Grace hadn't set foot in the Spirit Alliance for quite a few days.
So, she went there today.
It was quite lively today.
Sophie Sun, President of the Spirit Alliance, was gathering all the Spiritual Alchemists in the courtyard, making an announcement.
When Sophie Sun saw Grace walk in, her gaze shot over like cold arrows—sharp and hostile.
After not seeing her for over ten days, Sophie Sun suspected Colin Gu, the Emperor, might have done something to Grace!
But unexpectedly, here she was again, perfectly fine!
It was enough to make her furious!
"Wow, everyone’s here! It’s really lively today!" Grace said cheerfully.
Sophie Sun glanced at her, then treated her as invisible and continued, "Tomorrow is the final deadline. Everyone, work hard! Tomorrow afternoon, hand your pills in to Vice President Liu!"
"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.
"As usual, we'll choose the Champion Alchemist who produces the highest-quality pills and reward them with a rare Tier Four Advancement Pill," Sophie Sun added.
"Really?" someone in the crowd cried out, both surprised and delighted.
Grace turned her head toward the voice—it was Leo Bo.
His red bruises had faded, and he looked much better. Hearing Sophie Sun’s announcement, he was practically bouncing with excitement.
No wonder—he’d just reached the peak of Tier Three and was preparing to break through to Tier Four.
In the Blue Moon Kingdom, the highest-ranked Spiritual Alchemist was only Tier Four.
Tier Four pills were extremely rare.
Besides him, several others looked eager to give it a try.
"Of course it’s true," Sophie Sun smiled. "Everyone, do your best!"
...
Grace listened through it all, but didn’t really catch what Sophie Sun was saying. After everyone dispersed, Grace was about to ask around when someone called her name.
She turned her head and saw it was Leo Bo calling her.
Grace walked over, smiling, "What’s up?"
Leo Bo said flatly, "Come get your ingredients!"
Leo Bo was in charge of the Spirit Alchemists’ ingredients.
"What do I need ingredients for?"
"The Emperor sent over ingredients and asked our Spirit Alliance to refine five thousand Qi Condensation Pills! There are seventeen of us, and each person has to make three hundred pills! Tomorrow afternoon, you must hand them in to Vice President Liu! Got it?"
"Oh..." Grace finally understood what Sophie Sun had been talking about. "Alright, I get it. Give me my ingredients."
Then Leo Bo handed her a bag of ingredients.
Grace took it, but it didn’t feel right. She opened it and found it was all scraps!
There was even a ton of dirt mixed in!
"Huh? Why are all these ingredients scraps?" Grace asked him.
"Who told you not to come these past few days?" Leo Bo replied. "This is all that’s left!"
"Are there no better ingredients in storage?"
"Nope!"
Grace nodded helplessly, "Alright then..."
Who told her to miss so many days?
Even if they were all scraps, the medicinal properties were still the same.
At worst, she’d just wash them a few more times!
She went to the backyard to fetch water, washed the scraps several times, dried them off, and carried them to the pill refining room.
The Spirit Alliance had several private pill refining rooms reserved for the president and senior Spiritual Alchemists.
The others used the communal pill refining room.
There were more than ten cauldrons in the communal room.
Eight or nine were already taken, leaving only four or five empty.
But on those empty cauldrons, only one actually had a cauldron pot on it.
Grace went over to check and found it was the same defective Pill Furnace she’d used during her Spirit Alliance Examination.
It was a defective cauldron that couldn’t vent waste gas.
So she asked the Spiritual Alchemist next to her, "I remember all these stoves used to have Pill Furnaces. Why are they gone now?"