1172 Proof
“Welcome to the Royal tests,” Yao Ning stood at the front of the stage and started speaking.
“We will now be holding the public tests to choose the ones that will be entering our Royal institutes. There are exactly 200 different spots for each profession, with 50 of them being for Saint realm cultivators.”
“We will take in more if we get more, but our main priority will be to check your talent and potential, not your cultivation base,” the elder spoke. “So everyone will have a fair chance.”
“For the ones that end up being accepted, you will be given various rewards.”
“For the Talisman makers, you will all receive monthly tutelage from master Liang Shufen,” Yao Ning gestured to the pretty elder that was standing next to her.
“For the Formation designers, you will all receive monthly tutelage from master Huang Chen,” she gestured to the man that was standing on her other side.
“Finally, for the Alchemists who manage to pass our tests today, you will all receive monthly tutelage from his Majesty, Alex himself.”
Alex smiled and waved as the crowd cheered for him after hearing his name.
Yao Ning waited for the crowd to calm down a bit while reading what was written in the talisman that was provided to her by Qiu Jianhong that was next to her as well.
She wasn’t sure if this was the right thing to do or not, but since Alex had asked for it, she had to do it.
“Also, since his Majesty is generous, he has decided to add another reward for the Alchemsits to motivate you all to work harder,” she said as she took a deep breath to read the next part.
“Any Alchemist that ends up having the top 3 best results today, you may either request a pill recipe from his Majesty or request him to improve upon a recipe you already have,” she said. “To give context to the reward, his Majesty guarantees that any of these recipes that you get will be capable of creating pills that reach 100% Harmony.”
The atmosphere in the crowd shifted as it went from one of excitement and happiness to one of doubt and confusion. They could understand if the rewards were recipes that reached 90% or over, as it was evident that the King was able to do that.
However, the difference between 90%, or even just 99% and 100% was a difference between heaven and earth.
No matter how trusting the crowd was of their King, they couldn’t just trust that he could make 100% harmony pills.
“Your Majesty, did you promise that reward?” one of the elders that were by his side asked him.
“I did,” Alex said as he looked around. “This was not the reaction I was expecting when I thought of giving this as a reward.”
“I mean… you did promise something nonsensical, your Majesty,” the elder said.
Alex stared at the elder. “Are you calling my reward Nonsensical?” he asked.
“Of course not, your Majesty,” the elder quickly stepped back. “I misspoke.”
Alex stood up.
“Your Majesty?” the elders looked at him. He flew up to Yao Ning and the others who were speaking.
“Since it had come to this, I can’t just let the people think I’m a liar or a fraud,” he said.
“Your Majesty?” the 4 elders watched as Alex didn’t stop by them, but rather moved onto the testing platforms that were prepared. They tried to follow him down, but Alex stopped them.
Instead, he turned towards the crowd and smiled. “I hope you are all prepared to witness something that you will rarely witness in your entire life,” he said.
Sun’s Womb flew out from his storage ring and it landed on one of the stoves.
“Is his Majesty going to make pills?”
“Maybe he’s trying to prove us wrong.”
The crowd could guess what he was trying to do, but even then they couldn’t trust him. So, they simply sat and watched the show.
Alex took a deep breath as he waited for the cauldron to heat up. He smiled lightly knowing that he had seen this coming.
Had he not, why else would he have prepared the ingredients beforehand?
He opened his eyes and pulled out the first pair of ingredients. The ingredients disappeared from his hand, confusing everyone for a moment.
Only the stronger cultivators had realized that he had teleported the ingredients into the cauldron.
Alex’s Qi moved the two ingredients together. Since he didn’t have to bother keeping track of the powders, he didn’t have to bother with separating the ingredient either. Then, he brought out the second pair of ingredients.
“What ingredients are those?”
“Where are they even going? I don’t see the lid moving at all.”
“Is that the start of that one healing pill?”
Everyone talked amongst themselves as they watched Alex put in the third pair of ingredients.
One after another, Alex continued putting ingredients into the cauldron, slowly turning it all into powder. Everything went fine without any problem. However, even then, none of the people in the crowd seem to trust him on his words.
In fact, he could tell that even the elders were deciding on whether to come and take him away before he humiliated himself any further.
Alex simply chuckled and shook his head.
Once all the ingredients were inside the cauldron and he had finished making them all into powder, it was time for the real show.
The Pill-splitting Qi flowed out of his body as it entered the cauldron as easily as it would through the air. The Qi landed on the powder and started separating it into two.
Once the two pills formed and the energy was drawn into them, Alex felt the result of his alchemy.
Two, perfect pills.
“Perfection cannot exist under heaven without you having to fight for it,” Alex said loud enough that everyone could hear it. “To be perfect is to fight against the heavens.”
“What is he saying?”
“I don’t know.”
“We can’t be perfect?”
The regular crowd was confused. However, the stronger ones in them could see some truth in Alex’s words, even though they didn’t understand exactly what he was talking about.
However, as they wondered, their faces quickly changed as they looked up at the sky where the bright, open day had somehow turned cloudy in a matter of seconds.
“What’s… happening?” someone asked.
“Lightning Tribulation? Who’s breaking through?” another person asked.
The elders realized what was happening immediately.
Inside the dome, Scarlet’s eyes opened for a brief moment as she stared in a certain direction. “That brat… he really brought out the pill cloud here, huh?” he thought. “Pill cloud in such a lower realm, even if I was wrong about what I felt from him, there is absolutely no harm in me bonding with him.”
The dark clouds roiled around in the sky, occasionally shining with bright lights on the inside.
Alex looked at the sky. “My Pills are perfect,” he spoke. “And the heavens can’t stand for it.”
The first bolt of lightning fell on the cauldron, hitting the two pills inside. However, his Qi was strong enough to stop it. A subsequent bolt fell right afterward, which he defended against as well.
“Pills with 100% harmony are perfect. As such, they can’t exist at all,” Alex said. “Which is why I promised a recipe that can reach 100% harmony, not make a pill that has 100% harmony, because that pill is impossible.”
The crowd was transfixed on Alex to even bother looking at each other right now.
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Another two bolts of lightning fell on his cauldron, making the crowd jump in fear once again.
“Of course, the heavens aren’t so cruel as to only want to destroy perfection either,” Alex said. “What they do is create a trial where they wish to destroy your perfection. If you are weak, you have to let them destroy it.”
“However, if you are strong, you can use the heavens to temper your pill.”
Another two lightning strikes fell on his pills, which he protected. He opened the lid and pulled out the two pills.
He could’ve let them go through 3 more sets of lightning strikes, but he believed he had accomplished what he had come down here to do.
He tossed the pills in the direction of the elders.
Yao Ning and Qiu Jianhong both caught one of each pill. “Elders, if you would do me the honor of testing those pills,” Alex said.
The elders gulped as they saw the pill in their hands. The aura they felt from the pill in their hand was nothing like what Alex had made for them before.
Had he been holding back all this time?
Whatever the situation was, the two elders quickly walked up to the testing formations in front of them.
Each of them put the two pills in a formation. After merely a few seconds of passing, the result was out for the world to see.
100% Harmony.
The noise started slow, but by the time Alex had decided to explain what was happening, the noise was so loud that he couldn’t even find the moment to start speaking.
He wanted to explain how this wasn’t a 100% harmony pill, but rather a 3-Veined pill, which was infinitely better, but no one seemed to care for that.
Alex couldn’t help but smile and let the people live in ignorance for now.
“I hope I have proven that I can indeed give you all the recipes that can help you,” Alex said. “As such, I will no longer delay the tests. Please begin.”