Elder Edward frowned a bit when he saw how Damien was trying to drive a hard bargain. But before he could say anything Damien continued, "The price I am asking for is actually quite generous. As an alchemist expert, I am sure you know that this continent has never ever seen a Supreme Tier pill before. So you don't need me to tell you that your superiors would be very much excited in researching that pill, as it's one of a kind. It wouldn't be surprising if there were even other merchant guilds who would even pay more than a thousand Green Spirit Stones for this pill."
Damien's tone was so confident that his words seemed irrefutable and even Elder Edward knew that what Damien said was the bare truth. After all, a Supreme Tier Pill, no matter the rank, was never seen before and Damien was the one who concocted the first one. Even he couldn't imagine the various guilds and organizations who would try to lay their hands upon the first Supreme Tier Pill.
Elder Edward didn't dare to haggle since they have a reputation to maintain and didn't want Damien to sell it somewhere else. Moreover, he didn't want Damien to change his mind about joining the Alchemist Society since he knew that if Damien was really able to concoct Supreme Tier pills then it could create tumultuous waves in the continent. So, buying the pill from Damien for 500 Green Spirit Stones didn't seem like a loss.
His previous expression now showed a slight interested expression as he couldn't wait to see the results of Damien's exam. He wanted to know if Damien was the real deal or if he was trying to pass off someone's work as his own.
He finally said with a faint smile, "Of course, it's our bad we offered a price lower than what it's worth. Hope it doesn't discourage you from doing business with us again."
"It's fine as long as everything's sorted out." Damien nonchalantly said.
Elder Edward went behind the desk and took out a Green Ethereal Ring which was in fact a spatial ring with enough space to hold 10,000 Green Spirit Stones.
Damien was surprised that they even give away spatial rings for free along with the money. But he understood that their financial capital was unfathomable and could easily afford to give away these rings since they are already raking in huge profits.
Damien took the spatial ring and inspected it to find that not even a single Green Spirit Stone was less from the proposed price. He simply put it on his finger as he didn't even have a single spatial ring.
"Since, everything is settled here, please follow me. I am sure the judges are ready to conduct the examination for you." Elder Edward led Damien towards another room on the same floor itself.
Meanwhile Damien was having second thoughts about selling even the Nascent Ethereal Realm beast cores. He then decided to just sell them somewhere else where they buy ethereal beast cores in bulk.
Elder Edward asked, "For which rank do you want to do the examination?"
Damien thought for a moment before answering, "Rank 4."
Elder Edward nodded since he didn't find it strange that a senior wanted to apply for a Rank 4 Alchemist Badge. But Damien was inwardly a little anxious about whether he would be able to manage to concoct a Rank 4 pill with his Early Nascent Soul Stage cultivation. He knew that one should be at least at the Late Soul Transformation Stage to concoct a Rank 4 pill.
The examination had the theoretical part first which Damien flawlessly passed and now Damien was sitting before an Earth Grade Cauldron with all the ingredients placed before him. He was to identify the ingredients and concoct the required pill from those ingredients.
There were two judges seated in front of him to proctor Damien's examination.
Damien instantly identified those Peak Level Earth Grade ingredients and knew that they were used to concoct a Low Grade Rank 4 Ethereal Recovery Pill. It was a pill used to recover one's spent ethereal energy by 40% within a few minutes. If it was a Medium Grade Rank 5 Ethereal Recovery Pill, one could recover up to 60% of their ethereal energy.
But each rank would only be effective till a certain cultivation level. A Rank 5 Pill would be highly effective for someone till the Sky Ethereal Realm, but would lose their effectiveness drastically if their cultivation is Heaven Ethereal Realm or above.
Damien closed his eyes and started focusing on his soul plane as he tried to manifest his Fallen Flames. He wasn't tense about showing his strange flames to others since they had no idea what it was and he was sure the Alchemist Society wouldn't make things hard for him as they would do anything to have an alchemist who could concoct Supreme Tier Pills join their ranks and also they have their own reputation to maintain.
Besides, Damien wanted to let the world know of his prowess instead of hiding it. After all, he was doing all this in an alternate identity, so he need not be worried that his original identity would face any consequences.
Within a few minutes, after exhausting about 80% of his soul energy, a jet black flame manifested in his hand giving off a maleficent aura which even seemed to consume the light around it. He instantly transferred it into the cauldron and the inside of the cauldron was lit ablaze.
Elder Edward was standing near the door since he wanted to see if Damien could achieve another miracle.
When Damien slowly started manifesting his Fallen Flames, both the judges and Elder Edwards eyes popped out thinking 'He can manifest Etheric Flames?'
They were surprised, since the majority of the alchemists were proficient in Fire Laws and only a very rare few would concoct using their Etheric Fire as it was very tough to manifest even a small flame. Only geniuses managed to concoct pills using their Etheric Flames. They now had less doubts about Damien being able to concoct Supreme Tier Pills.
But when they saw the Fallen Flames fully manifest, seeing its eerie color, their thoughts freezed realizing that they were unable to comprehend what kind of laws powered the flames. It was as if they weren't Etheric Flames or even simple flames but something else.
When they tried to focus their senses on Damien's Fallen Flames, they felt a menacing aura dulling all their senses and pulling them into a hot and chilling abyss. Only when they withdrew their senses, did they finally relaxed.
All kinds of thoughts were passing through their minds wondering who this senior was. Yes, they didn't dare to think of Damien as someone junior to them.
Even though he only applied for a Rank 4 Badge, they assumed him to be some ethereal expert who recently wanted to pursue alchemy out of boredom and also at the same time advance his inferior soul cultivation.
After all, there were many powerhouses who were too lazy to cultivate their soul or found it too troublesome. In fact, it was a common sight among cultivators and only a minority would cultivate both their ethereal energy and soul at the same time.
Unable to see through his ethereal cultivation and his strange disguise, they couldn't come to any other conclusion. But if they had known Damien's true soul cultivation stage, they would have collapsed due to shock.
Still they didn't even let out a gasp and let Damien concentrate on his refinement. After a few minutes, a bang sounded as the jet black flames subsided.
Elder Edward and the judges had their eyes glued onto the inside of the cauldron as their eyes glinted with anticipation.
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