I Couldn't Help But Laugh Again

Even if Grace really knelt down and begged for mercy, and slapped herself twenty times, she would still be made to suffer.

So... Grace just smiled at her and said, "Sorry, I couldn't help but laugh again. Such a clown!"

Lily Xu's expression changed, and she nodded. "Fine! Just you wait!"

Grace turned and got into the carriage.

Waiting is fine by her—she's not afraid.

It's not even up to her anyway!

She figured Lily Xu would definitely pull some tricks during the afternoon's alchemy round.

After all, that's the easiest part to cheat in.

......

She went home for lunch, then returned to the Spirit Alliance in the afternoon.

This time, they were let into the inner alchemy chamber.

Inside, there were several identical small pill furnaces, one for each examinee.

The task: refine a second-tier Qi Condensation Pill.

But a second-tier pill was child's play for Grace.

She sat down in front of the furnace with her name on it, and soon the Spirit Alliance attendants brought her the ingredients.

And the one delivering her ingredients was actually Bobby.

He grinned at her and whispered, "All top-quality stuff—good luck!"

Grace smiled back, picked up the ingredients, and checked them—they really were the best.

And then, it was time to start refining.

She placed the prepared herbs in the pill furnace, condensed an Elemental Core, sealed the furnace, and lit the fire to begin alchemy.

The Elemental Core was formed from the five elemental powers within her body. During alchemy, it could absorb spiritual energy and infuse it into the pill, completing the refinement.

At the same time, because the energies within it were connected to the user, the alchemist could sense its state and adjust accordingly.

For example, if the fire got too strong, she could dampen it; if the spiritual energy was impure or there was too much exhaust, she could check the furnace's venting system, and so on.

Of course, only truly seasoned alchemists could pull this off.

A newbie? They wouldn't sense a thing.

If they managed to keep the fire going, that would already be impressive.

Grace stoked the fire, and the water inside the furnace quickly boiled as the Elemental Core drew in spiritual energy...

Everything went smoothly at first.

But soon enough, she sensed something was off.

Spiritual energy couldn't infuse into the herbs at all.

It was scattered, as if the seal was broken and energy was leaking out somewhere else.

If this kept up, there was no way she'd end up with a Qi Condensation Pill.

All she'd get was a pile of useless waste!

Grace examined the furnace closely. On the surface, it looked no different from the others.

But there had to be something wrong with the exhaust channel on the body of the furnace...

Grace narrowed her eyes and glanced at Lily Xu, who was supervising the alchemy chamber.

Lily Xu was watching her too, and even raised her eyebrows at her.

Grace lowered her head and kept tending the fire.

Did she really think this would trip her up?

A smirk tugged at Grace's lips as her consciousness slipped into her Sanctum.

Inside her Sanctum, she'd already prepared all sorts of common herbs, and she had everything needed for a Qi Condensation Pill.

Alchemy in the Sanctum was faster than with that tiny furnace outside, and by the time she finished, the outside time was just about up.

Several people had already opened their furnaces to check their results.

Grace played along and opened her furnace too. While the steam was still thick, she leaned down, swapped the waste material into her Sanctum, and put the finished pills from her Sanctum into the furnace.

Then she closed the lid and calmly sat back down.

Elder Conrad went from furnace to furnace to inspect the results, with Sam Summers beside him, recording the grades: top, middle, or bottom tier.

When they got to Grace, Sam Summers lifted her lid.