Julies and Go Gao were amazed by such sight. Julies then took a deep breath and said.
"So the rumors were true, his control over the elements is out of the charts. I can't imagine how he will become once he steps into the Core Formation Realm. He already has the same ability as one, after all."
Go Gao agreed with her.
"Indeed, this is not something we can ignore anymore. As long as our alchemist guild gets him, any price will be worth it. Even if he fails, make sure that he is accepted as an alchemist. With that talent, it will only be a question of time before he surpasses both of us."
Julies then asked.
"How are you going to deal with the mercenary guild?"
Go Gao shook his head.
"I don't know, they aren't weaker than our alchemist guild, after all. I will have to talk directly with supervisor Lu Ganan of the main branch here in Kaley City to see if we can reach an agreement."
Julies heard that and didn't say anything. She is an Alchemist, after all. Things related to management are not her problem.
At Krune's side, he was having some difficulties in manipulating the elements inside the medicinal liquid made from the herbs.
'It's harder than I thought, if I take too long, the medicinal properties will burn away. I guess I will just try to put them in sync as much as possible until I can't wait anymore.'
It couldn't be said to be Krune's fault, this was his first time concocting a pill, after all. He wasn't even sure if what he is doing is something good for the pill creation or not. Without him knowing, he already spent more than one hour over this problem.
When it finally came the time to form the pill, less than 20% of the medicinal element properties were in sync. Krune could only sigh and go ahead with the pill formation. The pill formation part was quite easy, though. There was only a need to bring the medicinal liquid together and solidify it like a pill. Depending on the number of herbs that were used, you can make one or more pills at once. But to make things simple for the candidates, they were asked to make just a single one.
The pill took form, and the process was finally finished. But now, the practical exam was almost over. The majority had already finished their pills, too. Of course, they weren't sure if they succeed or not. When the two hours were finally over, Krune had made only a single pill. There were three lines around it, but he had no idea what it meant.
The alchemists on the stage came down and started to evaluate the contestants' results.
"Haven't reached the level of a One-Star pill, failed."
"Haven't reached the level of a One-Star pill, failed."
"Haven't reached the level of a One-Star pill, failed."
...
As one of the last ones to arrive, Krune's table was at the very end of the queue, so he was one of the last to get his pill evaluated.
"Oh, middle-quality One-Star pill, your name?"
A girl in a white robe close to Krune was very happy to hear that.
"My name is Shue Kalan."
The Alchemist then nodded.
"Congratulations, you are now a One Star Alchemist. You can go to the guilds office later to take your badge and register your guild ID."
Shue Kalan was almost jumping in joy, and all the other contestants looked at her with jealousy. Everyone except for a certain wisp, of course. He didn't think much about it. For him, alchemy was just a way to gather spirit stones. If he fails, he will try something else, that's all.
Since her pill wasn't a Qi Gathering pill, the one who evaluated her was one of the two alchemists that came together with Julies. Julies only examined those who had concocted Qi Gathering pills, so other than Shue Kalan, there wasn't any other contestant that passed the practical exam so far.
Julies approached Krune's table, and she was sure he was able to concoct the pill. But she didn't use her Divine Sense to check since she wanted to look at it with her own eyes.
She then took Krune's pill, and it was just as she expected.
'Although he can perceive the elements well enough to put them in sync, it is still far from perfect. Only around 20% of the elemental properties are in sync at the moment. It shows how inexperienced he is, but to do this while still in the foundation establishment could be said to be a miracle already. Only those other monsters from the Headquarters can do it without being at the Core Formation Realm. Still, even so, the smallest realm alchemist who was able to do it is already at the 7th stage of Foundation Establishment. However, Krune is still at the 2nd stage, so he is definitely the monster among the monsters.'
She then looked at Krune and smiled.
"Congratulations, Three Stars middle-quality Qi Gathering pill. From now on, you are a Three Stars alchemist."
Every single eye in the room moved at Krune at that moment, and even Shue Kalan's jaw dropped. Not only the contestants, the two other alchemists that were helping with the exam felt it be unbelievable as well. After all, they are still Two Stars Alchemists!
Krune noticed everyone looking at him and felt gloomy.
'I've done it again, why can't I control my curiosity? I should have left those elements out of sync the way they were.'
Julies didn't know what he was thinking and simply said.
"Go to the guild office to take your ID and Badge, then you can request access to the materials available for Three Stars Alchemists."
Krune just nodded and left. Shue Kalan, who was just behind him, also followed. She might not have made a Three Stars pill, but she also passed the exam nonetheless. She approached Krune and complimented him.
"Hello, I'm Shue Kalan. It seems like we are fellow Alchemists from now on."
Krune looked at her, and he could see that she wanted to befriend him because of his status as Three Stars Alchemist. She tried to act cute in front of him, but Krune didn't notice that part, though. As a wisp, he doesn't care about humans' appearance. Except for Feifei, of course!
Since that's the case, he thought there wasn't a need to care about this Shue something, so he simply nodded and kept walking.
Shue was taken aback for his reaction, she is pretty confident with her looks, but to be disregarded like that was a first. It was then that she noticed the spiritual energy coming from Krune.
'I see, he isn't human but a demon beast in human form. No wonder he had no reaction when I acted a second ago. In his eyes, humans are probably just weirdly shaped.'
Soon, they arrived at the application office. An attendant then came forward to receive them.
"Miss Shue, you can enter that room to finish the process of getting your badge and ID. As for Krune, I will have to ask you to follow me. The process to apply for a Three Stars Badge is much more complicated, so it will take some time."
Krune nodded and followed the man, and then he was asked to wait in an office while they applied for his Badge and ID. He couldn't help but feel it to be quite a familiar experience.
'Last time it happened, I got a Four Stars Mercenary badge, and my low key life was destroyed. It couldn't be the same again, right?'
At the same time, Go Gao was talking with the Headquarters of the Alchemist Guild of the Yule Continent.
On the other side of the line was an old man with a big white beard and short hair. He seemed to be around his seventies too. Of course, with the man's cultivation, chances are that he is already 500 years old or more.
He was Ediu Qixer, the supervisor of the applications office. Just like the mercenary guild, the alchemist guild also has a review office for those who applied for Three Stars badges or higher. It's just that the number of applications made to this office was several times lower than the Mercenary one. One must remember that alchemists are rare, after all. Ediu Qixer heard the whole story and felt like Go Gao was joking with him.
"Are you telling me that a 2nd stage Foundation Establishment can already sync the elements in pill making and that it was his first time? Even here at the headquarters, we don't have such a genius. Are you sure you are not dreaming?"
Go Gao couldn't blame Ediu for that, he too thought that it was impossible when he saw Krune doing that.
"As hard as it is to believe, that's the truth! I can put my position as the supervisor of Kaley City on the line for it."
Ediu understood that it wasn't a joke after hearing that.
"In that case, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and bring him in! I'm giving you the permission to bestow him the Three Stars Badge and ID, so make sure that he stays with the Alchemist Guild. Such a talent can't be left wandering outside."
After saying that, Ediu noticed that Go Gao had a bitter smile on his face.
"What is it?"
Go Gao couldn't hide the truth after all.
"Did you perhaps hear about the new Mercenary Guild Rising Star, the one that got the Four Stars Badge before being a Core Formation Realm cultivator?"
Ediu nodded. After all, the mercenary guild spread the news everywhere to ensure that no one would try to take him away.
"I know, if I'm not wrong, his name was Kru-"
Just as he was about to finish saying the name, he noticed the problem out there. The application for that Three Stars badge was for someone called Krune as well.
"I see, so that's the problem and a very annoying one at that."
Go Gao nodded.
"Exactly, the mercenary guild bestowed him the Four Star Mercenary Badge, and this goes to show how highly they think about him. I don't think it will be easy to convince them that Krune should be left with the Alchemist Guild alone. They don't stop any of their members from being part of another guild, so they definitely won't stop Krune from joining the Alchemist Guild. Still, they probably hope to have Krune taking part in the martial gathering two years from now. Of course, that will only be the case if his cultivation improves sufficiently for that."
Ediu Qixer face changed after hearing that.
"Unacceptable!"
The reason that Ediu got angry is that to ensure that only the strong will emerge victoriously, the martial gathering happens inside of an earlier selected danger zone. That way, every participant will have to sign the contract that no one will be responsible in case they die. Also, all participants can go all out during the gathering, and if someone dies, no one will be charged. How could they let Krune, such a genius alchemist, take part in this dangerous competition?
Go Gao then said.
"What about we give him a Four Stars Badge as the Mercenary Guild did? If we give him a Three Stars Badge, he will obviously think that the Mercenary Guild thoughts about his future are better than ours."
Ediu pondered a bit.
"I will talk to the Head of the guild, a Four Stars Badge can't be given this easy, after all. But I agree that this would be the first step in bringing him over, so wait for my call."
Ediu then went to talk to the Head of the Alchemist Guild Head Quarters, Calier Medgin. After an hour of discussion, they agreed that it would be better if they can bring Krune to their side, so he accepted the request for the Four Stars Badge.
Back at the Alchemist Guild, Krune was waiting for his Three Stars badge to come. He wants to check the alchemist list of requests and learn how to make the necessary pills for selling. After all. his Rank Three spirit stones won't last much longer.
The door of the room opened, and Supervisor Go Gao came in. Krune could see that he had a bright smile on his face.
"Hello, my name is Go Gao, the supervisor of the Kaley City Alchemist branch. Congratulations, Alchemist Krune. The guild decided to make a special exception and bestow you a Four Stars Badge. This is how much we value your talents as an alchemist, please accept it!"
Go Gao then passed the Four Stars badge with Krune's name to him.
Krune had a foreboding feeling after seeing that.
"Supervisor Go, you perhaps haven't told anyone about it yet, right?"
Last time he received a 'special exception,' everyone in the continent came to know about him. Now he is receiving the same thing again, but he doesn't want it, he doesn't want it at all!
Supervisor Go then said.
"Don't worry, we don't like to make things big, the alchemist guilds name itself is more than enough."
Krune then let out a sigh of relief. In that case, he doesn't mind receiving the Four Stars Alchemist Badge. That way, he will have access to more resources and can accept better requests. All in all, he can make more money.
Supervisor Go then asked.
"Krune, wouldn't you leave the mercenary guild and stay with our Alchemist guild? You have great talent, as for resources or whatever the mercenary guild has promised you, we can do the same or even better."
Krune was taken aback with such a question.
"This..."
Supervisor Go then said.
"You can think it over and give me an answer later."
Supervisor Go had already decided to pay a visit to Lu Ganan of the Kaley City mercenary guild. He wants them to know that the alchemist guild wants Krune.
Poor Krune didn't know about the storm that was coming his way.
