The Association of the Alchemists in In-See City

The city was extremely lively. There were a lot of people all over the place. Zheng-Fu noticed that there were some kinds of strange creatures along the way to the tavern since he entered the city. He guessed that they were the lower-leveled creatures that people chose to keep. Zheng-Fu could recognize their looks and features well because he saw their pictures in the books that he studied…

“Not sure how much I would get from selling these pills?” Zheng-Fu looked down at his hands where all of his five pills were while thinking about selling all of them to buy a spatial ring. He did not need the healing pills now. Besides, he already knew how to produce them himself. At the moment, he was focusing on thinking about whether the money that he would get from selling the pills would be enough to buy a spatial ring or not…

A shichen had passed…

Zheng-Fu found that Sue-Wu was already downstairs waiting for him when he walked down from his room. There were about five bodyguards waiting with him to accompany them to the place that Sue-Wu intended to take Zheng-Fu to…

The group left the tavern and walked through the street that was filled with many kinds of shops along both sides of the road. Zheng-Fu checked out the things that were being displayed in those shops. They were things like armor, tools, and many kinds of ores and stones that belonged to the lower-leveled elements…

“Come check these out, sir! Madam! We have the fundamental-leveled iron and monster’s essence for the fundamental level of the Foundation Building stage for sales! Please come check them out!”

“The mid-leveled armor over this place, sir!”

The city was filled with the merchants’ loud advertisements to invite people to check their products out. Zheng-Fu was very excited to see many things at the market because he never had a chance to see them in real life, except from the picture books at the clan…

“I’ll take you back to the market after we finished our errands, ok?” Sue-Wu said to Zheng-Fu when he saw that Zheng-Fu was very interested in looking at the products along the street…

“Thank you, Master.” Zheng-Fu cupped his fists to say thank you to Sue-Wu while making an innocent face again…

The group had finally stopped in front of a building after walking for a while. It was a big building and there were a lot of people waiting in a queue that started from the entrance of the building to where Zheng-Fu’s group was…

“We’re here, Zheng-Fu.” Sue-Wu turned to Zheng-Fu and told him that they had arrived at the destination…

“And this place is…?” Zheng-Fu asked because he did not know what the place was. He only knew that the reason why they came to this city was that they aimed to buy more Hound Tongue plants. He wondered why Sue-Wu did not take him to the herbal plant shop first, but this place instead…

“This is ‘The Association of the Alchemists in In-See City’.” Sue-Wu stood up tall when he answered Zheng-Fu’s question…

An Alchemists Association!?

“And why are we here, Master?”

“I need to do something here. Why don’t you wait here for a while? I’ll be back!” When Sue-Wu finished the sentence, he walked right to the entrance and stopped to talk to someone who oversaw the door. Then the doorman let Sue-Wu in…

*Why did he come here?*

Zheng-Fu and the five bodyguards stood outside of the building to wait for Sue-Wu. After a while, Zheng-Fu started to feel bored, so he walked towards the queue and tried to see what those people were waiting for…

Smash!

“Hey! Watch out, kid!”

As Zheng-Fu walked towards the queue, he smashed into a man whose body looked quite well-built. The clash caused Zheng-Fu to fall to the ground. Before anything bad happened, Zheng-Fu rushed to get up on his feet and apologized to that man instantly. He did not want to create any problem…!

“I’m sorry, brother!”

“Yeah…it’s alright, just watch your step next time, kid. But wait… What are you doing around here? Are you lost?”

“No, brother. I just want to know what these people in the queue are waiting for.”

“Oh. The Association of the Alchemists opens for admission today. Anyone who wants to be their student can apply now!” The guy told Zheng-Fu why these people came to the place…

“To apply to study at the Association of the Alchemists!?”

“That’s right. I’m here for that reason too. You might think that I was someone who looks for a fight, but I was so in love with alchemy.” The same man talked to Zheng-Fu. He was smiling big as he talked about the alchemy admission to the association. The explanation made Zheng-Fu stop and take a good look at the people in the queue. That was when he noticed that they all came with herbal smells all over their bodies…

*So, that’s the reason why. I wonder if I can apply too.* Zheng-Fu started to wonder if he had the quality that made him eligible to apply too…

“Brother! May I ask you something?”

“Yeah, of course. What do you want to know? I can tell you about everything that I know.”

“What do you have to do to be able to apply to study in the Association of the Alchemists? What are the criteria for the applicants?”

“The criteria for the applicants!?” The man was startled by Zheng-Fu’s question. Then he looked at Zheng-Fu from top to toe before saying, “Don’t tell me that you want to apply too! If you want to apply, you should know that it’s not something casual, kid. There is actually no rule though. No age limit either. You just have to pass the test, then you can get in.” The man gave Zheng-Fu an answer again, but this time with fire in his gesture…

“Thank you very much, handsome brother! I asked because I’m interested in alchemy too.” Zheng-Fu tried to stop the man from giving him a long lecture if he told him that he would like to apply too…

“I see! I thought you wanted to really apply.” Now the guy saw that Zheng-Fu was merely a kid who was curious about things and did not mean to apply for a place in the alchemy association. When he heard Zheng-Fu say that, he gave a long exhale and smiled at Zheng-Fu friendlily. Zheng-Fu tried not to say anything further. He just did a small shrug and looked at the man innocently…

*Great! No rules and just pass the test. Should I give it a try?*

Zheng-Fu continued to wait for Sue-Wu but saw no sign that Sue-Wu would come out soon. The long queue had become shorter and shorter. Zheng-Fu looked at the exit of the building and then he saw that well-built man walking out of there with a sad look on his face. Zheng-Fu decided to walk to him and then said…

“Hello, brother!”

“Oh! It’s you, kid. I thought you left.”

“Not yet, brother. I’m waiting for my relative. What about you? How did you do on the test? How come you look so sad like that?”

*Sigh!*

“I’m sad. That’s why kid. The test was completely difficult and I failed it. Anyway, there’s always next time. I’ve got to go, kid. See you around. If you want to be an alchemist, you must keep on practicing, alright?” The man walked away with sadness after he finished talking to Zheng-Fu…

“See you around, brother!”

“Darn it! Why did it have to be so difficult? Who would be able to remember the names of all herbal plants? I’m not a walking encyclopedia. I can’t search for the answers anytime I wish to!”

“Sob, sob, sob! I’m such a rookie. Rookie!”

Since that man walked away from Zheng-Fu, there were all kinds of moans and complaints flying around the place as more and more people exited the building because they also failed the test. Seeing that made Zheng-Fu hesitate whether he should apply or not, but then he made a decision and walked to the people who were at the table in front of the building…

“Hey, kid! What are you doing around here? Are you lost?” When Zheng-Fu got to the table, the first question that the guys there asked was whether he got lost, like what that well-built man did…

“No, sir. I’d like to apply to study at the association too.”

“Want to apply to study at the Association of the Alchemists!?”

“Hahaha!”

One of the admission guys could not withhold his laughter when he heard Zheng-Fu. The other guy at the table as well. They had to pat their stomachs while laughing at the boy…

“Stop joking around, kid! You! Want to apply to study here? I think you should go play somewhere else. Don’t you know that becoming an alchemist is not something to joke around with?

The conversation made Zheng-Fu extremely furious. He had to crinkle his eyebrows to show that. However, he remembered that his body was still of an eight-year-old boy’s, so he understood well why these people talked to him that way…

“What’s going on guys!? Why are you guys laughing so terribly?”

All of a sudden, an elder who wore a blue robe showed up and asked those guys why they were laughing so hard. Everyone was quick to hush themselves and pretended to act serious instantaneously…

“Who did you laugh at?” The elder with a blue robe asked to get the truth…

“W…well. It’s um… It’s this boy, sir. He said he came to apply to study alchemy at the association, sir. We thought that he was fooling around with us, so we laughed, sir.”

“What!?”

The elder in the blue robe turned to Zheng-Fu with wonder when he heard the guys at the admission table. When he looked at Zheng-Fu, he could detect herbal smells from him. The elder’s forehead developed wrinkles instantaneously because he did not understand how Zheng-Fu’s body could produce such intense herbal smells. So, he asked…

“Did these two guys speak the truth, kid?”

“With all due respect, Elder, they spoke the truth, sir. I do want to apply to learn alchemy with the association, sir.” Zheng-Fu cupped his fists to show respect to the elder in the blue robe while answering the question with utmost modesty…

*This kid… The way he speaks is completely different. It’s not like something that comes from a kid. It’s like he was a grown, mature man.* The blue-robed Elder could not help but suspect how Zheng-Fu could talk so smoothly, even though he could see that the boy was very young. It was like the boy had gone through tremendously a lot…

“Great! If you insist, I will let you give it a try. But I have to tell you that the test is not something easy. So, if you just come to fool around, you should leave!”

“I am serious about it, sir.”

“Fine! Both of you prepare the application document for him. I’ll take him to the test venue myself.”

“Yes, sir!”

The two admission guys gasped when they saw and heard all that from the Elder with a blue robe. They did not understand the Elder. They did not expect to see how welcoming the Elder was to Zheng-Fu…

“What do you think about that kid?” The first admission guy asked the other admission guy…

“I think there’s no way the kid would pass the exam. Do you know any kids who would know so much about herbal plants? I was playing catch when I was his age.” The other admission guy spoke in the same direction that the first admission guy did…

“But come to think again, there seemed to be something odd about that kid. It’s like…”

“I think you’re beginning to think too much now. That boy just wanted to show off. Just let him be and live with the consequences. It’s about closing time now. Just do our things and I’ll buy you instant noodles, alright?” The other admission guy tried to cut off the first admission guy when he tried to say something about Zheng-Fu…

“Will you really? You’re exceptional! I’ll buy you something else…hahaha.”