The call with Pa Ma made Gu Ding realize that the popularity of his potion-refining video had exceeded his imagination. Not only had Ma Dike seen it, but quite a few higher-ups from the Medicine God Alliance had as well. Besides Ma Dike wanting to meet him, the alliance's upper management also seemed to want him to participate in some kind of competition.
After telling Pa Ma that he could probably reach Fengyuan Star in around ten days and confirming where he would meet Ma Dike, Gu Ding ended the call.
"I looked into that Newcomer Ranking Competition." Sea Emperor also knew that the Medicine God Alliance wanted Gu Ding to compete. "A newcomer is someone who has been a pharmacist for less than three years. Sa Ze had only been practicing for under a year, which was why his challenges had been so successful. In fact, there are three other newcomers across the entire Long Teng Universe Country with talent comparable to his. All three have been pharmacists for over two years, two are already B-Grade Pharmacists, and one is an A-Grade Pharmacist. That is why none of them stepped forward when Sa Ze challenged the star regions they were in."
"Then there's no comparison at all. An A-Grade Pharmacist only needs to refine one Perfect Quality A-Grade Potion, and everyone else becomes a spectator." Gu Ding had not expected A-Grade Pharmacists to appear in the Newcomer Ranking Competition.
"That isn't how the competition works. Usually, every contestant is required to refine the same E-Grade Potion. The more they produce within the allotted time, and the higher its quality, the higher they rank," Sea Emperor explained.
"E-Grade Potions?" Gu Ding was stunned again. "F-Grade Pharmacists can't enter?"
"In theory, every newcomer pharmacist in the Long Teng Universe Country can participate in the rankings, either as an individual or on behalf of the star region they belong to. However, anyone unable to refine an E-Grade Potion will be eliminated directly in the first round." Sea Emperor had also studied the rules, and by comparing records and video materials from previous years, he had found certain restrictive clauses embedded in them.
"There are simply too many F-Grade Pharmacists. That kind of restriction is understandable." Gu Ding roughly understood the organizers' thinking. The number of F-Grade Pharmacists might exceed the combined number of pharmacists at every other grade. If they were all allowed to compete directly, the sheer numbers would likely cause all sorts of chaos. Eliminating F-Grade Pharmacists in the first round was a form of protection for the later events.
Moreover, the rankings were aimed at newcomers in the first place. Their purpose was to discover talented pharmacists among them, allowing senior pharmacists who had yet to take disciples to choose people to train and helping the entire pharmacy profession flourish. Everyone had the right to take the assessment for three consecutive years. As for those who still failed to advance to E-Grade Pharmacist after three years of effort, it could only be said that they truly lacked talent in pharmacy.
"What rewards does the Newcomer Ranking Competition offer?" Gu Ding still cared more about tangible benefits.
Old Dad had once taught him that only things you could actually get your hands on were good things. Gu Ding had always remembered that.
"The individual rewards are fairly limited. Most of the rewards go to the star regions represented by the contestants. If a contestant does not represent any star region, the portion meant for the star region is retained by the organizers."
"Individuals ranked in the top hundred may freely choose one potion from those refined by the contestants. The Medicine God Alliance will refine an identical physical item and send it to the top hundred contestants. In addition, they receive a complete set of B-Grade Refining Equipment."
"Individuals ranked in the top ten may freely select three potions from those refined by the contestants, and the Medicine God Alliance will likewise send them the actual items. They also receive a set of A-Grade Refining Equipment and the privilege of obtaining potion materials worth one hundred million Star Coins from the Medicine God Alliance for free within a year."
"Individuals ranked in the top three may freely select five potions from those refined by the contestants, receive a set of A-Grade Refining Equipment, and gain the privilege of obtaining potion materials worth five hundred million Star Coins from the Medicine God Alliance for free within a year. They also have a certain chance of being chosen by an S-Grade grandmaster pharmacist and becoming a closed-door disciple."
"As for the champion, they may freely select ten potions from those refined by the contestants, receive a set of quasi-S-Grade Refining Equipment, and gain the privilege of obtaining potion materials worth one billion Star Coins from the Medicine God Alliance for free within a year. They also receive one opportunity to meet and speak with an S-Grade grandmaster pharmacist."
"Of course, these rewards do not stack."
Hearing those rewards, Gu Ding was somewhat shocked. He could not help sighing, "The Medicine God Alliance is really rich!"
Not counting the value of the potions given away, a complete set of B-Grade Refining Equipment was worth around one hundred million Star Coins. A complete set of A-Grade Refining Equipment generally cost between one and 1.2 billion. As for quasi-S-Grade Refining Equipment, it was practically unavailable on the market despite its listed value, generally priced at around 2.5 billion Star Coins, but rarely in stock. On top of that, there were the potion materials worth hundreds of millions of Star Coins available for free within a year. From potion materials to finished potions, the value increased by at least several dozen times. If Perfect Quality was achieved, the increase in value was at least a hundredfold.
Take the F-Grade Cell Enhancer Gu Ding had refined before. One set of materials cost only a little over one hundred Star Coins, yet a Perfect Quality finished potion sold for twenty-five thousand Star Coins per dose, an increase of more than two hundred times. One could imagine just how wealthy the Medicine God Alliance had become after existing for so many years.
As for being selected by an S-Grade grandmaster pharmacist and becoming a closed-door disciple, Gu Ding did not particularly care about that. There were only three S-Grade grandmaster pharmacists in the entire Long Teng Universe Country. All of them were extremely busy, and each had over a hundred disciples. Even if he truly became one of their disciples, he probably would not see his master more than a few times a year. On the other hand, a top A-Grade Pharmacist like Ma Dike was sincere about taking disciples. And according to Pa Ma, Ma Dike was quite a good person and highly skilled. If they got along when they met this time, Gu Ding intended to become Pa Ma's junior brother. There was no need to take another master.
"Besides the Newcomer Ranking Competition, the Medicine God Alliance should have other exchange events, right?" Gu Ding wanted to know whether he could participate in anything besides the Newcomer Ranking Competition. The rewards for a single newcomer competition were already so generous, so the rewards for other competitions surely would not be bad either.
"There is another competition called Ten Years One Potion. Contestants must have been pharmacists for more than three years but less than ten, be no older than thirty, and have reached at least C-Grade Pharmacist level. Its rewards are more than ten times as generous as those of the Newcomer Ranking Competition," Sea Emperor continued. "There is also a highest-level competition: the ultimate contest between A-Grade Pharmacists from different star regions, broadcast live across the entire Long Teng Universe Country. Every prize is valued in the hundreds of billions of Star Coins. Unfortunately, you are not qualified to enter any of them."
"You really didn't need to add that last sentence..." Gu Ding was left speechless by Sea Emperor's final jab.
"After all that, are you entering the Newcomer Ranking Competition or not? The rewards from the Medicine God Alliance headquarters are only one part of it. If you achieve good results, the Tianhe Star Region branch will definitely give you some benefits as well," Sea Emperor reminded him.
"Of course I'm entering! Old Dad said it before: anyone who refuses free money is a fool!" Gu Ding grinned. "Connect me to Medicine King Valley. I want to talk to someone from the Medicine God Alliance's Tianhe branch."
Before you continue