Wi Jon was a bit taken aback after seeing someone here in the room who he didn't recognize, in fact he was quite baffled at the fact that currently there were two people who he hadn't recognized .
But I gestured for him and luckily even when I was completely in disguise, he was still able to realize that the person putting a wig and a mask was indeed me and he understood what I was trying to say to him .
At least he didn't call me out by my name just now, as it might have led her to become suspicious of my identity or worse, blowing up my cover directly, but fortunately this didn't happen and there shouldn't be any more problems that could threaten my disguise getting recognize by her .
As for her, she was still leaning a little bit close and her expressions were already chaotic and her eyes were sharp and solemn, being suddenly caught acting like this made her feel quite embarrassed and a bit ashamed .
She wasn't even able to muster any words to say, she just frowned slightly and lowered her head and directly tried to kneel in front of Wi Jon as to apologize for offending him by being here all of sudden like this without asking for his permission .
I took her hand that she was about to use as a support and easily raised her up, she was bewildered at what I was doing, but all I did was to shake my head and turn to Wi Jon and say nonchalantly :
" Yes, I believe that you had finally grasped your own shortcomings, your control over flames is a bit lacking, if you want to walk forward on your path of alchemy, you would most likely need to find a way to enhance it .
" As for you, don't worry about apologizing, I was the one who invited you here, Elder Wi is there a problem with this ? .
My words shocked the two of them for different reasons, but the first one to speak was Wi Jon completely discarding of the hostile aura and tone he used earlier and saying :
Of course there would be no issue since you were the one to allow her to enter, I was just curious about her identity that's all, what's your name little girl ? .
The little girl in question was still suffering from a severe shock at the moment and was unable to react for a few seconds, before she finally regained her calm and said respectfully while giving me a worshipping and bewildering look as if asking my permission to talk .
After I nodded my headed at her, she directly started to introduce herself, after she declared the faction she belonged to, Wi Jon's eyebrows twitched slightly as he looked at me, but once again I gestured for him to not do or say anything reckless .
He seemed to understand my intentions and even though he didn't have a clue about the motives behind it, but he still played along since he was quite in the mood after succeeding in making pills .
He directly asked her to calm down and speak her mind, she told him about her intentions on becoming his disciple and he was taken aback completely and his eyes squinted slightly at her as if sizing her up .
Even though she was still a bit flushed from all that happened before, she met his discerning gaze with an unyielding gaze of her own, she seem to be completely confident in her own abilities, since other weak-willed people would have already succumbed to the pressure and failed due to becoming anxious .
Yes, this was a sort of test Wi Jon was exposing her to, as for what this test required her to do, it required her to continue staying calm, an alchemist need to always keep his head strong and be quite light-hearted, succumbing to tension and anxiety meant forfeiting the very first test .
Seeing her successfully withstanding the pressure and tension that his gaze brought with quite the strong resilience, he couldn't help but grin faintly and showered her with words of praise, but he suddenly increased the pressure released by his discerning gaze, seemed to be still wanting to know where her limit was .
I could have interfered and asked him to take her as a disciple already without needing to play such petty tricks, but I understand that this might have done the relationship of Master-disciple between the two of them more harm than good, so it was better to let fate decide how things between them will go .
Another reason that had me decide to be a spectator and nothing more was because I saw how easy she was dealing with the increased pressure released by him, this was a pressure exuded by his Martial Arts Realm, this was a Mental pressure that focused on assessing the will of the other person, it could be indeed dangerous as it was an exchange of wills .
But I was aware of him still completely had the situation under control, after a few seconds passed, Wi Jon stopped what he was doing and said :
Well, you passed my first test, your Dojo Master had indeed a discerning eyes for the talented disciples, give him my regards .
Wi Jon said this to her but his eyes was locked on me, I was looking at the deep fluctuation of complex emotions that appeared on my Senior Sister's face and understood that she was still hurting, but she was quite resilient and after taking a few seconds to calm her agitated heart down, she expressed her gratitude to the words he said and stayed silent .
In the meantime, Wi Jon was still looking at me as if wanting to see what was my opinion, I seeing the expression on his face, I directly said calmly :
" She has indeed displayed a very stable mental fortitude, this is how a great alchemist behave and should be .
It was a little bit silly words of praise, but it was enough to convey what I thought about the current situation, Wi Jon was someone quite perceptive, otherwise he wouldn't have reached what he had achieved in life, so he was able to understand what I meant to say .
But his expression became a bit dark and he even frowned slightly upon hearing what I said, l couldn't help but wonder whether I had overstepped on one of his boundaries or something, but he soon nodded his head with a bit of hesitation as he said :
Well, you have indeed passed my initial test, now I will need you to show me how skilled you are in alchemy related subjects, if your answers satisfied me, there would be no problem taking you as an apprentice, are you ready ? .
She heard this and her expression was still as solemn as before, but those who knew here would be able to tell that her squeezing her small hands together like that, was actually an indication of how happy and excited she was .
This didn't make her expression change much, she was still calm and collected, she nodded her head and bowed slightly towards me and Wi Jon, thanking us for giving her the opportunity to show us what she have .
I was able to tell that she was still a bit hesitant and nervous at perhaps the other tests she will need to go through, but this wasn't the only thing I realized from a bystander pov, I also managed to relize Wi Jon's opinion and the admiration he have for her .
I was able to see a bit of expectancy in his eyes, this meant that he was starting to see her in new light and if everything went well with the other tests, senior sister might end up getting what she wanted .
Then after everyone here understood his role and what he needed to do, the tests started and soon he was indeed testing her alchemy knowledge, he wanted to discern her talent in alchemy, her comprehension of pills and ability to see through many different and difficult ingredients and Heaven-Earth treasures .
The experience was a bit new to me as well, so I couldn't help but keenly pay attention to everything that was going on, for some reason this made her become a little nervous, but the anxiety didn't affect her answers in the slightest .
In fact, she exceeded both my and Wi Jon's expectations, answering every question in a quite detailed and refined manner, he told her to arrange the ingredients needed for a grade 9 Blood Coagulation pill according to the order of the Medicinal Energy contained in each ingredient .
And so she did, she was able excel in every test that had been thrown at her, with each passing tests, Wi Jon's eyes began to shine with more and more brilliance, he seemed to be quite impressed with her deep knowledge of alchemy, I was very much so at least .
Without the seal left by Zi Xue, I could have only resorted to acquire all the information regarding alchemy on my own and even then I wouldn't have been as much knowledgeable as her, but with the seal, I can say to be without an equal in terms of alchemy in these rural parts .
I might even have unmatched knowledge across the entire dynasty and several other too, but this is yet to be confirmed, I guess I will find out in the future, after a whole 15 minutes was spent in him asking her all different kinds of questions related to alchemy, she had finally proven herself to be quite knowledgeable on alchemy .
You are quite talented in term of comprehension, but as your Dojo Master should have already told you, alchemy isn't just about acquiring knowledge, it's exactly the same as with Martial Arts and other Arts, this knowledge need to be used efficiently in making pills .
I don't see an alchemy badge on your uniform, so this can only mean that you aren't an official alchemist or you have yet to register yourself in the Alchemy Association, I'm asking about this because I'm trying to determine the grade of the pill that I will need you to refine before I finish testing you, this will be your final test .
For some reason, Senior Sister Liu Ru Yu was quite startled by this and seemed to be acting more nervous than ever before, but she still hesitantly nodded her head and accepted this last challenge .
After it took him some time to think about a pill that would be sufficient for her to make, not easy but sufficient, this after all was a test and she needed to show all her remarkable abilities for him to finally accept her as a Disciple .
How about you try to make some Fasting Pill ? .
Fasting Pills were pills used to support the Martial Arts in a long journey with nourishment and satiate his hunger, since there was a limit to the number of pouches he can fill with food rations, but that food could expire on the road and at that time, there will be a huge risk to try and eat .
Not to mention the other inconveniences of the food getting mushed together and it won't be easy to move swiftly if you was waking around with a cargo or a horse carrying your food, so these Fasting Pills can help keep the Martial Artist nourished and replenish his Blood .
It can also be taken by normal people without an issue, its effect on them was much greater too, a Top-quality Fasting Pill can sustain an adult person from eating for over 2 weeks, but in the case of Martial Artists it would sustain them for a week or so .
High-quality ones can sustain normal people for a whole week without them needing to eat anything, but for Martial Artists they can go 5 days without needing to eat, medium quality pill would sustain a normal human for 5 days while the period would diminish greatly to barely 3 days .
As for low quality pills, well, they would be able to sustain a normal human for 3 days, but can sustain a Martial Artist intake for only a day, but most people frown on this low quality pill as it contained a lot of impurities that can stay hidden inside the body and might end up becoming a strong toxin .
This pill was picked because its peculiarity in the Medicinal Energy mixing process, it could be said that it was neither difficult nor easy Pill to make, any mistake in that step and all that the alchemist will get would be be a foul smell waste pill, indicating he or she failed in concocting the pill .
After I had dealt with that guy from the Evil Tigers group, I had acquired quite the huge amount of Fasting Pills all were top-grade in terms of quality, I had gone around my days eating those like popcorn, they tested like chicken most of the time, due to the Crow Leg Leaf used as a component perhaps .
Either way, this pill should be of no problem to my Senior Sister, her comprehension was already quite powerful and she had much knowledge on the refining process, so there shouldn't be any issue, but then why she was acting so nervous that one would even suspect that she was going to fail .
She took the tray of the pill ingredients from her to be Master's hands and took a few steps forward towards the cauldron, just as she stood before the black golden with a bronze like luster cauldron, she reached out her hand and then retracted it much to our bewilderment .
Neither of us did understand what was going on with her, I thought that she maybe was still nervous and wanted to say a few words that might calm her down, but before I see anything, the girl hesitant and troubled filled face came into view .
Umm, this cauldron look quite precious, could elders please allow me to work with another ? .
We both opened our mouths slightly at that and we both looked at each other with a knowing look as we understood what she was worried about, Pill Cauldron Explosions weren't that much of a rare scenes, in fact some alchemist would say that it occurred on a daily basis .
But why would someone who was undergoing a test be wary of something like that, could it be possible that she was aware of her own lack of ability, but then why would she even come to test in the first place .
I squinted my eyes at her and said sincerely:
" Care to tell me about your troubles, don't worry about anything, just blurt out whatever that is making you so pessimistic, regarding the cauldron exploding, what is it that make you believe so ? .
She became silent for a few seconds before saying :
There is an issue with my ability to control the flames, the second I try to clear the impurities and refine the pill, the flames would become chaotic and the cauldron would directly explode .
I saw the old man suddenly embracing the cauldron of his just as she finished saying this as if declaring that he wasn't willing to part with this special cauldron of his just yet .
Hearing her say this, I couldn't help but recall what happened back in the garden, the flaming sword attacks of hers that made the tree spirit itself become wary of her, there must be some explanation behind all these weird things happening and I was sure to find out about it today .
" You can go ahead and use that cauldron, just show how talented you are, don't worry Old Wi, if anything happened I will step in and if I didn't manage to control the cauldron, I will compensate you with a 2nd grade pill recipe, what do you say .
One was red with embarrassment but shock was still apparent on her face, while the other was just too stunned to speak, he was looking at me like as if I was a crazy person or something, his eyes carried a hint of uncertainty, but he soon paid it no more mind and decisively let go of the cauldron and agreed to my request .
Soon, she was also ready to start with pill making, all steps were done flawlessly and this pill was easy to make thanks to the fact that the ingredients were easy to process and refine .
Finally came the most important step and also the most crucial one to this pill making session, the purifying of impurities, the step that required an adequate control over flames and the step she was worried about the most .
Watching her forehead getting swarmed with sweat whether from the heat or maybe her nervousness, I'm not certain, what I was certain about is that there was indeed some weird fluctuations inside the room just as she started to control the flames inside the cauldron and it wasn't just me who realized something like this .
Wi Jon had spent his lifetime surrounded by flames, so he had keen senses when it come to the slightest bit of difference in the fire energy in the atmosphere of the the room .
The second he realized that something was wrong, he turned towards me and he saw that I was sensing the same thing, a second later after she started to control the flames weird sounds began to be released from inside the cauldron, it was getting more and more louder with each passing second .
~zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz~ .
Then the sound of something starting to pop-up inside the cauldron came and these sounds too started to sound more and more frequently, this was most likely the sound of Medicinal Energy getting completely at odd with one another inside the cauldron and soon the cauldron started to shake as if it was possessed as well .
This was an indication of it soon going to explode .