Yang Kai had been working at it for a full half-incense stick's worth of time before he secretly circulated his Yuan Qi, channeling the murky qi in his mouth toward the space between his brows.
To the outside observer, a faint wisp of dark qi had visibly gathered on Yang Kai's forehead.
Qin Ze was startled.
This was clearly a sign that only appeared at the very final stage of the trial. Among the hundreds of alchemists who had taken the test before, only Wang Qiren and Dong Qingyan had reached this point—though the former had fallen short at the last hurdle, while the latter had succeeded in one go.
How could a mere bodyguard have made it this far?
Could it be that he was another prodigy suited for alchemy?
Qin Ze's heart grew tense as he stared at Yang Kai, his own heart lodged in his throat. Senior Uncle Xiao had told him personally that for this trial, finding even a single suitable successor would be more than enough to satisfy him.
Dong Qingyan had already passed. If another one passed as well… wouldn't the old man be grinning from ear to ear? The Cloud Hidden Peak lineage would not only have a successor—it might very well flourish.
Just as Qin Ze was tensing up inside, the dark qi between Yang Kai's brows vanished in an instant. Qin Ze held his breath on the spot, his eyes going wide.
Success or failure—it all hinged on the next moment!
Amid his anxious waiting, Yang Kai showed no reaction. A long time passed—so long that Qin Ze's eyes were sore from staring—when suddenly another wisp of dark qi appeared between Yang Kai's brows.
What was going on?!
Qin Ze was completely bewildered. The boy's reaction was unlike Wang Qiren, who had vomited a mouthful of black blood, and unlike Dong Qingyan, who had successfully expelled a stream of black smoke. Why did this dark qi keep appearing and disappearing between his brows? None of it matched anything Senior Uncle had described.
While he was still fretting in confusion, the dark qi disappeared again.
Before he could settle his nerves, it surfaced once more.
…
Qin Ze's heart skipped and stuttered along with the ebb and flow of that dark qi. This kind of agonizing wait with no way to know the outcome was truly torturous—especially when the boy's reactions kept oscillating between what looked like success and failure, putting him through even greater torment.
The dark qi rose and fell at least a dozen times before the young man suddenly opened his mouth and expelled a thick breath of murky qi.
With that exhalation, the boy seemed to wilt considerably, his head drooping, his eyes losing their spark.
Damn it—you finally spit it out! Qin Ze cursed inwardly, thinking that if this had gone on any longer, his heart probably wouldn't have held up.
But… how could something like this happen?
Qin Ze furrowed his brow in deep thought. Could it be that the boy's aptitude barely met the threshold Senior Uncle had set? That would explain why he had such an excruciating time passing the trial. Thinking it over, that actually made some sense.
"Senior Brother Qin…" Dong Qingyan looked at Qin Ze and asked hesitantly, "How did he do?"
Qin Ze snapped out of his daze and burst into hearty laughter. "Mm, not bad, not bad. His aptitude is just a notch below yours, Junior Sister, but… he's barely managed to pass."
Another one passed?
The crowd below was stunned speechless by those words.
So many people had gone up before and not a single one had succeeded. Even Wang Qiren had been battered to the point of coughing up a mouthful of black blood. But now, first a mortal-grade mid-tier alchemist had passed—fine, her alchemist rank was low, but she was at least a young miss of the Dong family, and the Dong family had considerable influence. It was still acceptable that they could produce such a talent.
But the bodyguard?
He was just Miss Dong's follower. Even someone like him had passed?
"Senior Qin, that kid couldn't have faked it somehow, could he?" someone below shouted.
"That's right, Senior! This fellow doesn't even know how to refine pills and has no alchemist rank at all. How could he pass Master Xiao's trial?"
"He must have used some dirty trick to pull it off. We won't accept this!"
…
The smile on Qin Ze's face froze instantly. His eyes swept over the crowd below like lightning as he let out a cold snort. "This is a poison pill personally refined by my Senior Uncle Xiao. No one can cheat their way through. Even someone in the Shenyou Realm who took this pill would be unable to endure it without alchemist aptitude. If any of you are unconvinced, you're welcome to come up and try. But if anyone continues to raise objections, they are insulting my Medicine King Valley—insulting my Senior Uncle Xiao!"
Once he dropped that heavy label on them, the crowd below fell silent immediately.
"Damn it—if a bodyguard who can't even refine pills can pass, I refuse to believe it!" An alchemist gritted his teeth and, fueled by frustration, darted up onto the platform.
Many others followed close behind.
Moments later, a large group of them lay poisoned…
The entire jar of poison pills—at least five or six hundred in total—had all been consumed by the time noon arrived, but throughout the whole affair, only Dong Qingyan and Yang Kai had safely passed the trial.
Quite a few others had shared Wang Qiren's fate, making it to the final step only to fall short at the last moment, drawing sighs of regret.
Only now did everyone realize that Master Xiao had not been looking to recruit disciples en masse. He had set the trial to such a punishing difficulty because he was searching for a single worthy successor to carry on his legacy.
Once the trial was over, Qin Ze walked over with a beaming smile. "Junior Brother, Junior Sister—when would you like to follow me to Cloud Hidden Peak? Senior Uncle will surely be delighted to learn that two people passed this time."
Yang Kai kept his face expressionless and said nothing, maintaining a cold demeanor. As a bodyguard and attendant, he naturally knew not to overstep his bounds.
Dong Qingyan smiled and said, "I need to go tell my brother first."
"Oh, let's all go together! We'll say our goodbyes quick and head straight to Cloud Hidden Peak!"