“Hmph! I’m leaving now. I don’t want to be embarrassed when you fail!” Pearl scoffed before exiting the room. After all, she was the one who brought Jared there. She’d be embarrassed if he blew up the crucible by performing alchemy with it.
She left without sparing another glance at Jared. She was absolutely convinced that Jared couldn’t create a Fifth Level Top Tier pill with a crucible. After she departed, Jared picked up the crucible and started producing the pill.
Just as Pearl left the room, she ran into Roderick, who put a smile on her face. “What are you doing here, Roderick? Do you have a friend who’s taking the assessment as well?”
“No. I’m here specifically for you,” said Roderick. “Me? What do you want from me?” Pearl was excited.
“Can’t I meet with you for no reason?” Roderick smiled. Upon seeing his smile, Pearl felt as though her heart was going to melt. “Of course you can meet me whenever you want, Roderick!”
“Oh yeah, didn’t you bring Jared here for an assessment? How is that going?”
“Ugh, don’t bring him up. The guy overestimates his abilities. He’s here for the Fifth Level Top Tier test. He was lucky enough to pass the first stage and is now being assessed for, the second stage. He’s such a bragger. Instead of using a pill cauldron, he’s using a crucible to produce a Fifth Level Top Tier pill. Can you believe that? I didn’t want to be laughed at by others, so I left.”
“He’s using a crucible to create a Fifth Level Top Tier pill?” Roderick furrowed his eyebrows. “Which room is he in? Take me to him. I want to see if he can pull it off.”
“Of course he can’t, Roderick! Whether in terms of strength or alchemical skills, he’s no match for you.” If Jared heard that, he probably would fly off the handle again. “Maybe he can actually pull it off. Take me to: him.” Roderick smiled. Pearl nodded. “All right.”
Roderick held her hand and followed her to the alchemy room. Pearl blushed like a schoolgirl with excitement written all over her face. She brought Roderick to the room, and they saw Jared calmly producing a pill. The examiner glanced at the duo wordlessly.
Roderick fixed his gaze on Jared, whose eyes were slightly closed. The crucible sitting before Jared was burning with spiritual fire inside and releasing green smoke.
Not too far from Jared was a half-burned candle. Jared would fail the assessment if he couldn’t successfully produce a Fifth Level Top Tier pill before the candle burned out.
“See that, Roderick? He still hasn’t made substantial progress after wasting half his time. Not only that, green smoke is pouring out of the crucible. There’s no way he’s going to succeed.” Pearl looked at Jared’s crucible with: disdain.
Instead of speaking, Roderick stared fixedly at Jared. The room fell into silence as the seconds ticked by. The candle was about to burn completely. when the crucible in front of Jared exploded. Following that, white smoke rose from the crucible.
“Be careful, Roderick!” Pearl protected Roderick with her body. The examiner also hurriedly stepped back, his face filled with anger.
They believed that Jared must have failed since the crucible had exploded. After the white smoke dissipated, Pearl examined Roderick with worry. “Are you all right, Roderick?”
“I’m fine,” said Roderick.
