Morgana Frost naturally knew these rules by heart, but this was Zora’s first ti participating in such an assessnt. Rurik, therefore, spoke with particular care, directing his explanation toward her.
"The dicinal herbs for this assessnt will be randomly selected by the appraising alchemists. Each participant will receive three sets of materials. As long as you successfully make a potion within the allotted ti, you will pass. The assessnt ti is one hour."
Zora nodded slightly.
The rules were fair.
Even seasoned alchemists don’t have a hundred percent success rate. In fact, the higher the grade of the potion, the greater the chance of failure. A mistake in temperature, a mistake in the amounts of ingredients, anything can contribute to failure. Providing three sets of ingredients allowed examinees to continue even after a failed attempt.
The failure rate of alchemy was sothing none could escape.
An alchemist’s true strength lay not only in the highest-grade potion they could make, but also in their success rate.
This was precisely why refining alchemists consud countless precious dicinal herbs. Without a vast supply for practice, becoming a true alchemist was nearly impossible.
"Who will determine today’s assessnt topic?"
Just as Rurik was about to draw lots, Cassian stepped forward first.
Rurik instinctively glanced at Zora. Given Cassian’s temperant, whatever topic he selected was unlikely to be favorable to her.
Sensing Rurik’s concern, Zora gave a faint nod.
With her level of skill, she feared no topic Cassian could produce.
Cassian and Morgana Frost were unexpected variables, but she had no intention of making things difficult for Gerrad or Rurik.
Since Cassian was determined to target her, she would simply let him try.
In the end, it would be Cassian who lost face.
Seeing that Zora had no objections, Rurik nodded. "Very well."
Cassian reached into the box filled with slips of paper, drew one out, and glanced at it.
"The potion for today’s assessnt is—Mana Recovery potion."
As his words fell, Cassian casually tucked the slip into his sleeve, leaving no trace behind. Clearly, whatever had truly been written on it no longer mattered.
Upon hearing "Mana Recovery potion," Morgana Frost froze for a brief mont before her face lit up with uncontrollable delight.
This was the very potion she had been focusing on refining these past few days. Just a short while ago, she had finally succeeded.
She never imagined that today’s assessnt topic would be the Mana Recovery potion.
It was as if the heavens themselves were helping her!
Her gaze flicked toward Zora, pride flashing in her eyes. Now, she was eager to see how this so-called genius could possibly surpass her.
Zora, however, remained untroubled.
Mana Recovery potion was one of the potions she made most often.
Before entering the White Mountains, she had deliberately prepared a large stock of it. Among all the potions she made, this one had the highest success rate.
Cassian’s deliberate choice had only ended up sewing a wedding dress for her.
The attendants from the Alchemists Association swiftly brought over the materials for the Mana Recovery potion, placing identical sets before Zora and Morgana.
Zora did not hesitate in the slightest. With a re thought, flas leapt to life beneath the cauldron, blooming instantly with steady heat.
Seeing how smoothly Zora moved, Morgana’s eyes flickered with surprise.
Mana Recovery potion was no simple redy. Even among first-grade potions, it was considered difficult. Moreover, every refining alchemist guarded their potion formulas carefully. While the market circulated common dicinal ingredients, true potion formulas were priceless. Not everyone even possessed them.
Yet Zora looked calm.
In fact, far too calm.
Was she pretending?
"Mana Recovery potion isn’t sothing you can make casually," Morgana Frost sneered, her voice dripping with mockery. "You’d better stop putting on a show. Admit defeat now and save yourself from embarrassnt later."
She refused to believe that Zora could truly refine it.
Zora rely cast her a faint glance. "If you’re worried about failing the assessnt, then stop distracting others."
The indifference in her tone only fueled Morgana Frost’s anger.
"You’re just a physician, not an alchemist," Morgana Frost said coldly, her brows drawn tight.
Zora leaned slightly closer, her gaze calm yet faintly condescending. "Don’t you know that the Origin dical Hall also sells potions?"
Morgana Frost froze.
Of course, she knew.
The Origin dical Hall sold potions at prices twenty percent higher than the market, yet custors still lined up endlessly because of their higher quality. Even her own master had once sent people to purchase dicine there.
After careful study, he had discovered sothing astonishing: the potions from the Origin dical Hall were far more effective than those circulating on the market.
That realization had shaken him.
A trace of doubt flickered in Morgana Frost’s eyes. Perhaps... perhaps she could uncover the secret behind those potions today.
After all, Zora was the master of the Origin dical Hall.
She sneered again, forcing the doubt down. "You must have hired so powerful alchemist to supply those potions. If soone offered a higher price, the potions would have nothing to do with you."
She laughed lightly, eyes full of ridicule. "Don’t tell you want to believe that you made all the potions sold by the Origin dical Hall."
Zora’s lips curved into a slow, enchanting smile. Her flawless features seed to glow, and when she spoke, Morgana Frost stiffened.
"It’s rare for soone like you to be smart even once."
The words were light, effortless, and brimming with confidence. From beginning to end, Zora carried herself like soone standing far above, looking down from an unreachable height.
The mocking smile on Morgana Frost’s face vanished instantly.
"No... impossible," she muttered, shaking her head. "Absolutely impossible!"
Her master had once said that the potions from the Origin dical Hall were made by an alchemy master of terrifying skill, soone who extracted the full dicinal essence with near-perfect precision.
Such a person would be addressed as Master even by her own teacher.
And now... soone was telling her that this person was Zora?
She couldn’t accept it.
She refused to accept it.
Ding!
Rurik struck the gong, its crisp sound echoing through the assessnt hall and signaling the official start of the examination. Almost simultaneously, flas flared beneath the cauldrons.
Zora no longer paid the slightest attention to Morgana’s constant chatter.
She had made potions countless tis before. At this mont, every movent felt as natural as breathing.
Instead of using a mortar and pestle to grind the Star Blue Grass like others, she directly placed the Star Blue Grass into the cauldron first. The fla surged forward, instantly engulfing the herb. Under the intense heat, the Star Blue Grass withered, darkened, and finally crumbled into powder, but mixed with impurities.
Then, Zora added water and increased the flas. Soon, black impurities began to gather at the top, and she then poured away the liquid, leaving behind the paste. She gathered the paste into a vessel and put it aside.
While the judges wondered what this new technique was, Zora then picked up the next dicinal herb and dropped it into the cauldron. Once again, the flas swallowed it whole.
The fire danced under her spiritual control like a lively sprite, obedient and precise.
One herb after another was made and purified into separate pastes. Her movents still flowed seamlessly, smooth as if she has perfect idea of what she was doing.
The expressions of Gerrad and Rurik changed subtly as they watched the procedure.
When a true expert made a move, there was no mistaking it.
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