In the Alchemist Guild, Oligan continued with the testing of Cross-Realm pills. Kobe Vuis had two batches of pills. However, the first batch failed to help the Foundation Establishment Cultivator in breaking through. Now his second and best batch was going to be tested.
Sometime later, the same scene of a burst of Spiritual Energy coming out of the cultivator who tested his pill had appeared.
"Joan Taran, Five Pills for a breakthrough."
Joan almost jumped for joy. That result put him in 5th place since the other two with five pill breakthroughs did worse than him in the previous phase. One must remember that the tiebreaker was decided by each person's position in the other tests so far. There weren't a lot with second batches either, so he had hope of making it into the top 10.
"Next, Cluhe Sol."
Sure enough, Cluhe Sol's second batch was much better than the first one, so he got a breakthrough with only four pills. His position in the previous phase was worse than Lita's, so he was now in third place. Still, his best one would come in the last batch. He was one of only three to make three batches of pills until the very end.
'Hmph! I might not surpass that Light and Dark freak, but I can definitely fight for the second position.'
The tests continued, and someone else also got a breakthrough with four pills. To make things worse for Cluhe, it was the same person who did better than him in the fox stage, so he fell to the 4th position straight away.
"Kobe Vuiz, Four Pills for a breakthrough. Very good. Next!"
Kobe was delighted to hear that result.
"Hahaha! I'm definitely guaranteed a slot in the Alchemist Guild Main Branch with that!"
Surprisingly, he didn't really care what position he would have in the end. All he cared about was to enter the Alchemist Guild. He didn't mind whether he would finish in first or tenth. However, Cluhe gritted his teeth once again. He felt his confidence shaking a lot recently.
"Fuck!"
Finally, it was Lita Xue's second pill bottle. Just like Roan, she only made two batches, with the second being her best one.
Roan didn't pay attention to her during the concoction process since he was working on his own pills. In the end, he could only ask Old Worm.
'Any thoughts?'
Old Worm nodded.
'That girl might give you a surprise this time. However, that is because the cultivator and the pills are of the same element. In a neutral pill competition, she would stand no chance against you.'
Roan shook his head.
'I don't mind. Use all the advantages in your favor. That's what I would do if I used one of the five elements.'
All of a sudden, Roan opened his hand in front of him as Water Element accumulated on it. Soon after, it turned into a small sphere of water that froze not a second later. The ice bead then fell to the ground, where it shattered.
Old Worm looked at that and nodded.
'All cultivators can use all elements. That's a rule that never changes. With your great control over Yin Energy, it won't be long before you can control the Water Element at almost the same level. At that time, you will be able to make Water Elemental Pills as well.'
Roan nodded as he thought about Rean. He wasn't the only one getting used to another element other than Light and Darkness.
Suddenly...
*Boom!*
A burst of Spiritual Energy came out of the cultivator testing Lita Xue's pills. In an instant, everyone looked at her with surprise in their eyes. Old Worm and Roan, on the other hand, just nodded.
'As expected.'
"Lita Xue, one pill for a breakthrough."
*WOW!*
Nobody expected that someone would surpass Roan's score. Naturally, that attracted even more attention. However, everyone began to have doubts in their minds as well.
'If Roan had one of the five primary elements as his affinity, wouldn't he be able to do it as well?'
Lita Xue sighed in relief as she looked at Roan on the other end of the room. To her surprise, Roan gave an approving nod. However, she could tell that Roan wasn't surprised at all.
'Did he expect it?'
Lita quickly shook her head and placed those thoughts behind. The important thing was that she really achieved a breakthrough with a single pill. Of course, she also thought about the possibility of Roan doing the same thing if he had one of the five primary elements. But there was nothing she could do about that, nor would she hold back just because she knew of it.
Cluhe Sol felt helpless. He was very confident in his last batch of pills, but he knew he wouldn't surpass Roan's two-pill score, let alone Lita's single pill. He was expecting to beat her with a three-pill breakthrough, but that was now impossible.
The tests continued. Finally, the test arrived at Cluhe, Kobe, and Joan's third batches. They were the only ones to make three of them, so this last phase was quite fast.
Sure enough, Cluhe achieved his objective, and the cultivator who took his pill achieved a breakthrough in three pills. Kobe and Joan's pills were better than before, but neither got a three-pill breakthrough, so Cluhe still snatched the third position back.
With that, the test was finally over. Oligan then called the alchemists, who made it to the top ten on the stage and announced their positions.
"Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's exam. We now have the ten most qualified alchemists who will join the main branch.
1st: Lita Xue
2nd: Roan Larks
3rd: Cluhe Sol
4th: Kobe Vuis
5th: Joan Taran
6th..."
Roan then looked at Werxa before sending him a Spiritual Sense message while Oligan made his announcement.
'Is this enough to see Huan?'
Werxa narrowed his eyes as he looked at the boy. In the end, he sighed.
'I can't guarantee anything.'
Roan nodded, not minding at all.
Oligan quickly finished saying the names of those who placed in the top ten before announcing.
"Now, the rewards!"
