I Can Extract Everything

"Having passed the previous two exams, the examinees probably thought that they could easily pass the exams this time. Unfortunately, the reality is not as good as they expected."

Eyeing the large empty hall, Grand Master Du turned around and said with a smile toward Yun Canghai.

Yun Changhai sat down on a chair by the side, lifted his teacup, and took a sip. With a smile, he said, "Indeed. Whether it's a Qi Strengthening Pill, Body Strengthening Pill, or Detoxification Pill, they're easy to make with their current skill level. However, that was if they used the things they normally used. Next, let's see who can take out the pill of the highest purity..."

Opening the light curtain, a small room appeared in Qin Yi's sight. 

The room was not spacious, but it was quite elegant and tidy. Near the wall of the small room, there was a square green stone platform. An hourglass was placed on the rock platform along with a couple of neatly placed alchemy ingredients.

Qin Yi walking to the middle of the stone platform, his gaze drifted across an old copper cauldron on the table.

'System, extraction of this cauldron!'

[Extraction completed!]

[Obtained Copper Cauldron. Grade: Gradeless Artifact]

Upon seeing this notification, a surprise flashed across Qin Yi's eyes. He muttered softly, "They seriously gave us the Gradeless Artifact cauldron?"

It's not that he contempt toward Gradeless Artifacts, but when it comes to the cauldron, Gradeless Artifacts have very low durability. Thus, they are easy to explode if there is the slightest error in the concoction.

Qin Yi is confident in himself and his pill-making skills. However, if someone told him to concoct pills using equipment of a lower quality than the equipment he was used to, he wasn't one hundred percent sure he could give his best performance.

Moreover, when his gaze moved to the side of the stone platform, he finally understood why these old fellows set the default 51% impurity: The lowest quality cauldron along with the lowest quality alchemy ingredients.

Even though they are not to the point unusable, Qin Yi is still not sure he can make pills with purity above 60%.

Qin Yi shook his head and sighed, "As expected, these old fellows really don't allow others to have peace of mind..."

Fortunately, it seems like these old fellows are not completely heartless. They prepared five cauldrons and five portions of alchemy ingredients for each pill.

That meant each examinee had five chances to make the pill they wanted to make.

After seeing the poor condition of the alchemy ingredients, Qin Yi suddenly had the urge to replace them with the alchemy ingredients of the system.

The things that the system produced are brand new and best quality items. Qin Yi was able to make high-quality pills; part of the merit went to the system.

However, if he used the alchemy ingredients from the system, these two Grand Masters would definitely be able to see the difference and notice his defrauding.

As a result, they might disqualify Qin Yi instantly.

After musing for a moment, Qin Yi shook his head. Being disqualified is one thing, but his reputation...

He definitely didn't want his reputation to be damaged just because of this small exam.

After he checked the alchemy ingredients for a while, it was time for him to choose which pill he would concoct.

The Detoxification Pill is out of option since he has never tried to make one. He also didn't dare to take the risk by trying it at a crucial moment like this.

Therefore, the remaining options now were the Qi Strengthening Pill and the Body Strengthening Pill.

But the Body Strengthening Pill, Qin Yi just tried to make it not too long ago. So he is not very proficient in making it.

"I guess I'll go with the Qi Strengthening Pill since it's the easiest pill to make. Besides, I can finish it in less than thirty minutes."

With such a decision, Qin Yi started to make a move.

He opened his palm, and then a cluster of scarlet-colored flame immediately surged out and was held in his palm.

Qin Yi's Qi was slowly extended out of his hands and controlled this cluster of scarlet-colored flame as he slowly poured it into the cauldron.

He looked at the bright scarlet-colored flame indifferently. He picked up the first ingredient to make the Qi Strengthening Pill.

After that, he waved his hand, and the Spirit Grass left his hand and was thrown into the cauldron. The scarlet flame leaped onto it turbulently, wrapping it and beginning an intense calcining.

When he sensed the timing was right, he started to add the other ingredients step by step.

Qin Yi's ten fingers flexibly danced in front of him. Thanks to his mastery of the Scarlet Fire Controlling Technique, his control over fire was extremely smooth.

Even so, he didn't dare to distract himself from the process because a slight mistake could cause the cauldron to explode.

During the time of concoction, the sand in the hourglass on the table was slowly descending.

***

In the quiet hall, Yun Changhai, seated on the high platform, had his eyes closed as he rested. 

On the table in front of him stood an hourglass with sand falling in it...

After the quiet atmosphere persisted for an unknown amount of time, he was the first to open his eyes.

He looked at the hourglass where half of its contents had fallen. He moved imperceptibly as he coughed gently.

As Yun Changhai's soft cough was heard, Grand Master Du also opened his eyes. He lifted his eyes and inspected the room before saying with a laugh, "Looks like the test this time around is fairly difficult. Until now, no one has actually come out-"

BOOM!

Before he could finish his words, an explosive sound was heard from one of the examinees' rooms.

Hearing this, Grand Master Du couldn't help but chuckle and said amusedly, "Someone blew up the cauldron..."

The explosions did not stop there; a series of explosions also occurred in the other two examinees.

When Grand Master Du's eyes followed the direction of the explosion, he immediately burst into laughter.

"Ha ha ha, look, Old Yun, the two explosions just now came from your juniors!"

Yun Changhai's face twitched as he heard the old thing beside him laugh without considering his face.

His old face couldn't help but wrinkle a little and snort, "What's so strange about that? Although Yun's juniors possess extraordinary alchemy talent and skills, they always use everything to the best. Therefore, if they are given the worst, it's only natural that they also produce the worst."

Grand Master Du nodded and smiled, "So, that's the reason you set up an exam like this?"

Yun Changhai nodded his head without concealing his intention to cover it up.

"They are spoiled and have never experienced hardship. Therefore, they tend to be prideful and think that they are exceptional among their peers and despise others..."

"This exam is the perfect opportunity to open their eyes and prove there are still many people out there who can do better than them even without having the best resources, environment, and mentors they usually enjoy within the clan."

Grand Master Du listened while pulling at his beard. His eyes were clear as water as he stared at the Yun juniors' room.

He quite admired the way Yun Changhai taught his juniors. It seems like the Yun Clan was able to reach this current glory not without reason.

With such wise leaders and elders, it was no wonder the Yun Clan was able to produce so many exceptional Alchemists generation after generation.

Grand Master Du smiled. He lifted the teacup in front of him and sipped before deciding to change their conversation topic.

"Who do you think will be able to obtain the best result?"

"It's difficult to say..."

Yun Changhai's shriveled hand gently tapped on the armrest of the chair. He mused a little before saying, "Juniors from my clan definitely won't do better than the rest of the examinees. They're quite inexperienced in situations like this. They're probably in a panic right now..."

"Therefore, if I had to choose, I would go to Liang Yang. He is a loose cultivator, yet he was able to reach this stage. His talent is certainly the main reason for it. However, his rich experience also played a big role in his growth. For this matter, you should also understand this more than anyone, right? After all, you're also a loose cultivator."

"Haha. Indeed." Grand Master Du laughs as he joins the praise.

He really did think the same as Yun Changhai. Whenever he saw Liang Yang, he felt like he saw his younger self.

"Apparently, he got perfect scores in both the first and second round of exams."

"Oh? That was impressive!"

"Right? I'm glad that a talented Alchemist like him appeared among the loose cultivators. However, the one I am interested in the most is not him but another person. He is a disciple of the Sleeping Dragon Sect...."