Master Otto was in the middle of drinking a cup of tea when he saw the unusual purple flames rising from Xiao Tian's cauldron. He immediately spat the tea out in shock.
"What kind of fire is this? Is it a Heavenly Flame?!"
President Frank carefully observed the flames and frowned. "It shouldn't be. Although the color is different, there's no way he can control a Heavenly Flame at his age."
"Get me his registration form. I want to see whose student this is," Frank called to a subordinate.
The subordinate quickly returned with the form and handed it to Frank.
Frank opened it and read aloud, "Mentor… Jin Lao?"
He pondered for a moment, then looked at Otto in confusion. "Have you ever heard of this title?"
"Never. I've lived for decades and have no memory of it," Otto replied, equally bewildered.
"Forget it. No need to dig deeper — it's not good for anyone. Anyway, he's from our Alchemist Guild now, and he can bring us glory. That's enough for this lifetime," Frank said.
The two elders fell silent and continued watching the assessment with great interest.
Xiao Tian's unique purple flames quickly attracted the attention of everyone else in the hall.
Seeing so many eyes fixed on his flames, Xiao Tian helplessly threw the medicinal herbs into the cauldron and said, "These are just ordinary flames. There's no need to keep staring. Besides, this is an assessment — you won't have time to watch later."
The others snapped back to reality and hurriedly focused on their own cauldrons, no longer daring to be distracted.
After refining all the medicinal herbs into powder, Xiao Tian began to carefully merge the powder and liquid. The prototype of a Force Accumulation Pill gradually took shape inside the cauldron.
Suddenly, two slight muffled sounds came from both sides.
Lin Fei and Xue Mei, who had been shaken by how quickly Xiao Tian was forming his pill, accidentally burned their own medicinal herbs into ash.
Both girls stopped and looked at Xiao Tian in unison. Seeing his calm, unhurried demeanor — more like a senior alchemist with decades of experience than a raw youth — a strong sense of defeat welled up in their hearts. They sighed and admitted their inferiority.
They quickly snapped out of it, stopped paying attention to him, and seriously picked up their second batch of medicinal herbs to start over.
Time continued to pass.
When roughly two-thirds of the assessment time had elapsed, Xiao Tian's hand trembled with internal energy. The lid of his cauldron flew up on its own. With a casual wave, a pale yellow pill shot out. Xiao Tian swiftly picked up a jade bottle, and the pill flew accurately into it. The lid also happened to fall perfectly back onto the cauldron.
Xiao Tian placed the finished pill on the stone platform and stood quietly, waiting for the assessment to end.
Lin Fei and Xue Mei finished forming their pills about ten minutes after him.
The two girls glanced at Xiao Tian, then smiled slightly at him.
"Assessment time is up!"
After Frank announced the end of the exam, everyone stepped forward with their jade bottles.
Frank and Otto first checked the pills of the other six candidates. In the end, only two of them passed.
Then they picked up the pills refined by Xue Mei and Lin Fei. After careful examination, they nodded. "Although there are still some flaws, they have met the passing standard."
Xue Mei and Lin Fei breathed sighs of relief.
Finally, Frank picked up Xiao Tian's jade bottle, poured out the pill, and exclaimed in astonishment, "You actually refined Force Accumulation Pills… and they even have pill patterns?!"
The others, hearing that it was Force Accumulation Pills, shook their heads. Besides his young age, he couldn't compare to the others — even the pills the rest had refined were much simpler.
"Tsk tsk, you're quite good at hiding your skills. Force Accumulation Pills are not simple First-Rank pills. Even some genuine First-Rank Alchemists might struggle to refine them, let alone produce pill patterns," Frank clicked his tongue in amazement.
He put the pill back into the bottle and smiled at Xiao Tian. "Congratulations on passing the First-Rank Alchemist assessment."
"Two Masters, I would like to continue with the Second-Rank Alchemist assessment."
Xiao Tian's words echoed through the hall.
...
The entire hall suddenly fell silent. Everyone's faces were filled with stupefaction as they stared blankly at Xiao Tian.
"Are you sure you want to take the Second-Rank Alchemist assessment?" Frank asked, his voice rising with excitement. "To assess as a Second-Rank Alchemist, you not only need to refine a Second-Rank pill, but your strength must also reach the Dou Master realm. Have you achieved all of that?"
Xiao Tian gently nodded.
"How confident are you?"
"About eighty to ninety percent," Xiao Tian replied confidently.
Frank shouted excitedly, "Someone! Quickly prepare for the Second-Rank Alchemist assessment! Hurry!"
A Second-Rank Alchemist behind him immediately ran to the nearby assessment room to make preparations.
"This guy is already a Dou Master at such a young age?" Xue Mei tightly gripped her hand, saying in disbelief.
"He's quite arrogant. Others usually say they have about fifty percent confidence, but he directly claims eighty to ninety percent. I don't know if it's confidence or bragging. This suddenly appearing monstrous guy is too discouraging. We really can't compare to him. We barely passed the First-Rank assessment, and he can directly take the Second-Rank one," Lin Fei added from the side.
Xue Mei nodded in agreement.
In less than a minute, a Second-Rank Alchemist informed Frank that the assessment room was ready.
"Follow me. The Second-Rank assessment is different from the First-Rank — no one is allowed to watch. Everyone, please wait quietly outside the door."
Xiao Tian followed Frank and Otto into the assessment room. Once inside, Otto closed the door tightly.
"If I can't watch, I can't watch. Who cares? Ah! But I still really want to watch!" Lin Fei muttered from outside.
...
While the people outside waited anxiously like ants on a hot pan, the door to the assessment room finally opened. Otto, Frank, and Xiao Tian walked out together.
Seeing the three emerge, Lin Fei couldn't help but ask quickly, "Is the assessment over? What's the result?"
"It's truly disheartening; you can't help but admire him." Frank and Otto walked out with shocked expressions. Frank sighed and said to Xiao Tian, "It seems that the youngest Second-Rank Alchemist in Blackrock City in nearly a hundred years is none other than you. At your age, I was still diligently refining basic medicinal herbs."
Everyone in the hall couldn't help but swallow their saliva. The expressions and exclamations of the two Masters clearly indicated that Xiao Tian had passed the Second-Rank assessment.
"Two Masters, I need to continue with the Third-Rank Alchemist assessment," Xiao Tian said with a calm expression.
"What? I didn't hear clearly. Say it again. Did I mishear?" Frank was completely shocked by Xiao Tian's sudden words.
"I said I want to assess as a Third-Rank Alchemist. You didn't mishear," Xiao Tian replied with a determined tone.