Alchemist Rankings

It was not that no one was inside; rather, the staff were busy inspecting the pills collected by the neighborhood offices.

Chen Wu's keen hearing first caught the sound of a pile of pills being poured into a machine. He understood that the Association was tallying the purchased pills and entering them into storage.

Here, it was necessary to mention the nation's pill collection system. The neighborhood offices worked in coordination with the Alchemist Association, dispatching designated personnel to each district, county, township, and town under their jurisdiction to purchase pills at the stipulated prices.

After collection, the branch associations in each district and county conducted a second inspection to prevent errors or omissions, then handed them over to the city branch for centralized management and distribution.

The Association and neighborhood offices purchased pills twice each month: at the beginning and middle of the month.

Based on the records retained by the branch association, pill collectors would visit homes to collect that month's pills, record the information, and settle the previous payment at the same time.

Chen Wu had arrived just as the Association was at its busiest, conducting its beginning-of-month accounts. Most of the staff were inspecting pills and reconciling accounts with the assistance of AI scanners.

That was why he saw such a bustling scene.

Chen Wu went to a window and sat down. Inside sat a male staff member around thirty years old.

The staff member glanced at Chen Wu and asked while operating his computer, "Student, is this your first time coming to sell pills?"

Chen Wu nodded. "Yes."

The staff member took out a form from beneath the computer desk and passed it to Chen Wu through the window.

The staff member clicked the mouse, and an incomparably familiar synthesized female voice sounded from the broadcast.

"Please fill in the name, type, and effects of the pills you wish to sell according to the instructions on this form. Once you have completed it, place the form and the pills into the window together and wait for staff processing."

Following the form's instructions and reminders, Chen Wu wrote the names of the three types of pills he had refined—"Origin-Restoring Pill," "Spring-Nourishing Pill," and "Qi-Accumulating Pill"—in the first column.

As for the quality and quantity columns, the staff would fill those in on the computer after scanning.

After filling out the form, Chen Wu sent the sheet and the medicine case containing the pills through the window together.

The staff member accepted the form and the medicine case, glanced over its contents, and asked routinely, "Nine portions of Origin-Restoring Pills, ten portions of Spring-Nourishing Pills, and ten portions of Qi-Accumulating Pills, correct?"

Chen Wu nodded. "Correct."

"Please confirm your information. Once you have confirmed there are no errors, sign on the display screen. Information on pill prices and fluctuations can be viewed on the Alchemy Cauldron app."

As the staff member entered the form's information into the computer, he placed the medicine case into a pill scanner beside him.

The scanner was a rectangular machine resembling a printer. The staff member placed the medicine case into a groove inside it and closed the lid.

In less than ten seconds, the pills' classification, quantity, and quality had been transmitted to the computer.

The staff member gave the information on the screen a routine glance, froze for a moment, then said urgently, "Student, please wait a moment. I'll go call the president."

"Okay."

Chen Wu had expected this. It was also the purpose of his visit to the Alchemist Association.

Before long, the staff member returned with a middle-aged man who wore a Zhongshan suit beneath an Alchemist Association robe, had a crew cut, and looked to be in his forties.

Chen Wu glanced at the emblem on the man's robe. A single silver stripe was embroidered on his chest—the proof of an alchemist's rank.

After obtaining an alchemist qualification certificate, one would receive an association robe issued by the Association.

The robe was woven from silk spun by a special kind of jade silkworm. Neither water nor fire could easily harm it; it was warm in winter and cool in summer, and during pill refinement, it could shield an alchemist from temperature to a certain degree while keeping them clean.

To make it easier to distinguish alchemist ranks, stripes were embroidered on the left breast of the robe for convenient identification.

One to three green stripes signified ninth to seventh rank; one to three silver stripes signified sixth to fourth rank; one to three gold stripes signified third to first rank.

This middle-aged man had one silver stripe embroidered on his robe, making him a sixth-rank alchemist. He was clearly the president the staff member had mentioned.

The middle-aged man came before Chen Wu, introduced himself in a gentle manner, and asked, "Hello, student. I'm Lu Chun, president of the Golden City Alchemist branch. May we open the medicine case and take a look at the pills inside?"

Chen Wu nodded. "Of course."

After receiving Chen Wu's consent, the staff member put on special gloves and, before both him and the president, randomly took out a bottle containing Spring-Nourishing Pills from the medicine case.

He opened the seal, and the ten richly colored Spring-Nourishing Pills inside rolled like a string of beads into an iron tray.

Even though he had already received the details from his subordinate before coming and had mentally prepared himself, when the middle-aged man saw the ten richly colored Spring-Restoring Pills with pill patterns emerging on their surfaces, waves still surged through his heart.

The middle-aged man stared at Chen Wu, his eyes gleaming as though he were looking at a rare treasure.

Chen Wu had long known that the pills he refined would inevitably cause a stir, but being stared at like this by a grown man still made him feel uncomfortable. He softly reminded him, "Sir, is there something wrong with my pills?"

The middle-aged man revealed a gentle smile, introduced himself, and said, "Student, there is not only nothing wrong with your pills—they are exceptionally good. Could you tell me about the refinement process?"

"Such and such... this and that..."

Neither servile nor overbearing, Chen Wu briefly explained to the middle-aged man how he had cut the ingredients, washed them, stir-fried them, and carried out the other steps of pill refinement.

When an expert made a move, one could tell at once whether he had the goods.

For a city branch president like him, refining beginner-level pills such as Qi-Accumulating Pills to supreme quality was fairly easy.

But that was premised on his decades of experience as a sixth-rank alchemist.

Chen Wu, however, was clearly a novice. He had learned only through school lessons and self-study, yet he could already refine pills to this level. That was enough to prove just how exceptionally gifted he was.

Especially after hearing his pill refinement process once, Lu Chun realized that the young man before him possessed an aptitude for the alchemical path unlike any he had seen in his life.

Whether out of his own duty or his appreciation for talent, Lu Chun had no reason to let this uncut jade slip through his fingers. He immediately asked, "Student, you are extremely talented in the alchemical path. Have you considered developing in this direction?"

Chen Wu answered honestly, "I'm still a high school student. I only refine pills to assist my martial cultivation."

Chen Wu truly had not lied about that answer.

With the support of three souls, he could learn any martial skill or craft extremely quickly.

Pill refinement, which required the most time and experience, had become something effortless for him.

And the further one progressed in martial cultivation, the greater the help pill refinement could provide.