Six-Star Dou Ling!

"Teacher, are you saying he passed the test?!"

Lin Fei stared at Xiao Lei in disbelief. What did he have that she didn't—good looks?

Good looks had nothing to do with alchemy!

"That's enough, Lin Fei. I don't have time to indulge you today. I'm going to refine a pill now, so you can head back. We'll take the day off from studying alchemy."

Lin Fei was dumbfounded all over again. Why had her teacher suddenly decided to refine a pill? Normally, Otto practically couldn't wait to teach her alchemy every day, but today he was actually giving her the day off. Nothing about this was normal.

"Teacher, what are you doing?"

"Your teacher wants to take Xiao Lei on as a disciple, but the boy didn't agree right away. Instead, he asked your teacher to refine a fourth-grade pill and show what he can do. Heh, now your teacher's off to make a fourth-grade pill to prove himself!"

Frank, who was standing nearby, gave Lin Fei the juicy details.

Lin Fei was even more bewildered. What did he mean, her teacher—a fourth-grade alchemist—had to prove his abilities before he could take Xiao Lei as a disciple?

Back when Lin Fei had wanted to become Otto's disciple, she'd had to go through plenty of hardships. How had things been turned upside down for Xiao Lei?

This was completely backward!

Xue Mei was just as shocked. Even she, the city lord's daughter, had never had that much clout. When she'd wanted to become Frank's disciple—he was also a fourth-grade alchemist—her father had needed to step in to make it go smoothly.

What on earth did Xiao Lei have going for him?!

"By the way, Xue Mei, shouldn't you make good on what you said?"

When it came to embarrassing Xue Mei, Lin Fei could even put aside the fact that her teacher wanted to take Xiao Lei as a disciple.

"You! You... He doesn't count! He's not even from Black Rock City. I haven't gone back on my word!"

The two girls' bickering didn't affect Xiao Lei and the others in the slightest.

Soon, the three of them made their way to a spacious alchemy room.

"This is where I usually refine pills. Today, I'll demonstrate my fourth-grade alchemy skills for you!"

Once he was on home ground, Otto felt a little more confident.

"Watch from the side. Observing a high-grade alchemist at work will do you a lot of good!"

Xiao Lei couldn't help laughing at that. Your alchemy skills will be mine soon enough!

Seeing how enthusiastic Otto was, Frank decided to put his other tasks aside and watch. He wanted to see whether Otto's alchemy had improved lately.

"Bone Tempering Pill! The old man's specialty! Looks like he isn't taking this lightly at all. He really does want Xiao Lei as his disciple!"

Frank and Otto had worked together at the Black Rock City Alchemist Guild for many years and knew each other extremely well. Naturally, Frank knew which pills Otto was best at making.

As far as Frank could remember, Otto had almost always succeeded on his first try when refining a Bone Tempering Pill. His success rate was exceptionally high.

Clearly, he wanted to show off his abilities to Xiao Lei and get the boy to accept him as his teacher willingly.

[Target: A famous alchemist in Black Rock City.]

[ cultivation: Six-Star Dou Ling.]

[Technique: Palm Flame, mid-tier Yellow rank.]

[Dou Technique:...]

...

[Alchemy: Advanced fourth grade.]

[Constitution: None.]

[Copy time: One hour.]

[Copy?]

"Another hour. But considering the gap between our cultivation levels, that makes sense."

Although Xiao Lei possessed the Woe Poison Body, his cultivation was still a whole major stage below Otto's, and his alchemy was two stages behind.

"Copy!"

With an hour of copying ahead, Otto would have to endure discomfort comparable to what Xiao Zhan had suffered back then. Xiao Lei could only silently pray for him.

Want me as your disciple? It won't be that easy!

Before long, more than half an hour had passed. The pill fragrance wafting from the cauldron in front of Otto grew stronger by the moment. It looked as though he was about to finish refining all the ingredients.

Xiao Lei wasn't worried in the slightest. The system hadn't even started exerting itself yet!

Everything was going so smoothly that Otto couldn't help praising his own progress in alchemy. It looked like taking Xiao Lei as his disciple was in the bag!

A little while later, as Otto attempted Pill Fusion, something suddenly tightened in a certain place.

"Hiss—oh!"

Otto hurriedly tensed up, holding back a possible mishap.

But that moment of distraction was all it took. The pill in front of him immediately slipped out of control. Amid the raging flames, the ingredients mixed together in a chaotic mess, and then...

Boom!

The cauldron exploded!

Frank swept his sleeve, sending Dou Qi streaming out to block the full force of the blast.

Otto himself wasn't so lucky. The explosion reduced the pill to ashes, which shot straight toward his face.

"Hahaha, Otto, you old fool! You look like a wreck refining a single Bone Tempering Pill. Have you been slacking off and neglecting your alchemy all these years?"

Seeing Otto make a fool of himself, Frank wasted no time teasing him.

"Senior, failure is the mother of success! Keep it up—you'll get it next time!"

Xiao Lei saw that there wasn't much time left on the progress bar and immediately cheered Otto on. If Otto gave up and left now, his copy would fail!

Hearing the two of them, Otto wanted to punch Frank right in the face. At the same time, his impression of Xiao Lei improved considerably.

Just look at him. He wasn't even Otto's disciple yet, and he was already so good at cheering him on!

But why did the boy keep staring at him?

There was something off about that stare. Why did it make Otto feel like punching him?

No, he still wanted to take the boy as his disciple. He was only watching him, after all. It was perfectly normal to stare while watching someone refine a pill!

"It's fine! Alchemy doesn't always succeed on the first try. I'll refine another one!"

Another quarter of an hour passed. Otto's backside tightened again, and the ingredients in the cauldron instantly burned into a clump of ash.

This time, Otto hadn't even made it to Pill Fusion. He'd failed while refining the ingredients.

At the same time.

[Target:...]

...

[Constitution: None.]

[Choose an attribute to copy.]

"Copy cultivation."

Compared to the other options, cultivation was undoubtedly the most important. Without strength, even the finest alchemy skills would be useless to Xiao Lei.

[Copy successful. Host has obtained Six-Star Dou Ling cultivation.]

"Awesome!"

Xiao Lei had once again gained a Dou Ling's cultivation without lifting a finger. He couldn't help praising the system in his heart. It was usually a real pain, but when used right, it was amazing!

"Master Otto, get yourself settled, then try again. Alchemists usually get three attempts when refining a pill. Give it one more shot!"

Xiao Lei hadn't finished milking Otto for all he was worth, so he wasn't about to let him off that easily.

Otto was deeply moved.

Just look at him! What a considerate disciple, even giving him a third chance.

As it happened, the copying process had just finished, and the discomfort in Otto's body suddenly disappeared. He decided to go ahead and make one final attempt.

If he failed to make a pill all three times, Otto really wouldn't have the face to take Xiao Lei as his disciple.

With that resolve, Otto began his third attempt.

At the same time, in front of Xiao Lei.

[Target:...]

...