Chapter 3: Grade 1 Alchemist

Back at her abode, Xiao Hong pulled out several jade slips from the bag that Deacon Lu had given her and scanned the jade slips one by one with her Divine Sense.

The best part of having Divine Sense - according to Xiao Hong - was the ability to directly memorise massive amounts of information at an insane speed. Just one sweep with the Divine Sense and you can directly imprint it in your memory.

While it did not help in actually comprehending the contents, it definitely made it easier.

With Divine Sense all she needed to do was browse through the contents of the jade slip for a few minutes and - Bam! You have memorised thousands of different herbs and their properties.

If she had this back on earth her life would have been so much easier. Shaking her head and stopping useless thoughts she continued scanning.

When she'd finished going through all of them, she received a notification from the system.

[Ding! Discovered Profession Guide Book: Alchemy (Grade 1). Use 1 remaining slot for learning?]

"Yes."

[Done! Set Slot 4: Profession Guide Book: Alchemy]

[Using default energy source…]

[Done! Estimated learning time: 29 Days 4 hours]

[To speed up please find better energy sources]

Once again, she felt a large amount of information appear in her brain out of nowhere.

Ingredients, their interaction with each other, with heat, with the cauldron, with the atmosphere, with Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth… All sorts of information appeared in her mind one by one. At the same time the system also simulated the process of refining pills over and over in her mind, forming a muscle memory of sorts. After the system was done, it would feel as though she had refined the said pills thousands of times each.

While the system was mastering Alchemy for her, she pondered on how to go about with becoming a 1st grade Alchemist.

Going for the test as soon as she was done was a big no-no. She wanted to come off as a prodigious alchemist and not an old-fogie-possessed-my-body and is now cultivating again.

Going too late was also not conducive to her. She couldn't be low-profile either, doing things at an average speed. Her looks didn't allow her to be low-profile no matter how much she wanted to!

So, the best option was to look like an extremely talented junior alchemist worth investing in. With this, people will believe her talent in alchemy and underestimate her battle prowess. This was an effective way of buying time until she could fend for herself.

While Senior Brother Chen had been chattering away, he'd told her a lot of information about how much alchemists were valued: A 1st grade alchemist received far better treatment than an outer sect disciple did. 2nd and 3rd grade alchemists received treatment equivalent to Outer Sect Deacons and Elders, respectively. A 4th grade received better treatment than inner sect disciples while 5th and 6th grade alchemists received treatment that was no worse than Inner and Core Elders. The only 7th grade alchemist of Purple Spirit Sect - Master Su - received better treatment than the Deputy Sect Master. Even the Sect Master was respectful to him and all his demands were met.

Prodigious junior alchemists also were valued immensely by the Sect, and received even better treatment. Chen Yu also told her that he'd become a 1st grade alchemist in just 2 years and reached 2nd grade in 3 more. Thus was quite valued by the sect.

The fastest one to become an alchemist was Master An, who right now was a 5th grade Alchemist and was also the sole true disciple of Master Su. Apparently, he had become a 1st grade alchemist in 5 months, 2nd grade in seven and 3rd grade in a year.

Therefore, she decided to be 'slightly less talented' than this Master An.

She had to be valued by the sect so that some random young master wouldn't throw his weight - read ancestors - around in front of her.

She had heard plenty of rumours about how a young master took fancy to a particular girl because of her beauty, played with her and threw her aside when he was bored. The most infamous was Mo Tong, having done this multiple times with no consequences.

Though, this was mostly because the sect didn't really give a shit about outer sect disciples: to the sect, the outer disciples were basically just cheap labour that could be easily replenished. The sect wouldn't offend an Inner Sect Elder by punishing his relative over some worthless Outer Sect disciple.

When she learnt of all this from old Xiao Hong's memories, it had chilled her blood at the blatant disregard for human rights. This was the sorrow of the weak, and there was nothing she could do about it.

These things also became the driving force behind her planning.

Plus this Mo Tong fellow apparently had his eye on her, further strengthening her resolve.

Otherwise, with her character she would be totally content with slowly cultivating while earning money in a low-profile manner.

Having fleshed out her plans, she sunk into the haze of secluded cultivation.

7 Months passed by in a flash and Xiao Hong had turned 16 earlier this month.

Xiao Hong stood up from her cultivation pose and stretched her body.

'Let's take a bath.'

Bathing had become her favourite pastime.

In the bathroom, Xiao Hong was once again staring at her naked self in the mirror. She had grown slightly taller from her initial 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 6 inches. At the same time, other parts of her body also had grown as if to maintain the sensual figure.

"Hmm…" she cupped her breasts and she whispered to herself, "These fellows seem to have grown quite a bit. Now they don't even fully fit in my hands."

She smirked as she felt the supple softness in her hands.

Thus, she took her longest bath ever.

***

After taking a bath that was unusually long, she came out wrapped in a towel.

She sat down and intoned: "STATUS"

[Ding!

Name: Xiao Hong

Age: 16

Lifespan: 400 years

Primary profession: Cultivator

Secondary Profession(s): Alchemist (Grade 1)

Inventory (3.375m3): Empty

Cultivation Base:

Essence: 2nd Layer of Sky Spirit

Physique: 3-star Ancient Godling (Initial Divine Sea Equivalent)

Soul: 2nd stage Red Soul (Peak Sky Spirit Equivalent)

Cultivation Method: Celestial God Essence Cultivation Method, Ancient God's Physique Scripture, Spirit God's Soul Cultivation Method

Skills:

Soaring Crane Sword (Lowest-Grade) - Small Accomplishment

Flash Step (Lowest-Grade) - Small Accomplishment

Battle Prowess: High (Early Divine Sea Equivalent.)

Automatic Cultivation Slots: 4

Slot 1: Celestial God Essence Cultivation Method

Slot 2: Ancient God's Physique Scripture

Slot 3: Spirit God's Soul Cultivation Method

Slot 4: Empty

Details: Speed is 2.125x per Method

]

She noticed how her Physical Cultivation seemed to have blazed ahead.

'It seems I am quite talented in Physical Cultivation?'

"Now, I'm completely broke…" she looked sadly at the two piles of ashes as if she'd lost a piece of her heart. She was slowly, but surely, becoming a money-grubber.

Shaking her head, a determined look came over her face.

"Today's the day."

Indeed, in about five hours from now there would be an assessment for 1st grade Alchemists.

In the past 7 months, she had attended Alchemy lectures that were held, showed ample participation during said lectures and basically showed she was a prospective genius alchemist - by showing understanding far beyond that of the normal disciples.

Now all she had to do is pass the test and certify herself as a 1st grade alchemist, and she would get a steady source of income.

***

At the foot of the Alchemy Hall's mesa, a figure in red-golden gracefully landed.

And as soon as she landed and her Qi coating dispersed, the usual hullabaloo wherever she went started. At first it had been irritating but gradually she learnt to get used to it; at some point it even became a useful resource for her. For example, she once learned that bitch Mo Tong had been seen lurking around in the vicinity of the Alchemy Hall.

From then on she landed much further away, scouring the place thoroughly with her Divine Sense. Depending on the result, she would decide whether to attend the lecture or not. A special thing she discovered about her Divine Sense was that it was undetectable to cultivators. Even a Nirvana Realm couldn't detect her. However, she speculated her Divine Sense would still be detected by Fusion and above.

"Hey! Look, look! Junior sister Xiao Hong really came! Does that mean the rumours are true?"

"It looks like it!"

"I heard from my cousin that his master was quite optimistic about her and believed that she would be able to take the 1st grade exam within a year!"

"But it's been only… what? Half a year?"

"... Maybe she's here to, uh, broaden her horizons? Experience the exam before actually properly attempting it?"

"Maybe? These geniuses rarely make sense. Especially compared to plebs like us. It's entirely possible she's her for real."

"She's beautiful today too…"

"... Senior sister, if you like her then you might as well give it a try."

"Good idea! I'm going to introduce myself during the checking for lady cultivators in the pill-refining exam!"

"... They assigned a deviant pervert like you as an invigilator? I really want to crack open the head of that person and check his brains."

Xiao Hong's ears perked up at the last exchange.

'Hehe~'

***

Walking into the main hall, she spotted Chen Yu and his master.

And apparently he had been waiting for her.

"Junior sister Hong!", he waved excitedly, drawing all attention towards themselves. Xiao Hong could only sigh in resignation; this fellow didn't know even the 'D' of discretion.

"Good day to you too, Senior Brother. You seem happy?" queried Xiao Hong after a greeting. In this period of time she'd made friends with this senior brother who was quite kind-hearted and straightforward. Although he was definitely interested in her, he had zero malice towards her. Thus, over time they became somewhat good friends.

Though, the poor fellow ended up on the receiving end of malicious gazes almost everywhere he went. There was no need to guess the obvious reason: it was because he was the only male that was in contact with Xiao Hong. He went from moderately popular to most disliked male in about a month.

Even other girls seemed to not like him. This phenomenon left Xiao Hong somewhat baffled. It stood to reason that girls would dislike her because of her appearance due to envy. But somehow, she was popular even among girls; especially that perverted senior sister whose name she regretfully still didn't know.

"Ah yes! According to master, I'll soon be able to take the 3rd Grade Alchemist exam"

"Oh my… Congratulations senior brother…"

***

Looking at his disciple, Elder Ji couldn't help but sigh. 'This foolish disciple… If only he had half the enthusiasm towards Alchemy, he might have already been a 3rd Grade by now…'

Shaking his head inwardly, he carefully evaluated the target of his disciple's infatuation. He nodded inwardly, 'I can see the reason for his infatuation.'

Elder Ji was almost 600 years old now and had seen many beauties in his life, but few even came close to her in terms of looks. Even the Lunar Jade Sect's so-called No.1 beauty, Black Lotus Valley's Saintess, Golden Demon Sword Sects's Holy Daughter were all inferior in terms of looks.

'She is also quite talented. With such a strong foundation she can rival those Core Disciples in the Inner Sect.' As an Elder, he had a much stronger cultivation base than Deacon Lu and therefore could see much more than him.

'Unfortunately, this foolish disciple has no chance…'

He could very clearly see that the girl had zero interest in Chen Yu.

'If she passes the 2nd Grade Alchemy test in 4 years, I'll take her in as a disciple. Rest is all up to you my disciple.

'Mhm. I'll also tell him that if he reaches 4th grade in 3 years, I'll 'help' him in his quest to win the admiration of his beloved junior sister by taking her in. Hehehe!'

As the saying goes, 'The older the ginger, spicier it is': Elder Ji had already cooked up ways to fool his disciple into doing whatever he wanted.

***

Having confirmed her registration for the exam, she chatted with Chen Yu about alchemy, who was delighted to help her.

Listening attentively, she gained a lot. Although she had basically mastered everything there was to know about the 1st grade alchemist, there was still a way to go for her to match a 2nd grade alchemist, therefore she learnt a lot in the discussion.

At the same time, Chen Yu and Elder Ji were surprised.

'Junior sister Hong is really talented! In just half a year she has basically mastered 1st grade Alchemy!' Chen Yu thought.

'This girl is talented. Her comprehension of 1st grade alchemy is impeccable. She is probably not much worse than Master An' Elder Ji couldn't help but recall that terrifying person. Everytime he thought of it, he felt his centuries of study in alchemy were in vain. The art he had honed over his lifetime was casually surpassed by a brat that was but a fraction of his age.

But what could he do? That's how unreasonable geniuses were. All he could do was lament at how unfair the heavens were. Now there seemed to be another one in front of him. He sometimes really doubted if Alchemy had been the right path for him?

***

Time passed by quickly as they discussed and time for the assessment was here.

The exam was divided into three parts: A general written test to weed out those that had just come to play, trying out, or came with the mindset of getting lucky.

The second test was a rapid fire questionnaire where they tested random things about alchemy, where the questions may not be related to the previous and subsequent questions. This was also a good measure of how well a disciple was likely to do. The process of refining pills required an incredibly agile mind, where they had to keep track of multiple ingredients, their interactions with each other, spiritual energy, heat etc. At one moment, a situation may pop up that needs to be resolved and the very next moment, some completely different problem could pop up. The second test somewhat simulated those situations. This gave the examiners an inkling of the examinee's talent, preparedness and stability of mind.

The third test was an actual practical test. No matter how well they'd done in the previous stages, it was all useless if they could not actually refine pills.

3 hours later.

Xiao Hong had breezed through the written exam as there was pretty much no challenge in the assessment.

As she was walking out of the Assessment Hall, she casually swept the place with her Divine Sense. Suddenly she froze.

'Fuck! What is this bitch doing here?! Dammit, he definitely got information from some idiot.' Xiao Hong cursed inwardly as she sensed a presence she disliked very much: Mo Tong.

She wanted to stay as far as possible from this bastard, therefore she directly turned around to go elsewhere. Unfortunately, fortune didn't favour her today.

"Senior Brother Mo! I found her! She is there!" some cannon-fodder Xiao Hong wanted to rip to pieces shouted.

Mo Tong, who was looking around, turned her way. His eyes lit up as he sent an evaluating gaze her way as he walked towards her.

Xiao Hong wanted to pretend that she didn't realise his goal and was about to walk away when she heard Mo Tong say, "Junior Sister Hong, please wait."

She understood full well that she wouldn't escape this time, so she replied in a cool tone, "This senior brother, I don't think we know each other. Also if senior brother has some business with me, please wait until I'm done with the assessment"

The meaning was pretty clear: Don't talk like we know each other, also please fuck off.

"Hey, don't you know who you're talking to-" the cannon fodder started, but was stopped by Mo Tong raising his hand.

"It's okay Junior Brother Du, I heard Junior Sister is a rather recluse person who cares for little other than alchemy. So she very likely doesn't care very much for brutish things like fighting and rankings."

And there was indeed such a rumour, because multiple people tried to engage in a conversation with her - mostly male, only to be rejected with the excuse of studying Alchemy. She also hung out the most with Chen Yu, who was one of the most talented Alchemists of the 2nd grade.

Looking Xiao Hong up and down almost casually, he said, "Junior Sister, this won't take long. It's just an investigation from the sect about the death of Junior Brother Lin Fan. You seem to have had the last contact with him before he left the sect."

Xiao Hong was dumbfounded. "It's been more than half a year since his death, and the investigation is happening only now?"

Also, what is this? Why is the murderer leading the investigation? She had to reevaluate the power of an Inner Elder.

"Not really. The investigation has been going on for a while, but it's very hard to catch you for some reason. I had been waiting for you during the Alchemy Hall's lectures, but you seem to never appear." Mo Tong shook his head. "Our investigation seems to have come to an end. And you are our only lead now." Brother Mo Tong's eyes narrowed, while there was a slight smirk at the corner of his mouth.

"I see. What can I do for you?"

"Junior Sister, we just need you to answer a few questions."

"Very well. Please wait until I'm done with the assessments"

"Sure, I'll wait for you here."

"Thank you, senior brother." Xiao Hong said, and gracefully turned away. 'So that's the angle. He will use the case of Lin Fan's murder to corner me and then lend a hand in clearing suspicions and gain a favourable impression.

'Well, I'm not gonna make it easy for you.'

A cold light flashed in her eyes.

***

Entering the room, she saw two men and a woman sitting behind a table on an elevated platform such that they slightly looked down at the examinee.

'It's strange how far the cultivation world goes to establish the difference in status between people' shaking her head inwardly.

"Outer Sect disciple Xiao Hong greets elders" made sure to speak in a slightly loud, yet polite tone.

"Hm." The oldest looking man on Xiao Hong's left - Elder Dong - just gave a cursory response. He had a Grade 3 Alchemy badge on his chest.

The one man on Xiao Hong's right, who also had a Grade 3 Alchemy badge, spoke with narrowed eyes, "Disciple Xiao Hong… is it? You have been studying Alchemy for how long now? Half a year? Do you really think alchemy - an art many struggle to understand - is a child's play? Hm?"

She really wanted to roll her eyes, 'Such a cliche way of throwing someone off their game.'

"This disciple has immense respect for alchemy, Elder Meng. I won't do anything that I am not sure of."

"Hmph!" the elder did the classic contemptuous cultivator snort. "That remains to be seen. What do you do when the balance between Spirit Grass and Ice Thorn Ginseng is thrown off by the Fire Control