“What do you mean you won’t be joining? All disciples have to participate.” Yang Quan said with a strained voice.

“I will be participating, just in another event. I’m more of an alchemist than a fighter.”

“What? Wait…” A look of realization hit Yang Quan. “Is that why Elder Cao brought you into the sect?”

“Exactly so.”

The young boy grimaced at the news. He had known Elder Cao as a formidable fighter first before her identity as an alchemist, which caused the misunderstanding. Embarrassed, he quickly departed from the stands, diving headfirst into the arena below.

Li Lang scratched his head as he wondered how any of this even mattered, but before he could dwell on it, the seniors in the sect shouted out once more.

“Disciples participating in the crafts event please gather at the tunnel entrance with the red smoke!”

There were several tunnel entrances to the arena floor, and one of them had a small fire going. The fire produced red fumes, which Li Lang had been wondering about, but now the mystery had been resolved.

He joined the rest of the crowd and made their way down the stairs from the spectator’s area to the floor below. It didn’t take long, as all the disciples with higher cultivation opted to directly jump down instead.

There was a disproportionate amount of participants in the combat event compared to the crafts event. Mastering a craft was not easy and these numbers exactly demonstrated that. However, one craftsman could service numerous cultivators, so if that ratio was taken into consideration, there were more craftsmen than combatants.

Li Lang was soon guided into the tunnels along with the other participants towards the interiors of the coliseum building. While walking, Li Lang couldn’t help but notice he was drawing many gazes, and from what he overheard, it wasn’t because of his abnormally large head.

It didn’t take long before he realized all the other participants around him were at least a year older. Thankfully, as a competition for youths, there were no adults either.

“This youngster should be new to the sect…Is he really participating in a craft competition at such a young age? He probably can’t even use Qi sense yet.”

“Of course not! I can feel that he is only in the third stage of Energy Gathering…What is he doing? Is he lost?”

Li Lang knew there was no point in telling them otherwise, as he was experienced enough to know that most people wouldn’t change their initial perception of somebody until proven otherwise. After all, action spoke louder than words.

They soon exited the coliseum itself and trekked through the sect ground until they reached the underground facility Li Lang had visited previously. They arrived at the spacious underground hall where there were many paths that split off, each labeled with one of the five elements.

Five people waited there for the group and from their demeanor, everyone could instantly tell they were sect elders.

“Split up into your crafts. You will be brought to your respective profession’s area by these esteemed elders here.”

Li Lang stared at the elder positioned in front of each path for a moment. They read, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

The disciples quickly dispersed and Li Lang headed for the elder before the ‘Fire’ path that represented alchemy. Once they were grouped, the elders began leading them down the paths behind them until they arrived in the Alchemy hall.

A dozen disciples were participating in the alchemy competition.

“The first round of competition is simple. Craft as many Mortal-grade Recovery Pills as you can. Each room is well stocked with ten sets of materials. You will continue to refine pills until the materials run out.” The elder explained.

“Elder Ma, how is the evaluation weighted? Does the final number of pills matter more or quality?”

“Of course, both. I won’t disclose the exact details, but as proud alchemists, you must hold yourself to higher standards. Do not slack off, always strive for the best.”

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While all the disciples looked excited or determined to place well in the competition, Li Lang was completely listless.

The Ascension Pill…If only I was a better fighter, I would have a chance to attain it. Why can’t this alchemy competition have it as a reward as well? It’s a pill, for goodness’ sake! I can feel the secrets of cultivating, eluding me!

By the time Li Lang snapped out of it, all the other disciples had already entered into their own refining room.

“Junior, you have waited until everyone else left. Tell me, what do you require? I’ll be sure to keep it a secret.”

“Umm...That’s right.” Li Lang faltered for a moment at the sudden question. “Do you have any Moonshadow Lotus?”

“Yes, I will bring it to your refining room. You can go on in.”

Seeing how the elder answered so earnestly, Li Lang complied and entered his assigned refining room. He took stock of the materials and carefully examined the equipment within. By the time he was done, a knock resounded, and he found a bag of Moonshadow Lotus just outside the door.

“Okay…I have all the materials I need and more. Time to get to work.”

As Li Lang worked on refining three batches of Recovery Pills concurrently as he was used to, his mind couldn’t help but wander to Elder Cao’s teachings.

She had opened up a new realm of pill refining to him, one where the alchemist carefully monitored the pill’s conditions throughout the process. However, it required the alchemist to use Qi sense, something that he wasn’t able to do yet. He explored ways he could address this with his current method but found it incompatible.

My approach is based on the mass production method, where I ensure all my inputs are consistently the same to allow for a repeatable process. The ‘proper’ way Elder Cao showed requires paying attention to each pill throughout the entire refinement process, an artisan’s way that is on the other end of the spectrum…

As Li Lang worked on the pills, he inadvertently displayed one of the advantages of his mass production method. Even while his mind was elsewhere, the refining was a success. While for other alchemists, the tiniest distraction could cause their furnace to blow up.

With the entire refining process mastered, Li Lang was able to complete his assignment without failing once. As expected of someone who refined three furnaces concurrently, he was the first one to come out, despite being the last one to start.

“Is there a problem? Perhaps you need more Moonshadow Lotus? If so…while I can’t comment too much on another alchemy technique, but isn’t it a little too wasteful?”

“...No, Elder Ma. I am done. Here are my Recovery Pills.”

“So quickly?”

The elder swiftly snatched up the bottle in Li Lang’s hand, but quickly caught himself in the act just before he opened it. There were procedures to follow, which meant he had to wait until everyone else was done before he evaluated it before all the contestants in a show of fairness.

The elder was left wondering to himself how Moonshadow Lotus could possibly accelerate the refining process of something as elementary as Recovery Pills. For a moment, he thought Li Lang may have lied, but the scent from the bottle was unmistakable for a veteran alchemist like him.

“...Elder, is it okay if I went to the washroom?” Li Lang asked.

“Yes, yes. It will take some time before the other participants are done. Just make sure you’re back before then.”

With Li Lang gone, the elder was left alone while he pondered the ways of alchemy. It made time pass quickly, and soon, all the other contestants exited their refining rooms. They neatly lined up in front of the elder, and Li Lang came just in time for the evaluation to begin.

“You have all done well. We will now be grading your results. Are there any volunteers who would like to be graded first?”

Instantly, several hands shot up as the competitors glared at each other.

Elder Ma chuckled wistfully at the youthfulness of the disciples and randomly pointed at one of them.

“Introduce yourself and present me with your work.”

“Elder Ma, I am Tong Baixuan. Here are the Recovery Pills I have refined.” The man said as he presented his pill bottle.

Elder Ma proceeded to take the contents out and inspected each one carefully.

“Average quality, decent quality, good, subpar, subpar, decent…”

As the results were announced, the remaining competitors began chatting amongst themselves.

“This Tong Baixuan is not bad for his age. I believe he succeeded in about fifty percent of attempts.”

“That’s much better than the standard one in three tries for pills at his level. Do you think he is just that talented, or is it his technique?”

“...Now this is getting me nervous to show my results. At the very least, I don’t want to have the worst showing.”

“Ha, as if that would happen with that brat here.”

Li Lang returned their glances with a polite smile. He wasn’t here to show off or make enemies. Despite the alchemy competition not having Ascension Pills as a reward, Li Lang still wanted whatever reward he could get.

The others didn’t press him too hard either, as they were all his seniors.

One by one, the grading continued.

“Song Lan, four batches successfully refined out of ten. Two of average quality, one subpar, and one good quality batch of Recovery Pills.”

“Next! Li Lang!”

Instantly, everyone looked over at the boy with an abnormally large head.