As the invigilators for today, Master Zhou and Master Lu had already heard about Qin Hanchu’s profile.
Despite knowing that Qin Hanchu could refine top-grade Burning Qi Pills, they did not believe he was qualified to be an Esteemed Alchemist.
“Then let’s dispense with the pleasantries and begin!” Master Lu snorted, “Today’s test is to refine Qi Gathering Pills, requiring them to be of superior grade or above.”
Qin Hanchu frowned, “Wasn’t it supposed to be Spirit Martial Pills?”
“Spirit Martial Pills and Qi Gathering Pills are of the same rank. Which one we refine is up to us,” Master Zhou scoffed.
Although Qi Gathering Pills and Spirit Martial Pills were of the same grade, their refinement difficulty differed greatly.
Those who could refine Spirit Martial Pills might not be able to refine Qi Gathering Pills, let alone refine Qi Gathering Pills of superior grade.
Master Zhou and Master Lu were deliberately making things difficult for Qin Hanchu.
They not only targeted Qin Hanchu but also gave a hard time to anyone aspiring to become an Esteemed Alchemist.
To put it plainly, these Esteemed Alchemists did not want any new Esteemed Alchemists to emerge.
Every time a new Esteemed Alchemist appeared, a portion of their clients would be snatched away.
According to the publicly announced regulations, passing the assessment was possible by refining superior-grade Spirit Martial Pills.
For this reason, many alchemists set Spirit Martial Pills as their practice goal. However, the Esteemed Alchemists in charge of the assessment temporarily changed the examination topic, catching the alchemists taking the test off guard.
Qi Gathering Pills and other such pills were extremely difficult to refine. Even Master Zhou and Master Lu were not confident of succeeding every time, let alone the Purple Gold Alchemists.
This was precisely why the number of Esteemed Alchemists in Black Tower had always been so few.
“Fine, you call the shots.”
For Qin Hanchu, it made no difference which pill he refined. He directly began selecting medicinal ingredients.
“The time limit is eight hours. The timer starts now!” Master Lu said.
Master Zhou immediately added, “If you fail this time, you will be barred from applying for assessment for three years.”
Qin Hanchu paid no attention to them, proceeding to process the medicinal ingredients.
In less than half an hour, Qin Hanchu had finished processing all the medicinal ingredients.
Seeing Qin Hanchu finish processing the ingredients so quickly, the two masters frowned.
Processing medicinal ingredients was a crucial step. Poor processing could greatly affect the quality of the pills.
“He’s too impatient; he’s definitely going to fail,” Master Zhou whispered to Master Lu.
Master Lu chuckled, “Still too young, with little experience.”
Qin Hanchu naturally heard their conversation but still paid no mind.
Master Zhou and Master Lu closely watched Qin Hanchu’s every move. When they saw Qin Hanchu place the Drunken Immortal Flower first, followed by the Earth Dragon Ginseng, they directly laughed.
“The order is wrong; he still wants to refine Qi Gathering Pills?” Master Zhou sneered.
Master Lu also said, “Stop now, there’s no need to waste time. You’ve already failed.”
Qin Hanchu did not stop his actions. As he continued to put in the medicinal ingredients, he said, “How about a bet?”
Master Zhou frowned, “What do you mean?”
“If I fail, I will never refine pills again in my life,” Qin Hanchu chuckled. “But if I succeed, you two will take me as your master.”
“Insolent brat! You dare to ask us to take you as our master? Who do you think you are?”
“The order of placing medicinal ingredients is crucial to pill refinement. You’ve already made an irreversible mistake; do you still expect to succeed?”
Master Zhou and Master Lu were figures comparable to elders in the underground city.
Qin Hanchu was asking them to become his disciples, which was an insult to them!
The two of them angrily berated Qin Hanchu.
Qin Hanchu smiled and said, “Words are useless; let the result speak for itself. Since you believe I cannot succeed, do you dare to accept the bet?”
“Are you sure you won’t refine pills if you lose?” Master Zhou asked.
Qin Hanchu: “Of course. Everyone present can be a witness.”
“Fine, I’d like to see how you succeed!” Master Lu snorted. “If you fail, we will report to the Guild Master to revoke your alchemist status.”
“Agreed. Now, please shut your mouths and don’t disturb me anymore.” The previous Qin Hanchu was somewhat polite, but now he was confrontational.
Master Zhou and Master Lu stopped watching Qin Hanchu. In their eyes, Qin Hanchu was destined to lose.
The timing and order of placing each medicinal ingredient were very important. Although Qin Hanchu had only swapped the order of two ingredients, this was already a “fatal” mistake.
Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, four hours had gone by.
At this moment, Qin Hanchu actually turned off the heat.
“What? Giving up?”
According to the refining method for Qi Gathering Pills, it would take at least five hours to turn off the heat.
Qin Hanchu had only simmered it for four hours and had already turned off the heat!
“Using the normal method, eight hours is not enough time to condense the pill.”
“To avoid exceeding the time limit, I naturally have to use another method.”
“My two disciples, learn well. This is the first lesson your master is giving you.”
As he spoke, Qin Hanchu opened the medicinal cauldron. A wave of heat accompanied by a medicinal fragrance emanated out.
“Presumptuous! I don’t believe you can succeed,” Master Zhou said angrily.
Master Lu also roared in anger, “If you can succeed, what’s it to us to call you Master?”
Qin Hanchu chuckled. He used a fine sieve to filter the medicinal liquid repeatedly until there were no impurities left.
After completing these tasks, Qin Hanchu picked up three fresh Frostbite Grasses.
Qin Hanchu crushed the Frostbite Grasses and then dripped their juice into the medicinal liquid.
“What does this mean?”
“Frostbite Grass can be used in Qi Gathering Pills?”
“Nonsense!”
“Ye Changqing, if you fail, you’ll have to pay for these medicinal ingredients yourself.”
Master Zhou and Master Lu spoke one after another.
Qin Hanchu ignored them and continued his work.
Half an hour later, Qin Hanchu placed the medicinal liquid into the alchemy furnace.
Under the heat of the alchemy furnace, the medicinal liquid began the final refinement.
After an hour of refinement, Qin Hanchu turned off the flame of the alchemy furnace.
As the furnace lid was opened, nine perfectly round, brown pills appeared before everyone’s eyes.
“This medicinal fragrance is indeed that of Qi Gathering Pills!”
“He actually succeeded?”
“He succeeded in less than seven hours?”
Smelling the medicinal fragrance, the surrounding staff exclaimed in surprise.
Master Zhou and Master Lu also widened their eyes in shock. The medicinal fragrance was indeed that of Qi Gathering Pills.
“Even if the medicinal fragrance is similar, the result of the efficacy test is what matters.”
Master Lu’s mood was extremely uneasy. If Qin Hanchu truly succeeded, where would they save face?
Would they really have to take Qin Hanchu as their master?
“Well said. Qi Gathering Pills are not low-grade pills; their quality and efficacy must be determined through rigorous instrument testing,” Master Zhou quickly agreed.
Qin Hanchu chuckled, “Two Esteemed Alchemists don’t even have the ability to distinguish the authenticity of pills? How laughable!”