Journey Towards Dao

Following Michail’s invitation, Nathaniel’s hand shot up in the air.

“Yes, Nathaniel?”

Nathaniel's fingers fidgeted with anxiety. “Can you go over the different parts of the Exam again?”

A collection of audible sighs swept across their table.

Michail raised his eyebrows and asked dryly, “I’ve detailed the process for you several times already. Where are your notes?”

“Umm, I left them back at home. I know the answer, really! I just wanna make double— no, triple sure!”

Michail chuckled. “Alright. Then, why don’t you tell me what the Examination will consist of. I’m all ears, Nathaniel.”

After being put on the spot, Nathaniel’s eyes widened before glancing down the table at the other children pitifully. But what met his gaze were only three sympathetic smiles.

Seeing that none of them were willing to help him out this time, Nathaniel hesitantly began.

“Well, there are… uh three parts?”

Michail smiled and nodded. “Correct. Go on.”

With a bit more confidence, Nathaniel continued, “The first part is a written test. The second is —”

“Two of the three parts are written exams. What exactly does this portion cover?”

“Umm… there's uh…”

Michail waved his hand to stop the boy’s mumbling.

“In efforts to move on to newer information before nightfall, I’ll explain the process for you one last time, Nathaniel. But I suggest that you keep ahold of your notes this time.”

As his shoulder sagged in relief, Nathaniel nodded quickly as he took out a sheet of paper and a pen from his spatial ring, doing his best to look the part of a dutiful student.

Michail explained, “The Apprentice Alchemist Examination is comprised of three sections. Even the Examination I participated in years ago was formatted this way, as the structure remains the same every year it's held.

“The first and second sections are the written portions.

“During the first section, the examinee is required to detail any Elixir Refinement Technique, as long as it’s a Tier 1 Elixir Refinement Technique. Due to you four being fortunate enough to be appointed to the Elixir Refinement Hall, each of you were already provided a Technique of your choosing, free of charge. The other examinees were not so lucky.

"Can anyone else inform your fellow disciple Nathaniel of what follows? Yes, Mia."

Mia's pleasant voice recited gently, “The second section consists of questions relating to basic Alchemical processes."

"That's correct Mia. Well done," Michail acknowledged. "What about the last? Go ahead, Tarek."

Tarek answered succinctly, “The final section isn't really a test, because it doesn’t affect the Examination's final outcome. And most of the examinees will not be given the opportunity to participate in this portion.”

Tarek paused for a moment, glancing quickly at Auslen before continuing.

“It's a contest designed for the top 25 examinees that displayed the best performance during the previous two tests. At its conclusion, there are rewards for the top few participants included.

“The objective for this section of the Examination is the sole objective that changes every year. The only thing that doesn’t change is that the contest will include the other four Outer Sect mountains, meaning that only the top five examinees from each Outer Sect Elixir Refinement Hall will be allowed to participate.”

Nathaniel’s speedy scribbles halted, head spinning around to Tarek with excitement written all over his face.

“Ooh! What’s the rewards like for the third part?”

Michail interjected, “I don’t think that’s something you should be worrying about when you nearly failed our little practice exam last week. If I were you, I’d place my focus on simply passing on your first go-around."

Auslen glanced at Nathaniel to see the boy’s slightly pink face lowering back down in embarrassed silence as he re-concentrated on scribbling his notes.

Michail was not being tough on Nathaniel for the fun of it. He was merely hoping to prevent the overzealous child from wasting his other benefit.

Refining Assistants also received one free chance to participate in the Apprentice Alchemist Examination. To purchase this slot, the disciple would normally be required to pay 250 Merit Points, which was an amount that took a substantial number of Sect Missions to save up for. Considering that Qi Refinement Elixirs were valued at 50 Merit Points, just one slot was the equivalent to giving up at least five potential strands of Profound Qi!

Although they could have waited much longer to take the Exam, since their benefits wouldn't expire for years, all four members of their group had chosen to participate, in spite of their Mentor's consistent warnings.

Auslen was not worried about the possibility of failure and chose to take the exam as soon as possible, as he was impatiently looking forward to the Elixir Refinement Hall facilities and individual Alchemy instruction that only Apprentice Alchemists had access to.

He had a solid head-start with Spirit Botany, thanks to his father’s assistance. However, because he couldn’t sell his Pseudo Spirit Plants, he still lacked a feasible way to obtain Merit Points.

Sadly, Auslen had exactly zero Merit Points to his name at the moment. But he refused to waste his time with the Sect Missions aimed towards young practitioners. The paltry number of Merit Points given in exchange from completing those dry tasks was depression-inducing.

He knew that Tarek had chosen to take it early because his family had several Alchemists and Botanists, so the knowledge he enjoyed was more than enough to ensure that he safely passed the test.

Mia, on the other hand, had chosen to participate in the Examination for reasons only she could guess. Over the past few months, she had never really discussed her family situation, but it was obvious that she didn’t know much of anything regarding Alchemy when they first began studying together as a group.

And Nathaniel hadn’t shown even the slightest interest in Alchemy, let alone the Apprentice Alchemy Examination.

At least, that was the case until three weeks ago, when he heard from Michail that the rest of us were participating. Now, the child frantically studied every chance he got. That competitive spirit of his knows no bounds.

Nathaniel was so unexpectedly consumed with this upcoming Exam that Auslen was repeatedly slipping on loose pages of notes scattered all over their cave abode.

But whether Nathaniel's pain-staking exertion was enough for him to successfully pass the Exam after starting from so far behind was another matter entirely.

Just as he finished his thought, he spotted Mia turning towards Nathaniel to lightly pat his shoulder.

“Don’t be too nervous, Nathan. We’ll just study even harder this week so that we can all pass the Exam together.”

Contrarily, Nathaniel looked even more nervous under Mia’s encouraging gaze. The pink around his young cheeks spread around to his neck familiarly, causing Auslen to remember this morning’s events.

Or, perhaps his sudden burst of initiative was thanks to the miraculous power of a first crush?

Auslen chuckled to himself before reverting his eyes from the two of them.

Good luck, brat. I’m rooting for you.

At this moment, Michail spoke up. “Do any of you have any additional concerns about the upcoming Examination?”

His gaze scanned the group of silent children before laughing.

Lazily resting his elbows on the table, Michail smiled. “I guess we’ve discussed that topic more than enough. How about we open the topic further, since I have quite a bit of free time left.

“What other burning questions have you kids been sitting on? If it’s related to a subject I’m familiar with, I don’t mind elaborating on some things for you.”

Golden eyes gleaming, Auslen raised his hand high.

“What’s on your mind, Auslen?”

“Senior Brother, are you a real Alchemist yet?”

“If I was, then I wouldn’t have been assigned as you guys’ mentor," Michail laughingly said.

"Passing the Alchemist Examination is not nearly as simple as passing the Apprentice Alchemist Exam. The latter calls for merely theoretical knowledge, not even requiring the examinee to refine a Tier 1 Elixir.

“But the former contains a particularly difficult practical application section. The aspiring Alchemist must not only be able to reliably produce Tier 1 Spirit Elixirs but also demonstrate a certain baseline success rate with Tier 2.

“Sure, I can produce a stable Tier 2 Elixir every now and then, but my personal success rate isn’t high enough for me to feel comfortable spending the Merit Points to take the Alchemist Exam. That's why I’m putting it off until I reach the Foundation Establishment realm.”

Tarek was surprised. “You’re still a practitioner?”

Looking slightly offended, Michail shot back, “For your information, I’ve been ready to advance for years now, kid. But I only recently saved up for the Earth Tier Cultivation Method I’ve been eyeing for a while. You should know that those things aren’t cheap.”

Auslen tilted his head as he asked, “Then why haven’t you advanced yet? Isn't it bad to wait too long?”

Michail’s brows furrowed slightly as he looked at Auslen and Tarek, thinking, ‘Why do I get the feeling that these two are mocking my age? I’m only 21! That’s still young!’

Coughing to relieve his discomposure, he answered, “I’m waiting until the Qi Refinement Tournament. Depending on how high I can rank, some of my previous arrangements may change.”

Once she heard this, Mia perked up and asked excitedly, “Are you participating in the Tournament, Senior Brother?”

Just as Michail was opening his mouth to speak, a gruff voice coming directly behind him answered in his stead.

“We both are! You juniors better cheer for us appropriately when the time comes.”

Just as they perceived the sudden interruption, Auslen and the rest raised their gazes above Michail’s head to see a sturdy young man standing behind him with a wide grin.

He had green eyes, under which was a light layering of freckles decorating his fair-skinned cheeks. His curly red hair was very short, not even long enough to reach his muscular shoulders, as it had only recently begun to regrow from his last Elixir refinement mishap.

The man’s meaty palm was coming down fast to rest hard on Michail’s shoulder before being knocked away with a crisp, resounding slap. The painfully sharp resonance from the colliding hands caused the Outer Sect Disciples sitting nearby to hurriedly turn towards their group.

Michail appeared unconcerned at the extra attention they attracted. Withdrawing his palm, he asked, “Victor, where’s your handler?”

Even though Michail’s expression remained friendly, his minutely colder tone seemed to indicate his annoyance brought about by the man's presence.

Meanwhile, Victor stepped back with his face painted with shock, gently rubbing the side of his hand.

“Shit! Is that how you treat your friend? You’re teaching your mentees bad habits.”

Only after checking for signs of swelling for another moment did Victor register Michail’s words.

“Motherfuc— Irene’s not my handler, she’s my sister!”

Ignoring most of what Victor said, he politely amended, “Slip of the tongue. Where’s Irene?”

Victor looked peeved, choosing not to answer in lieu of focusing on the blonde boy observing him.

Brushing off Michail’s increasingly piercing gaze, Victor pulled himself a seat right in front of Auslen, face pouting semi-pitifully while waving his now red palm.

“Little prince! You see how this abusive mentor treats your dear Senior Brother? That terrible man hurt me so badly! I may even lose my hand if I—“

Victor suddenly stopped when he looked down to see a small, white hand gently placing a tiny bottle of a green-colored Spirit Elixir on the table in front of him.

Astonished, he looked back up at Auslen, whose face had was smiling with untainted emotions of kindness and child-like naivety.

Auslen’s eyes revealed concern as he said, “Here you go, Senior Brother. It sounded really painful just now! I hope this helps your hand a little.”

Victor’s eyes gleamed at the Bone Mending Elixir that he had been gearing up to beg the foolish Prince for. He had heard from around the Elixir Refinement Hall that the kid was loaded, but he had never found the right opportunity until now.

It's just that he hadn't expected for it to be this easy!

'Is this foolish boy really the Prince of a Kingdom? Where's his sense of prudence?'

Despite his confusion, Victor's pout unknowingly transformed back into a wide grin as he sized up the Bone Mending Elixir.

Although the Spirit Elixir couldn’t be sold to the Sect, due to them only accepting freshly refined Spirit Elixirs, he could still pawn it off to a fellow disciple for around half the price. That was an easy 20 Merit Points!

Gradually, the good-looking, golden-haired child, whom he hadn’t thought too highly of before, began looking more and more agreeable in Victor’s eyes.

Laughing in surprised delight, he said, “Thank you, uh... little Prince! I just knew I could count on you.”

‘Shit. What's his name again? Well, it's no matter. I’ll be taking that!’

But just before his non-throbbing palm could make contact with the Bone Mending Elixir, another sharp slap rang out in the Library.

“Ouch!!”

While Victor was cradling his other hand, Michail slid the Elixir back towards Auslen.

“Auslen, you shouldn't give away such precious items so easily. Even if you think you don’t need them or that you have something better, keeping what you have is far better than donating them to this blockhead.“

After returning the Elixir, Michail shifted his gaze back towards Victor.

“Stop trying to scheme Merit Points out of your juniors and tell me why you’re here.”

Staring in disbelief at Auslen, who was apologetically placing the Elixir back inside his spatial ring, the previous joy that was spilling from Victor’s heart was now uncomfortably congested, leaving room for only stifled dejection to pass through.

‘No! My Merit Points! Should I swindle the boy some more when Michail leaves? With his background, he’s got to have some more goodies hidden away…’

Still somewhat aggrieved, Victor deflated and leaned back in his chair, offhandedly replying, “Irene sent me to find you. She just told me to relay that she had something urgent to show you.”

As soon as Victor finished speaking, Auslen couldn’t miss the brilliance that flashed through Michail’s eyes.

Without questioning Victor any further, Michail stood from his seat with an apologetic smile, pulling the red-headed young man up along with him.

“I’m sorry, you guys. I have something very important to do, so we’ll have to cut our time short today. However, just let me know if you need any more assistance before the Exam, and I’ll try to carve some time to meet with you before next week.”

“Why the hell are you— I still want to talk to my precious juniors! Hey, wait!”

After waving goodbye to his mentees, Michail ignored the persistent pleas and turned to walk briskly towards the exit of the Library, pulling Victor’s unwilling figure behind him.

While watching their departing figures, Auslen couldn't resist the amusement coloring his face.

Damn. It's not easy to find simpletons like Victor. Not everyone could be so easily pleased with such a cheap gift.

Auslen had been secretly observing several Senior Outer Sect Disciples, slowly weeding out the few he thought would be worth building a relationship with.

Luck was on his side when he was assigned to Michail as a mentee. Michail was near the top of his list, as he was a very well-known talent within the Outer Sect for both his cultivation and Alchemical skill.

Admittedly, Victor's name lined the bottom of the batch. But, the fact that he was an Apprentice Alchemist himself, as well as the twin brother to Irene, who was widely known to be even more talented in Alchemy than Michail, provided Victor with just enough value to be considered a desirable potential friend. It was a welcome surprise to Auslen that the young man was so simple-minded, making him easy enough to approach.

Sigh. If only he was any good at Alchemy...

Tarek’s voice called Auslen’s attention back to the group.

“So, do you guys want to study some more for the Exam back at my cave abode?”

Auslen tapped his finger on the table as he glanced at Vincent, thinking to himself for a second before shrugging in agreement. “Vincent and I don’t mind. What about you two?”

Nathaniel looked relieved, but glanced at Mia before answering.

Once Mia nodded, Nathaniel finally spoke up. “Yeah, let’s do it!”

Tarek said, “Then let’s make a quick stop at the Palace of Outer Sect Affairs. There's some Merit Points waiting for me to redeem."