Chapter 155: The Preliminary Round

Stella felt very uncomfortable in the test room.

Not only were the other nobles showing open hostility, but so were the examiners.

Why did they look at me like that? Aren't the judges supposed to be from the academy to avoid being biased? Or is corruption unavoidable even in a situation like this?

Stella scanned the room and pouted behind her mask.

Maybe they are trying to appeal to one of the nobles here? Actually, now that I look a little closer...

Stella realized that even with the lack of space on the lounge chairs, the way the various people were seated or positioned gave hints to a power dynamic or perhaps different factions within the group of nobles. It made sense that they weren't all equally friendly toward one another.

"Dante Voidmind, first I will ask a simple question..." The middle-aged man with grey hair drew Stella's wandering gaze.

"As Kassandra Skyrend rightly pointed out, the minor wound cleansing pill is a tier one pill. What type of wound is this simple tier-one pill unable to deal with?"

Stella narrowed her eyes as Dante thought up the answer.

Isn't this question far more challenging than the one Kassandra had to answer? I mean, this seems to teeter on medical knowledge rather than alchemy.

"That's simple," Dante said after a second of thought, "The minor wound-cleansing pill can heal wounds inflicted with mortal weapons. However, it cannot deal with wounds infused with foreign Qi."

"...Very good." The examiner seemed slightly irritated that Dante knew the answer. With a nod to the person beside him, Dante was handed a small bowl with a tiny bundle of Qi Flowing Grass that looked healthy compared to the one Kassandra purified.

Dante took the bundle of grass and placed it in his palm. Stella had to strain her neck to see what was happening, as it was difficult to track void Qi through spiritual sight. Funnily enough, she didn't feel out of place as everyone else in the room was also trying to get a good look by peeking over each other.

"I will begin," Dante said calmly as a flash of void Qi expanded out like a bubble, encompassing his entire hand. Not even a second later, the bubble retracted and was gone.

"Done," he said as he handed the bowl and bundle of Qi Flowing Grass to the examiner. The grey-haired man took the bowl and briefly inspected it, "Where are the impurities?"

"Gone—none should remain after the voids cleansing," Dante replied, which earned him a raised brow from the examiner.

Stella was also skeptical. The Qi Flowing Grass from where she sat looked mostly the same, and she knew how hard it was to remove impurities. It was a mentally taxing process that took at least a bit of time... but Dante had done it so effortlessly in a second?

If that were really possible, Stella was starting to feel a little doubtful that this tournament would be as easy to win as she had first thought.

"Well, this is a problem," The examiner stroked his stubble, "The rules we set up clearly state that we measure based on the volume of impurities removed, as not all the examiners can detect impurities within the ingredients. If there are none, then you technically failed."

"So you will fail me?" Dante replied with an eerie calmness as if challenging the examiner.

The man seemed to glance over Dante's shoulder at someone in the room. Whoever it was had somehow given him good news as the man's face lit up a little, "No, there is no problem. We will make an exception and pass you."

"Tsk," Dante turned and walked straight for the door, his sunken eyes never looking at anyone as he left. There was an unspeakable tense atmosphere from everyone in the room as if their lives hung in the balance of this one man's mood.

Stella understood their feeling well. Void Qi had that uncanny ability to simply break the rules. She thought void Qi couldn't get any more ridiculous, but the fact it could delete impurities so effortlessly caused her great concern.

And if Elaine wasn't lied to, he plans to invade and somehow take over the city tomorrow? Luckily it seems none of the other noble families here are that friendly with Dante, so he should be fighting alone with his own family, but they also seem somewhat terrified of him, so maybe they would help out his conquest purely out of fear of being next.

The door quietly closing behind Dante broke Stella from her worried thoughts. Dante was a problem for tomorrow. For now, Stella planned to pass her first-ever exam and not embarrass herself and ruin her Roselyn persona.

With Dante gone, the ominous pressure subsided as the examiner sighed in relief and called on the next person, "Roderick Terraforge."

The large man that looked creepily similar to Douglas walked up to the table.

Stella was very curious to see how someone with earth affinity could even perform alchemy.

"This is your question," The examiner said as Roderick loomed over him, "Is there a limit to the number of pills a person can take in one day?"

"Depends on the pill," Roderick answered. Stella swore she heard Douglas for a second as they sounded so similar, "Most can be taken as many times as the cultivator wishes, but it will have diminishing returns."

"Good enough answer," The examiner noted down something on his parchment and then handed over the bowl with Qi Flowing Grass, "Just like the others before you, please remove as many impurities as possible within the next ten minutes."

"Can I use some mud?" Roderick asked, and after some contemplation, the examiner nodded, "Fine, but I will need to check it over."

So he can't use the earth Qi stored within himself to conduct alchemy. Already off to a bad start, but I didn't expect the Terrafroge family to be any good at alchemy in the first place.

Stella felt like she should start making a mental list of those that would be her greatest opponents. So far, Dante was way at the top, with Kassandra annoyingly in second place. Although her question had been simple, she had removed a good amount of impurities in a quick time frame with her lightning. The process was just a bit messy.

While Stella had been thinking, the examiner had finished verifying there was nothing odd about the clump of mud Roderick had presented him with.

"Okay, with that out of the way, you have ten minutes," The examiner declared, "Please begin."

Roderick wasted no time pushing the Qi Flowing Grass into the mud that greedily absorbed the bundle. He then closed his eyes and placed his fingertips into the mud. It began to ripple, and after a minute, Stella started seeing black specs floating to the mud's surface.

Only now did she realize Kane wasn't a child but a teenager as he walked over to the table.

Everyone still in the room seemed disinterested in Kane, but Stella was curious how an air affinity cultivator planned to remove impurities.

"Okay, simple question. What is the highest tier of pill?"

Kane looked up at the examiner and answered in a tired tone, "The Heavenly Tier is the highest."

"And what tier number is that?"

"Two questions?" Kane asked, and the examiner smiled, "You know why I'm asking two questions. Don't play dumb with me."

Kane gulped as if caught in the act and swiftly answered, "It's the 8th tier."

"Good. Now here's the Qi Flowing Grass."

Why did he have to answer twice? Stella wondered as Kane placed the grass in his palm and closed his eyes.

A small tornado of light grey flames shot forth from Kane's right hand and picked up the grass. What then surprised Stella was crimson flames like the Redclaws pouring from his left hand and joining the tornado.

The swirling, flaming tornado enveloped the grass.

"Kane seems to be a dual affinity. Those are rare... how did that happen?"

Stella also wanted to know. She ran through some ideas as she watched the mesmerizing display of duality when an idea hit her, "Didn't Diana kill someone from the Azurecrest family because they were a nocturne?"

"Oh, good thinking! Diana mentioned that everyone in the Azurecrest family was forced to take on a nocturne. So maybe Kane has a nocturne inside him?"

Stella nodded slightly as the fire tornado ceased, and Kane stepped back. The grass landed in the bowl alongside a pile of soot that was likely the impurities.

"Good job, you passed." The examiner marked on his parchment, glanced up, and instantly met eyes with Stella. "Your turn now, Miss Roselyn."

Stella stood up and felt everyone's eyes on her except Kane, who walked past her and quietly sat on the lounge chair.

So Dante, Kane, and Celeste aren't part of this mini faction of nobles. Stella surveyed the room and noted that House Skyrend and Terraforge seemed to be working together.

Stella strode forward with as much fake confidence as possible and tried to ignore the examiner's sly smile.

"First, a simple question..."

The words Stella had heard so many times today sounded particularly sinister this time.

"Tell me about the Bodhi Heart Pill."

Stella tilted her head slightly and only just about managed to hold back from shouting in this man's face. Asking a vague question about an obscure pill nobody has heard about was supposed to be on the same level as 'name any tier one pill?' This was so obviously a setup that Stella almost didn't want to play their stupid game.

Luckily if they planned to cheat, so did she—just better.

"Tree a little help?" Stella asked mentally.

"One moment, that pill isn't used in the Blood Lotus sect, so Elder Margret is pouring through a book to find its description right now."

Stella felt the gazes of Kassandra and Roderick on her back, and as the seconds passed, she saw the edges of the examiner's smile widen. "Roselyn, if you can't answer, that is fine. We can continue to the next step—"

"Elder Margret found it," Ashlock quickly informed her, "The Bodhi Heart Pill is..."

Stella's laughed in the examiner's face as Ashlock relayed the information, "Why would I shy away from such a simple question, examiner? Although I have to wonder how the details of a pill only found in the Celestial Empire could be relevant to us?"

"Well, erm," The examiner's smile faltered slightly, "It's important to know our enemy's pill repertoire? Don't you agree?"

"Such deep foresight, as expected at someone currently working at the academy here in Darklight City." Stella sneered. "But since you asked, the Bodhi Heart Pill is said to increase one's wisdom and understanding of the universe, allowing the user to break through mental barriers and comprehend profound truths."

Stella then crossed her arms, "Now, I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like a significant pill for someone like me to know about?"

The examiner nervously chuckled and looked down at his parchment, "You make a good point. Perhaps I made a mistake and read out the wrong question."

"I think you picked the wrong person to mess with," Stella snorted, "But go ahead, keep up the act."

"There is no act, Miss Roselyn. It was a simple mistake on my part." The man glanced down at the parchment in his slightly shaking hand, "How about another question?"

"Didn't I answer your "simple" question already?" Stella shook her head as if deeply sad, "To think the academy would allow a delusional old man with a declining memory to serve as a teacher."

"Fine," The examiner brought up an empty bowl despite the fact there were other bowls with Qi Flowing Grass already on the table—his spatial ring flashed, and a bundle of grass with a quality that Stella recognized appeared in the bowl.

"You passed the first round. Now all you need to do to qualify for the tournament tomorrow is remove enough impurities from this bundle of grass," He smirked as he set the bowl down in front of Stella, "You have ten minutes, starting now."