Ninth In the World

Di Jiu saw that the alchemy master card Jue Yan had received was an orange jade card.

Jue Yan obviously did not expect Di Jiu to be able to pass the test. Thus, he took the third-grade alchemy master card, bowed before the examiners, and then turned around and laughed at Di Jiu before he walked out of the hall.

Di Jiu ignored Jue Yan’s mockery, as he would definitely pass the test.

“Di Jiu, you are quite good. Being able to score 99 marks at the theory test within half an hour is really impressive.”

99 marks? Di Jiu started to think about what had gone wrong.

The examiner on the left said, “If you had been more careful, you could easily have scored more than 100 marks.”

More than 100 marks? That examiner continued speaking while Di Jiu was still feeling confused. “The last question was about breaking an array using an elixir formula, and you had to use the abalone shell. However, you did not use the abalone shell at all. Hence, your elixir formula would fail, no matter what it was. This question was worth 11 marks, so it is quite a pity that you didn’t even get a single mark.”

Di Jiu understood the situation and realized that the total number of marks in the paper was 110.

Scoring 99 marks was acceptable, since he would still pass. Di Jiu was very clear about how he had lost the 11 marks. He had not answered the question incorrectly. However, the examiner’s understanding of array formations was not as good as his, so the latter had not understood the use of his elixir formula at all.

Who said that the abalone shell had to be used to break the array?

Despite knowing that the examiner was wrong, Di Jiu did not intend to correct his mistake. His only concern was getting the third-grade alchemy master identification card certified by the Elixir Association, not getting full marks.

The examiner still nodded. “You have a strong foundation of the theory of herbs. Considering the Mystic Essence Elixir you have refined, I can say for sure that your elixir Dao level is the highest among the four alchemy masters.”

As he was speaking, the examiner poured the 10 elixirs Di Jiu had refined into a white-jade bottle. “Actually, there are three high-grade immortal pills among the ten pills you have refined. The rest of the pills are all middle-grade Mystic Essence Elixirs. The pills you have refined have very clear elixir Dao runes. Look… Hmm…”

The examiner then exclaimed, “One of your elixirs has faintly visible pill inscriptions and can make the grade of a special-class Mystic Essence Elixir! Not bad, not bad…”

The examiner put away all the elixirs Di Jiu had refined after saying that and stored some information into the jade card he took out. He passed the jade card to Di Jiu and said, “You have done very well in this test. I am Deacon Lin Qing of the Elixir Association. You can come and look for me if you need to.”

He saw the potential in Di Jiu and wanted to do him a special favor. The fact that an Immortal King Deacon of the Elixir Association had taken the initiative to associate with Di Jiu showed that Di Jiu indeed had impressive potential in alchemy.

Di Jiu accepted the identification card hurriedly and bowed. “Thank you very much for your kindness.”

Lin Qing nodded. “You may take your leave.”

“Yes.” Di Jiu put away the identification card and left the examination hall.

…

Di Jiu made up his mind when he returned to the All Emptiness Inn. He had heard from the people at the Elixir Association that third-grade alchemy masters led comfortable lives in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City. Besides, he could start going on missions to search for the immortal herbs within the Elixir Association, as he was an alchemy master of the Elixir Association.

He would not go on a mission to search for the Agama True Glazed Water yet, because he had just become a third-grade alchemy master. He would only start seeking the herb after working at the Star Elixir Dispensary for some time and gaining some more understanding about the immortal herbs in this place.

Although Di Jiu could not attain the Agama True Glazed Water due to his cultivation level, he had to get it.

After resting at the All Emptiness Inn for one night, he arrived at the Star Elixir Dispensary once again the next morning.

Many elixir buildings in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City had been recruiting alchemy masters for some reason. Although the Star Elixir Dispensary was not the only option for Di Jiu, he did not intend to go to any other places after his first time there.

Unlike the previous day, the Star Elixir Dispensary was bustling that day. Di Jiu saw many alchemy masters registering. Their identification cards were mainly white and yellow, but there were very few people with orange identification cards like Di Jiu.

White identification cards represented grade-one alchemy masters, yellow identification cards represented grade-two alchemy masters, while orange identification cards, like the one Di Jiu had, represented third-grade alchemy masters.

“Sir, we hire alchemy masters who have the alchemy identification card verified by the Elixir Association.” The shop assistant who had attended to Di Jiu the previous day identified and stopped him hurriedly when he was about to join the queue at the back.

A lady wearing a green dress walked over before Di Jiu could speak. “Qi Xing, what’s the matter?”

She walked over hurriedly when she saw the shop assistant trying to stop Di Jiu. All the alchemy masters who came to sign up were honored guests of the Star Elixir Dispensary and they were treated with respect, no matter whether they were selected or not. Therefore, the shop assistant should not have stopped anyone from signing up.

“Deacon Huo, this gentleman is not a certified alchemy master of the Elixir Association…” The shop assistant did not expect that Di Jiu would pass the test so quickly, as it had only been one day.

“Go aside first.” The lady in the green dress raised her hand. She had understood what was going on before the shop assistant could even finish his sentence.

“Yes.” The shop assistant left quickly.

Then, the lady said in an apologetic tone, “Daoist, the shop assistant of the elixir building was not flexible enough. Please do not take this to heart. You may sign up as an alchemy master in the Star Elixir Dispensary, even if you do not have an identification card from the Elixir Association, as long as…”

“I acquired an alchemy identification card hurriedly because I heard that it was needed yesterday.” Di Jiu took out an orange alchemy identification card before she had finished speaking.

“You’re a third-grade alchemy master…” the lady repeated excitedly when she saw the alchemy identification card in Di Jiu’s hand.

Even though many alchemy masters had signed up at the Star Elixir Dispensary, most of them were grade-one or grade-two alchemy masters. Very few were third-grade alchemy masters. Even if any third-grade alchemy masters came, they would be the weaker ones, because the real masters would have gone to bigger elixir buildings.

If Di Jiu had been able to obtain a third-grade alchemy token so quickly just because he had heard that it was required, he was definitely not a weakling, but a competent alchemy master. The Star Elixir was in need of such alchemy masters.

“I am Deacon Huo Qianqian of the Star Elixir Dispensary. Alchemy Master Di, you do not have to wait in line. Please follow me upstairs for the test,” the lady responded hurriedly.

She had to sign an agreement with Di Jiu quickly before he left to visit bigger elixir buildings.

Di Jiu was not surprised by the fact that Huo Qianqian knew his name, as it was written on the alchemy master identification card and she was a mid-stage Zenith Heaven Immortal who could sense his name just by using her spiritual force.

“Please lead the way.” Di Jiu would rather skip the queue since he had the option to do so.

Although the Star Elixir Dispensary was not huge, there were still three stories in the building. Huo Qianqian led Di Jiu directly to the third story.

There was a big door in the middle of the third story with three words written on it: Star Alchemy Room. Huo Qianqian stood at the door. She sounded a little excited as she said, “Senior Hui, a third-grade alchemy master is here for the recruitment test.”

“Come in.” An elder’s voice came from the room. Di Jiu saw a sorrowful elder with only a few strands of hair sitting in front of the cauldron when the door opened.

“Alchemy Master Di, please enter the room with me.” Huo Qianqian’s tone was extremely polite as she spoke to Di Jiu using voice transmission. “Alchemy Master Di, Elder Hui used to be a grade-four alchemy master of the Star Elixir Dispensary. Unfortunately, his alchemy Dao was destroyed during an alchemy battle, so he is unable to refine elixirs now.”

Although he could no longer refine elixirs, he could still make evaluations. Hence, he was there to assess Di Jiu.

Di Jiu was confused. Huo Qianqian did not have to tell him all those things, as he was not an alchemy master of the Star Elixir Dispensary yet. Even if he was part of the team, he did not have to know all those secrets.

It seemed like Huo Qianqian wanted to win Di Jiu over.

Di Jiu followed Huo Qianqian into the alchemy room. Elder Hui sighed when he saw Di Jiu. As a senior alchemy master, he could tell that Di Jiu was quite young immediately.

How could a young alchemy master refine good elixirs?

“Do you know how to refine the Darkglow Elixir?” Elder Hui asked just as Di Jiu entered the room.

“I can do it,” Di Jiu said without hesitation.

Elder Hui did not ask any more questions. He just took out a pile of herbs. “Refine a cauldron of Darkglow Elixirs and we will discuss your pay and status after you are done.”

Elder Hui was a straightforward person. Huo Qianqian, who was afraid that Di Jiu would be offended by him, said hurriedly, “Elder Hui is straightforward. Alchemy Master Di, please don’t take his words to heart.”

“I won’t.” Di Jiu waved. He knew that he had to be a little serious about the test because it would determine his pay and status in the Star Elixir Dispensary in the future.