Journey Towards Dao

Stressful silence weighed heavily on the thousands of examinees.

Auslen's thoughts spun smoothly as he answered question by question, recording information on all sorts Elixir-related subjects, including the many characteristics of Pseudo Spirit Plants and how they interacted with each other when combined into a solution.

Raising his eyes from the testing apparatus, Auslen sucked in a deep, cleansing breath as he decided to take a brief break.

To his right, one of Nathaniel's hands was scratching his furrowed forehead pensively, his eyes glued to the jade tablet. Beside him, Tarek looked relaxed, only the occasional wrinkle gracing the area between his thick brows.

Mia, who sat a chair further down, appeared perhaps the most at ease Auslen had ever seen her, the nervous tension that she frequently tried to hide away from others completely absent from her clear eyes and loose shoulders. She seemed particularly fond of this cogitative atmosphere.

Auslen chuckled internally as his lashes lowered, blinking away the eye strain that had built up over the past two hours

By this point, he had long progressed past the first section of the Examination. What now held his focus was the comprehensive section, comprised of a grand total of three thousand questions, covering all facets of Tier 1 Elixir refinement.

Though, the examinees were not expected to answer each and every question. In fact, they were encouraged to skip the questions they didn’t know the answer to, as to reinforce the attitude of refraining from haphazardly attempting an alchemical practice unless fully prepared.

Each question was worth one full point, totaling up to 3,000 points. Not answering a question wouldn’t affect the final score positively or negatively, but answering a question incorrectly lowered the overall score by a full point.

Auslen was relaxed himself, not taking the Examination too seriously. Most of the content was marginally more straightforward than Michail's practice exams. Of course, Auslen didn’t know everything. After just reaching the 2000th question, he had been forced to skip a little more than 50 of them. Even with his Spirit Botany knowledge and his advanced mental facilities, he still hadn't had much time to prepare.

But he wasn't concerned, even intentionally answering a good portion incorrectly, as he had no interest in surpassing an internal score ceiling that he had previously set for himself. As long as he had the choice, he hoped to remain modestly discreet whenever possible.

Lifting his lashes, Auslen sighed away the last of his fatigue and refocused on his Exam, cruising through the remaining questions at a leisurely pace.

Time continued to pass within the quiet Assessment Palace. Some of the examinees were showing signs of wearing out, placing down their jade tablets with frustrated and defeated frowns on their faces.

Eventually, hours elapsed, bringing the Apprentice Alchemist Examination closer to its approaching resolution.

…

Three hours later.

“Time’s up!”

At the sound of Elder Judas’ disembodied voice, each of the testing jades ceased functioning, forcing the Outer Sect Disciples still racking their brains insistently to lift their despondent gazes.

Nathaniel was among the worst of them, his young face crinkling with melancholy as he unwillingly tossed the white jade tablet back on the table.

Appearing in front of the disciples, Elder Judas lowered his palm-sized, silver timepiece and continued.

“In just a few moments, your final score will be tallied and displayed to you through the testing apparatus. The first section is worth a total of 1,000 points, the second being 3,000, the sum reaching an upper limit of 4,000 points."

Glancing at his timepiece one last time, he smiled. “Feel free to check your results.”

Suddenly, hands shot forward across the first floor, disciples grabbing onto the testing jade in anxious expectation.

Eyes flickering, Auslen reached for his tablet as well, though he already had a pretty solid estimation of his final score.

Streaks of white light skated across the jade surface until four lines of concise wording appeared.

…

Examinee: Auslen Hendrix Rinaldi Lawrence

Cumulative Score: 3698

Examination Result: Pass

Ranking: Calculating…

…

Clamors of sorrow and joy erupted as quiet, yet emotive exclamations washed over the hall.

“Fuck my life! I failed again!”

“Holy Heavens, I passed with ten points to spare! I can’t believe it!”

“Lucky you…”

“Look Auslen, I passed!!” Nathaniel practically screamed, holding up his testing jade to show off to his cousin.

Nathaniel was one of the few who didn’t even bother to whisper, causing several bitter glances to be shot in their direction.

Unbothered by their gazes, Auslen's smile held hints of authenticity as he patiently reminded, “You know, Nathan, I can’t see your results. Only you can.”

“Oh!” Nathaniel hurried to turn the jade back towards himself. “I got 2627 points! Did you pass?”

"Sure did."

"Aren't you gonna tell me your score? Oh, I know! I did better than you, didn't I?" Nathaniel grinned, overconfidence burgeoning as he assumed that he had finally won their ongoing competition.

“Not quite,” Auslen answered simply, not willing to ruin the boy’s fun so early.

Nathaniel couldn’t get too worked up with his suspicions before a nearby voice caught all of his attention.

“Congratulations, Nathan. I just knew you could do it,” Mia commended from two seats down, face lit with a gentle smile as she leaned forward to meet his startled gaze.

“Haha…” Nathaniel was suddenly at a loss for words, cheeks blushing like two ripe tomatoes.

Rolling his eyes inwardly, Auslen supplied for his tongue-tied cousin, “What about you, Mia?”

“I passed! It’s…’

Her voice trailed off before she could finish, her eyes shifting in front of Auslen as she pointed towards the destination of her gaze.

“Auslen, look!”

“Hmm?”

At Mia’s remark, which also drew the overt admiration and jealousy of many of the surrounding disciples, Auslen glanced down at the jade tablet to see it shining with a gentle, white brilliance.

While Auslen stared at the jade with a sliver of surprise, Nathaniel’s voice added, “Tarek’s is glowing too! Why isn’t ours lighting up, Mia?”

Not giving Mia any time to explain the light’s purpose, an ever-present voice encompassed the Palace once more.

“The twenty-five examinees with luminescent testing apparatuses are to come with me to the second floor, which is where we’ll begin the third and final section of the Alchemist Apprentice Examination.

“Everyone else, please remain seated. Elders will be arriving shortly to explain the final processes before ushering you back to your respective Outer Sect Mountains.”

Tarek stood from his seat, revealing no apparent signs that his or Auslen's inclusion within the best-scoring examinees was anything but expected.

“Let's go, Auslen. We should hurry up there.”

“Okay! Give me one second.”

Hiding his exasperation, Auslen smiled as he took a few more moments to give the suddenly dissatisfied Nathaniel instructions, not forgetting to ask Mia to help keep an eye on him while he was gone.

Once Nathaniel realized he would be spending time alone with Mia, his vexation at not scoring higher instantly dissipated, emotions of nervous glee slowly replacing it.

Leaving the table, Auslen and Tarek walked briskly, each step covering multiple meters as they made their way past the rows of long tables, full of envious Outer Sect Disciples, towards the distant location of Elder Judas.

Hmph, I overestimated these children.

Although, I guess most of them are either repeat testers struggling to even pass or first-timers like me. Older disciples that are truly intelligent would have passed already.

From that perspective, its not too surprising that my score could be ranked so high out of the 2,000 disciples here. Actually, I should have expected it...

Hmm. What was my rank, anyway?

With that thought, Auslen maintained his stride as he looked down at his now-dim testing jade.

…

Examinee: Auslen Hendrix Rinaldi Lawrence

Cumulative Score: 3698

Examination Result: Pass

Ranking: 25

…

Auslen sighed with conflicted emotion and put down the apparatus, not knowing whether to laugh that he just barely qualified or annoyed that he still ended up drawing unnecessary attention to himself.

Soon, both him and Tarek, along with the other 23 examinees, arrived near the Judas’ tall, amicable figure.

Eyes gazing thoughtfully at the assembled group of newly promoted Apprentice Alchemists, Elder Judas nodded but said nothing else as he waved his hand. In a flash, Elder Judas and the 25 disciples disappeared from the first floor.

…

A wide, metallic worksurface, tall enough for a child his height to utilize while standing, was the very next thing Auslen saw.

Gaze sweeping across the nearby disciples, thoughts began flying in his head.

Twenty-five bare, dark gray worksurfaces, divided into five rows of five, were placed in the center of the massive, open-air, second floor.

Beside each table, which were generously spaced and height-adjusted, was one seemingly disoriented disciple. Most of them appeared between the age of 13 to 20. Auslen’s eyes were drawn to the only outlier, other than himself, which was the young, flaxen-haired girl standing by the table at the very upper left.

It didn’t take long for Auslen to realize that, if he counted from that girl’s table at the upper left, to the his table at the lower right, then he would be standing next to the 25th worksurface in numerical order, perfectly matching his Examination ranking.

He wasn’t surprised when he saw Tarek's black-haired figure standing ahead of him at the 7th metal table.

Steps echoing off of the gold-veined marble floor drew all the examinees' attention.

“As promised, each of the twenty-five best-scoring examinees will receive a reward of 1,000 Merit Points, which will be distributed to you by the time your departure,” Elder Judas said with a congratulatory smile, his wide sleeves waving slowly towards the disciples as he continued. "Now, It's my duty to welcome you to the final section of the Examination."

During the Elder's speech, Auslen watched as various materials, which he had grown accustomed to over the past months, rained down from the empty air on top of the table in front of him.

Items continued materializing out of thin air. Auslen could hear the mutters of doubt falling unwittingly from the disciple standing at the worksurface to his left.

As the final item slowly descended onto each of their worksurface, which he had immediately identified as an Elixir-refining cauldron, Auslen finally allowed himself to come to an unexpected conclusion.

“Examinees, or, I should say 'Apprentice Alchemists,' on the worksurface closest to you, each of the necessary items detailed within the Elixir Refinement Techniques that you expanded upon in Section 1 of the Examination should be present. Please examine your worksurfaces carefully, in case an item you believe to be there is missing."

Auslen's eyebrow twitched as he took inventory of the items suddenly deposited in front of him. The 20-quart, black, iron-plated cauldron had already been positioned on top of a bronze Ignition Plate. To its right sat five long jade boxes, each of which surely containing a Pseudo Spirit Plant. Various utensils were also placed neatly on the work surface, such as a long probe thermometer, a steel stirring rod, measuring tools, as well as bottles filled with several chemical substances.

Elder Judas’ smile was dripping with merriment as he witnessed the disciples staring at their worksurfaces with increasingly uneasy expressions.

As none of the examinees said a word, Elder Judas continued, "In this final assessment, you all will be refining your first Spirit Elixir! Your task is to practically utilize the Elixir Refinement Technique that each of you detailed in Section 1.”

Seeing worry within several expressions, Judas assuaged their fears. “Yes, there will be mishaps, as I’m sure most of you here have yet to attempt Spirit Elixir refinement. However, there’s no need to worry! Any hazardous effects produced from improper refinement will have no physical effects on yourself or others, thanks to the assistance of our wonderful Elders sitting to your left."

He then gestured towards the dozens of unfamiliar, black-robed Elders seated solemnly upon tall-backed wooden chairs that were positioned in one long line.

“However, that statement does not include any disturbing noises, smells, or other harmless reactions that may ensue," He laughingly admitted. "After all, that’s part of the fun!”

Shaking his head to the silent examinees as if he had been questioned, Elder Judas clarified, “This assessment is not about producing a stable Tier 1 Elixir, and no one here is expecting you to. What is truly being assessed is your acumen during the concoction process, as well as your ability to maintain your concentration throughout a plethora of minor disturbances that may occur around you at any given time.

“Those are two key characteristics necessary for every great Alchemist to possess, which you cannot obtain by memorizing a few terms in a book or jade slip.”

Understanding replaced the apprehensive and worried expressions amongst many of the examinees, which prompted the Elder to conclude.

“There will be additional rewards given to the three best-performing examinees that manage to complete the refinement process, regardless of the stability of the resulting Spirit Elixir. The time limit is four hours. I wish all of you good luck!”