Death... and me

-Imai Taran, 73.52%-

"As expected."

"Surprises were bound to appear now that the type of test has changed."

"Hehe! Let's check the rest out."

-Saraif Lavil, 73.26%-

-Lusen Sasamil, 72.98%-

A lot of excellent results continued to appear. However, most of them came from the Sasamil Family or the subordinate clans.

-Bludo Porem, 73.67%-

"Oh! Someone surpassed Imai."

"Well, that's Elder Suan's grandchild. Elder Suan already retired to focus on his cultivation, but that didn't mean his descendants stayed still."

"This year's batch is really promising."

Werxa nodded as he looked at everything. However, deep down, he couldn't help but sigh.

'Not enough, not enough at all...'

Suddenly.

-Cluhe Sol, 76.71%-

While all of the elders were delighted to see that result...

"As expected."

"Look at Zanti. He's grinning from ear to ear."

"Hehe. Don't forget that it isn't over yet."

Werxa's brows only barely moved, though. He then looked at what kind of medicinal liquid Cluhe worked with. Following that, he used a Spiritual Sense message to question Zantis, who was watching from the sides with the other spectators.

'Zantis, I saw that Cluhe refined a vial of Golomeia Dark Vine medicinal liquid. Did Cluhe work with this kind of plant before, or was it his first time?'

Zanti was taken aback by that message. However, when he saw who asked it, he immediately answered.

'This old man's disciple hasn't worked with that herb before. I've watched his whole training so far, so I'm sure he didn't. Even if he did touch it without me knowing, it wasn't more than a few times. He did that on his own, Guild Leader.'

Werxa narrowed his eyes after hearing that.

'Very well. That's a good seed. Take good care of him.'

Zanti immediately nodded as he thanked Werxa for the compliment.

Werxa, on the other hand, couldn't help but ponder.

'He's barely passable. Still, I need at least three.'

It was then that someone piqued his interest.

-Lita Xue, 83.67%-

Immediately, the room went in an uproar!

"Oh! That girl smashed Cluhe's previous number.'

"Wait! What was the medicinal liquid she used? If she got the one she was good at, then it could be understandable."

"Let me see... Her best result in the previous exam was using Ramalia Sun Flower. However, she got this result with a Tavarian Stalk medicinal liquid."

"Impressive. If Lita wasn't pretending in the first phase, she got this result with a herb she isn't familiar with. That's a great achievement."

Roan looked at that and didn't find the result strange. No one in the room had a better perception of Yin and Yang energies than him. Of course, his Yang Energy perception was because of his link with Rean. Roan had long noticed that girl and expected her to get this result in the purifying test.

'Her Blue Flames are made with Water and Fire. She used the Water Element's soothing trait to protect the medicinal liquid while destroying the impurities with the Fire Element. It's basically the same thing I'm doing, but at a lower level. If I'm not wrong, she has an affinity for the Fire Element while using a Yin Element cultivation technique to manipulate the Water Element at a similar level. Quite a clever way of manipulation. It's especially effective for the purifying stage of the concoction, just like me.'

If Rean was here, his mouth would surely be agape. That was an incredibly huge compliment when you considered who was saying that.

Roan wasn't the only one interested in her, though. Werxa had finally shown an expression of surprise.

'Now that's what I'm talking about! As long as she's properly taught how to do medicinal extractions, her purifying talent will reach even greater heights. I can use her.'

The tests continued until finally, the last vials began to be tested, including Roan's vial. Roan and Old Worm didn't seem to care too much about it, though. It was as if they already knew what to expect from it.

-Roan Larks, 90.35%-

The room that before had gone in an uproar now froze in silence. The only thing that moved was Old Worm's head as he thought.

'Pretty much what I expected. Sure enough, having a natural affinity for the Dark Element instead of using a Yin Energy ability to control it is completely different.'

Roan acted the same way as Old Worm, not surprised with that result at all. He and Old Worm had concocted together for a very long time, so they knew that it would happen. One must remember that Old Worm commented in the past that he doubted Roan would fail in the Alchemist Exam to start with. These results only confirmed what they already knew.

However, the others were different. This wasn't just a fantastic result for a low-quality medicinal liquid. This was already very good, even if Roan had refined with a high-quality liquid. 

"The hell?"

"How did he do that?"

"Was that the same herb as the first phase?"

"No, the herb he used in the first phase was a Tavarian Stalk, the one that Lita got her results just a moment ago."

"The medicinal liquid he got this time was Vermillion Rak, completely different."

Werxa was also shocked by the result. He heard the talk by the sides, so he immediately understood that Roan was Old Worm's disciple.

'Fauk, did Roan use to work with that flower before?'

Old Worm looked at Werxa behind the other elders on stage. Unlike Zanti, Old Worm didn't seem to care that the Guild Leader of the Alchemist Guild talked to him. Still, he shook his head.

'No.'

Well, he didn't say much either...

Werxa's mouth twitched after seeing Old Worm's reaction. Because he had to supervise the Alchemist Guilds' activities in the Sasamil Empire, he had little time to interact with the members of the Main Branch. That being said, he didn't know Old Worm as well as the other alchemists around him.

Of course, those alchemists were also making Old Worm run out of patience with the torrent of questions after this last result. If not because he wanted to see Roan's performance until the end, he would have left just like he did back in the Shadow Reaper Organization.

Werxa then shook his head and looked at Roan with his eyes twinkling. 

'That girl Xue was already good, but this guy is just perfect. As long as he performs this well in the rest of the exam, I'll use him. Anyway, I will need three to start with, so I better bring Lita as well. As for the last one, I still have a few good members to consider from previous examinations.'

'Now... it will depend on the other guilds.'

No one knew what Werxa was thinking, though.

Last but not least, all the young alchemists' attention shifted from Lita Xue to Roan. Lita's results were already incredible, but Roan's result was just too overwhelming. If not because Roan was participating under all the elders' eyes, they would even think he cheated.

Cluhe, who was feeling quite satisfied with his result before, felt like he didn't even exist now.

'Who's this fella? One Lita was already enough, but now this guy also appeared.'

Lita, on the other hand, looked intently at Roan. She could tell that Roan was using the same technique as her. However, the level he reached with it was simply nothing she could compare with. Well... many alchemists also used that technique since it wasn't a secret to start with. It's just that only Roan caught her attention.

Obligan noticed that the commotion wouldn't die anytime soon, so he decided to intervene.

"Ahem... The rest of the results have been disclosed already. Now, I'm announcing the first 300 that are going to the next phase."

1st: Roan Larks;

2nd: Lita Xue;

3rd: Cluhe Sol;

4th: Bludo Porem;

5th: Imai Taran;

6th...

It was then that someone noticed something.

"Hey, can you see that? How long has it been since the first three positions didn't have a member of the Imperial Family or the Subordinate Clans?"

"Oh! Now that you've said it, it's quite surprising indeed."

"It's not that they did bad. Look at their results. They have all the positions from 4th all the way to 13th. It's just that there were too many dark horses."

"Well, one of them is more like a Dark Dragon..."

Sister Orb had heard those people and couldn't help but comment.

[Hahaha! Dark Horse is simply too fitting. You already have the Dark Element. As long as you use a fur coat and neigh a little, it should be perfect!]

Roan's mouth twitched.

'You've been silent for so long. Why must you open your mouth now?'

[Because I'm bored.]

'Go to hell! First of all, aren't you helping Rean pass his test? What are you doing here? You should know that I probably won't need you.'

[Sigh... that son of mine has grown up already. He doesn't need Mommy Orb to help him anymore.]

Rean, who was preparing to draw his formation, heard that comment as well.

'Who the hell is your son? Don't start inventing stories just because you didn't have a chance to help me.'

'First of all, why am I treated as your son while the Ice Block over there isn't?'

[Because Roan is not cute.]

Rean cursed out loud.

'To hell with that. We are identical except for the color of our hair.'

Roan snorted in response.

'Fortunately, that's the only place we look the same, little guy.'

[Roan's right! How can you compare with his 'I'm a zombie' attitude? It's just too sad to look at Roan.]

Rean finally nodded, satisfied.

'Well, that's true.'

Roan was the one to curse now.

'Who the hell's a zombie?'

While everyone was worried about their exams, those three argued in their own world.

---

Note: Another two chapters. Gonna keep like this for a while.