The man was a little taken aback by the name and suddenly smiled, "haha, Yu Ming. You are the person that make a 60% pill on the competition yesterday, aren't you?" the man asked.
"Yes, I am," Alex said without a hint of arrogance on his face.
The man looked at his face with a slight smirk and said, "You are quite talented, aren't you? What sect are you from?"
"We are from the Hong Wu sect," Alex said.
"Hong Wu?" the man dropped his head into a thinking face and said, "Ah, Little Ma's sect right? No wonder you guys are so talented."
"You took a recipe and learned it in a single day to this level. That's worthy of compliments. Especially you little brother, I don't think even my disciple can do what you did in a single day," the man said.
Alex and the rest felt a little awkward listening to his compliments. They didn't know how to react to a random man, albeit a great alchemist, complementing them.
"Ah, I am a little late now, so I must leave. I hope our paths cross in the future," the man said as he handed the pill back and nodded to the group.
The four of them also bowed a little to show respect.
He started walking away, but as soon as he reached a little further away, he stopped. "Oh, and another thing, a suggestion. Cut the Fire lizard's tail into 4 equal pieces before putting them in one after another with a 1-second interval and follow the rest of the recipe. "
"I just discovered that a few days ago and didn't get to give the academy guys the updated recipe. Haha, my bad. Do that and you guys will have a much better pill come out. Goodbye," the man said and quickly walked in.
The guy at the register saw him and quickly stood up to greet him with a deep bow. He did not stop the man at all.
Fan Ruogang was the first to come out of her shock as she said, "D— Did that man just say he couldn't give the updated recipe?"
"Doesn't that mean— " Zhou Mei didn't speak any further and waited for confirmation from the others.
"Yes," Alex said. "It seems… we just had our first meeting with the Royal Alchemist." Even as the words came out of his mouth, he couldn't believe it. He had been hearing how good the man was and how talented he was, but never in his life did he expect him to look so… young.
"He looks younger than Master, doesn't he?" he asked.
"Yes," Wan Li said. "I— I wonder if it's some sort of pill or… his cultivation base is just that high." The only way someone could stay young despite being old was if their cultivation base was high or if they ate some sort of heavenly ingredients or pills that gave that effect.
Alex was still in thought when he checked the top right of his vision and saw that it was already 5:45 pm.
"Oh no. It's late. We need to hurry back," he said and immediately walked out of the Alchemy hall, with the rest following quickly behind.
They tried hurrying back to get before 6, but the streets were crowded in the evening, and they couldn't fly over the people. So, they ended up being a little late.
They quickly went up the stairs, but there were Ma Rong and the other elders with a frowning faces, waiting for them.
"Where did you guys go? You were gone for the entire day. You guys didn't even come back once, and now you turn up late. Did you know how worried we were?" Ma Rong said with an angry face.
"Master, we can explain," Alex said.
"Go on, explain why you were gone for so long," Ma Rong said
"Umm… the thing is… " Alex went on to explain how they went to the alchemy hall to make new pills.
"So, you didn't think to leave on time?" Ma Rong asked.
"No, we did leave on time Sect leader, but then he appeared out of nowhere and we couldn't leave sooner," Fan Ruogang said.
"He? Who is he?" the second elder.
"Umm… we think he was… the Royal Alchemist," Zhou Mei replied.
Suddenly, everyone's eyes perked up and they looked at the 4.
"You guys met the Royal Alchemist?" Ma Rong asked.
"We're not sure. We think so from the comments he made," Alex said.
"How did he look? Why was he there? What comments did he make? Explain everything," Ma Rong said.
Alex proceeded to explain everything he remembered from the comments about the composition and structure of the pill to his height, so him calling Ma Rong 'Little Ma' and etc.
Ma Rong was a little surprised. "Sigh, it seems you really did meet him. Alright, I will excuse you guys for today. If you don't want to be punished, you better keep track of your time from tomorrow onwards. I can't have the best disciples of my sect disappearing on my watch," she said.
"Yes, Master" "Yes, Sect Leader," the 4 of them said at once.
"Good, now you can go," she said and let them pass on. The 4 of them went to their own rooms and closed the door.
The Third Elder looked at Ma Rong and said, "I can't believe the kids got lucky enough to meet with the Royal Alchemist himself. Even I have never seen him."
"Yeah, it's hard to spot him. He likes to change his appearance from time to time, so it's impossible to recognize him by his looks. It seems he is opting for a young face this time," Ma Rong said.
"Haha, they got to learn something from the Royal Alchemist himself. It's not every day that happens. They really did get lucky," the Second Elder said.
The other elders also talked in small voices surprised about the disciples meeting the Royal Alchemist.
"Alright, let's forget about this. Call everyone to my room. It's time for the meeting."
