Ninth In the World

Di Jiu was baffled when he entered the Star Elixir Dispensary. Logically speaking, there should have been some alchemists interviewing for the job, no matter how few of them there were in the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City. However, he only saw a few customers browsing through the elixirs on the shelves. There were no alchemists around.

“What kind of elixir do you need, Daoist?” A shop assistant came over hurriedly when he saw that Di Jiu was looking all around the place.

Di Jiu immediately replied, “I heard that your place is recruiting alchemists. I am one. Thus, I’d like to apply for the job.”

“Sir, you are an alchemist?” The shop assistant’s tone immediately became much more respectful when he heard Di Jiu say that he was an alchemist.

Di Jiu nodded his head humbly as he said calmly, “That’s right. I am an alchemist.”

All alchemists looked proud. If he didn’t put on a proud look, the shop assistant might suspect that he was a liar. He might even suspect that his alchemy standards were mediocre.

“That’s great!” said the shop assistant. “Our Elixir Dispensary is indeed recruiting alchemists. The examination and selection will take place tomorrow. You can apply either today or tomorrow.” The calmer Di Jiu was, the more respectful and cautious the shop assistant became.

He didn’t have an air… Was he even fit to be an alchemist?

“Okay! I’ll sign up now,” said Di Jiu without hesitation.

“Please show me your Alchemist Token, Sir,” said the shop assistant as he bowed.

“Alchemist Token?” Di Jiu was stunned as he looked at the shop assistant. “What is that?”

The shop assistant’s expression turned ugly. However, he didn’t dare flare up, as he wasn’t sure if Di Jiu was intentionally playing a trick on him.

“In the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City, all alchemists need to be certified by the Elixir Association. Alchemist Tokens are handed out according to the alchemy grade of each individual alchemist. Only alchemists who have the Alchemy Master Token are true Alchemy Masters.” The shop assistant wasn’t sure if Di Jiu was an Alchemy Master. Therefore, although he wasn’t as respectful and cautious as he had been before, he didn’t dare mock Di Jiu either.

Di Jiu chuckled in embarrassment now that he understood what the Alchemist Token was for. “Where is the Elixir Association?” he asked.

“You will find it at the end of this street in front of us.” The shop assistant became even more suspicious of Di Jiu when he asked about the Elixir Association.

“Thanks!” said Di Jiu. Then, he quickly left the Star Elixir Dispensary, as he wanted to hurry on and get the certification for an Alchemist Token from the Elixir Association.

The Elixir Association was indeed not far from the Star Elixir Dispensary. Just as the shop assistant had described, Di Jiu saw the huge signboard for the Elixir Association as soon as he reached the end of the street. The Elixir Association was much bigger and taller than the other buildings around it.

Di Jiu sensed that the Immortal Spirit Qi was much thicker than it was outside once he entered the Elixir Association.

The words “Alchemy Master Certification” were big and clear. One could see them from the entrance of the Elixir Association. There were two people queuing up in front of the window for a certification. They must have come to obtain the certification of an Alchemy Master like Di Jiu.

Di Jiu was the third person in line. He saw that the two people in front had taken out their identification cards to register for the Alchemy Master certification.

The registration process was fast. Only two minutes passed before it was Di Jiu’s turn.

Di Jiu handed over his identification card without being asked. “I wish to register for the grade-three Alchemy Master certification.”

A gray-haired male cultivator was sitting behind the window. He frowned as soon as he looked at Di Jiu’s identification card.

Di Jiu felt his heart twitch. Were there any differences between the identification cards, besides the fact that his card was black whereas the two fellows in front of him had owned gray ones? Di Jiu knew that the gray cards were one level above the black cards.

“Don’t you have any Liberal points in your identification card, Daoist Di Jiu?” asked the gray-haired male cultivator as his gaze shifted from the identification card to Di Jiu.

Di Jiu’s identification card was the dullest one he had seen. All the people who had come to get an Alchemy Master certification had possessed better cards. There was nothing else on it except a name.

Di Jiu smiled in embarrassment. “I just came to the Gigantic Tripod Liberal Immortal City. I have prior experience in refining elixirs. Therefore, I’d like to register as an Alchemy Master to be able to earn a living here.”

The male cultivator at the registration counter waved his hand as a signal for Di Jiu to stop saying such useless things. “You will need either 3,000 Liberal points or 400,000 high-grade immortal crystals to get a certification as a level-three Alchemy Master.”

This is dark, thought Di Jiu as he scowled silently in his heart. Then, he handed over a storage bag and said, “There are 400,000 high-grade immortal crystals in here.”

The male cultivator at the registration counter checked the storage bag with his Spiritual Force before he nodded and quickly registered Di Jiu. Then, he handed an orange card to Di Jiu and said, “Wait for the examination on the third floor.”

Di Jiu heaved a sigh of relief. At least the registration was successful!

When he reached the examination hall on the third floor with his card, he saw that there were more than 10 people already seated there.

Were so many people taking the examination for the Alchemy Master certification? Although Di Jiu was baffled, he still found a place and sat down.

His cultivation level was one of the lowest there. Many of the alchemists present were Great Unity Immortals. There was even one Grand Zenith Immortal. Di Jiu didn’t see anybody who was above the Grand Zenith Immortal Realm.

He was able to determine quickly with his Spiritual Force that most of the Alchemy Masters there had attained their statuses by consuming elixirs.

He almost didn’t find any Alchemy Masters who rarely took elixirs like him.

Di Jiu had hardly ever consumed elixirs for cultivating after he had realized that alchemy only played a supporting role. He had only used a lot of Golden Elixirs recently because he had urgently needed to improve his cultivation. However, the Golden Elixirs that he had consumed had been nine-patterned, special-class elixirs. A dozen or more of these elixirs combined had less elixir poison than one bad-quality elixir.

In fact, people in the Immortal World said that the nine-patterned immortal pill was a truly pure immortal pill.

“Brother Peng! I didn’t expect that you’d only come to take the examination for the Alchemist Token now!” Di Jiu heard somebody say with cupped fists just as he sat down.

Then, a yellow-haired male cultivator whose face was beginning to turn black walked in. He chuckled as he cupped his fists together as well and said, “It is mainly because I didn’t have enough Liberal points. The fee for the Alchemy Master examination is a little too high.”

Then, another voice was heard saying unabashedly, “I agree! One examination costs a few thousand Liberal points! Moreover, the Elixir Association here doesn’t have any subsidies for alchemists. I wouldn’t have come to take the examination if a few large Elixir Dispensaries had not been recruiting Alchemy Masters tomorrow.”

Di Jiu realized that it wasn’t just the Star Elixir Dispensary that was recruiting Alchemy Masters tomorrow. He was not quite happy with the shop assistant at the Star Elixir Dispensary. Although he wasn’t the only one without a certification from the Elixir Association, the shop assistant had acted as if he had been lying on purpose. It was evident from this conversation that the certification of the Elixir Association was nothing great.

“Ha ha…” A burst of loud laughter was heard as a fully-bearded male cultivator walked in. “All of you are so funny. You are just a bunch of alchemy apprentices who have not passed the certification examination of the Elixir Association here. If you don’t know this, they will think that you are all Alchemy Emperors who don’t give a damn about the Alchemy Master certification of the Elixir Association.”

The expressions of the few cultivators who had been exchanging pleasantries suddenly turned ugly. The whole place cooled down, as if they didn’t want to provoke the fully-bearded man.

Di Jiu blushed in shame. He realized that those guys had been boasting. They were just a bunch of people who had failed their examinations several times and were trying to comfort each other. They must have come for the examination again unwillingly because all the large Elixir Dispensaries were recruiting Alchemy Masters tomorrow.

“Zhang Pingtai, Jue Yan, Bai Erfei, and Di Jiu. The four of you, please come in for your examination now.” Di Jiu’s name was called just as he had been about to ask the few cultivators beside him which Elixir Dispensaries were recruiting Alchemy Masters tomorrow.

When Di Jiu stood up, he saw the other three individuals stand up at the same time. The fully-bearded man was one of them.

A door at the side of the examination hall on the third floor opened. Di Jiu entered it along with the other three individuals as they reached another hall.

This hall was filled with the aura of elixirs and immortal spiritual herbs. Four cauldrons were placed in the center of the hall, while two examiners were sitting in the seats of honor. They seemed to be Immortal Kings.

Di Jiu sighed to himself. If even the presiding examiners were Immortal Kings, the strength of the entire Elixir Association had to be great.

The examiner on the left-hand side was an elegant middle-aged man, while the examiner on the right-hand side was shorter. His neck was so short that it almost looked as if his head was resting on his shoulders.

The examiner on the left scanned the four people with his eyes and asked in a clear voice, “Who is Di Jiu?”

Di Jiu didn’t understand why the examiner had called him first. However, he could only step forward, cup his fists and say, “I would like to pay my respects to the two of you.”

The elegant man nodded. “The four of you are here for the grade-three Alchemy Master examination. The examination duration is four hours. Di Jiu, you have not taken the examinations for the grade-one and grade-two Alchemy Master certifications before. Therefore, you need to take a theory test for medicinal herbs. However, the total time remains four hours.”

The other three individuals looked Di Jiu in shock when they heard that he hadn’t taken the examinations for the grade-one and grade-two Alchemy Master certifications before.

Indeed, a rule had been set by the Elixir Association for the examinations of the different grades of Alchemy Masters. One didn’t necessarily have to register for a grade-one Alchemy Master certification for their first examination. However, nobody seemed to do that. Most people waited for a period of time after passing the examination for the grade-one Alchemy Master certification before they took the examination for the grade-two Alchemy Master certification.