The stone workshop fell into a tense, expectant silence.
The three-legged bronze cauldron rested solidly upon the raised dais, its vents radiating the faint, residual heat of past fires.
The Deputy Pavilion Master stood with his hands tucked behind his crimson robe sleeves, gray eyes locked onto Lucien with cold authority.
“Your five assignments,” the master announced, his voice clipping through the stillness.
“A Bone Forging Pill, a Qi Replenishing Pill, a Healing Pill, a Blood Restoring Pill, and a Focus Increasing Pill. Five standard Grade 2 pills. You have three hours to present them, or you fail.”
A three-hour limit was an aggressive, deliberately harsh timeline.
Standard Grade 2 alchemists usually required an hour or more to temper and condense a single cauldron of medicine safely, bringing the expected time for five separate pills closer to five or six hours.
The Deputy Pavilion Master had halved the duration entirely, convinced that the arrogant youth standing before him would buckle under the pressure and abandon the charade before wasting the association’s afternoon.
Lucien’s expression did not waver.
“Understood.”
With his internal Genesis Alchemy Scripture and mastery over Genesis Elemental Control, Lucien could have easily conducted a refinement without touching the vessel at all, purifying and solidifying all five elixirs simultaneously in under five minutes.
But revealing such godlike, void-forging arts in a frontier branch would instantly cause an earthquake across the kingdom.
He stepped up to the bronze cauldron and took the assigned spiritual herbs from the workshop tray.
Deliberately slowing down his hand seals and pacing, Lucien simulated the standard techniques of an ordinary mortal alchemist.
He fed the stalks and roots into the bronze chamber one batch at a time, modulating his internal Stellar Flame into a steady, controlled crimson glow beneath the cauldron’s base to mimic common core fire.
Even with his intentional restraint, the process moved with terrifying fluidity.
The herbal dregs dissolved into fine gray ash, venting out through the side ports without a single pop of scorched leaves.
The volatile liquid essences converged at the core of the vessel, swirling under Lucien’s invisible soul guidance before snapping cleanly into round, dense pills.
One after another, five soft chimes resonated from within the bronze womb.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
The flames died out.
Lucien withdrew his hands, adjusted his cuffs, and stepped back.
The entire process had taken exactly one hour.
The Deputy Pavilion Master stood frozen, his breath hitching.
A youth of seventeen or eighteen possessing the capability to refine Grade 2 pills was already an earth-shattering prodigy rarely seen outside the royal courts of the Central Continent.
But to consecutively produce five distinct Grade 2 pills in sixty minutes without a single failed batch or scorched herb was utterly absurd!
Suppressing the tremor in his fingers, the master walked over to the cooling bronze vessel.
He extended his palm, levitating the five freshly minted pills into the air before his eyes.
The moment the medicinal fragrance hit his nostrils, the master’s pupils contracted to needlepoints.
There were no jagged seams.
There was no muddy discoloration.
Each pill was perfectly spherical, smooth as polished jade, and wrapped in a faint, radiant sheen of pristine herbal energy.
“Hundred percent…” the Deputy Pavilion Master rasped, his voice shaking with disbelief.
“Every single one… a flawless, hundred percent purity rate…”
In the mortal craft of alchemy, achieving seventy percent purity was considered standard; eighty percent marked an exceptional batch; ninety percent was a miracle produced only by grandmasters under optimal conditions.
A hundred percent purity meant zero medicinal toxins—an elixir that mortal flesh could absorb without leaving behind a single speck of spiritual impurity!
“Did I pass, Deputy Pavilion Master?” Lucien asked calmly, breaking the suffocating silence. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
The veteran master closed his eyes, taking several long seconds to steady his racing pulse.
When he opened them, the cold skepticism had vanished entirely, replaced by deep, undeniable awe.
“You have passed. With flying colors,” the master murmured.
He looked at Lucien with intense scrutiny.
“What is your name, young man?”
“Lucien Novar.”
“And who is your master in the craft?”
“I am self-taught,” Lucien replied smoothly.
The Deputy Pavilion Master let out a quiet, knowing sigh.
“If you do not wish to speak of your inheritance, it is fine. Every dragon has its origins.”
Reaching into his spatial ring, the master produced a pristine silver badge emblazoned with the two-cauldron insignia of a 2nd Tier Alchemist.
Channeling a thread of pure Qi into the metal, he carved the name Lucien Novar across the front alongside his own official verifying seal, handing the heavy badge to the youth.
“Young Master Novar,” the master said earnestly, stepping closer.
“Would you consider joining our Alchemy Association as an internal core disciple? With your monstrous talent, the association will provide you with limitless herbs, regional protection, and an immediate transfer to the Imperial Branch.”
“I appreciate the generous offer, Deputy Pavilion Master,” Lucien bowed courteously, storing the silver badge into his inner robe.
“However, I am a wanderer by nature and do not seek affiliation with any faction for the time being.”
Seeing the calm, unshakeable finality in Lucien’s eyes, the master did not press further, though a flicker of regret lingered in his gaze.
Taking his leave, Lucien purchased the three essential ingredients from the front counter using his newly certified badge and the silver he had prepared:
Bone Marrow of a Blood Quenching Realm Beast
Grade 2 Spiritual Water
100-Year-Old Ginseng
With all five components of the Harmony Pill finally secured, Lucien stepped out of the association and hurried back through the crowded streets toward his inn.
Reaching the quiet upstairs room, Lucien set the wooden boxes across the table.
Just as he sat cross-legged to prepare the furnace for refining the Harmony Pills, a sudden, chaotic roar erupted from the thoroughfare below.
Screams.
Shrieks.
The frantic clatter of iron boots and shattering timber.
Lucien frowned, rising from the floor and pushing the window lattice open.
The street beneath the inn had descended into absolute panic.
Merchants were desperately abandoning their stalls, city guards were sprinting toward the southern watchtowers in full armor, and crowds of citizens were shouting in terrified unison.
“A beast tide! The eastern scout towers have fallen!”
“Thousands of demonic beasts have broken through the perimeter! They’re marching in an unbroken wave!”
“Where did they emerge from?!”
“The Eastern Mountain Forest Range! The inner depths have erupted!”
Thump!
The words struck Lucien’s chest like a physical hammer.
The Eastern Mountain Forest Range!
That ancient primeval wilderness bordered the outer territories of Aurora City.
His home, his mother Leona, his grandfather Lucas, his cousins—the entire David Clan stood right in the path of the encroaching wilderness!
Lucien didn’t spare another second.
He abandoned his plans to cultivate, snatched his satchel from the bed, and bolted down the stairs, leaping onto the cobblestones in a blur.
“Is the news verified? Has the beast tide truly descended upon the eastern frontier?”
“Yes! The city magistrate’s communication arrays just received the imperial distress flares!” the merchant cried in terror.
“A colossal swarm of beasts is swallowing everything in its path!”
Lucien released the man, his eyes flashing with icy resolve.
He had to move, and he had to move now.
Sprinting down the weapon thoroughfare, Lucien burst into the largest forging boutique in the commercial quarter.
Bypassing the decorative rapiers, his gaze landed on a pair of massive single-edged greatswords resting on reinforced iron stands.
They were High-Rank Mortal Grade blades—forged from cold-rolled abyssal steel, measuring six feet in length and four fingers wide, carrying nearly double the brutal kinetic weight of his shattered armory sword.
He could have purchased a single Peak Mortal Grade blade with his funds, but Lucien knew the reality: whether high or peak mortal grade, common worldly steel could not withstand the unbridled heat of his Stellar Qi and Genesis Sword Intent for long.
Two high-grade slabs would at least give him an immediate replacement once the first gave out in battle.
“I’m taking both!” Lucien slammed a pouch of spirit stones onto the counter, not waiting for the merchant to count them as he strapped both heavy scabbards crosswise across his back.
Rushing out of the city gates, his mind calculated the terrible mathematics of distance.
The journey by carriage between Aurora City and Kerak City took three full days.
Even traveling light with an escort had consumed forty-eight hours.
If he attempted to run on foot across the rugged mountain terrain, pushing his ninety stellar temperings to their mechanical limits, it would still take him an entire day and night to cross the wilderness.
Before despair could take root, a soft rustle sounded from his shoulder.
Lumi leaped down onto the gravel path before him.
Hum—!
Silver starlight flared across the clearing as ancient celestial runes ignited along her flesh.
In the blink of an eye, the fluffy white kitten vanished, swelling into the majestic, colossal form of an adult White Tiger.
Her pure snowy coat gleamed like liquid moonlight, her metallic claws gouging the earth, radiating the unyielding power of a Peak Tier 2 magical beast.
She lowered her broad, muscular shoulders to the ground, turning her bright silver eyes toward Lucien.
Master, get on, Lumi’s clear, urgent voice echoed in his mind.
Let me carry you home!
Lucien did not hesitate.
Planting his boot on her flank, he vaulted onto her broad back, his hands gripping the dense, silvery fur along the base of her neck.
“Go, Lumi! Push as fast as you can!”
ROAR!
With an earth-shattering roar, Lumi lunged forward.
The ground beneath her paws exploded, sending rocks flying as she tore into the dense forest at blinding speed, transforming into a white lightning bolt that streaked across the mountain ranges toward the east.
Even with Lumi’s terrifying speed, running without pause across hundreds of miles of untamed wilderness would take nearly a full day.
Sitting atop the galloping beast, the wind whipping his long white hair wildly across his face, Lucien clamped his jaw until his gums bled, his knuckles white against Lumi’s fur.
Mother…
Grandfather…
Reiner…
His blue eyes burned with a desperate, terrifying fire as he stared into the eastern horizon.
Please be alright.
Hold on… please!