CHAPTER 871: CHAPTER 659: FIRST TEST QUESTION

The Artificial Sea Current Accelerator is a large alchemy device that can artificially create temporary sea currents between two points.

Ships sailing on the currents are like traveling on a fast lane.

Although activating such a device is very consuming, it can save a lot of time.

The spy chief thought for a long time and resolutely decided to use this method to avoid more risks.

His concerns were not without reason.

The Divine Wind Pirate Group had already been blocked.

The squad leader of the Thorny Pirate Group stood on the ship’s mast, hands on hips, shouting loudly: "Feng Lian, come out for me!"

Feng Lian then walked out.

He was tall and slim, wore a bronze mask, held a nearly two-meter-long scythe, and wore a white feather cloak.

Jing Wen straightened his chest, pointed his thumb at himself: "Feng Lian, your luck has come!"

"Our boss, Da Han, appreciates you and invites you over."

"You’ve taken down the fleet of the Drunken Sect, surely you’ve acquired a lot of Worry Relief Red Wine. Our boss, Da Han, is very interested in these wines. You know what to do."

There was silence, no one spoke.

The atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

Jing Wen felt looked down upon, his eye twitched: "I say, Feng Lian, are you deaf?"

Feng Lian finally spoke slowly, his voice hoarse: "What did you say your name was just now?"

Jing Wen was furious: "I am Jing Wen, just like you, Golden Level!"

Feng Lian asked again: "You came representing Da Han, are you with the Firebeard Pirate Group?"

Jing Wen’s face darkened, his voice lowered: "Not yet. But I’m closely following boss Da Han, and the day I join the Firebeard Pirate Group is soon..."

Feng Lian snorted coldly: "If you’re not, you dare to shout in front of me?"

"Do you know you’re already in a dead end."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jing Wen saw Feng Lian along with his scythe blur a bit.

But the next moment, everything returned to normal.

Jing Wen thought he was seeing things and didn’t take it seriously.

He pointed at Feng Lian, cursing: "Brat, we’re both Golden Level, don’t show off...uh?!"

The next moment, Jing Wen felt pain.

He instinctively looked down at his chest where the intense pain was.

Splatter.

A large amount of blood suddenly spurted out, staining Jing Wen’s vision red.

He looked hard at his chest and discovered a huge diagonal wound.

The wound was long, from left to right.

Then, Jing Wen saw his body slowly shifting sideways and sinking, then his head and neck fell directly onto the deck.

Gush gush...

His lower body was still standing, blood continuously spurting from the remaining part of his abdomen.

The blood spurted like a pillar.

Jing Wen was directly cut diagonally in half!

"When did this happen?"

"When?"

"I...I actually..."

Jing Wen’s face was full of terror, his pupils shrunk to pinpoints, and he quickly fell into boundless darkness.

"Boss!"

"Squad leader!!"

"Not good, the squad leader was cut in half!!"

The pirates behind Jing Wen were all in an uproar, exclaiming in shock.

Some were angry, trying to retaliate. Some were so terrified they kept retreating, their intent to withdraw apparent.

The pirates who had been aggressive moments ago fell into chaos.

In contrast, the morale of the Divine Wind Pirate Group members soared; they shouted loudly, drew their weapons, and under the First Officer’s command, began to charge.

The two ships were already very close, many Transcendent level pirates jumped over directly, slashing upon sight.

Feng Lian stood with his long scythe, not moving.

He was as still as a mountain, letting his subordinates surge past him like a furious tide, forming a stark contrast between motion and stillness.

Combat Skill—Wind Blade·Invisible.

Combat Skill—Wind Blade·Instant.

Feng Lian used two combat skills simultaneously.

But that wasn’t the key point.

His gaze was fixed on his wrist.

This area was once bare, but now there was an alchemy bracelet.

"This aura-concealing tool is surprisingly useful," Feng Lian silently praised.

This was a trophy he looted from enemies after taking down the Drunken Sect’s fleet.

Not long after, the battle in front of Feng Lian was over.

The morale collapse of Jing Wen’s pirate group was severe, and they could not organize any effective resistance.

For now, some died, some surrendered.

Of course, some would rather die than surrender.

For example, the First Officer and the Second Officer.

They were forced to kneel, and the first deck was already soaked in blood.

The First Officer glared at Feng Lian: "Feng Lian, do you know what you’re doing?"

"We follow Da Han, you slaughtered so many of us, offended Da Han, you’re dead for sure!"

The Second Officer said, "Heh heh heh, we die first, you die later. But your fate will definitely be much worse than ours."

Among pirates, there were indeed quite a few stubborn ones, fearless and vicious.

Feng Lian looked at them and calmly spoke: "Jing Wen, this person, I haven’t heard of him. But seeing the two of you, he does have some redeeming qualities."

"Compared to those cowardly traitors who surrendered, I admire you more."

"Take my next words to Da Han."

"Tell him, I, Feng Lian, indeed have a batch of Worry Relief Red Wine in my hands. If he wants it, he should come and negotiate with me personally."

"He thinks he can just send a few hands and expect me to hand over the red wine because of one remark he makes?"

"Does he think he’s Firebeard?"

Feng Lian was imposing, with strong determination, unfazed by the Holy Domain Level of Da Han.

Soon after, he left with the spoils, leaving only a ship and the First Officer, Second Officer, along with a few remaining defeatists.

"He really let us go." The Second Officer looked at the departing Divine Wind Pirate Group, somewhat bewildered.

He didn’t expect to actually survive.

On the contrary, those who surrendered readily were all killed by the priest pirates, leaving only those who resisted wholeheartedly.

"Cough—spit!" The First Officer spat out a mouthful of blood, "Relying on a sneak attack to kill our squad leader, Feng Lian, this despicable wretch!"

"Just wait for death, as long as we report this to Lord Da Han... uh."

Next moment, suddenly a Wind Blade sliced through the air.

The First Officer was split in half, from head to toe.

He was dead.

The Second Officer shivered in terror and quickly ordered the ship to sail.

The sea returned to tranquility.

Both sides of the conflict departed, leaving behind fragments of a ship, sunken corpses, and a sea stained red.

The blood swirled in the cup.

Zi Di carefully observed the composition of the blood in the cup, her spirit highly focused at this moment.

This is the Ice Sculpture Royal Capital, the assessment hall specially established by the Alchemy Guild.

Zi Di wasn’t the only alchemist participating in this round of assessments. Around her, there were dozens of alchemists all engaged in alchemy.

In the hall, there were twelve examiners, patrolling various areas, maintaining the order of the examination venue.

The topic for this assessment is one of the classic alchemy project assessments—Extreme Synthesis.

The Alchemy Guild distributed to each candidate the same quantity and weight of alchemy materials. The requirements seemed simple but were actually difficult—to synthesize as many varieties of items as possible using alchemy methods within the set time.

One of the key points is synthesis alchemy, not alchemy through decomposition or degradation methods.

Zi Di observed for a moment, confirming the blood in the cup met the standard. She then poured in a piece of 4 grams of pure White Crystal.

The crystal touched the blood, immediately causing a slight explosion.

The scale of the explosion was so small that the sound was merely a fine hissing noise.

Accompanying the explosion, a dense red mist rose.

Zi Di quickly retreated a bit to avoid it.

After the red mist dissipated, the blood and White Crystal in the glass beaker had completely vanished, replaced by a thin layer of fine red sugar.

"The blood sugar is synthesized." Zi Di’s face shows a hint of joy.

This was the last item in her alchemy plan, with the most complex steps and high difficulty. Yet she succeeded in one attempt.

"This assessment is going really well!" Zi Di evaluated herself.

Then, she counted all the items she synthesized.

"Synthesized cold-warm stone from sunlight petals and Moon Shadow Grass Stalk, it has a temperature regulation effect."

"Ground Moon Shadow Grass Stalk into grass juice, paired with Purple Jade, obtained Purple Crystal Medicine Powder, it can induce sleep."

"Synthesized Hallucinogenic Flower Fragrance from Magic Mushroom and Purple Crystal Medicine Powder."

"Mixed flame bee tail and flame demon scale to synthesize Flame Powder."

"Refined Netherworld Flower and Dark Night Dew to obtain one drop of Shadow Essence."

...

Including the freshly synthesized blood sugar, Zi Di synthesized a total of 37 varieties.

Judging from the test questions, it seems the assessment only focuses on alchemy technique. But actually, it covers many aspects.

For instance, alchemy recipes. Without knowledge of the 37 alchemy recipes, or if they were mistaken, it would be impossible to synthesize so many.

Aside from that, it’s about the practical hands-on ability in alchemy.

How to decompose various alchemy materials, how to make fine adjustments, how to control the reaction process, handle discrepancies, and so on, these trivial details test one’s skill deeply.

Following this is the design of alchemy experiment steps. Since the examination time is limited, synthesizing the most items in limited time requires reasonable time calculation and step arrangement. For example, using the most sunlight petals can be treated on a large scale during the first handling. The handling methods include drying, grinding, swelling, etc.; each amount obtained through handling has clear requirements.

Only by achieving this can one save time from the narrow gaps. The accumulation of this minute time becomes significant.

After counting, Zi Di no longer engaged in alchemy.

She saw the clock in the hall and knew time was almost up. The remaining time was not enough to synthesize anything.

Moreover, the remaining materials were insufficient.

Soon, the sound of bells rang. Some alchemists in the venue sighed regretfully, and some briskly withdrew their hands.

The frosted glass surrounding each alchemy table descended, only then did Zi Di see the alchemy results of others.

She was slightly surprised.

"The least results are over 10 varieties. The alchemy technique of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom indeed is world-class."

"If I hadn’t obtained the topic in advance and prepared early, I would be hard-pressed to even reach 10."