One Step to the Top

Lin Ming had no idea why they were so shocked! Wasn't this perfectly normal? He had simply practiced every day, and then naturally reached his current level.

Of course, Elder Huo and Steward Liu had no idea what Lin Ming was thinking. Otherwise, they would have been so angered by his thoughts that they vomited blood before complaining to him. Steward Yang would say that he had painstakingly refined pills for over twenty years before reaching the level of a Third-Grade Alchemist. Elder Huo, meanwhile, would say that this old man had practiced alchemy for fifty or sixty years and was only a Tier 5 Alchemist.

Yet you, Lin Ming, had gone from a novice who had never refined a pill to someone capable of refining Second-Grade Pills in just over two years, and ones with Pill Patterns at that. At your level, becoming a Third-Grade Alchemist would be no problem. With more practice, becoming a 4th Grade Alchemist within two or three years would also be entirely possible.

You had reached in three years what took others over twenty years of Pill Refining, and in five years you could surpass them. Yet you still thought it was nothing, completely normal. How were the rest of us supposed to live?

For now, they could only be thankful that neither side knew what the other was thinking.

"Lin Ming, may I ask who your master is?" Elder Huo asked respectfully.

In his view, anyone who could teach Lin Ming—a complete novice who knew nothing—until he could refine Second-Grade Pills with Pill Patterns in such a short time had to be, at the very least, a Seventh-Grade Alchemy Grandmaster. Elder Huo himself was already at the peak of Tier 5 Alchemists, yet he knew he could not accomplish such a thing. Even a Sixth-Grade Alchemist could not do it. Perhaps only a Seventh-Grade Alchemy Grandmaster or someone above that level could.

"This student has never formally taken a master. My current alchemy skills were learned from a 4th Grade Alchemist elder of my family. If one had to be particular about it, that elder would be this student's master." Lin Ming thought of how Master Toso had taught him alchemy, so he regarded Master Toso as his mentor.

"Never taken a master? Learned from a 4th Grade Alchemist elder? What a heaven-blessed genius!" Elder Huo first muttered over Lin Ming's words before directly praising him.

Not long after hearing Lin Ming's words, Steward Yang was stunned and began doubting his life. Could a 4th Grade Alchemist teach someone into becoming a Second-Grade Alchemist in less than three years? Then what was he, someone who had followed a Tier 5 Alchemist for so many years before reaching Third Grade? A turtle? His progress in alchemy was as slow as a turtle's crawl. Yet compared to others, while he was not particularly fast, he was at least decent enough.

Since it was not his problem, then Lin Ming must be the problem. Mm-hm. That had to be it. Lin Ming was not human. To avoid being crushed into doubting his life, Steward Yang began thinking this way, suspecting that Lin Ming was not human.

Looking at the two men who had once again sunk into thought, Lin Ming had no idea what to do! He had never encountered anything like this before! Should he speak up and draw their attention, or should he wait for them to come back to their senses? What a difficult choice! Fortunately, just as Lin Ming was struggling with his decision, Elder Huo spoke.

"Lin Ming, I wish to accept you as my student. Are you willing?"

After hearing Elder Huo's words, Lin Ming thought, Why didn't you keep thinking? How am I supposed to answer this? In Lin Ming's mind, taking a master meant performing the ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows. But he had only just met this man. Though he was an elder, Lin Ming still did not want to kneel. In his previous life, aside from being punished by his parents and made to kneel as a child, he had never knelt before. Now that he had come to another world, he wanted to do it even less!

But Elder Huo had already said it. If he refused, would that not damage the old man's dignity? That would not be good for an elder either! Another choice where neither option was easy. Heavens, why did they keep making him face such difficult decisions today?

Ah, he had it. Thank the heavens! Right after complaining about the heavens, Lin Ming came up with a solution that satisfied both sides, so he felt grateful to the heavens.

"Elder Huo, since this student has enrolled in Jia Nan Academy, I am a student of the Academy. And since you are an elder of the Academy, you are this student's teacher. From the moment I enrolled, this student became your student."

Lin Ming gave himself a mental thumbs-up for his wit. The source of this inspiration could be traced back to something his teachers often said when he was in middle school in his previous life.

Teachers often told the students that if they did not understand something, they should ask. And when they went to the office to ask a teacher a question but found that their own teacher was absent, they could ask another teacher in the office instead. Whether that teacher had taught them or not, as long as they asked a question, the teacher would answer it. No teacher would be annoyed by a student asking questions; teachers only feared that their students had not learned properly.

It was this sentence his teachers often said that inspired Lin Ming. Elder Huo might not be his assigned instructor, but he was still an Academy elder, a teacher. If Lin Ming had something he did not understand and asked him to teach him, that was only natural, right? And since Elder Huo had taught him, calling himself Elder Huo's student was fine too, right?

This way, he would not need to perform the disciple's ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows, while also preserving Elder Huo's dignity. It was a complete win-win situation!

"Haha! You little rascal. But fine, I suppose! Students are students, after all." Elder Huo laughed and spoke.

"Student Lin Ming greets Elder Huo." Lin Ming bowed and cupped his fists, addressing Elder Huo anew.

"Good! As my student, you will not suffer any losses. From now on, your authority in the Alchemy Department will allow you to exchange for anything you want. As long as you can provide an equivalent price." After Lin Ming performed the student's salute, Elder Huo directly told him that his authority had been raised to the highest level. As long as he could produce something of corresponding value, he could exchange it for any resource in the Alchemy Department.

This authority was extraordinarily high. After all, some things, such as high-grade medicinal formulas, were an Alchemist's lifeblood. Even if you offered something worth more than the formula, the other party might not be willing to trade it to you.

It was like the chip shortage Lin Ming encountered in his previous life. Let alone buying them at the original price, even paying a premium did not guarantee that you could get one. Lin Ming's current authority was equivalent to being guaranteed a purchase at the original price whenever he wanted something. There was no need to say more; those who understood would understand.

Lin Ming now felt like a freshman joining a club. Someone had originally offered to make him the club's vice president, leaving him so shocked that his mind had not caught up. Then the person who offered him the vice presidency thought he was dissatisfied, went to ask the student council president, and requested that Lin Ming be made club president instead. Then the student council president came over and said, "Sure, I'll make you the president of this club directly."

Lin Ming said he had never experienced this feeling before! Could someone who had experienced it tell him what he should do? ??? Since no one answered, then all he could do was go, "Heh! Heh! Heh! Sorry about this, but I'll be taking this president position."

After politely declining once with Elder Huo, Lin Ming happily accepted this hard-won privilege! After all, he had turned it down once! But the offer was simply too generous to refuse, so he had no choice but to accept it gladly. Mm-hm, that was exactly it.

Alright, back to the main subject. Lin Ming began asking for benefits.

"Elder Huo, this student heard that our Alchemy Department possesses a Technique of Pill Fire. It can bring the power of special flames beyond their limits. This student's golden Beast Flame also counts as a special flame, so I am quite curious about an ability that can bring the power of special flames beyond their limits." Lin Ming looked at Elder Huo expectantly. His meaning could not have been clearer.

Since Lin Ming had put it that way, even a child could understand what he meant. Let alone Elder Huo, an Old Hand? To Elder Huo, those words were no different from Lin Ming plainly saying, "I want that Technique of Pill Fire. Please give it to me."

"Little Yang, go bring the Technique of Pill Fire to my place. I'll take Lin Ming upstairs." Elder Huo instructed Steward Yang beside him to fetch the Technique of Pill Fire.

"Yes, Elder Huo." Steward Yang replied before leaving the Pill Refinement Room.

"Lin Ming, come upstairs with me and wait for Little Yang to bring it over." After saying that, Elder Huo stepped out of the Pill Refinement Room, with Lin Ming following behind him.

"Elder Huo, does our Alchemy Department have any medicinal formula for a pill that can increase the chance of successfully subduing Heavenly Flames? When this student refined and subdued my Sixth Order Flame Gold Flame, I only succeeded because I took the Ice Soul Pill and Ice Heart Pill. Thus, I am very curious about pills that can increase the chances of subduing Heavenly Flames, the kings among flames." Lin Ming asked Elder Huo as they walked.

When Elder Huo heard Lin Ming ask whether there were pills that could increase the success rate of subduing Heavenly Flames, his expression changed visibly.

Jia Nan Academy possessed Fallen Heart Flame, a Heavenly Flame ranked fourteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. What was Lin Ming trying to do by asking whether the Alchemy Department had pills that could increase the chance of subduing Heavenly Flames at this time? Did he want to subdue Fallen Heart Flame? But how had he learned about it? Had news of the Academy hiding Fallen Heart Flame leaked out, and was Lin Ming a spy sent by someone else...

At this moment, Elder Huo thought of many things. He was even considering whether to seize Lin Ming immediately and force the truth out of him through harsh interrogation.

Only after hearing Lin Ming's later words did Elder Huo's expression return to normal, and he secretly sighed that he had overthought things. Not to mention that Lin Ming's background had already been thoroughly investigated and confirmed—he was a member of the Mite'er Family of the Jia Ma Empire. Even if his background were unknown, he was unlikely to have been sent by an enemy. After all, what faction would be willing to plant a genius like Lin Ming in another place? If he were exposed, that genius would be gone.

Having been frightened for nothing, Elder Huo thought about how he had just considered capturing and interrogating Lin Ming and felt somewhat guilty. Besides, the medicinal formula the Academy possessed for increasing the chance of subduing Heavenly Flames was only effective on the last five or six Heavenly Flames on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.

The Academy's Fallen Heart Flame was ranked fourteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. Even if Lin Ming obtained that medicinal formula collected by the Academy and refined the pill, it would be completely useless against Fallen Heart Flame.

Thinking this, Elder Huo decided to satisfy the Little Fellow's curiosity, as compensation for his earlier improper thoughts.

"The Academy does indeed have a medicinal formula. It records a Tier 5 Medicinal Pill called the Crystal Vein Pill. After taking it, the meridians inside the body will condense into crystals, greatly increasing one's resistance to fire and thereby improving the chances of successfully subduing Heavenly Flames. However, this pill is only effective on the last five or six Heavenly Flames on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. Against Heavenly Flames ranked above those, even taking the Crystal Vein Pill will have no effect."

When Lin Ming heard Elder Huo say that the Academy had a medicinal formula capable of increasing the chance of subduing Heavenly Flames, he was overjoyed. After hearing that it was effective against the last five or six Heavenly Flames on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, he became even happier.

After all, he had only asked because he thought that if he ever had the chance to obtain Green Lotus Core Flame in the future, he wanted a pill that could increase his chances of success. Wasn't Green Lotus Core Flame ranked nineteenth, fourth from the bottom on the Heavenly Flame Ranking? The Crystal Vein Pill was completely sufficient.

As for Lin Ming previously saying that Green Lotus Core Flame was too dangerous and that he would not go after it, there was always a chance, wasn't there? What if he happened to obtain it? So he still had to make preparations in advance.