Rise of the Alchemy God

Chapter 161: Second Part of the Theoretical Test

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In a part of the capital of the Long Empire, an individual was walking at a moderate pace through an alley.

He didn't stop but continued passing from one alley to another calmly until he halted in front of a building.

He looked around to see if anyone was following him and, seeing that he was alone, he entered.

Once inside, he closed the door, and immediately a luminous sphere appeared, providing light.

The building he had entered was a type of warehouse, filled with several items covered by white sheets to prevent dust accumulation.

He wasn't concerned with these things and walked for a while until he found a part of the floor that seemed suitable.

He crouched and placed a sheet of paper with strange symbols inscribed on it.

Once the sheet was in place, he made a cut on his finger and allowed a drop of blood to fall onto the paper.

If a regular person saw this scene, they would be shocked, not by the act itself but because the person's blood wasn't red,

it was black.

As the drop of black blood fell onto the paper, it started to contort, and as if by magic, it was absorbed by the formation on the sheet, which began to glow.

Along with it, the paper began to burn until only the formation remained.

It placed itself on the wooden floor of the warehouse and seemed to grow larger as a half-meter diameter circle encompassed it.

"This looks suspicious, don't you think?" a voice said from behind him.

While he was focused on setting up the inscription, he hadn't noticed a figure appear behind him.

Hearing the voice, his eyes widened as he hurried to turn around and see who it was.

He had been especially cautious during the entire journey and had confirmed no one was following him.

Yet there he was, discovered by the person before him.

As he turned to see who it was, his eyes caught the sight of a woman with greyish-white hair, sitting on a square container covered with a white cloth.

She had her legs crossed and her face resting on her hand while smiling at him.

For a moment, he froze at the sight, involuntarily muttering, "A goddess."

The woman, hearing this, smiled and closed her eyes for a moment.

"A goddess, you say?

No, I think you're mistaken.

I'm just an innocent woman forced to do dirty work by a ruthless human who doesn't appreciate my beauty," she said, playing the victim.

Then she opened her eyes.

Suddenly, the man's entire body became paralyzed as his vision blurred, his consciousness beginning to fade.

"But let's not talk about that. Tell me, what are you up to in this isolated place?"

The man's body trembled as those crystal blue eyes rested on him.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move, and the more time passed, the more his consciousness dimmed.

'Who on earth is this woman?' he thought, fading.

At this point, even the little rationality left in him vanished, leaving nothing but an empty body.

While Bai Yu was interrogating the man, Ethan, who had just finished the first part of the practical test, was now standing on a platform with another participant.

Both were looking at the alchemist master in front of them.

"Well, now that you've successfully passed the first part of the theoretical test, we'll move on to the next round," he said, looking towards Ethan and the other participant.

After the end of the first test, a random selection was made to choose the first two people to start the next test.

It so happened that Ethan, who ranked first, was chosen alongside another participant from the top 50.

The other participant was a tall young man, no more than 180 cm, with long hair tied back and a serious expression.

He was one of the participants from the Qilin Kingdom.

The test consisted of a series of questions with difficulty chosen by the participants, and the goal was to score more points than the opponent.

The winner would advance, while the loser would have a second chance.

If they lost again, they would be disqualified.

With both participants in place, the alchemist master asked them to choose the difficulty for their first question.

The difficulty ranged from one to five, with one being easy and five nearly impossible.

Both made their choices by pressing a talisman, and the elder decided to start with the participant who chose the lower difficulty.

He turned to Ethan's opponent and asked:

"Since you've chosen the lower difficulty, we'll start with you."

'What?'

The boy, hearing this, couldn't help but wonder what level of difficulty his opponent had chosen.

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He had chosen level three, thinking it would be a good start without being too difficult.

He assumed his opponent had chosen either two or three, but it seemed like he had chosen a higher level.

He figured that Ethan had likely chosen level four, without even considering level five.

That level was something no one dared to challenge, as the questions could stump even an alchemist master.

The elder, ignoring the boy's hesitation, spoke and asked the first question:

"What is the balance of the five elements in alchemy, and how does it influence the creation of advanced pills?"

The boy, hearing this question, made a thoughtful expression as he contemplated his response.

This question might not seem too complicated, but he knew otherwise.

Giving a superficial answer risked losing points on this level-three question.

He had to be detailed, carefully choosing which parts were essential and which weren't.

In this test, it wasn't just about knowledge but also about how well the participant could form precise answers, knowing what to include and exclude.

Providing an overly detailed response might seem correct but wasn't.

No one wanted to sit and listen to entire pages of theory.

"The balance of the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, is essential in creating advanced pills.

Each herb or alchemical material has a nature corresponding to one or more of these elements.

If the balance between the elements is incorrect, the pill may fail or have dangerous side effects.

For example…"

He proceeded to outline the main points, trying to be both concise and precise in his response.

As he did, the other participants, who had gathered in small groups, also tried answering the question in their minds.

Several of them wore complicated expressions, while others didn't seem to find the question difficult.

As the boy finished his answer, the examiner nodded and said:

"Correct, you receive 3 points," awarding the maximum for this difficulty level.

Even Ethan, who had listened from start to finish, nodded in agreement, though he thought there were some points that could have been improved.

He shook these thoughts away as he prepared to receive his own question.

'I wonder what he will ask me,' he thought, recalling the difficulty he had chosen earlier for this round.