Chapter 11: Become an Alchemist (1)
In the early morning of the next day, Qingshi finished washing and went to the hotel's restaurant to have breakfast. There were only a few guests in the large restaurant.
There were very few choices for breakfast, so Qingshi simply ordered one of each. After a while, the waiter brought them over one after another. There were six items in total, some meat and some vegetarian. Qingshi tasted them one by one, but none of them were satisfactory.
Qingshi had already prepared in his heart, smiled bitterly, shook his head and ate all he wanted. In fact, the food here was much better than in Yahua City, but it still couldn't catch Qingshi's eyes.
After getting up and walking out of the hotel door, Qingshi asked the waiter at the door about the Alchemist Guild. The waiter pointed to the side and said: This is the one that's not next to each other.
Qingshi walked in the direction pointed. Next to the right was a building that was almost the same size as the hotel. It was also four floors. The facade on the ground floor was wider than the hotel. There was a big gourd hanging outside the broad and imposing door. Inside the door was The counter turned out to be a large elixir shop.
At this time, the storefront had just opened, and a dozen waiters inside and outside the counter, uniformly dressed, were busy with each other.
Going further to the right, you will see a big red door with two opposite doors. Outside the door, there is a tall stone monster squatting on each side. It looks like a unicorn and a tiger. Qingshi doesn't know what kind of monster it is.
There is a large plaque on the lintel of the Dahong Gate, which reads the seven characters of Liang Yuan Alchemist Guild. The characters are very big, but the calligraphy is not flattering. At this time the door has been opened.
Qingshi stepped forward, and a man in green clothes came over and asked, "What's the matter with this little brother?" His attitude was quite gentle.
Qingshi explained his purpose, and the man looked Qingshi up and down, not daring to be negligent, and led Qingshi into the gate.
Inside the door is a medium-sized courtyard, with lush flowers and grass under the walls on the left and right sides. The courtyard is paved with green bricks, and there are large water tanks placed in each of the four corners. There are spiritual plants similar to water lilies planted in them, which have a faint fragrance.
Passing through a circular doorway, you enter another average-sized courtyard. This courtyard is surrounded by buildings on three sides, with two floors on the left and right, and a three-story building in the middle. They are all solid wood mortise-and-tenon structures with cornices and heavy eaves.
The man led Qingshi to a small living room on the left, said please wait a moment, and went out. After a while, he turned back, and behind him was a short, fat old man with a gray beard and some sloppy clothes.
The man first said respectfully to the fat old man that this was Qingshi who wanted to take the test as an alchemist, and then said to Qingshi, this is Elder Lu from our Liangyuan Alchemist Guild.
Qingshi stepped forward to greet him respectfully. Seeing the man leave, Qingshi thanked him again.
There was a look of appreciation on Elder Lu's face. It was appropriate to pay him a courtesy, but thanking the gatekeeper was not what ordinary people would do. Elder Lu suddenly had a better impression of Qingshi.
Elder Lu was about to ask when he saw another tall old man with a red face, black hair and black beard walk in. However, he did not speak. He only gestured to Elder Lu to let him continue, and he stood aside and listened.
Elder Lu wanted to meet the old man, but when he saw that he was like this, he decided not to introduce him to Qingshi for the time being. He coughed lightly and asked Qingshi: "This little brother is called Qingshi, right? I don't know where he is from?"
"Junior Qingshi, from Huadu Prefecture"
"Well, since you are here to test the alchemy master, I wonder who you are studying under?"
"The junior master was originally from the Zhongshan country and lived in seclusion in Huadu Mansion, but I am from the Mingshan country." He emphasized that the master lived in seclusion but did not mention his name, and emphasized that he was a native of his country.
The two old men looked at each other. In this world where the jungle is full of blood, there are too many people who hide their names to hide from their enemies. As for the country, both Zhongshan Country and Mingshan Country are small affiliated countries of the Tianlong Empire, and there is not much difference.
Elder Lu then asked: "Looking at my cultivation, I should be at a high level of Qi training, but I don't know what level it is?"
"Seventh Stage of Qi Training Realm."
"So how old are you this year?"
"eighteen."
"Well, you can become an alchemist at the age of eighteen, which is not bad." A smile slowly appeared on the old man's face, "I'm a little behind the seventh level of Qi training, but we alchemists focus all our energy on alchemy. Yeah, it’s normal for your cultivation level to be a little lower. Well, if you can pass the assessment and become a registered alchemist, our guild will give you seven... No, we will give you ten three-star Qi pills. Let’s help you first. Besides rising to the eighth level, this level of cultivation is still very important. If you want to achieve higher achievements in alchemy..."
Qingshi smiled secretly in his heart: Three-star Qi Pill, ten more? In the past two years or so, I have eaten no less than twenty pills for my four-star pills, and I have taken two to three hundred pills for my three-star pills, but I haven’t seen any improvements in my cultivation.
He was able to refine the four-star Qi Pill half a year ago.
The red-faced and black-bearded old man coughed. Elder Lu quickly stopped and said with a smile: "Then let's go to the alchemy room for the assessment, shall we?"
The three of them walked out of the small living room and came to the middle living room of the three-story building on the front. There was a tall and thin middle-aged man sitting in the host seat talking to an old man in rich clothes sitting in the guest seat.
Elder Lu said to the tall, thin middle-aged man: "Someone is here to take the alchemy exam. Go to the West Alchemy Room quickly." Without stopping, he turned into the West Wing.
Qingshi and the red-faced and black-bearded old man followed in, and saw that it was a large room with a small and thick door. There was only a circular window opening in the middle of the walls on both sides of the room.
There are three identical alchemy furnaces lined up in the middle of the house. There is a futon in front of each alchemy furnace, and there is an operation counter next to it, with knives, scissors, scales, measuring cups, stone mortars, iron pestles and other things stacked up.
The tall, thin middle-aged man also walked in.
Elder Lu closed the door, smiled and said to Qingshi: "This is President Lin of our Liangyuan Alchemist Guild." The tall red-faced old man with a black beard nodded slightly, and Qingshi quickly bowed to the old man with a black beard.
Elder Lu continued to introduce, "This is Elder Liu from the guild." Qingshi saluted and said hello to the tall, thin middle-aged man.
Elder Lu continued with a smile: "The three of us are the management of the Liangyuan Alchemist Guild. Do you know the assessment rules, ah, I don't know, then let me tell you about it. First we will take out three alchemy recipes. You Choose one of them to make the elixir according to the recipe. If you succeed, you will pass the test. You have two chances, which means it doesn’t matter if you fail the first time, you can try again.”
After speaking, he said to Elder Liu: "Old Liu, come on."
Elder Liu waved his hand, and three pill prescriptions appeared in his hand. Without saying a word, he just stretched out his hand and handed it to Qingshi.
Qingshi leaned forward slightly, took it and saw that it was a first-grade Qi-Reviving Pill, a first-grade Detoxifying Pill and a first-grade Qingxin Pill. They were all the most basic and common first-grade elixir prescriptions. After reading them, Qingshi handed the list back and said, "Then let's take the Qi Restoration Pill."
Elder Liu said: "You choose which pill furnace to use and the medicinal materials." Then with a wave of his hand, a dozen white cloth bags and seven or eight earthen jars were piled on the ground, "Also, let me add something that Elder Lu didn't say just now. , this assessment is time-limited and cannot exceed one hour."
Elder Lu quickly said to the side: "Old Liu, why do you really choose the medicinal materials yourself? You should give them according to the prescription records, and you should also measure the dosage."
But when President Lin raised his hand, Elder Lu had no choice but to stop talking.
Qingshi smiled at Elder Lu and said, "It's okay." Then he walked to the pile of medicinal materials and started looking through them.
Elder Liu took out a timer and pressed it. Elder Lu refused: "Hey, Old Liu, do you also have to count the time for selecting medicinal materials? You..."
On the side, President Lin gently patted Elder Lu on the shoulder and whispered: "Don't worry, Old Lu. I think this kid can handle it. What happened to you today? Isn't he a relative of yours?"
"Hi!" Elder Lu sighed, "What are you talking about, Lao Lin? I don't have any relatives or apprentices. You see, Liang Yuan has taken two exams in three years and has not passed them. I am Look at this kid..."
"Okay, okay," President Lin said, "I know what you are thinking, but what can we do if no one wants to come? I think this young man is humble, polite and has a good temperament. No wonder you like him. I hope he You may have some talent in alchemy. As for the assessment time, just be flexible. Okay, okay, let’s take a look at the assessment first.”
After speaking, President Lin turned to look at the bluestone, but exclaimed in a low voice: "Hey!"
"What's wrong?" Elder Lu asked, then turned around and said, "Ah!"
The two looked at each other as if they had seen a ghost, and then quickly looked at Elder Liu. But he saw Elder Liu staring at Qingshi with his mouth wide open, with a strange expression.
It turned out that while President Lin and Elder Lu were talking quietly for a while, Qingshi had already selected the medicinal materials and put them into the alchemy furnace to start refining the elixir.
Judging from the selection of medicinal materials for Qingshi to throw into the furnace, it was a complete mess. There were five auxiliary materials to choose, but Qingshi chose one more. In addition, the dosage of various medicinal materials was not necessarily accurate. They were all picked up and weighed. It was cast immediately, and all the tools on the console were not used.
Elder Liu frowned as he watched, and was about to say something when he saw Qingshi clasping his hands together, releasing the zhenqi of his left hand into fire to wrap around the alchemy furnace, and the zhenqi of his right hand gathered into a thread and penetrated into the furnace.
This technique is skillful but very different from the conventional operation. However, as a third-level alchemist who has been immersed in alchemy for decades, Elder Liu immediately understood that this was an extremely advanced alchemy technique. He was shocked and opened his mouth wide. However, the method of administering the medicine was so... Simple and crude yet confusing.
President Lin and Elder Lu did not see Qingshi selecting and adding materials. When they turned around, they saw that Qingshi had already begun to refine the elixir. They did not expect that the material selection and material selection could be completed so quickly. They were surprised and went to see Elder Liu, but Elder Liu was surprised. He stared at Qingshi's alchemy technique without blinking for a moment.
The two old men quickly turned to look at the bluestone, and their eyes almost fell out.
Each alchemist's alchemy techniques are different, but they are similar. However, Qingshi's alchemy technique is very different from the techniques they are familiar with, but an expert will know that it is extremely clever at a glance.
Qingshi waved his hands to pull the pill furnace, and from time to time the pill furnace would turn around or twice or the lid of the furnace would shake and spit out a little smoke. After a while, Qingshi stopped the fire and opened the furnace lid to see six pills lying in the furnace, round and white. .
Elder Lu stepped forward, and with a wave of his hand, six pills flew into his hand. President Lin and Elder Liu also hurriedly stepped forward to take a closer look. There was no doubt that it was a one-star Qi Restoration Pill, of high quality.
Elder Lu's face was full of surprise and he cheered again and again. Then he remembered something and quickly took the timer from Elder Liu's hand. The time had only passed two moments.
The three of them had an excited exchange and turned to face Qingshi. President Lin stroked his chin beard and said with a smile: "Well, it's very good. You passed the examination. We will prepare a qualification certificate for you right away. You will be We are a first-level alchemist registered with the Alchemist Guild of Liangyuan County, Mingshan State, hahaha."
The two elders also smiled and nodded.
Qingshi coughed lightly and said: "Um, three seniors, I also want to try to pass the Level 2 Alchemist Examination. Do you think it's okay?"
ah! What?
The three of them stared at the bluestone with wide eyes, as if they were looking at monsters.
Qingshi was so upset that he said, "What's wrong? Isn't it okay? Then forget it."
"Okay, why not?" Elder Lu shouted loudly, "Can you refine the two-star pill?"
"Practice."
"Has it ever been successful?"
"Um."
"What do you mean? Didn't succeed?"
"Successful."
"Hey! Then why didn't you tell me earlier? Can't we just assess and refine the two-star elixir directly?"
"Oh, that's right. I thought there were level-by-level exams. I misunderstood."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Are you sure you can refine the two-star elixir?"
"I am sure."
"Okay, very good, very good. Let's start the assessment now!" Elder Lu was surprised and happy. He turned to look at President Lin, "President, do you think there is no problem?"
"No problem, no problem. We didn't make it clear. Xiao Liu, you can make arrangements." President Lin agreed with a smile on his face.
Elder Liu was about to speak, but Qingshi coughed twice and said: "Ahem! Well, President, the two elders, I still want to ask..."
Elder Lu raised his hand to interrupt him: "I know what you want to ask. It doesn't matter. Just rest assured and take the exam. Even if you fail the exam, it will not affect your previous assessment results."
"Elder Lu, that's not what I meant," Qingshi smiled secretly in his heart, but he still said the words that he knew would make people's jaws drop. "I mean, if this is the case, can I directly carry out the third-level alchemy?" Teacher assessment?"
