Interesting, Cha Ming thought. It seems Huxian’s eyes weren’t a waste. He could hear a group of elders dressed in beast hides muttering in approval. It seemed at least this profession wouldn’t be an issue. Just when they thought the results had stabilized, a third medallion appeared. To everyone’s surprise, this one was silver. It contained violet characters that read “initial grandmaster demonic blacksmith.”
“Your apprentices are simply remarkable,” Dai Yijun said, rubbing his hands. “It’s a victory for science, an overwhelming success. I’ve never heard of such a profession in all my life. For all I know, it’s unprecedented, unknown! Think of the possibilities!”
“Don’t wet yourself,” Gan Quan said drily. “There’s still one more to go.”
“Of course, of course,” Dai Yijun said. “Your disciples will be available for interviews, correct?”
“They’re free to do whatever they wish,” Cha Ming said. “They’re their own people.”
Inwardly, though, he was grumbling. He had taught them all runic arts, but they’d squandered them. They hadn’t even gotten medallions for these professions, and he wondered whether their skill was just too low or if they’d just wanted to save face by not showing off meager skills before experts. He was determined to remedy the situation, willingness be damned.
Zi Long was the last to go. Just as Cha Ming predicted, he was a high-grade formation master. To his surprise, however, he was also an early-grade grandmaster illusionist, obtaining a golden medal for a tiny faction in the academy. There was no muttering or bitterness, a fact that brought much relief to Cha Ming.
“Is there anyone else who wishes to challenge the formation?” Dai Yijun said.
Everyone shook their heads, but just as he was about to call the meeting to a close, Cha Ming raised his hand. “I wish to challenge the formation.”
Though he was on good terms with his respective professional bodies, Cha Ming had a few tricks up his sleeve. He figured that if Zhou Li was an elder, he should be one as well. Besides, the creepy man hadn’t said anything or taunted him. Just the fact that he wasn’t provoking him into trying out the formation meant this was exactly what he should be doing.
“Are you sure?” Dai Yijun asked with a strange look. “Your standing as a member won’t change, and with your cultivation, you won’t be able to obtain a higher result than normal membership.”
“I’m sure,” Cha Ming said, supplying the man with ten more top-grade spirit stones. Then, under everyone’s confused gazes, he walked through the arch’s blue light.
Chapter 4: Through Will Alone
The blue light faded, revealing a circular disc surrounded by mountains. Nine tall slabs of stone surrounded him, each one with different characters dancing within. They channeled power into a runic array that was etched into the solid stone floor. He immediately recognized it as an illusory formation.
“Welcome to the profession trial,” a voice that sounded like thousands said. “Please stand by while we analyze the potential of your various occupations.” Several runic characters began floating out from him and spinning above his head. The first ones that came out represented formations, and they were closely followed by those representing talismans. A bit more time passed before a fainter character appeared, one representing alchemy.
To Cha Ming’s surprise, a fourth set of characters appeared for herbology. These characters quickly took on a black iron hue, followed by bronze, then silver, and finally, gold. Then it disappeared into space.
“Low-level, knowledge-based profession quantized,” the voice said. “Herbology has achieved peak grandmaster rank. Further growth in this field of study can only be achieved by blending and combining with other occupations.”
Interesting, Cha Ming thought. He hadn’t studied herbology as a profession, and he’d assumed all professions required soul-force manipulation. Even the Jade Moon Library hadn’t mentioned it was a profession. He now realized this was likely due to the limitations of knowledge and calculation. It couldn’t transcend its mortal shackles without a fundamental change in the nature of the profession.
Seeing the three remaining characters floating around, he noticed that the runic alchemist designation hadn’t appeared for him as it had for Jin Huang. That was another thing he needed to talk to the younger man about. For now, however, he would focus on proving his worth.
“Which challenge do you wish to accept?” the voices asked. “Time contraction is in effect. Additional time is available with supplementation.”
Cha Ming looked at all three characters and decided to select his least-skilled occupation, alchemy. He would use the results to adjust his approach for the other trials. The world shifted as he touched the character, and he found himself on a lonely mountaintop next to an alchemical cauldron. There were fields of medicinal ingredients below, and he instantly knew that, should he wish it, he could pluck any of them to use for the trial.
“How do I pass the trial?” Cha Ming asked.
“One does not pass the trial but simply walks as far as he can go,” the voices said. “Simply concoct the most difficult pills you know. We will record your skills and achievements and quantify your professional rank.”
Cha Ming nodded. He brought a relatively simple alchemical recipe to mind, a foundation consolidation pill. Herbs floated into the air beside him; he threw them into the cauldron and used five flames to simultaneously roast and mix the ingredients as they reacted. A few minutes passed before he retrieved a gold-seal pill from the furnace.
The ingredients behave like real ones, including the many variations one can find in nature, Cha Ming thought. They were very realistic illusory replicas, ones that responded perfectly to his flame. The cauldron, on the other hand, was a very well-made one. It didn’t have any impressive capabilities, but it did have excellent heat distribution and durability. There would be no amplifying his creations with imbued runes, nor would there be any medicinal infusions from the seasoning accumulated by the cauldron. It was a pure test of ability.
Understanding the situation, Cha Ming got to work.
