Punishing the Petty Person

Long Chen recognized the person who arrived. It wasn't just Long Chen who recognized him; few in the imperial capital didn't know him. He was the Guild Master of the Alchemist Guild—Master Yun Qi.

"Guild Master, this brat suddenly came here to cause trouble. I'll chase him away right now," the old man said hurriedly upon seeing Master Yun Qi.

Long Chen's eyes darted around, and he put on a grateful expression. "Are you Master Yun Qi? That's wonderful. Long Chen thanks you for saving my life."

Yun Qi's expression had initially been displeased, but upon hearing Long Chen's words, he couldn't help but be stunned. He asked, "Child, are you mistaking me for someone else?"

"Mistake you? No, absolutely not," Long Chen shook his head and pointed at the old man. "My mother bought one of your Tiger Bone Pills through this master for over a hundred thousand Gold Coins, and only then were my injuries healed. I am truly grateful."

As Long Chen spoke, the old man's face changed drastically. Yun Qi's expression turned cold as he looked at the old man and said, "Guan Cheng, tell me, what is going on?"

"Guild Master, don't listen to his nonsense..." Guan Cheng quickly tried to explain.

"Oh, why aren't you admitting it anymore? The people of our Alchemist Guild truly have noble character, doing good deeds without seeking recognition. However, selling my mother a defective Tiger Bone Pill is an undeniable fact," Long Chen said with a cold laugh.

Although Guan Cheng kept winking at him, Long Chen pretended not to see it. Old geezer, do you think my Long family's money is that easy to swindle?

Guan Cheng was an old member of the Alchemist Guild. He was originally a Medicine Boy to Master Yun Qi but lacked any talent for alchemy.

However, Guan Cheng had been diligently serving Master Yun Qi for decades. Master Yun Qi took pity on him and gave him a position as an executive in the Alchemist Guild, where he usually helped manage miscellaneous affairs.

Sometimes, when he refined some waste pills, he would hand them over to Guan Cheng to deal with. The normal procedure was to extract the useful parts from these waste pills and mix them with some medicinal liquids. Waste pills were not sold to outsiders.

This was a matter of professional ethics. If it got out that Master Yun Qi actually sold waste pills, he would be ridiculed by his peers.

Master Yun Qi sighed and looked at Guan Cheng. "You've been with me for decades; you know my temper. Go yourself, and never come back."

Guan Cheng's old face turned ashen, and a hint of unwillingness flashed in his eyes. "Sir, I..."

"Go," Yun Qi waved his hand, saying indifferently.

Guan Cheng almost collapsed to the ground. Yun Qi's words were equivalent to firing him from the Alchemist Guild.

From an originally high-ranking executive, he was suddenly left with nothing. Guan Cheng seemed to age ten years in an instant.

"Hey, stop pretending. You've been scamming and deceiving people outside for so many years, earning ill-gotten gains you couldn't spend even if you lived forever. Stop acting like a pitiful worm," Long Chen said disdainfully.

This old man, as an executive of the Alchemist Guild, was very close to various nobles. He had reaped countless benefits over the years. Seeing his smug face made Long Chen feel sick.

Guan Cheng's face flushed with anger, and a trace of malice flashed in his eyes, but he didn't speak. He lowered his head and slowly walked away.

Watching Guan Cheng disappear, Master Yun Qi shook his head and said to Long Chen, "Young man, thank you. Otherwise, this old man would still be kept in the dark."

"Heh heh, this old man cheated my family out of everything they had. I was just getting revenge. Don't be polite with me," Long Chen said with a laugh.

Master Yun Qi looked somewhat surprised. "Heh heh, this young man is quite straightforward. Not like those insidious and cunning types. Good."

"Heh heh, how could these little tricks of mine be hidden from a senior? Since they can't be hidden, it's better to just act like a good person," Long Chen spread his hands and chuckled.

Master Yun Qi couldn't help but chuckle. For many years, everyone he met had been respectful and deferential. This was the first time someone had spoken to him like this, and he found it quite amusing.

"Young man, you didn't come to my Alchemist Guild just to file a complaint, did you?"

"Of course not. I'm here to be assessed as an Alchemist," Long Chen said, extending his right hand.

Whoosh!

A tiny flame leaped onto his fingertip. To leave a deep impression on the master, Long Chen moved his finger slightly, and the flame, like a mischievous monkey, danced back and forth on his fingertip.

"Good control."

Initially, upon seeing the flame, Yun Qi nodded slightly. It was considered decent to condense Pill Fire at this age. However, Long Chen's subsequent actions made him slightly moved.

The control of flame power primarily stemmed from the magnitude of one's Soul Force. Long Chen's flexible application indicated that his Soul Force far surpassed that of ordinary people.

However, he didn't know that Long Chen was holding back. If he were to reveal the ancient secret techniques from his memory, he wondered if it would shock the master before him.

"Very good. Your Soul Force is stronger than that of an ordinary person by a bit. You have the makings of an Alchemist," Yun Qi nodded.

Hearing Yun Qi's words, a stone dropped from Long Chen's heart. It was best to retain his strength if possible.

"Come, I'll take you to get tested," Master Yun Qi said, leading Long Chen away.

Watching their retreating figures, the people in the hall who were refining medicinal ingredients with Pill Fire were stunned.

"Holy crap, they're going straight to the test without any assessment?"

"How could this happen? Is he perhaps a relative of Master Yun Qi?"

"What relative? That brat is the famously useless Long Chen from the imperial capital!"

The dozen or so people in the hall were there for the Alchemist assessment today. However, according to the usual procedure, they needed to purify a batch of herbs and meet the standard before proceeding to the next test.

But Long Chen had skipped this step entirely, making them indignant, yet helpless.

This was the Alchemist Guild, a supreme place. No one dared to utter a word of complaint, and they could only suppress their frustration.

In a basement room of the Alchemist Guild, Master Yun Qi pointed to a crystal in front of him. "Ignite your flame."

Long Chen nodded, extended a finger, condensed a flame on his fingertip, and slowly touched the crystal.

Several lines appeared consecutively on the crystal. Master Yun Qi said indifferently, "Pill Fire is Yellow Grade Lower Rank. It's barely passable."

Pill Fire was divided into four grades: Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. Each grade was further divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower ranks. Long Chen's Pill Fire was self-condensed, not a Beast Fire or a Heaven and Earth Fire, so Yellow Grade Lower Rank was very normal.

Afterward, he led Long Chen to a pool. The pool was only half a foot deep, and the bottom was covered with hundreds of crystal-clear beads.

"Circulate your Soul Force and see if you can make the beads float to the surface."

This pool before him wasn't a real pool. The liquid inside was called True Soul Mercury. As Long Chen cautiously touched the liquid, he discovered it amplified his Soul Force by more than ten times.

Long Chen immediately felt more at ease. Currently, his Soul Force wasn't strong enough to move objects remotely. It seemed he had been overthinking things.

As his Soul Force circulated, over a dozen beads were influenced and slowly floated to the surface.

However, Long Chen suddenly noticed Master Yun Qi staring at the beads with a look of shock.

Damn it, I'm about to be exposed.

Long Chen quickly released his Soul Force and circulated his spiritual energy, making his face turn pale and his body sway precariously, creating the illusion of Soul Force exhaustion.

"Master... am I considered qualified?" Long Chen asked, panting slightly.

"Profound Grade, he's actually Profound Grade," Master Yun Qi murmured, as if he hadn't seen Long Chen's act.

After a long while, Yun Qi finally noticed that Long Chen had collapsed onto the ground. Long Chen's acting skills were truly on par with an emperor's.

Not only was his face ashen, but his eyes were also unfocused, looking utterly depleted.

"Very good. Your Soul Force is indeed exceptionally powerful. You have great potential. I've found a good seedling this time," Yun Qi said with a slight smile.

Hearing this, Long Chen's eyes lit up. "Master Yun Qi, I am very eager to cultivate the Pill Dao. Would it be possible for me to become your registered disciple?"

Yun Qi shook his head. "I wouldn't dare to take you on. Continue your cultivation diligently. I will give you an opportunity in the future, an opportunity to reach the pinnacle of the Pill Dao."

Seeing Yun Qi refuse, Long Chen chuckled awkwardly. "I mainly want a title, so no one will dare to bully me when I go out."

Yun Qi was taken aback and burst into laughter. Long Chen's straightforward personality left Yun Qi somewhat speechless.

In all his years, he had never encountered such an interesting young man. However, Long Chen's monstrous Soul Force made him very optimistic about the boy.

"Don't worry, I'll give you a Pill Apprentice Waist Token later. Who would dare to bully you then?" Yun Qi chuckled.

Long Chen was overjoyed. Normally, one had to pass an Alchemist assessment to enter the Alchemist Guild. After completing that, they would have to wait a year before taking the Pill Apprentice assessment.

Being an Alchemist was merely an entry-level position, yet it made countless people envious. A Pill Apprentice, however, was a true Pill Cultivator.

"With your current Pill Fire and Soul Force, refining pills will still be somewhat difficult. But within a year, you will undoubtedly be able to refine pills. I am merely issuing this ahead of time, so it's not considered a violation," Yun Qi said with a smile.

Long Chen felt grateful. Although Long Chen could look down on anyone in terms of alchemy techniques, he had to admit that Yun Qi was a respectable elder.

Master Yun Qi personally crafted a Pill Apprentice Token for Long Chen and also gifted him a medicine cauldron and a set of Pill Robes. The material of the Pill Robes was extremely luxurious, with a Pill Star Pattern embroidered on the chest—the symbol of a Pill Apprentice.

The medicine cauldron was forged from Li Copper and Red Gold, using exquisite materials and a more rational design. It was far superior to the one Long Chen had bought previously.

In addition to these two items, to Long Chen's surprise, Master Yun Qi also gifted him a space ring.

It was a truly magical ring. By inputting Soul Force, one could activate the internal space and store items at will.

It was a luxury item worth hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins, something Long Chen had never even dared to dream of. Upon inputting his Soul Force into the ring, he discovered a space about ten feet square inside, filling him with gratitude.

Master Yun Qi informed Long Chen that with the waist token, he would receive a fifty percent discount on medicinal ingredients purchased at the Alchemist Guild and could also freely study all the alchemy experiences of his predecessors.

Long Chen suddenly felt like a common chicken transforming into a phoenix. He purchased a large quantity of Wind Mansion Pill ingredients and some other herbs from the Alchemist Guild.

As Long Chen stepped out of the Alchemist Guild, he felt as if he had undergone a complete transformation. He had entered as worthless, but emerged as a millionaire, his back straighter than ever. He could finally look down on people.

With his gains, Long Chen returned home. The moment he entered, he saw Bao'er waiting at the door. Upon seeing him, Bao'er immediately pulled him towards the lady's room.

As he entered, Long Chen couldn't help but freeze, his heart pounding uncontrollably.