5 Visiting the Alchemist Association

Shen Yue walked out through the gates of the Holy Orchid Institute and was soon out on a bustling market street of Glory City.

In his interspatial ring there were over 1 million demon spirit coins, a full set of Bronze rank armor and a sword (with Scarlet Sunburst Pattern, the strongest at Bronze rank), as well as a high number of soul enhancing and body refining pills for him to use without limit. The interspatial ring that he owned was a high-medium-grade interspatial ring. Other than that, there was also some food and water, and some miscellaneous items inside.

According to his memories Shen Yue usually flaunted his wealth and didn't save, as otherwise he might be able to save up a few million demon spirit coins.

As a Green soul realm genius and the Major Family patriarch's son, Shen Yue certainly didn't lack anything. Shen Yue couldn't help but feel slightly grateful toward his family in this world. Although Shen Yue was always alone, in the end the Sacred Family did take good care of any of his needs.

With Shen Yue's pure bloodline it would be a shame if he simply left the Sacred Family or let it get destroyed and branded as traitors because of Nie Li. Even if Shen Yue worked against the Sacred Family with the City Lord, he would still be seen as a traitor by the common masses, after all - Shen Yue would be betraying his own family that raised him. Naturally, Shen Yue planned to not allow that to happen. The Sacred Family were his backers and could become his force as long as Shen Yue deals with Shen Hong.

The Sacred Family seems like a family full of traitors, but on the other hand it could be seen as the opposite - everyone in the family faithfully follows Shen Hong's lead and is completely united. It could be seen from the fact that not a single person betrayed Shen Hong in the novel or leaked out any information about the Sacred Family's betrayal and plans to take over Glory City. The entire family worked together, scheming in secret, cooperating with the Dark Guild for years, and even going as far as to go against the entire Glory City, cause a revolution and a massacre, with a huge risk that in case of failure the Sacred Family would be doomed.

Naturally, forced soul shackles and intimidation, which were probably used, must have greatly contributed to the Sacred Family members' loyalty toward Shen Hong, but Shen Yue still wasn't conceited or hypocritical enough to refuse making use of the Sacred Family's people just because they contributed to the destruction of Glory City under Shen Hong's rule in another timeline.

If one read the novel carefully one could realize that from the Sacred Family's point of view betraying Glory City and cooperating with the Dark Guild to move to a safer place was the single best way to ensure their survival - otherwise surviving the attacks of demon beasts, especially along with those of the Dark Guild, was a hopeless struggle with Glory City's strength back then. And in the end, this plot worked in the first timeline - everyone was annihilated, while the Sacred Family survived. Shen Yue thought that it was a smart thing to do; those who sacrifice their lives for a worthless cause just to keep a moral high ground are the fools instead.

Of course, it doesn't mean that the Sacred Family is innocent. The Sacred Family is surely full of villainous and greedy people, but Shen Yue simply didn't care. Everyone wants to live and everyone has their dark side. As long as others don't get in Shen Yue's way or act too rampantly, he won't care about them.

Noticing Shen Yue walk out of the Institute, looking like a rich noble, a vendor with a gray tunic called out to him with enthusiasm, "Latest Bronze rank battle armor! Bronze Rank gauntlets with the Snow Wind Pattern inscribed on it, noble young master, are you perhaps interested?"

Shen Yue inadvertently looked at the Bronze rank gauntlets.

He remembered that in the novel Shen Yue bought these gauntlets for 60,000 demon spirit coins, but as he looked at them now he knew that these gauntlets were totally not worth that much - it was a clear scam just like most items near the Institute's gates, aimed at noble kids with more money than brains.

Furthermore, Shen Yue already had Bronze rank gauntlets in his interspatial ring with a Sacred Fire enchantment! In the novel Shen Yue must have only bought these Snow-wind attributed gauntlets to show off his wealth in front of Ye Ziyun.

Thinking about it, Shen Yue laughed and moved on. Before going to the Alchemist Association he had to make proper preparations.

First, Shen Yue went to the largest herbal store in Glory City and purchased a booklet listing all of the herbs that they are selling. He also bought another book with the herbs growing in the wilderness in the vicinity of Glory City.

After leaving the herbal store, to not waste time walking back and forth to the Institute, Shen Yue reserved himself a room in a nearby inn for a single day.

Inside the inn's room, without anyone able to eavesdrop, Shen Yue took out the herb booklet and started going through all the herbs available in Glory City, noting down any of them that were involved in the elixir formulas from his memory. In Shen Yue's head there were a dozen different elixir formula combinations just for the Soul Nurturing Pill alone, so he first needed to find out which herbs are available in Glory City and which formulas can be used.

But before that Shen Yue made another purchase.

[<Cloud Paste (recipe and usage)> acquired.] [-1 System Point]

Cloud paste was something that Nie Li in the novel applied to his face in order to completely change his appearance. Shen Yue wanted to use it when making his trip to the Association.

Although Shen Yue already knew this recipe thanks to learning Nie Li's alchemy knowledge until the Primary Alchemy Master level, he still had no idea on how to use Cloud Paste in practice. Perhaps Shen Yue would manage to change his face eventually with it, making himself look ugly, but he would definitely not be able to replicate the same result over and over to forge a fake identity or perfectly change into another person.

It felt a bit expensive, as it cost the same as the Heavenly God Technique, but it was definitely a necessary buy and also a meta skill for dealing with Nie Li in the future.

After spending a few hours going through several hundred different herbs and making a lot of notes, Shen Yue finally wrote down all the needed elixir formulas.

Shen Yue then left the inn and walked through the market. He visited the herbal store and bought a variety of herbs for himself along with the most basic alchemy equipment.

He then quickly purchased a set of random modest clothing.

Returning to his inn room again, Shen Yue took out his alchemy equipment and refined some Cloud Paste.

Running all of these errands took a significant amount of time, causing Shen Yue to feel pressured. Unfortunately, it was all necessary.

Having done all that, he was finally able to visit the Alchemist Association!

Inside the Alchemist Association Shen Yue was approached by the receptionist and directly requested to apply for an Alchemy Master test.

Hearing Shen Yue's request, the receptionist Xiao Lan was stunned for a moment. "Alchemy Master? Do you know how much practice is needed in order to become an Alchemy Master? Aside from those books about foundations, there are also over hundreds of books about various herbs that you need to be familiar with."

Xiao Lan swept her eyes across Shen Yue and thought to herself that Shen Yue was bullshitting her.

Shen Yue looked at Xiao Lan and said, "I'm willing to pay, so just bring me to the Primary Alchemy Master exam."

Xiao Lan was taken aback, but regarding Shen Yue's request, she couldn't reject it.

"Joining the exams for the Alchemy Masters requires you to pay upfront 200 demon spirit coins, and it is required to pay first before taking the exam," the receptionist said, looking at Shen Yue.

"Alright, lead the way!" Shen Yue said to Xiao Lan, putting the money on the counter.

Xiao Lan rolled her eyes.

"Follow me," Xiao Lan pouted, not saying anything else.

The Primary Alchemy Master exam was located in a long passage that stretched a far distance away. On each side of the passage were small rooms.

This time's exam had a total of five participants right now; it seemed as if there were people taking exams at any time of the day. Within the five present, three were over thirty years old, while two already had a head full of white hair.

When they saw Xiao Lan bringing Shen Yue in, they were all a little dumbfounded.

One of the elderly men had his eyes on Shen Yue. His brow slightly frowned and said, "What are you doing here?"

Shen Yue turned his head looking at the man indifferently. "Here for fun. Can't I?"

The man looked at Shen Yue's clothes. With a look, he saw that Shen Yue didn't belong to any Major family. He sneered, wasting his parents' hard earned money…

Shen Yue walked toward the door. He pushed open a door and walked inside.

…

Before an hour had passed, Shen Yue already filled ten papers of the test with answers.

After every paper was completed, those two Alchemy Masters would inspect them. To their horror, all ten papers didn't have even a single mistake. Some questions were also brilliantly answered. They had surpassed some of the book's records, causing them to be amazed.

Genius!

A genuine genius!

The two Alchemy Masters were marveled, their mood was excited. Shen Yue might even be the person who will let the Alchemist Association develop further! Thinking about it already had them excited. At that time, someone who marked the papers of Shen Yue will also become well known.

"May I know where this young master is from?" One of the old men said, smiling, "My name is Hu Yan Ming, he is Mu Yang, we are both Primary Alchemy Masters."

"Honorable teachers, I'm Zhang Wei, I'm a commoner," Shen Yue said.

Hearing Shen Yue's words, Hu Yan Ming and Mu Yang's eyes happily squinted up. Shen Yue's addressing of honorable teachers made the two of them happy. Not bad, not bad. For such a young age, he has such a vast talent but is not arrogant. If Shen Yue is really able to get himself a spot in the Alchemist Association, this addressing of honorable teachers would have their status raised by a lot.

'A commoner!' The two Alchemy Masters looked at each other. The both of them lightly smiled. If Shen Yue comes from a Noble or Major family, even if they show Shen Yue a little grace, he wouldn't even put it in his heart. But since Shen Yue has no background, then it's much easier to handle.

The two Alchemy Masters chatted with Shen Yue for a while and realized that Shen Yue is not only proficient with the theories of alchemy, but also familiar with the process of actual refinement.

Monstrous!

They have been in alchemy for decades, and have only just reached Alchemy Master level at forty-fifty years old. Thinking about Shen Yue's age again, they couldn't help feeling embarrassed. It's simply frustrating! Just how old is Shen Yue? Yet he already has knowledge that is not inferior to them.

It was completely inconceivable. It was time that they gave face to Shen Yue.

The two Alchemy Masters collected Shen Yue's test papers, preparing to personally present them to the president. How can they let such a genius slip away from their hands?

"Zhang Wei, you'll wait here for a while. The both of us will go and see the president. See if we can let you enter the Alchemy Association directly without the other tests," the two Alchemy Masters said, laughing.

"I'll have to trouble the honorable masters then," Shen Yue said, becoming even more humble, and slightly bowed.

Seeing Shen Yue's action, the two Alchemy Masters became even more excited as they held onto the scripts and hastily left.

…

The room outside.

In the corridor, one after another, those who took the test walked out. Only a forty something year old man came out looking happy, the rest had long faces as this first test was too difficult.

An old man that talked with Shen Yue earlier walked out of the room with a bitter expression; seeing that Shen Yue has been outside since long ago his brows immediately twitched.

The few people beside him were currently teasing Shen Yue, but Shen Yue only brushed them off and ignored them.

A while later Hu Yan Ming hurriedly ran over.

Seeing the Primary Alchemy Master's white robe on Hu Yan Ming, everyone immediately stood up respectfully.

"Zhang Wei, you have passed the first test! Follow me!" Hu Yan Ming told Shen Yue, completely disregarding those beside.

"Okay," Shen Yue slightly nodded his head.

"Passed the first test?"

Hearing Hu Yan Ming's words, everyone went into a daze.

'How is this possible? Zhang Wei is just a thirteen or fourteen year old brat!'

'Did they get it wrong?'

Hearing Hu Yan Ming's words, everyone was confused and were further dumbfounded as Hu Yan Ming was personally bringing Shen Yue off.

…

Alchemy Association, Council Hall.

"Zhang Wei, wait here. The President and Director Yang will be here soon," Hu Yan Ming said, his eyes eagerly looking at the genius in front of him. Shen Yue's aura made Hu Yan Ming feel as though this boy in front of him isn't a thirteen year old kid, but an alchemist of equal rank.

"Okay," Shen Yue said, slightly nodding his head. He began to look around. This Council Hall was still quite big. At the center area, there was a round table with some chairs, and the walls were covered with papers.

"What are these?" Shen Yue asked, pretending to not know.

"This is the place where all the Alchemy Masters exchange their ideas and thoughts. Alchemy Masters write down the problems that they encountered during their refining, seeking answers from all the other Alchemy Masters. Occasionally, the President and other elders would help those Alchemy Masters to answer their questions. If you know the answer, you can then write it on the paper, and someone will verify it," Hu Yan Ming said, "Through this method, Alchemy Masters can enhance each other's alchemy skills."

"Oh," Shen Yue said, nodding his head. He continued to stroll over to the walls.

'It seems that Zhang Wei is interested in Alchemy Knowledge,' Hu Yan Ming thought, smiling as he followed Shen Yue. He naturally did not think that Shen Yue would be able to solve the questions on the walls. Those questions have been left unanswered for many years, some questions couldn't even be solved by Senior Alchemy Masters like Gu Yan.

Shen Yue walked to the walls. There were lots of papers on it, all were problems that were encountered during refinement.

Reading through the papers, Shen Yue saw that despite only being a Primary Alchemist Master he could answer about one thirds of these questions, probably because his Alchemy knowledge was much more complete compared to the Alchemist of Glory City.

However, Shen Yue didn't answer any of these questions. If he solved these problems then he would be simply giving away his precious knowledge for free. These answers would be giving the Alchemist Association tens of various precious elixir formulas that he would gain nothing from. Furthermore, he would also display the limitations of his knowledge.

Although the elixirs formulas from these problems are far from being as valuable as the soul nourishing or body enhancing pills, and Shen Yue also knew more potent formulas, each of these elixirs could be curbing Shen Yue's income in the near future. If only possible, Shen Yue hoped to hold control over all elixirs refined in Glory City at one point, so he would certainly not do that.

The worst part was Nie Li interfering and making things messy. Shen Yue only hoped that he could manage to scare Nie Li off from contacting the Association for some time.

When Shen Yue read through half of the papers, an old man with a snow white beard and hair walked into the room, along with a tall sexy beauty.

Shen Yue turned his head, looking at the two of them.

"President Gu Yan, Director Yang Xin, nice to meet you!" Shen Yue took the initiative to greet.

Gu Yan was a little surprised, slightly smiled and said, "Little guy, you know us?"

Gu Yan looked at Shen Yue. Although this Zhang Wei looked quite ordinary, he was still rather bright.

"Of course I know you. As long as one studies alchemy in this city, one would know the big names of President Gu Yan and Director Yang Xin," Shen Yue said, slightly smiling.

He involuntarily looked at Director Yang Xin. 'She is Yang Xin?'

Shen Yue couldn't help but inwardly think that Yang Xin looked extremely attractive, her matura aura giving her a very unique charm. Yang Xin was definitely a sexy woman, and she was naturally very different from the slender Xiao Ning'er, she had a curvy figure and just the right amount of fat that enhanced her curves.

Shen Yue failed to keep a calm face for a second and only then calmed down.

Director Yang Xin chuckled and asked, "Your name is Zhang Wei, right?"

In the room were currently Yang Xin, Gu Yan, Hu Yan Ming, Mu Yang and a few assistants.

Shen Yue nodded.