The next day, he went directly to the Clearbell Eastern Three-Path Pill Association.
The association building stood between the lower market and the academy district, positioned exactly where poor ambition met institutional power.
It was a wide tower of white stone, green glass, and silver formation rings. Three symbols rotated above the entrance, suspended in the air by quiet streams of light.
A pill furnace.
A crescent mana flask.
A bronze fist holding a medicinal leaf.
Martial.
Wizard.
Warrior.
The front plaza was crowded with applicants.
Some came wearing clean academy uniforms.
Some came with family attendants carrying ingredient cases.
Some came alone, like Qin Yuan.
He joined the line.
The registration process was efficient.
A clerk behind a glass counter scanned his bracelet without looking up for more than a second.
"Name?"
"Qin Yuan."
"Path?"
"Martial."
"Realm?"
"Spirit Opening, 1st layer."
"Foundation?"
Qin Yuan paused for a moment.
For an instant, he considered hiding it.
But with the association's methods, hiding would be pointless. If he lied and they discovered it during verification, it would only make him look suspicious.
So he answered truthfully.
"Eighth-Grade Spiritual Root. Bronze Flesh Gates."
The clerk paused.
Her screen flickered.
"Your older records show Ninth-Grade Spiritual Root and Iron Flesh Gates."
"They improved."
The clerk finally looked up.
For a brief moment, a trace of interest appeared in her eyes.
But that interest vanished almost as quickly as it came.
Changing weak foundations was not impossible for families. In fact, some clans forced weak children to take unstable foundation-boosting medicines just to make their records look better. A higher-grade but unstable foundation could sometimes be worse than a lower-grade stable one.
To the clerk, someone as unassuming as Qin Yuan probably belonged to that category.
She pushed a small testing plate toward him with practiced indifference.
"Place your hand here. The association records foundation states to prevent illegal root extraction, forced bloodline grafting, and counterfeit qualifications."
Qin Yuan placed his hand on the plate.
A soft light moved through his palm, wrist, meridians, bones, and dantian.
The glass counter lit up.
The screen displayed the results.
Spiritual Root: Eighth-Grade. Stable.
Flesh Gates: Bronze. Stable.
No forbidden extraction traces detected.
No root graft rejection detected.
No illegal marrow seal detected.
The clerk stayed silent for one breath longer.
Then she handed him a test token.
"Spirit Opening seedling test. Waiting hall three. Do not lose the token. Do not fight inside the association. Do not tamper with furnace arrays. Do not insult examiners. Do not accept pills from other applicants."
Qin Yuan accepted the token.
"Understood."
Waiting hall three was already half full.
More than thirty young cultivators sat or stood inside. Most were Spirit Opening applicants. A few were Body Opening applicants taking a related medicinal processing test. Mana Opening seedlings waited behind a glass divider on the opposite side, where faint blue runes floated around their seats and measured the stability of their magical cores.
The Spirit Opening applicants looked over as Qin Yuan entered.
Their reactions were immediate.
Dismissive.
Bored.
Openly disdainful.
Qin Yuan's clothes were clean but cheap. His storage pouch was ordinary. His aura was only at the 1st layer of Spirit Opening. His face carried no nervous excitement, no noble pride, and no obvious backing.
In a room full of applicants desperate to prove themselves, he looked like someone who had walked into the wrong building.
The examination hall was wide, clean, and coldly luxurious.
Pale green spirit-glass covered the walls, reflecting the soft glow of floating mana-lamps that hung above long rows of individual refinement rooms. Each room was sealed behind a transparent formation door, its surface faintly rippling with inspection runes. A faint medicinal fragrance drifted through the air, mixing with the dry heat leaking from dozens of inactive pill furnaces.
Every applicant wore something that showed background.
Sect robes.
Academy jackets.
Family badges.
Wizard coats marked with glowing runes.
Even the poorer applicants had polished themselves as much as possible. They stood straight with tense faces, trying to look like people who belonged here.
Qin Yuan wore ordinary black clothes.
His cultivation aura was even more ordinary.
1st layer Spirit Opening.
At first, a few people glanced at him.
Then their eyes moved away.
A young man wearing a dark red pill apprentice robe sneered under his breath.
"Another straggler."
Someone beside him chuckled. "Maybe he got lost looking for the delivery counter."
"Don't say that. Maybe he's here to clean the furnaces."
A few people laughed softly.
Qin Yuan heard them.
He did not respond.
There was no benefit in answering every mosquito that buzzed near his ear.
He simply walked to a quiet corner, sat down, and waited.
His expression stayed calm.
Not stiff.
Not nervous.
Calm in the way still water was calm before anyone threw a stone into it.
While others talked, compared backgrounds, whispered about sect connections, or tried to show off their confidence, Qin Yuan silently extended his Spirit Sense.
It spread thinly through the hall.
Not forcefully.
Not in a way that would alarm anyone.
Just enough to observe.
The weakest applicant he detected was at the 5th layer Spirit Opening.
Most were between the 6th and 7th layer.
There were even several at the 8th layer.
Qin Yuan understood immediately.
Alchemy was not only about knowing recipes.
At lower realms, controlling fire was difficult. Controlling Spirit Qi was difficult. Maintaining furnace pressure was difficult. Removing impurities without burning away medicinal essence was difficult. Even a small tremble in one's Spirit Qi could ruin the pill liquid.
Higher cultivation gave thicker energy, steadier control, sharper senses, and longer endurance.
In that sense, a 1st layer Spirit Opening cultivator taking this exam truly did look like a fool chasing a dream.
A soft voice suddenly sounded from across from him.
"You're really taking the exam?"
Qin Yuan opened his eyes.
A young woman sat two seats away. She looked about eighteen or nineteen, dressed in pale blue robes with a silver vine embroidered near the collar. Her face was pretty, but not in an arrogant way. Her eyes were clear and curious.
Her aura was not weak.
6th layer Spirit Opening.
Qin Yuan looked at her once and nodded.
"Yes."
The girl blinked, as if she had expected him to explain more.
After a brief pause, she lowered her voice.
"I don't mean anything bad by this, but the entrance exam here isn't like the public pill workshops. Even the first stage can burn through your Spirit Qi if you don't have enough control."
"I know."
"You're only at the 1st layer."
"I know that too."
The girl stared at him.
Qin Yuan's tone was too calm.
Not offended.
Not embarrassed.
Not pretending.
That only made her more curious.
"My name is Lin Xiaowan," she said after a moment. "From the Lin Family's medicinal branch."
"Qin Yuan."
"Qin Family?"
"Branch member."
"Oh."
Lin Xiaowan immediately understood enough to stop asking.
A branch member with 1st layer cultivation taking the alchemist exam alone. That already explained many things.
Still, she leaned forward slightly.
"I'm serious. If you only came here because someone pressured you, it's better to withdraw before the exam starts. Failed records follow you for a while. Some pill halls won't even accept you as an assistant if your first record looks too bad."
Qin Yuan could sense it.
She was not mocking him.
She genuinely thought she was giving him a kind warning.
So his tone remained polite.
"Thank you. But I came here because I believe I can pass."
Lin Xiaowan paused.
For a moment, she did not know what to say.
There were two kinds of confidence she had seen often.
The first was the shallow kind. Loud, fragile, and desperate to be noticed.
The second was the kind born from background. People who had elders, resources, and inheritance behind them spoke as if success had already been arranged.
Qin Yuan's confidence was neither.
It was quiet.
Almost indifferent.
As if the exam was not some grand gamble, but just another step he had already decided to walk through.
Lin Xiaowan's eyes flickered.
"You really believe that?"
Qin Yuan looked toward the sealed refinement rooms.
"I wouldn't be sitting here otherwise."
Before Lin Xiaowan could answer, the entrance doors opened again.
A wave of heat swept into the hall.
Not actual flame.
Aura.
Everyone turned.
A youth in crimson-gold robes walked in with two attendants behind him. His hair was tied with a jade flame clasp, and his expression carried the casual arrogance of someone used to being watched the moment he entered any room.
His cultivation pressure spread without restraint.
9th layer Spirit Opening.
The hall quieted.
Someone inhaled sharply.
"That's Han Ziyue."
"From Crimson Furnace Spirit Sect?"
"Not just from there. I heard he's an inner candidate. His uncle is a peak Spirit Master alchemist."
"They sent him here? Isn't this exam basically over, then?"
Han Ziyue heard the whispers and smiled faintly, clearly enjoying them.
His gaze swept across the room.
Most applicants avoided eye contact.
Only one person did not.
Near the middle of the hall sat a tall youth in dark green robes, his eyes half-closed, a bronze pill token hanging from his waist. His aura was restrained, but still dense.
8th layer Spirit Opening.
He did not look impressed.
Someone whispered again.
"Isn't that Shen Moxu from Green Cascade Spirit Sect?"
"Right. Their sect's pill branch is famous too."
"Looks like Han Ziyue won't have it completely easy."
Han Ziyue's eyes met Shen Moxu's.
The air between them seemed to tighten.
Han Ziyue smiled.
"Shen Moxu. Didn't think your sect would send you."
Shen Moxu did not even fully open his eyes.
"Your sect sent you. Why can't mine send me?"
A few applicants lowered their heads, pretending not to listen.
Han Ziyue's smile cooled.
"Good. At least this won't be completely boring."
Shen Moxu replied flatly, "Try not to burn your furnace before the third hour."
A few people nearly laughed, but swallowed it back.
Han Ziyue's eyes sharpened.
Then his gaze moved past Shen Moxu and landed briefly on Qin Yuan.
1st layer Spirit Opening.
Ordinary clothes.
Quiet corner.
Han Ziyue looked away instantly, as if Qin Yuan was not worth remembering.
Lin Xiaowan sighed softly.
"We're really unlucky."
Qin Yuan glanced at her.
She smiled bitterly.
"Han Ziyue from Crimson Furnace Spirit Sect. Shen Moxu from Green Cascade Spirit Sect. One has fierce flame control. The other has wood-water medicinal balance. If either of them performs well, everyone else will just be background."
Qin Yuan's face remained indifferent.
He did not find it surprising that sects would send talents here too.
This was one of the best alchemist organizations in the entire city. Sects, families, wizard academies, and other organizations might have their own medicine and alchemy branches, but those branches would always be fundamentally inferior to organizations fully focused on alchemy.
Making connections with such an association would only bring endless benefits to any sect, family, or academy.
It was an interesting thing to note.
But for now, Qin Yuan simply shrugged.
"Maybe."
Lin Xiaowan looked at him.
"You don't sound worried."
"Worrying won't improve my pills."
She was stunned for half a breath.
Then, despite herself, she laughed softly.
"That's actually true."
At that moment, the side doors opened.
Several proctors entered.
At their front was a middle-aged instructor in gray-white alchemist robes. His hair was streaked with silver, and a bronze seven-leaf furnace badge rested on his chest.
Behind him came three assistant proctors, two martial cultivators, and two Wizard proctors wearing pale-blue coats marked with inspection runes.
The hall immediately went silent.
The instructor's gaze swept over everyone.
"My name is Instructor Wei Cang. I will oversee the first stage of today's entrance exam."
His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly through the hall.
"You will each be assigned one sealed refinement room. The recipe is the Basic Qi Harmonizing Pill. Materials will be provided by the association. You may choose quantity, flame intensity, and refinement pacing by yourself."
A few applicants exchanged looks.
Basic Qi Harmonizing Pill was not rare.
It was one of the most fundamental pills in the city.
But that was exactly why it was used.
Simple pills exposed the truth.
There was nowhere to hide.
Wei Cang continued.
"The exam lasts six hours. At the end, your score will be judged by quantity, completion, purity, stability, and medicinal harmony. Failed pills count against your result. Exploded furnaces count as automatic failure. Attempted cheating will result in permanent banning from all registered alchemist halls in Jadefall City."
One of the Wizard proctors raised a hand.
Tiny blue spell-runes opened across the ceiling.
Every refinement room lit up.
Mana inspection arrays.
Spirit Qi tracking arrays.
Storage bracelet seals.
Soul-frequency monitoring.
Even Qin Yuan's eyes flickered faintly.
This security was far beyond what a normal low-level pill shop could afford.
Wei Cang spoke again.
"Enter your rooms."