As for Draco, he had moved over to the side for the Pill Makers with the Pill Elder for the Dragon and Phoenix Palace. It was a weathered old man who wore elegant robes and held himself primly.

  His gaze towards the lads who arranged themselves here was full of indifference and even a bit of disdain, which amused Draco to no end. Still, he was a Grade 10 Alchemist/Pill Maker, so he deserved to be arrogant when these lads were likely not even Grade 3 at best.

  It was like asking a Nobel Prize winner to come and invigilate Grade 6 kids during their exam. Putting aside how you even got them to agree, they would feel chagrined and insulted.

  "Good, all of you are here. It seems that 45 of you believe you have at least Grade 1 certification in Alchemy. Even if you don't, and you pass the exam, I will give one to you. As an Elder of the Alchemy Association and a Grade 10 Pill Maker, I have this little bit of power." The fellow announced coldly.

  The lads began to chatter to themselves, awed by his status and power. This made the Pill Elder smile slightly, feeling even more disdain in his heart towards these bumpkins.

  "Get on with it." Draco stated with annoyance.

  Immediately, the place became quiet as the Pill Elder choked on his happiness. However, he didn't even dare feel aggrieved as he bowed and moved on.

  "We will have a general test in lieu with the Alchemy Association's standard. I've prepared a basic recipe for you to concoct a Grade-1 pill, and those who finish the fastest with the highest quality will be ranked from first to last. As long as you manage to produce at least an average quality pill, you'll be sent onto the next round where you will try a Grade-2 pill and so on."

  He clapped his hands, and standard cauldrons, as well as the requisite materials, were provided to each candidate. Their task consisted of making the Grade-1 Muscle Soothing Pill.

  This pill's purpose was to assist Muscle Tempering Realm cultivators with relaxing their muscles after infusing them with Qi through their various Cultivation Methods. 'Muscle Tempering' was just that.

  In essence, it was like going to the gym and exercising. You're tempering your muscles, but they also needed rest as they have been battered by the attempt. So, this pill was similar to a Muscle Relaxant, only that it cleared any hidden defects and removed muscle fatigue, allowing one to keep cultivating.

  The lads received the signal to begin and started working. They fervently focused on their work, yet the Pill Elder, as well as most of the other Elders, paid attention to their Little Ancestor's actions.

  Draco sniffed the materials given to him and sneered. He then tossed them into the air before him all at once, shocking the entire group, who expected him to go one by one.

  Like this, Draco pointed a finger and sent his Fire of War out which burned all the materials to crisp, a black smoke leaving them, with only a colorless glob of essence left behind.

  If this weren't a competition, the Pill Elder would have screamed like a little girl at what he was seeing.

  Perfect extraction of essence!

  The black stuff the Fire of War had burned was 100% of impurities, leaving pure, untainted essence of medicine behind.

  Not only that, Draco was performing the fabled 'Refinement without a cauldron', or 'Refinement using the world as a cauldron', which was rumored to be something only those above Grade 10 could do.

  Draco then combined those essences in a perfect ratio using Control, producing a set of 50 pills from that small amount.

  All 50 of these pills produced Pill Veins, Pill Fog, Pill Tribulation, and Pill Aura!

  What's more, all of this had been done in about 2-3 seconds of time! 50 perfect grade pills that had stronger effects and were completely free of impurities or any form of backlash. Like a junkie, you could toss all 50 into your mouth, without having to fear an overdose!

  The Pill Elder grabbed at them and inspected the pills with a solemn expression. With a nonchalant glance, he quickly sent them into the Sect's treasury to be used to cultivate new disciples.

  The Pill Elder then looked at the sky, not daring to look at Draco, who was speechless.

  Shit, did you even ask me? Now I can't ask for it back because I would seem petty! I'm this sect's Little Ancestor, making me akin to a top executive. It's part of my duty to cultivate the young ones, so this was in line with things!

  Draco tsked and used Subjective Magic to drop a lightning bolt on the head of the Pill Elder, turning him to a blackened scarecrow that puffed out soot. However, the man didn't dare complain about his punishment, instead he shamelessly remained standing tall, pretending like nothing had happened.

  About an hour later, the most talented ones looked satisfied as they had finished their crafts, while the less talented ones needed three hours. In that time, Draco had been bored, so he had refined a few pills for his and Eva's cultivation by the side.

  The Pill Elder helplessly watched Grade-4 and 5 pills of perfect quality being spat out like rubbish over and over again, to the point where he could only clutch his chest and cough blood into a pail by the side.

  "Congratulations, all 45 of you managed to successfully refine a Grade-1 pill of at least average quality in 3 hours. Henceforth, you're certified Grade 1 Alchemists! I will send you your documentation later." The Pill Elder began, waving to the side.

  A new group of servants came over and brought in a new set of materials that were slightly stronger than the previous batch. The lads became serious as they checked the new formula, which was one for the Grade-2 Tendon Reinforcing Pill.

  As we know from biology, tendons were a band of inelastic tissue connecting a muscle with its bony attachment, and were not to be fucked with because they could cause serious defects if ruined.

  This pill fortified one's tendons so that no damage could occur to them during the Tendon Refining realm's cultivation. If you thought that cultivation was smooth for everyone and no accidents happened, hehe.

  Qi Cultivation was difficult and could be fatal at times, but it was nothing compared to body cultivation, which was why the latter was not popular.

  The lads got to work once again once the signal was given, while Draco used about 7 seconds to produce 45 sparkling pills that were of perfect grade. The Pill Elder grabbed them again and deposited them in the Sect's treasury, though Draco didn't even bother to react this time.

  He then spent the rest of the time doing more personalized pills, this time focusing on Immortal pills for their masters. Just having Immortal Stones was not enough to make things smooth and perfect.

  With these auxiliary pills, their cultivation could be smoother and more efficient.

  This time, many lads exploded their cauldrons, forcing the Pill Elder to save them from turning into living debris. While the rest managed to finish their pills by the end of the 3-hour mark, many ended up with inferior grade pills.

  "Out of all 45 of you, 13 exploded their cauldrons, 15 ended up wasting their materials by creating made inferior pills, leaving only 17 who made at least average grade pills." The Pill Elder recounted with a calm face.

  "Failures, quickly scram from my exam. Go to the Punishment Hall and take a 1-month intensive Alchemy Mission immediately." He ordered with a casual wave of his hand.

  The cultivators groaned in pain, as this meant that they would be given intense daily quotas of pills to make and had to keep it up for an entire month. It would push their Pill Making skills to the limit, where they either broke through and became better or failed and continued to flounder.

  The Pill Elder clapped, which was the signal for a set of servants to bring in a batch of materials that were quite potent. The remaining lads received them and took a deep breath before checking the requisite recipes.

  This time, they were to concoct a Grade-3 Blood Boiling Pill, a pill that would assist Blood Pulsation Realm cultivators in getting their blood running and suited for cultivation at that level.

  Blood that was stagnant or too coagulant would make cultivation difficult. While it was flowing with passion and heat throughout the body, Qi could easily be merged with the blood cells that were hyperactive, increasing cultivation speed.

  Once again, the arduous refinement for the lads began. They began to sweat as they struggled to control the materials and try to refine them, some even directly exploding their cauldrons within seconds of starting.

  Draco, though, took only 15 seconds to make 40 glistening pills that were snatched by the unscrupulous Pill Elder. He even dared to glance at Draco askance, asking what the fellow would do anyway.

  Draco ignored this shameless brute and continued his own things by the side, though he didn't have to wait for long. The performance was decided pretty early since the attempt was much harder, with many having barely passed the last round.

  The Pill Elder sniffed with disdain and announced. "17 of you participated in this round, yet 13 had their cauldrons explode, 2 produced trash tier pills and 1 produced an inferior grade pill. As for the last one, he produced a perfect grade pill!"

  The lads were not surprised, as they had seen what the Little Ancestor had done in the previous rounds. However, they didn't dare to compare themselves to Draco anyway, so what was the big deal?

  Seeing that they were unfazed, having recognized and accepted the gap wholeheartedly, the Pill Elder was speechless. There went his attempt to group shame them into getting motivated to do better.

  "Alright, in first place is Young Ancestor Draco, second place goes to Dan Taiyan, third goes to Li Shifei, fourth…… The top 10 should come up here for their rewards!"

  While the others went up enthusiastically, Draco folded his arms and walked away. This confused the Pill Elder, who stopped him.

  "Young Ancestor Draco, do you not want your reward?" He asked with curiosity.

  At the same time, in another part of the area, Eva too was being asked the same thing by Grand Elder Tuo Fan. Across space, almost as if in sync, Draco and Eva both replied:

  "No need."

  After that, they teleported from the area to their cave abode, where their masters were still cultivating fervently. They had arranged Aether Crystals around themselves in a formation and were using it to cultivate arduously.

  Seeing this, Eva gently sat beside the Phoenix Ancestor, getting ready to start her own cultivation. As for Draco, he sized up the Dragon Ancestor calmly before giving him a kick that sent him flying.

  "Old man, I'm back. Quickly end your life and death cultivation to greet me!"

  Draco's arrogant voice was mixed with the Dragon Ancestor's howls of agony, as he rolled on the floor.

  "My cultivation! My cultivation has become crippled due to your interference! You've ruined me!" The fellow howled as he rolled, his voice so loud that it even woke up the Phoenix Ancestor who looked irritated.

  The Dragon Ancestor then coughed a thick wad of black liquid. "Argh! My Immortal Dantian is gone! Brat, you have crippled your master! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

  Draco flicked his nails nonchalantly. "I just missed you and wanted to hear your sweet voice again. Don't worry, since you've become useless, I shall magnanimously replace you ahead of time."

  Fuck! The Dragon Ancestor was temporarily speechless. Then he continued to roll while shouting. "It's far too early for a brat like you to take up my mantle. Luckily, I know of a way to repair my cultivation. All I need are 100 billion Immortal Stones, 1,000 kowtows from you each day, and an all-expense-paid trip to the Succubi's Red-Light District!"

  This time, it was Draco who was beaten, staring at this old man with speechlessness!

  As for Eva and the Phoenix Ancestor, they could only look at the big menace as well as the small menace and facepalm.

  It finally hit them, that maybe, just maybe, their taste was shit.