Alchemy Association Part 1 Pill Test

The next day Shen Xiu took to other matters. After some thought, she enrolled the two servants into the Academy pulling some strings. Shen Yue had no real understanding of their origins only that they were children of his mother friend.

Dian Mu and Dian Rei were grateful for the chance to receive a higher education. Coupled with the manuals and the information shared with Shen Yue, the two were living their best days ever.

All that was left was Shen Xiu treating them like normal people. That was coming along slowly. At least she didn't look down on them anymore.

Shen Yue decided take a risk and register as himself. Not only would help make him a target by Shen Fei's lackey's it would also garner attention to help recruit people to his side.

Might also cause some Dark Guild members to approach him as well. The more of them he killed then refined the better. That information was vital to disrupting their plans and changing Glory City and the people within.

"Welcome all students. I say students due to the fact you are not Apothecaries or Elixer Makers yet. Once you pass this test each of you will join the ranks of a chosen few. To reach further into the path that most don't even touch." An Elder said as he came in. A few others followed along as well. They all sat at a table that faced the testers. 'Quite a few we have here today. Let's see who meets the criteria we are looking for.'

"If you cheat..," the Elder paused for effect as he harshly stared at each test taker. "You are banned from purchasing pills as well as never getting the chance to test again. You have one hour to take this test. Begin!"

Shen Yue looked at the test and took his time answering.

The first section consists of Identifying herbs. The second describes the uses. Third rarity level.

Answering with the help from the books Shen Xiu helped a a lot. As well as the recent knowledge from the Dark Guild members. The experiments they conducted to find poison and ways to grow stronger helped a lot. Admirable people if not for all the shit they were doing.

Black Pool Grass. Weak paralysis effect to stun weak prey. Used as slight pain relief. 10/10 Common

Zoysia Grass. Stimulates paralysis herbs. Usually enhances the effects of Black Pool Grass. 9/10 Common

Golden Striped Grass. Can stimulate frozen pathways. Used in the treatment of Arctic Disease if you are trained enough. 7/10 Uncommon

Imperial Sky Grass. Can majorly stimulate frozen pathways. Used in the treatment of Arctic Disease if you are an accomplished herbalist and trained enough. 6/10 Uncommon

Holy Dark Grass. Can be used to strengthen one's soul force. The older the herb the stronger the effect. However, if the age difference is too high the herb can possibly kill the user and gaining sentience. 3/10 Extremely Rare

Spirit Core Grass. Used as an ingredient to bolster immune disease, heart disease risk, stomach issues, blood deficiency. Documented uses are sparse compared to what is believed to be the case. 4/10 Rare

Snow Grass. Increase energy circulation for females. Also slight detoxification. 7/10 Uncommon

Nine Immortal Grass. Detoxification effects for insect bites. 7/10 Uncommon

Dragon Gall Grass. Detoxification effects for serpent bites. Considered violent in males. Causes mood swings in females. 2/10 Legendary

Solani Grass. Detoxification effects. Docile and easy to use. Has the effect of calming the mind. 4/10 Rare

Tiger Gaze Grass. Useless on its own. Combined with Purple Haze Grass can enhance one's breasts during the cycle period. For males slight sterilization. 9/10 Common

Misty Leaf Herb. Gathers a great deal of soul force from the surrounding. 2/10 Legendary

Tianfang Herb. A narcotic recommend being used in small doses. Also to be used with Solani Grass. Extremely addictive on its own. 4/10 Rare

Draconic Tongue Herb. Paralyzes the body causing a pseudo-dead state. Without treatment, death will occur in an hour or more depending on cultivation level. 2/10 Legendary

Sun Drop Grass. Warms the body. Natural body temperature limit increase by 10% with extended uses. 1/10 Mythic

Morning Glory. Increase Blood flow in males by 80% in females by 40%. Part of an ingredient to heal infertility. 1/10 Mythic

Star Grass. Collects star energy. Cleans pores. 3/10 Extremely Rare

Mira Berry. Promotes wellness. Cleans digestive track recommend to take after a failed breakthrough or after the use of a low-level elixer. 1/10 Mythic

Kong Flower. Promotes strength. Increases body durability. Demon Fighters receive the most benefit. 1/10 Mythic

Coiling Stalk. Promotes flexibility. Allows the muscle to expand beyond limits. Females receive the most benefit. 2/10 Legendary

Mint Drop. Generates energy on its own in small doses. Helps to start cultivation in infants. 10/10 Common.

Demon's Blood seed. Needs a lot of a virgin's male blood. Can allow someone with no energy sea to establish one. Extremely dangerous. 2/10 Legendary

Shen Yue finished in 30 minutes and turned the form in. Before he could exit, an Elder stopped him.

"Young man are you sure you are finished?" The Elder asked sternly. In the Elder's mind, the boy was foolish he answered steadily and didn't think more than a few moments on each answer.

Shen Yue looked at him with a cold gaze directed at only the Elder. "Of course I am. That is why I turned it in. You should settle down, whether I fail or not it is not your business. Second guessing my answers would have things worst an had an adverse affect on the test. Let alone make it worse for the other applicants."

If the Elder was just slightly chastising it would not be a problem. But Shen Yue's instincts told him the man before him was looking down on him. Which in itself was not bad but the overall look just ticked him off.

The Elder's were shocked at the audacity the boy showed. The head Elder felt something weird looking at the young man so he took a shot in the dark. He reached in his breast pocket and handed the young man an older piece of paper.

"Youngster forgive us old men. We mean well, trust me. Take this and fill this out. Consider it bonus points." The head Elder watched as the young man took it without any hesitation. 'At least he is not foolish enough not to take an advantage.'

Shen Yue sat back in his seat and got to work on the paper. To him, if this brought more adversaries it would give him the chance for more power as well as ways to test his future team. As a bonus, a chance to resource grab!

With his understanding of Runes, it was easy to deal with the paper.

The head Elder put up a silence talisman. To answer the urgent look on the faces of the others. A purple energy barrier expands around the group of them. It was a low-grade sound talisman. Barely worth a few gold.

"So why did you give that brat the old parchment?" The Elder who received Shen Yue's paper spoke first with anger.

"Elder Shen is right. The audacity on that boy. Humph, he showed no respect towards us. He just seemed defiant and arrogant." Another Elder spoke up shaking his head as his jowls shook with the rest of his fat.

"It is because of his family. Also, look at his paper." The head Elder glanced down at Shen Yue's paper then continued to watch the test takers.

"How can that be.... some of the answers need to be second checked. But the uses he put down are only speculated about, old legend and lost concoctions. How would he know the answers?" Elder Shen said shocked.

"Aye, gentlemen we have a group of test-takers to pay attention to, do not become too distracted." Another Elder said.

"You are correct Elder Chen." The Elder's said togethor. They refocused on the group in front of them. Some of them were happy, but others started to plot for their own benefit. Several of the others actually performed a little better.

The paper consisted of where to find the herbs from the test. Well some of them.

The Sun Drop grass could be found with lots of sunshine with fresh rain. Morning Glory could be found in sunrise areas. Star Grass could be found in caves that received little traces of sunlight or moonlight. The later grass was more potent. Mina Berry grows in the corpses of powerful women. The Kong flower can only be found in the waste of high-level animals. The Coiling stalk grows from the remains of shredded snakeskin. Mint drop can be found almost anywhere spirit energy concentrates.

The Mint Drop would actually be on the rise due to the efforts of Shen Yue. He made a note to exploit that in his favor before it was to late.

Shen Yue paused at the five-minute mark. He filled out the rest slowly. His thoughts were on the moving of a few people around the city. Having taken notice of a few Dark Guild members who were undercover.

'Ah it is good to be me sometimes.' With a mental sigh after thinking a few small plans, Shen Yue focused back on the paper inf ront of him. 'Best to commit this stuff to memory actually.'

Black Pool Grass can be found near poison. Zoysia Grass poison swamps. Golden Stripe Grass and Imperial Sky Grass can be found in cold places devoid of high heat. Nine Immortal Grass found near graveyards. Dragon Gall Grass unknown possibly boneyards. Solani Grass can be found near peaceful grasslands. Tiger Gaze Grass could be found near animal mating grounds. Misty Leaf Herb. Gathers a great deal of soul force from the surrounding so like the Mint Drop, it should be on the rise.

*Ding, Ding!* A timer went off. Shen Yue and a few others stopped immediately. One person kept writing at the end of the time limit. The Elders just watched as he continued to write.

Shen Yue got up and left after five minutes. This was wasting his time now. He decided to go walk around the Alchemist Hall and look at some books and scrolls. A few purchases were in mind to fill in gaps in the profession while waiting for results.

Two hours later. Shen Yue became fed up and grabbed some books to purchase. He went up to the counter but the clerk from before was not there. He was replaced by another person. From the looks of it, a higher rank store personnel.

"Excuse me, how much for these?" Shen Yue asked with a smile on his face. With the books, he purchased he thought of a small formula to improve Eyesight. 'I wonder if I can combined that with the eye technque of a Star Martial Artist?'

Blushing the girl looked over them quickly. "For these." The clerk went through them quickly checking them against a book. "300 gold, sir Apothecary. Would you like to put this on your tab or pay now?"

Shen Yue was a little weirded out. He was not an Apothecary. Not yet anyway. It would best to clear this up to keep from having a misunderstanding.

"I am not an Apothecary I just took the test a few hours ago," Shen Yue said quickly.

"My apologies sir. But you are. You and four others passed. I didn't want to interrupt you while you shopped. Do forgive me." The young clerk said as she continued to bow her head repeatedly.

"It is fine. Is there anything else for me to do? Like a paper or something to sign?" Shen Yue said chuckling at her behavior. The young lady was quite cute and innocent. A slight desire to sit and just talk to her almost overcame Jay. 'A mental technque against me, why? Good thing I didn't feel any malicious intent. Might of killed her.' With a shake of his head, he was able to refocus. The enounter added to his mental list to talk about later.

"Yes please come this way. I will have the books prepared along with the other gifts new Apothecaries received. Well, the ones who scored highly on the test." The young clerk said joyfully. Meeting a rising Apothecary was quite an accomplishment.

Shen Yue was lead to a room with the rest of the others who passed. Two other males, as well as three females, had passed it looked like. But all of them were not part of the test he just took so most likely from another group.

The young man who took long on the test was not here. By the looks of it, he looked like a member of the Chen Family.

"Greetings young alchemists. For the last portion, we usually discuss any concoctions anyone may have made on their own. Anyone have something to share. If not, we will discuss with you all our own insights and things we created when we started." The Elders waited for a few moments.

"I have something if you all mind listening to my conjecture," Shen Yue said standing up addressing the crowd.

"This is a recipe I thought of only recently. Using both Spirit Water and Wild Carrots. As well as a Mint Drop to suckle on this may help practitioners. While making this concoction, allow it to kool afterward to room temperature. Have a lower rank Spiritualist or Warrior take it. Have them accompanied by a higher rank fighter for the next part. Have them circulate the energy slowly for a day. This is best if there are possible obstructions the high ranked person can help remove them. Gently push through the eyes nerve center. Repeat the cycle for a few days. If this is started at a young age the risk is higher, but the benefits are greater. If done at the middle age, there are fewer problems but medium level benefits. At an older age, if the cultivation is good, I believe it is applicable as well. This is to improve pathways through the body as well as eyesight. At least that is what the recipe is meant to do. My studies are not done just yet, it is mostly conjecture and experience I have done on myself." Shen Yue said to the group plainly.