” Jiang Chen nodded and then asked, “What if I manage to refine two or even three pills with those ten portions?”

Upon hearing this, the young woman suddenly stopped in her tracks, taken aback.

Jiang Chen, puzzled, looked at the beautiful woman, wondering why she had halted abruptly.

“Master, are you saying… are you saying you could refine two or even three pills with ten portions of materials?” The young woman exclaimed, her lips slightly parted in surprise as she gazed at Jiang Chen. She thought to herself, he looks no older than seventeen or eighteen-how could he possibly achieve a success rate like that? This would be the level of an intermediate alchemist!

Seeing her astonishment, Jiang Chen couldn’t help but chuckle and casually replied, “I was just asking. Actually, my usual success rate is around ten percent. I was thinking, what if I perform exceptionally well during the examination today!”

The young woman let out a sigh of relief and said, “Master Jiang, you really startled me! I thought that someone your age could already reach the level of an intermediate alchemist. If you could truly succeed two times out of ten and use intermediate materials to refine intermediate pills, you would be a full-fledged intermediate alchemist… However, even using low-level materials, a success rate above twenty percent is remarkable! It would make you a key focus for the Alchemist Guild. That would indicate you have an excellent talent for alchemy and great potential!”

Jiang Chen smiled slightly, lowering his head without speaking. He had already made up his mind; he would unleash his full abilities during this examination. That way, with his cultivation level growing so quickly, there would be a reason for it. A highly talented alchemist, consistently producing pills, would naturally have a higher cultivation level. Additionally, it would draw his sect’s attention to nurture his growth, making his pursuit of the path to becoming a Holy Lord much easier.

At this moment, the two of them had stopped in front of a large gate, beyond which stood two guards on duty. Jiang Chen took a glance and felt that the spiritual pressure from these guards was even stronger than that at the entrance of the Alchemist Guild.

The young woman in red handed Jiang Chen’s card to one of the guards and respectfully bowed, saying, “Captain Qiu, this Holy Master from the Ghostly Slaughter Sect is here to take the junior alchemist examination!”

“Oh? A cultivator at the fourth layer of qi refinement has come to take the exam! I don’t know whether to say he’s naive or to commend his courage!” the guard remarked coldly, giving Jiang Chen a sidelong glance.

He had instantly discerned Jiang Chen’s cultivation level, which surprised Jiang Chen. It seemed the guard must be a cultivator at the foundation establishment stage himself, yet he was merely serving as a guard captain at the Alchemist Guild. This indicated that the guild was indeed a place teeming with hidden talents! It was no wonder it was affiliated with the elder council of the Demon Sect. It was said that their true strength rivaled that of the six top sects, and it was clear they were exceptional!

In front of a cultivator at the foundation establishment stage, Jiang Chen didn’t dare to show any arrogance.

Captain Qiu carefully examined the information and seal on the card, then wrote a large ‘3’ on the examination number. “Okay, you can go in now. You’re the third candidate today! Hehe, what a fortunate day it is to have three youngsters registering at once!”

Taking back the card, Jiang Chen tucked it away into his robes and bowed slightly to Captain Qiu. It was necessary to show proper respect.

“Master Jiang, this is the examination area! I can only escort you here,” the young woman said with a sigh of relief, having successfully brought him to the examination area.

“Thank you!” Jiang Chen replied with a smile and then stepped aside to enter through the gate.

Inside was a space resembling a pill room, segmented into small cubicles. Each cubicle contained a device resembling a dragon’s head, complete with switches. It seemed to control the ground fire. In each cubicle, there was also a tall shelf neatly stocked with various alchemy tools organized by category.

Around the hall were numerous pill furnaces, alchemy materials, and finished pills. The quantity far surpassed what Jiang Chen had seen in the previous alchemy workshops. It was clear that the Alchemist Guild had impressive resources.

At that moment, three cultivators appeared before him: one was a bald elder, the second was a middle-aged scholar with a long beard, and the third was a middle-aged woman who still possessed quite a bit of charm.

On the other side stood two young individuals, a man and a woman, both in their twenties, wearing uniforms from a sect Jiang Chen didn’t recognize.

The man was dressed in light blue clothing and was a burly figure. Although he was only in his twenties, he already sported a thick beard that resembled steel needles. With prominent brows and a broad mouth, he exuded an air of rugged strength, resembling a stout iron tower.

The woman appeared to be a year or two younger than him, clad in a colorful dress. Her face was strikingly beautiful, with an elegant oval shape, large expressive eyes, a finely shaped nose, and a pointed chin. Her delicate features resembled the soft petals of a freshly bloomed flower, radiating a youthful charm. Upon seeing Jiang Chen enter, her delicate brows furrowed slightly, adding an air of melancholy to her beauty.

Jiang Chen couldn’t discern their cultivation levels, but he guessed they were either disciples in the late stage of qi refinement or senior cultivators at the early stage of foundation establishment.

The bald elder sized up Jiang Chen and couldn’t help but burst into hearty laughter. “These days, anyone and everyone is trying to become an alchemist. We’ve raised the examination fee to one hundred spirit stones, yet there are still so many candidates. Do they really think being an alchemist is as easy as being a waiter in an inn? Just because you’re a cultivator doesn’t mean you can refine pills!”

The middle-aged scholar, stroking his long beard, added, “Young one, you appear to be only seventeen or eighteen, with merely a cultivation level of the fourth layer of qi refinement and impure spiritual roots. I wonder where your confidence comes from in attempting the alchemist examination?”

Hearing their condescending remarks, Jiang Chen felt a mix of indignation and determination. Although he recognized that these three examiners were undoubtedly more skilled and experienced than he was, he retorted, “Might I ask, does having poor spiritual roots and a lower cultivation level automatically mean one lacks the talent for alchemy? I simply have a passion for it and have paid the one hundred spirit stones. Is it necessary to be so dismissive?”

The three examiners couldn’t help but chuckle at his defiant tone. They had seen countless aspiring young cultivators like Jiang Chen, each dreaming of becoming an alchemist, and had long grown accustomed to it.

The middle-aged woman among them spoke candidly, “What type of cultivator has the talent for alchemy is a complex mystery, one that even the president of our Alchemist Guild hasn’t fully unraveled… However, if someone has poor spiritual roots and a low cultivation level, it will undoubtedly be much more difficult for them to become a good alchemist compared to an ordinary cultivator.”