31 Horrifyingly Ugly

Refining a level 5 pill was not an issue to Zhang Wei, it was just the process which got Zhang Wei in a pickle. The system explicitly said that the system would be able to refine pills on his behalf.

However, he would look especially ugly.

He didn't know how ugly he would be, but the wording didn't exactly make it any better for his assumption.

[But wait! I'm wearing the Face Concealment Mask! Maybe it could hide my ugliness.]

It was kind of sad that he didn't even deny that he was ugly. After being told about it so much, he didn't even question it. He only silently accepted the fact.

He knew the chances of it succeeding was small to non-existent, but he was willing to bet on that fact. There was no way to escape the test, he knew that very well.

If he refused, he would be throwing his face as an expert in Asyraaf's eyes, and he could not live with that. He would rather show his ugliness, rather than being seen as weak or afraid.

Though he would really prefer if he didn't have to look ugly.

"Very well, let me partake in the test." He was very depressed in his heart.

"Great! Follow me Sir Roland." Asyraaf excitedly led Zhang Wei to one of the rooms in the office. This room was weird to Zhang Wei. It was filled with many cauldrons and papers filled the walls.

The strong stench of ingredients was thick and was almost nauseating. This was a stark difference to Vincent's refining room which was cleaner and organized.

Asyraaf then started to prepare a cauldron and a batch of ingredients on a table. Meanwhile, Division Head Syamil was browsing through his formulas, trying to pick one out.

He looked through each one carefully before giving it to Zhang Wei.

With a devious smile on his face he said, "That's the one. Refine that!"

Zhang Wei saw that look and knew this was going to be trouble. Never has he encountered that kind of face before and not suffer. Though he never did realize that he made that face a couple of times.

He didn't waste a single moment before starting up the refinement. "Let's begin".

The formula was for a Level 5 pill named Medium Burst Pill. Medium Burst Pill could give a burst of strength for a short period of time.

The purity of the pill will determine the exact amount of time and the strength the pill will have an effect for.

This was actually a high-level pill. Level 5 Refiners wouldn't actually stand a chance of refining this pill. Much less Level 4 Refiners.

For a normal pill, regular Level 4 Refiners will refine a pill with between 50% - 60% purity. While these may seem low, for those who can successfully refine it, it's a triumph.

Just goes to show how hard it was to actually refine a Level 5 Pill.

For those who are Level 5 Refiners and above, they will have around 65% for purity. This was considered the bare minimum for those of that skill level.

If they get less, then well according to old unspoken rule of Pill Refiners… they're useless.

Zhang Wei was scared of how he would look as the system refined. He only hoped that unlike his aura, his ugliness could be hidden.

As he was refining, he saw exactly how the system refined the pill.

When he was refining the Level 3 Restriction Pill, the system conjured up ingredients from out of nowhere, and started to coagulate the ingredients. There wasn't much to learn.

This time however, it was completely different. Ingredients were not used at the same time, each ingredient was added into the cauldron after a set amount of time, following the formula strictly.

Zhang Wei's hands moved on his own, as if there was an invisible hand guiding it. He could not control his hands, and they did not listen to him. It was as if they had a mind of their own.

Though Zhang Wei's knowledge regarding pill refining was limited, he at least knew that he, or at least the system, had done everything perfectly.

He was happy and couldn't wait for Asyraaf and Division Head Syamil's reactions. He could just imagine their shock at his godly skill and was looking at the cauldron as if it was his baby.

On the side, Asyraaf and Division Head Syamil was shocked. But it wasn't because of his skill… well not entirely. Rather, they wondered, [What Happened to his face?!]

It was the first time they had seen this happened. Zhang Wei's face, or Roland's, was fine a few minutes ago. Suddenly it started contorting, with misshapen eyebrows, crooked nose and god awful slanted eyes.

If you're thinking slanted eyes was not bad, well… this is not the regular slanted. The eyes slanted so low that it was like his protruding mouth was trying to eat them.

Division Head Syamil never once cared for looks. He was a man who appreciated hard work and loves to cultivate people, but for the first time in his life, he could not focus on anything except Zhang Wei's face.

Even Asyraaf, who saw Zhang Wei's original face was wide eyed.

This was too extreme.

Before he thought that while Zhang Wei was amazingly ugly, he was at least tolerable. Now he was kind of scared to keep looking at him. This is what you would call… Horrifyingly Ugly!

Zhang Wei had no idea about any of these and kept refining. He was reaching the most important part of pill refining, condensing the pill!

Pill condensing are the major focus as this is where the true skills of refiners are usually tested.

Condensing the pill requires significant control and mental focus. If the flame even slightly drops or increase in temperature, they can change the purity drastically.

Since Zhang Wei had the system condensing for him, he wasn't required to do anything. The system's control was perfect and there was no flaw that could be done.

Division Head Syamil saw this and snapped out of his trance. His eyes were even wider than it was before, when he was shocked by Zhang Wei's horrifying ugliness.

[This control! It surpasses even mine!]

He couldn't believe it. A boy similar of age to his disciple had even greater skill than he who worked tirelessly for nearly a century.

Zhang Wei was finishing up and the spherical shape of the pill started to form. It continuously shrank until it reached the size of a thumb.

As the pill condensation was reaching its climax, it landed on Zhang Wei's hand. Zhang Wei's hand, under the control of the system, clenched his fist and started to pour pure Spirit Energy into the pill.

This is part of the reason why Spirit Energy control was important. The more Spirit Energy are able to be infused inside the pill, the better the quality.

After a while, he released his grip, and a blue pill was on his palms. The blue pill was beautiful, with it's rugged pattern.

Division Head Syamil was stared at the pill to determine its purity, and to his astonishment, it had a 100% purity!

This could only be done, if the whole process of pill refining was perfect, without a single delay or mistake.

While reaching 100% purity was not difficult for him, he had perfected his skills for nearly a century. Zhang Wei at most, could only have practised refining for a bit more than a decade.

[I have to acquire him! With his talent, reaching the Alchemist rank won't simply be a dream!]

And thus, Division Head Syamil started his devious plans.