Er Yi held the small cup in his hand, its soft, iridescent light spilling out and washing over the faces of the students gathered in the laboratory.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Tisia’s gaze swept over them as he gestured toward the vial. “I think it is beautiful—no, more than beautiful. It is art. Yes, an alchemist must approach their potions with the same reverence an artist approaches their masterpiece. You must ignite your passion, commune with the potion using your very soul; that is the secret of spiritual refinement. Do not obsess over the ingredients changing their properties in your hands. You must let that transformation occur within your own heart. Consider this: those immensely potent ** substances, catalyzed by your will, can create miracles beyond ordinary comprehension. Every intention you hold, the potion can help you manifest. A long life? No problem! Immense power? No problem! Endless wealth? No problem! Esteemed renown? No problem! To banish death, to resurrect the dead? Heh, while I doubt any of you will craft a Level Ten Revivification Elixir, as long as you can enter this academy, anything is possible, isn’t it?”

Tisia’s address caused the breathing of most students to quicken, a fire igniting in their eyes—the fire of ambition.

“Very well, that is all for the lecture. I have demonstrated every step of the compounding process just now. Now it is your turn. I officially declare the second examination to be underway!” Tisia announced loudly. “The time limit is one standard hour. The first twenty individuals to successfully compound the Primary Longevity Potion will be accepted!”

One student asked, “What if fewer than twenty people finish within the hour?”

Tisia snorted. “Better too few than too many substandard results!”

Yang Ying chuckled inwardly. Better too few than too many substandard results. The Ice River Central Academy was, after all, an imperial institution of renown; there was no way they would lower their standards just to fill a quota. And Tisia, with his perpetually stern face, always projected an image of rigid, unyielding formality; these words suited him perfectly.

Without further delay, Yang Ying rolled up his sleeves, and the compounding began!

The other students around him also sprang into action. None of them were ordinary people to have reached this stage; everyone had more or less memorized Tisia’s demonstration and explanations.

However, knowing something was vastly different from practicing it.

The precision processing stage was not difficult for any of them. Having passed the required Level Seven Pharmaceutics course out of thirty-three mandatory subjects, they all possessed the fundamental ability to operate the compounding instruments. Every student present had this capability.

But Yang Ying did not follow Tisia’s method. In his view, Tisia’s movements had been deliberately slow.

The three solutions and the pile of powder represented four independent synthesis pathways. Each task was entirely separate and could be operated simultaneously, yet Tisia completed one before moving to the next.

Of course, this wasn't wrong. Yang Ying understood that Examiner Tisia had done this intentionally to clearly explain each pathway; otherwise, even if he could run all four pathways concurrently, he wouldn't have four mouths to narrate them simultaneously.

But Yang Ying was different; he didn't need to worry about narration. He could proceed with all four pathways at once. Although some pathways might require the same compounding machine, leading to conflicts, with good coordination, the most time-saving sequence could always be found.

Yang Ying gestured with his hand, and the various materials on the workbench began to float. Among them were over ten types of herbs, several common medicinal powders, multiple categories of minerals, and animal bones, skins, organs, and blood taken from some unidentified beast, along with more than twenty common reagents. These reagents were not considered potions; they held no intrinsic medicinal value and could be mass-produced industrially—they were chemicals used to purify, refine target substances, or induce specific directional reactions.

With a glance, Yang Ying sorted the materials needed for the first pathway, weighed them on the photonic balance, and tossed them into the grinder for pulverization—the process followed Tisia’s steps exactly, not deviating in the slightest.

Unlike Tisia, however, he immediately selected the medicinal herbs required for the second pathway, weighed them on the photonic balance, and placed them into an adjacent idle high-pressure furnace for ultra-high-temperature treatment.

Immediately afterward, the third pathway commenced, ,

Amidst his work, Yang Ying managed to spare moments to observe his surroundings. He noted that few students could control all four pathways simultaneously, though there were several who could.

This included the young man who submitted his work first in the initial exam, and the young woman in the front row who had just answered Tisia’s question. Both were manipulating the four pathways concurrently. On the podium, Tisia seemed to be directing most of his attention toward these few individuals, and he certainly noticed Yang Ying.

When Tisia looked over, Yang Ying offered a slight smile as a greeting. Tisia nodded once before shifting his gaze away.

On the workbench before Yang Ying, four pathways involving dozens of materials required over twenty processing steps in total. One could see colorful ** fluids flowing through clear tubes—some straight, some curved, some spiraling—like blood moving through veins. Some flowed into mixers, others into heaters.

Yang Ying did not use his hands for anything, whether adding materials to the machinery or introducing reagents. He operated entirely by mental force. The gloves he had put on seemed merely ornamental. To outsiders, he appeared to be simply observing. Yet, the herbs and reagents before him moved as if alive, leaping automatically into the correct machinery inlets without error, a picture of perfect order.

After this sequence of steps, the three solutions flowed out of three separate dispensing spouts via three long conduits. Yang Ying took three small cups to collect the solutions, then retrieved a small dish from the drying chamber, which contained a small pile of powder.

Only about twelve minutes had elapsed. Yang Ying realized he was the first person to reach this stage; both the first finisher and the young woman in the front row were a step slower than him.

Yang Ying smiled faintly, preparing for the final step. The precision processing was complete. What remained was the most critical part: spiritual refinement.

Tisia looked over again, keen to observe whether the student who finished the precision stage first could succeed in the spiritual refinement.

Before commencing the final step, Yang Ying paused briefly, contemplating how to proceed. After about two breaths of thought, Yang Ying decided to act.

He pointed a finger at the small cup containing Solution Number One. A droplet the size of a small fingernail lifted out of the cup. He then pointed at the cup holding Solution Number Two, and a droplet flew out of that one as well.

A sharp glint flashed in Tisia’s eyes, revealing a look of approval. He recognized that Yang Ying was opting to test the process first with a small sample. If successful, he could scale up the experience; if it failed, the loss would be minimal.

The examination topic was the Primary Longevity Potion, but the required volume was unspecified. Even a single drop counted as passing. Under these circumstances, attempting to compound all the solutions at once, as Tisia had demonstrated, risked total failure if anything went wrong, which would necessitate starting over and wasting valuable time, even with replacement materials.

Admittedly, some students might choose boldness and confidence to proceed all at once, but this was the compounding of a mature formula during an examination, not novel drug research. In research, boldness could be commendable, even encouraged. But when compounding established medicines, caution was infinitely more useful than bravado.

The one-hour examination time was set deliberately. The precision processing should take no more than three-quarters of an hour, leaving the remainder specifically for the students to explore spiritual refinement. Tisia knew this fact but hadn't stated it explicitly.

This was standard practice for the Alchemist Academy’s recruitment: observing when students would grasp this nuance. In past years, some students initially ignored this, compounding all their precision-processed solutions, only to fail and beat their chests in regret. It usually took one clever individual to start correctly before others learned caution.

“It’s encouraging that someone has grasped this so quickly this year. Good, good. Hmm, the ones behind him seem inspired as well. It looks like not many will have to start over from scratch this time.” A slight curve appeared on Tisia’s lips.

At that moment, the other students who were running the four pathways simultaneously also completed their precision processing and began to emulate Yang Ying, synthesizing the prepared solutions and powder little by little.

Suddenly, the laboratory was illuminated by a burst of rainbow light!

Although the brightness was low, it instantly stunned everyone. This light was clearly of the same lineage as the Primary Longevity Potion Tisia had crafted earlier.

Someone had succeeded! And the examination had only just passed the one-quarter mark—someone had already succeeded!

The students who had begun spiritual refinement gasped in shock, and their compounding processes were immediately disrupted. The droplet they were merging wavered, and its color instantly dimmed, signaling a massive loss of efficacy—a failure.

Everyone involuntarily stopped what they were doing and looked toward the source of the light. On Experiment Table Number 52, before a young man wearing a sapphire head ornament, floated a cluster of iridescent droplets.

Tisia instantly appeared before Yang Ying. He first scrutinized the droplet cluster carefully, then summoned it with a gesture. The droplet floated toward him. Yang Ying offered no resistance. Tisia opened his mouth and drew the droplet in.

Although this Primary Longevity Potion was illusory and lacked actual effect, for a high-level alchemist like Tisia, who had spent half his life dealing with potions, tasting a single drop was enough to yield a result.

“I announce!” Tisia’s voice grew resonant and high. “The first qualified candidate has been determined! It is student Igor, from Experiment Table Number 52!”

One chapter for today, I will make up the rest tomorrow.