Joe Di entered the Starspire Apothecary with lingering doubts in his heart. Logically, even if there were few alchemists in Great Cauldron City, there should still be some. Yet upon arriving, he saw only a handful of customers inspecting the shelves of elixirs—none appeared to be alchemists here for the assessment.
"What kind of elixir do you need, Fellow Daoist?" A clerk noticed Joe Di glancing around and immediately approached to ask.
Joe Di quickly replied, "I heard your shop is recruiting alchemists. Coincidentally, I am an alchemist myself, so I came to register."
"Senior, you are an alchemist?" Upon hearing that Joe Di was an alchemist, the clerk's tone became much more respectful.
Joe Di nodded modestly and said in a calm tone, "That's right, I am an alchemist."
Alchemists always carried a certain air about them; if he didn't act the part, the clerk might mistake him for a fraud or assume his skills were mediocre.
"That's wonderful! Our apothecary is indeed recruiting alchemists. The unified Alchemist Assessment is scheduled for tomorrow. You may register now, or come back tomorrow to sign up." The more composed Joe Di's tone, the more deferential the clerk became.
An alchemist without an air of dignity—could one even be called an alchemist?
"Very well, I'll register now," Joe Di said without hesitation.
"Senior, please show me your Alchemist Badge." The clerk bowed respectfully.
"Alchemist Badge?" Joe Di looked at the clerk in confusion. "What is an Alchemist Badge?"
The clerk's expression darkened. He wasn't sure if Joe Di was deliberately making fun of him, but for the moment, he dared not lose his temper.
"All alchemists in Great Cauldron City are certified by the Alchemist Guild, and receive an Alchemist Badge according to their pill refinement rank. Only those with an Alchemist Badge are considered true Immortal Alchemists here." The clerk was no longer as deferential as before, unsure if Joe Di was truly an Immortal Alchemist.
Joe Di realized what was going on and gave an awkward smile. "May I ask, where is the Alchemist Guild?"
"Just walk to the end of the street out front and you'll see it." The clerk grew even more uncertain about whether Joe Di was pretending.
"Thank you." After expressing his gratitude, Joe Di immediately left the Starspire Apothecary—he needed to hurry to the Alchemist Guild to get certified and obtain an Alchemist Badge.
The Alchemist Guild really wasn't far from the Starspire Apothecary. Just as the clerk had said, once Joe Di reached the end of the street, he saw the enormous sign for the Alchemist Guild. Compared to the surrounding buildings, the Guild was clearly much taller.
As soon as he entered the Alchemist Guild, Joe Di felt the immortal aura inside was even denser than outside.
The words 'Alchemist Certification' were clearly visible—anyone standing at the entrance could see them. In front of the certification window, two people were waiting in line, apparently also here to get certified as alchemists.
Joe Di queued up as the third person. He saw the two ahead of him present their Identity Tokens when registering for the certification.
The registration process was quick—within two minutes, it was Joe Di's turn.
Joe Di proactively took out his Liberty Pass and handed it over. "I'd like to register for the Third-Rank Immortal Alchemist certification."
Seated at the window was an elderly male cultivator with graying hair. He took Joe Di's Liberty Pass, gave it a glance, and frowned.
Joe Di's heart tightened. Could there be a difference in these passes? His was black, while the previous two had gray passes—he knew gray was a rank higher than black.
"Fellow Daoist Joe Di, your Liberty Pass doesn't have a single Liberty Credit?" The graying cultivator's gaze shifted from the pass to Joe Di.
Joe Di's Liberty Pass was the simplest he'd seen among alchemist candidates—aside from his name, there was nothing else on it.
Joe Di gave an embarrassed smile. "I just arrived in Cauldron Haven, and since I've refined elixirs before, I wanted to apply as an Immortal Alchemist to make a living here."
The attendant waved his hand, signaling Joe Di to skip the unnecessary details. "Certification as a Third-Rank Immortal Alchemist requires three thousand Liberty Credits, or if you use Immortal Crystals, forty thousand top-grade Immortal Crystals."
So expensive! Joe Di cursed inwardly, then took out a storage pouch and handed it over. "Here are forty thousand top-grade Immortal Crystals."
The attendant accepted the storage pouch, inspected it with his divine sense, and nodded. He quickly registered Joe Di, then handed him an orange token. "Go to the third floor and wait for the assessment."
Joe Di breathed a sigh of relief—so long as he could register, that was enough.
When Joe Di arrived at the assessment hall on the third floor with his token, he saw at least a dozen people already seated there.
Why are there so many people taking the alchemist assessment? Joe Di wondered, but he still found a spot and sat down.
Joe Di's cultivation was considered rather low here. Many of the alchemists present were Grand Ether Immortals, and there was even one Grand Zenith Immortal. He hadn't seen anyone above Grand Zenith Immortal.
With his divine sense, Joe Di quickly determined that many of the alchemists here had built their cultivation almost entirely by relying on elixirs.
Alchemists like him, who rarely used elixirs, were almost nowhere to be seen.
Ever since he realized that alchemy was only a supplementary path, Joe Di had seldom used elixirs for cultivation. Only recently, in his rush to advance, had he used many Gold and Elixirs. But the ones he used were all Nine-Mark Elixirs—dozens of these had less pill toxin combined than a single inferior elixir.
In fact, there's a saying in the Immortal Realm: Nine-Mark Elixirs are the true immaculate elixirs.
"Brother Peng, I didn't expect you'd only come for the alchemist badge assessment today." Joe Di had just sat down when someone beside him stood up and greeted him with a cupped fist.
Following him in was a yellow-haired cultivator with a slightly dark complexion. He chuckled and returned the gesture. "Mainly, I don't have many Liberty Credits—the assessment fee is a bit steep."
"That's right. Each assessment costs thousands of Liberty Credits, and the Alchemist Guild here doesn't subsidize alchemists at all. If it weren't for the fact that several major apothecaries are recruiting tomorrow, I wouldn't bother with the assessment," another voice said loudly.
Only now did Joe Di realize that it wasn't just Starspire Apothecary recruiting alchemists tomorrow. He felt a bit annoyed at the clerk from Starspire—there were plenty of alchemists who hadn't registered with the Guild, yet that clerk acted like Joe Di was trying to deceive him. This conversation made it clear that Guild certification wasn't all that rare or valuable.
(Irrelevant content: 'This chapter isn't finished yet~.~ Please click next page to continue reading.')
"Haha..." A hearty laugh rang out as a bearded cultivator strode in. "How amusing! A bunch of apprentice alchemists who've failed the Guild certification several times, bragging away. If someone didn't know better, they'd think you were all Grandmaster Alchemists, too proud for the Guild's certification."
The cultivators who had been greeting each other now looked embarrassed, clearly unwilling to provoke the bearded man. The atmosphere cooled instantly.
Joe Di was a bit embarrassed himself—now he understood these guys were just boasting. Apparently, a group who'd failed the assessment several times were here comforting each other, hoping to finally pass since the apothecaries were recruiting tomorrow.
"Zhang Pingtai, Jue Yan, Bai Erfei, and Joe Di—please enter for the assessment." Just as Joe Di was about to ask which apothecaries were recruiting, his name was called.
When Joe Di stood up, he saw three others rise at the same time—one of them was the bearded man.
A side door opened in the third-floor hall. Joe Di followed the three others inside, entering a large chamber.
The hall was filled with the scent of elixirs and immortal herbs. Four pill cauldrons were set up in the center, and at the head sat two examiners, whose cultivation seemed to be at the Immortal King level.
Joe Di couldn't help but marvel—if even the examiners at the Alchemist Guild were Immortal Kings, it spoke volumes about the Guild's strength.
The examiner on the left was a refined-looking middle-aged man; the one on the right was short with a thick neck, his head seeming almost perched atop it.
The left examiner glanced over the four candidates and asked clearly, "Which one of you is Joe Di?"
Joe Di didn't understand why he was singled out first, but he stepped forward and saluted with a cupped fist. "Joe Di greets the two examiners."
The refined man nodded. "All four of you are here for the Third-Rank Immortal Alchemist assessment. The time limit is two hours. Since Joe Di hasn't taken the First- or Second-Rank Immortal Alchemist assessments, he'll need to complete an extra round of herb theory. Even so, the total time remains two hours."
Hearing that Joe Di hadn't even taken the First- or Second-Rank Immortal Alchemist assessments, the other three looked at him in astonishment.
The Alchemist Guild's ranking assessment did allow for this—one didn't have to start with the First-Rank Immortal Alchemist. Yet almost no one did; most would pass the first rank, wait a while, then attempt the second.
(That's all for today's update. Good night, friends!)