NOVPUB
Chapter 213: 10 Stars Badge Alchemist
After closing the door, Marco looked at Aldrian with a blank expression. He had just asked the receptionist who attended to Aldrian, and true to Aldrian’s words, he had indeed only purchased a cheap cauldron and a beginner’s book on alchemy. Marco had also contacted the registration department through a communication artifact, and they confirmed that there was no one named Aldrian Aster in their records.
Did Aldrian come from another alchemist association? If they had someone like Aldrian, they would surely boast about it to the entire continent and make the Alchemist Association eat their dust. Aldrian’s mere appearance had already shifted the balance of power among the alchemist groups on the continent. But even if Aldrian truly belonged to another association, what purpose could he have in joining the Alchemist Association? To steal recipes? No, with Aldrian’s capabilities, there would be no need to steal anything.
He couldn’t make sense of the situation. Did Aldrian really achieve all of that on his first attempt at concocting pills? It was utterly ridiculous. If Aldrian had already succeeded and even created something unprecedented, wouldn’t that make him the most genius alchemist to ever appear? As he arrived at this conclusion, he began to look at Aldrian differently.
The other two alchemists reached the same conclusion. When they saw Marco return to the room with a blank expression, they knew that what Aldrian had said was true. He truly was new to alchemy and simply wanted to begin his journey in the field. He said he wanted to become an alchemist? Then they would grant him that status! A test? Fuck that—he had already created something unprecedented, what more could a test prove? However, they still wanted to watch Aldrian concoct pills. They were eager to see if his miraculous abilities would work with other recipes as well.
"Aldrian, I want you to create a different pill. Can you do that? Don’t worry about the ingredients; I’ll take care of them," Marco said, anticipation shining in his eyes.
"Of course, senior. Just show me the ingredients and the steps to create it, and I’ll do my best to concoct it," Aldrian replied confidently.
After that, Marco selected a recipe for an energy replenishment pill designed to restore the energy of Viscount-stage cultivators. This pill was more complex than the supplement pills, requiring precise control to ensure the replenishment dose met the necessary requirements and contained no defects. It was one of the essential pills often carried by cultivators to restore their energy during battles.
Aldrian read through the steps quickly and carefully, leaving the three grandmasters wondering if he had truly absorbed the instructions. Afterward, Marco handed him the ingredients, and Aldrian began the concocting process. The three elders watched intently, their entire focus on the concocting process. Once again, they wore astonished expressions as they observed Aldrian’s method of concoction. There were subtle differences in Aldrian’s methods that made them realize they could incorporate similar adjustments to improve the quality of their own pills.
It felt as though they had returned to the learning phase of their younger days. At their age and level of experience, there were little to none new things that could astonish them Yet today had brought them one surprise after another.
After a few moments, Aldrian finally finished. When they examined the final product, they were truly shocked—it had yielded four energy replenishment pills. Normally, the same amount of ingredients would produce only three pills. To their further amazement, all of the pills bore six stripes on their surfaces.
The appearance of four pills instead of the usual three, all of the highest quality, demonstrated just how effective Aldrian’s concocting process was. There was no waste of herbs, no impurities, and no unnecessary or excessive steps in each phase. Everything was perfect, without a single flaw! Furthermore, Aldrian’s process was much faster than that of a normal alchemist, making it all the more impressive.
The three grandmasters then consumed the pills to test their effects, and to their shock, the pills replenished about 5% of the energy in their dantian. Although their dantian wasn’t severely depleted, they were able to gauge the effectiveness of the pills simply by the feeling they had after swallowing them.
5% may not seem like much, but it’s important to note that the recipe for these energy replenishment pills is designed for cultivators up to the Viscount stage. Normally, if consumed by an Emperor stage cultivator, the pills would have no effect whatsoever. To increase energy by 5% in emperor stage is a miracle in itself and has never happened before.
Their obsession suddenly awakened, and they looked at Aldrian like hungry beasts. Their gaze made him shudder, as he knew what they were about to do. The moments that followed were what Aldrian would later call the "marathon concoction." Blinded by their obsession, they asked him to create several more pills with different recipes. It seemed they had forgotten that Aldrian was still a beginner and had only intended to take a test to become an alchemist. The success of each end product, always of the highest quality, had made them forget that Aldrian was still in his learning and beginner phase.
Each pill was more complex than the last, and before they knew it, Aldrian had already been asked to create a pill recipe for King stage cultivators! Despite the increasing difficulty, the end product remained the same as before, with the six-stripe pills. There was no denying it—this young man was the greatest of all time!
For Aldrian, this was also a learning experience. With each repeated concoction, he began to grasp the art of the concoction. His movements became less rigid, and he learned about new herbs he had never encountered before. The three grandmasters also helped him by explaining things he didn’t fully understand. It could be said that this time, he gained a tremendous amount of benefit.
After Aldrian had successfully concocted pills suitable for King stage cultivators, the three grandmasters finally came out from their obsessive state. They looked at Aldrian as if he were one of their own. More accurately, Aldrian had become one of their colleague, and they were learning from each other. Aldrian didn’t feel bad about it at all; after all, the grandmasters treated him very well.
Marco looked at Eleine, who had been silent by the side all this time.
"Young miss, what is your relationship with Aldrian?" he asked.
"I’m just his elder sister, senior," Eleine replied.
"Sigh... Your younger brother is truly a great alchemist. I really wonder how I never met Aldrian earlier. He is really a hidden gem, no, he is a singularity. There has been no one like him in the history of the continent," he said. If he had read all the records of alchemy’s history on the continent, he would find that no one had ever achieved what Aldrian just did.
Eleine smiled upon hearing Marco’s compliment. The praise from one of the grandmaster alchemists on the continent would bring tremendous benefit to Aldrian. Given the situation, she could consider Aldrian’s operation a success—they had successfully infiltrated the Alchemist Association through the three grandmasters.
"You said you came to take the test to become an alchemist of our association, right? Come with me. We can discuss your official badge while we eat something. Forget about those tests—I’ll give you the badge, even a 10-star badge," Marco said to Aldrian with a smile.
"When someone rises in rank to become a 10-star alchemist, we conduct the test directly and serve as the assessors. But as we can see, you’re more than worthy to wear a 10-star badge." He added.
Hearing Marco, Aldrian raised an eyebrow, while Eleine was shocked. To grant Aldrian a 10-star badge, the highest rank of alchemist on the continent, when he had just started practicing alchemy not long ago—it was unbelievable. He hadn’t even experienced being a one-star alchemist, and now her young master was jumping straight to 10 stars! There no more than 30 people with a 10-star badge across the entire continent. While the number might seem many, when compared to the continent’s population of hundreds of billions, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Aberin and Maria also nodded in agreement.
"Yes, there’s no way we would give you a badge from the bottom rank with your capabilities. That would be a humiliation to you and your capabilities. You’re already worthy of wearing that badge. Heck, if there were more stars than 10, I’d say you deserve them," Aberin said.
"Agreed, you are the greatest alchemist to ever appear, and we’ve learned so much from you. Consider the 10-star badge a gift from us," Maria said.
"Aish... if only the Association Master were here, he would instantly agree and give you a 10-star badge himself. But it’s okay; he’ll understand if we decide to give it to you," Marco said.
Aldrian, however, felt confused.
"Association Master? None of you seniors here lead the association? I thought people on the continent considered you three the best alchemists around?" Aldrian asked.
The three grandmasters were stunned for a moment, then they laughed.
"Being the best alchemist isn’t the only requirement to become the Association Master. Anyway, we usually need his approval to make someone a 10-star alchemist in the Alchemist Association, but he’ll understand if we give you the 10-star badge. Come with me, let’s discuss this matter in a more comfortable place."
