Lian returned to his room and Duong eagerly tested the results of his breakthrough. Linh Si aimed at soul density, Linh Uy aimed at soul breadth, and Linh Ta aimed at soul recovery speed.
Soul recovery, in other words, is the regeneration of spiritual power. For example, the amount of spiritual power in the soul when full is 100%. A normal Spiritual Warrior will recover about 1% of his spiritual power after consuming it within a certain period of time. As for a Spiritual Captain, even though he has more spiritual power, this regeneration rate remains almost unchanged.
But when reaching the Spirit Assistant level, the regeneration rate increases gradually based on level and aptitude. For example, a level 1 Spirit Assistant can increase by 0.2% to 1.2%, or a better aptitude can increase by 0.3% to 1.3%… It may seem small, but until reaching the level of Spirit General, Spirit King, Spirit Emperor… this rate will continue to increase faster and faster. This is the reason why a Spirit Warrior can scratch with spiritual power for about 10 minutes and then be exhausted, sorry, I typed wrong, while a Spirit Emperor can rampage and scream all day long, because at that time, their soul, in addition to being large and sturdy, also has a very fast regeneration rate.
For ordinary people, it was already like that, but for someone with a giant soul like Duong, it was even more beneficial. With the same recovery percentage, if someone else recovered a bowl, he would have recovered a pot. If someone else recovered enough for one punch, he could throw five to ten punches with equal power!
Reaching Linh Ta, in addition to the ability to restore the soul, is also the door to a new realm: Crystallized Spiritual Power.
Crystallized spiritual power, condensing spiritual power into a solid form. This realm is a huge step forward in combat ability, a single fist of spiritual power combined with the body can break stone, combined with crystallized spiritual power can break iron! Of course, more spiritual power will be consumed.
Not only can attributeless spiritual power crystallize, but attribute-bearing spiritual power also develops in a new direction, especially the nearly useless Water attribute will crystallize into the extremely powerful Ice attribute, the two illusory attributes Light and Darkness also gather into substance and begin to exert their latent power, the three most basic combat attributes, chosen by many people when reaching Spirit Commander, are Thunder, Wind, and Fire, although they cannot be crystallized, they can be compressed to create even more terrifying destructive power. In addition, the realm of crystallized spiritual power also opens the path to cultivating crystallized attributes such as Metal, Earth, Purple Wood, etc.
(The reason it is called Purple Wood is because people with this attribute can create crystallized spiritual power in the form of grass or wood of all kinds, but this type of crystallization cannot grow. Only when people simultaneously carry the Purple Wood attribute and the Life attribute, or people with the Purple Wood attribute reach a higher realm, can they create a form of plant that grows and develops like a real plant. In short, the development process of each form and each type of attribute is completely different, most of which are explained in the book ‘Complete Book of Spiritual Attributes’. The book is 800 pages thick but only costs 15 thousand dong.)
After learning the crystallization method from Google, Duong immediately imagined in his mind a scenario where he gathered a black lightning bolt into a lightning arrow and shot it straight into Long Ao’s ass. The speed and penetrating power of the lightning attribute was so overbearing, it guaranteed he would have to pee with his mouth for a whole month!
Thinking about it already felt good, Duong curiously released his non-attribute spiritual power to practice crystallization. The released spiritual power almost invisibly floated on Duong’s hand, being compressed by him, but every time he compressed it for a while, this jelly-like mass of spiritual power would burst out, pulling and compressing it and then bursting out many times…
Half an hour later…
Duong wanted to push it out, but the mass of spiritual energy still stubbornly resisted. Like Duong, many people mistakenly thought that level always went hand in hand with realm. But in fact, level was only the minimum limit to be able to contact the realm, and cultivating it was another matter. The higher the realm, the harder it was to cultivate. Usually, a Spiritual Assistant would need several months to successfully perform Spiritual Energy Crystallization, and then several more years to reach great success, and the speed of comprehending the realm also depended on the soul’s aptitude, not much related to the level of the level.
…
10 days later.
Long Mau District, the center of Long Thanh today is unusually bustling, the streets are full of people and vehicles and the shops are packed with visitors.
Alchemy, even in Longcheng, is the most noble and important profession, because alchemy is the greatest support in life, in cultivation, and even in combat. The profession of alchemy is extremely difficult to find talented people, so talented people are also extremely precious. For example, our alchemy genius Grandmaster Vo Phi Duong, as soon as he was discovered, immediately received 10 billion VND in unconditional sponsorship.
Every five years, the Longcheng Alchemy Society holds a New Talent Competition, which is an alchemy competition for those under the age of 25. Regardless of whether you are a grandmaster, a magician, or an amateur, as long as you have a Longcheng household registration and are under the age of 25, you are eligible to participate. If you make it to the top, you will receive the best treatment to develop your talent. If you win the championship, you will even be accepted into the Alchemy Society, study while working, wear suits when going out, and receive a salary like a pyramid scheme!
The venue for the competition is the Alchemy Hall, located right across from the Dragon Palace.
On the first day of the theory exam, there were very few spectators, most of them were relatives of the candidates who came to cheer. Duong, alone, held his exam card and languidly entered the crowd of candidates. The Lam family was usually proud of being a part of the alchemy association, but they always lost in the first round. They were so embarrassed that no one dared to show their face, so they only pretended to cheer for Duong perfunctorily while they were still in the apartment building. When they left, no one followed. Duong didn’t care either, except for the matter of fucking Lien for free for a few days, he and those people had no connection…
Originally, there was nothing to be ashamed of, because the Lam family specialized in mining and metallurgy, not in alchemy and treasure refining. Thanks to mining and metallurgy, the Lam family became a source of resources for the Alchemy Association, gradually buying a ticket to join this association. That was why the whole family, from old to young, often went out and bragged that they were members of the Alchemy Association, holding their heads high and considering themselves more noble than many other branches of the Dragon Clan. Unfortunately, when each family became a member of the Alchemy Association, they had to send people to participate in every New Talent Competition, and these people only knew how to mine and break rocks all year round, and none of them had studied properly. As a result, they bragged a lot, but when it came to the competition, they all failed in the qualifying round, becoming a laughing stock for the world.
There were about 200 contestants in the preliminary round from all races in Long Thanh. The opening ceremony was long and drawn out, with the delegates and sponsors, and every time a name was called, there would be a few claps, then the president spoke, then the delegates spoke, then the sponsors spoke, all the contestants sat there yawning, no one bothered to listen, then they cheered enthusiastically when the opening ceremony ended.
Nearly 200 candidates were divided into 10 exam rooms, Duong was placed in the first room.
Candidates lined up in two rows in front of each exam room for the invigilator to take attendance. When they heard about Lam Trang Duong of the Lam family, the whole group of roommates burst out in sarcasm.
“Lin family? The Lin family of the alchemist guild?”
“These idiots still dare to send people to take the exam?”
“A bunch of people who spend all day digging holes for shit, but when they go out they just look up at the sky and act noble, haha!”
“Let me see this idiot of the Lam family, he still dares to show his face to the exam.”
During the roll call, Duong had to raise his hand and shout “Yes!”, so the people standing nearby recognized him. The whole group pointed and looked at him like they were looking at a monkey in a zoo. The people in the lower rows also ran up to see Duong’s face. Even though Duong was in disguise, he was extremely angry with these people who looked down on him too much. But even the old invigilator just smiled and let the candidates make a mess.
Duong was getting angry when suddenly a young man shouted righteously: “Stop it! Don’t be so disrespectful!”
Hearing the young man’s shout, the group of people who were laughing suddenly fell silent. Yang turned around to look. The one who had just spoken was a rather handsome young man with an elegant scholarly appearance. This person was the 25-year-old genius alchemist, Hu Tao. His father was from the Hu family and his mother was from the Peng family. Two branches of the Dragon clan’s nobility, their financial resources far surpassed the Lin family. Both of Dao’s paternal and maternal grandfathers were high-ranking members of the alchemist association.
Ho Dao walked over and patted Duong’s shoulder to comfort him: “Brother, don’t be sad, with me here, no one will dare to laugh at you!”
Then, under Duong’s grateful gaze, Ho Dao turned to the contestants and angrily shouted: “Who are you? So what if it’s the Lam family?”
Hu Tao’s prestige made the candidates lower their heads and not dare to refute. Hu Tao continued to scold: “What right do you have to call the Lam family stupid? I’m telling you, scolding like that is insulting stupid people, the Lam family is even more stupid! Do you understand?”
The contestants were bowing their heads in defeat, suddenly understanding and burst out laughing, only Duong’s face darkened. It turned out that this despicable Ho Dao pretended to lift him up and then kicked him down even more painfully.
There was a lot of noise at the time so the whole exam hall gathered to watch.
Yang Yingong nudged Hu Tao and asked with a foolish expression: “Hey, let me ask you… what do you call a stupid loser?”
Ho Dao raised his eyebrows: “Call it… bean curd brain! Ha ha…”
“What about the loser with a brain like tofu?” Duong asked again.
Hu Tao was excited, and without thinking, he replied: “Is there such a thing as stupid? Then let’s call it… a fool!” Hu Tao intentionally shouted these words very loudly, so that the entire exam hall, from the judges to the candidates, could hear them.
Yang also laughed, not pretending but for real, because Hu Tao forgot one thing, his name was Hu Tao, and Hu Tao was another name for walnut. Some of the examinees also recognized it, but only dared to laugh secretly, not wanting to offend Hu Tao. Yang also did not have time to say anything more, because the invigilator started calling the examinees into the examination room.
The test consisted of 52 questions on the fields of metallurgy, alchemy, and alchemy, including 12 theoretical questions, each worth 5 points, and 40 multiple choice questions, each worth 1 point, with a time limit of 200 minutes. Duong could easily finish it all in half the time, but this was Long Thanh and he was in disguise, so he was not stupid enough to show off too much. Duong pretended to scratch his head many times, and when the time was almost up, he pretended to be in a hurry and wrote hastily like a normal candidate, and only submitted his test when the time was up.
Nearly 200 test papers were graded by 10 masters, so the results were announced very quickly. The next morning, Duong got up, washed his face, had breakfast, and then leisurely went to look, not to look at the scores, but to look at that Ho Dao guy’s expression.
The results were still out, a crowd was gathering waiting for the announcement of the results, a guy who took the exam in the same room as Duong yesterday, saw him coming and shouted: “Hey, tofu brain is here now?”
“What is he doing here? Is he here to see if someone will take his last place?”
“If anyone loses to him, then he’ll be the one to blame! Haha!”
Ho Dao then smirked, he didn’t care about stupid things like Duong.
A moment later, a supervisor took out a large roll of paper with the results written on it and hung it on the wall. At the top of the roll were 20 lines of bright red names, the names of the 20 candidates with the highest scores who would advance to the next round. The remaining 180 lines of smaller black names were those who were eliminated.
The people who occupied the top positions eagerly looked at the first name, then froze like statues. 1st place: Lam Trang Duong – Lam family – 89 points.
Rubbing their eyes, they glanced down. In the list, there was only one name from the Lam family, and it was ranked 1st.
Ho Dao also joined in, eagerly waiting to see if he was in the top 3 or not, when he saw the name Lam Trang Duong sitting at the top.
Duong stood outside, his hands behind his head, whistling absentmindedly, then asked himself: “What do you call someone who loses to a bean curd brain?”
A random question but all the candidates heard it, because they were all stunned, the same answer appeared in their heads: “Dog brain!”
But who dares to say it? Yesterday they were still happily teasing others, today they all lost points, just like yesterday they all happily admitted they were idiots, at that time they were still laughing happily!
Ho Dao still couldn’t believe that a Lam family member could surpass a genius grandmaster like him, even though he was only ranked 4th.
Ho Dao shook his head in doubt: “There must be cheating!”
“Woof…Woof…Woof…” In a few seconds, Duong composed a melody to tease Ho Dao, and the effect was amazing!
“You son of a bitch!” Ho Dao roared angrily, ran out and grabbed Duong’s shirt, intending to hit him.
“Stop!” At this moment, a solemn shout was heard, and the entire board of supervisors who were meeting in the room heard Hu Tao’s shout and rushed out to stop him.
An old guard walked over and asked in a low voice: “What is going on? Do you guys know where this is?”
“Sir, he hit me!” Duong complained.
The old man raised his eyebrows: “I haven’t asked you yet! Mr. Hu Tao, tell me the reason!”
Ho Dao let go of Duong’s shirt, respectfully bowed to the old man and replied: “Sir, he relied on his high score and called us idiots, I was angry on behalf of my friends so…”
The old man nodded, turned to Duong and glared: “Young man, even though you are a bit talented, it doesn’t mean you have the right to insult others! What else do you have to defend?”
“I…”
Before Duong could speak, the old man interrupted: “Alright! Minus 10 points, Duong, you have 79 points, ranking 5th. If you repeat the offense, we will eliminate you. We don’t need this kind of immoral talent!”
Yang was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood. This damn old man was clearly biased. Thanks to Google, Yang knew that he was Hu Tao’s grandfather, Grandmaster Peng Zhen, and he still acted like he was fair and upright. Yesterday, Hu Tao humiliated him, everyone knew but no one bothered to say anything. Today, Hu Tao wanted to beat him up but he was still convicted. They were truly rotten to the core.
Immediately angry but Duong had to endure, blending into the alchemy association was the best way for him to save Diem.
So Duong went back to Lam’s house with a stomach full of anger.
At this time, there was a group of people in the Lam family estate, including the head of the family, sitting in the yard. Even though they knew it was far-fetched, they still held out a little hope that Duong would pass the first round. Seeing Duong return, the group hurriedly came over, but seeing Duong’s frustrated expression, they immediately knew that the result was not optimistic at all.
“How is it?” asked the patriarch Khanh, starting to think of words of comfort in his head.
Duong sighed: “Those damn judges! I clearly passed first place, but they were biased and deducted 10 points, dropping me to 5th place!”
Old Khanh sighed, sadly resigned, patted Duong’s shoulder to comfort him: “Well, it’s just a competition after all, even if we were eliminated in the first round, but to drop from first place to fifth place is still… Huh? First place? Minus 10 points, but fifth place?” Old Khanh’s eyes were wide open, his mouth was so open that his chin was about to fall to the ground. Just kidding, even if we were eliminated but not in last place, we would have been happy, let alone in the top 5, and that was because we were deducted 10 points!
Not only old Khanh but the rest of the people still had their mouths open. To make sure Duong was not bluffing, old Khanh sent his son to the alchemy meeting to check the results, and sure enough, Duong got 79 points, ranking 5th!
From this moment on, the Lam family had a concept called peeing with joy. Old Khanh could not control himself, just like an old monkey, he shouted and danced, his “little guy” automatically released water in his pants, leaving a distinct streak of different color. It was only natural, this family had never passed the qualifying round, let alone the top 5.
So that night the whole Lam family held a celebration party, even though they had only passed the qualifying round, it was like receiving the championship. The father and son of the old Khanh family drank until they were drunk, as a result, that night Duong was “rewarded” by My Lien to have a sperm-squeezing session after several long days apart.
…
In the second round of the New Star Alchemy Competition, a grand stage was set up in the large square of the Longcheng Alchemy Association headquarters. This was an academic competition, so the audience were all intellectuals, officials, or tycoons who came to see the talent.
The entire audience leads to a competition area, where there are 20 tables and chairs arranged in 4 vertical and 5 horizontal rows, where the 20 contestants who passed round 1 will take the round 2 exam.
After introducing the competition rules, the MC of the competition began to introduce the 20 best contestants one by one. When called, that person would step out to greet the audience and then go to their predetermined position.
The first place in round 1 was originally Duong but his points were deducted so the current first place is Luyen Vien Trung, the 25 year old genius alchemist of the Luyen family Long clan. This branch of Luyen family Long clan has many people, large land and many resources but is lazy to innovate, only likes to learn technology then copy and sell at a cheaper price than the original to make profit, has been sued many times but has taken advantage of power to lobby, bribe, even threaten to let things go.
Luyen Vien Trung stepped up to the first seat in the front row, where the audience could see clearly and pay the most attention.
Next is Long Mi, the 24 year old female genius grandmaster of the Long family of the Long clan. She is a talented beauty, intelligent, diligent, patient and skillful, so she knows how to smelt metal, refine treasures and also make pills.
Next was Hu Tao of the Hu family, also a 25 year old genius alchemist. When his name was called, this person immediately stepped out and waved his hands as if he was an invincible superstar.
Rank 4 is a tall, fat, 25-year-old alchemist named Truong Tuan Anh, a member of the whale tribe. According to Duong, this person is quite gentle and humble.
“Next is the contestant currently ranked 5th, Lam Trang Duong, from the Lam family of the Dragon clan…”
Hearing about Lam family, the audience exclaimed in surprise.
“The Lam family’s Dragon Clan? Since when did the Lam family produce a true alchemist genius?”
“Is there a mistake? Or have we earned enough money to bribe the judges?”
The young male MC continued reading: “Lam Trang Duong is currently 22 years old, and is an… amateur alchemist!”
The audience was even more excited, 22 years old, and an amateur, then it was definitely cheating!
Thinking is thinking but no one dares to dare to denounce, in terms of power, the Alchemy Association is only below the Dragon Palace, and in terms of wealth, the Alchemy Association is even richer than the Dragon Palace, moreover, the audience here all have more or less dependent business relationships with the Alchemy Association, who dares to have an opinion?
Duong’s face turned red with anger. Even though he was in disguise and even though he really was cheating, the feeling of being looked down upon was really unpleasant. Then he accidentally saw Ho Dao’s sarcastic face, making him even angrier.
After Duong were the remaining 15 candidates, of which 4 were from the Dragon Clan. It wasn’t because the Dragon Clan was more talented than others, but because the Dragon Clan was given more preferential treatment than other clans, so they had more than enough money to invest in training talented people.
The second round is divided into 3 parts, corresponding to the 3 parts of alchemy: metallurgy, treasure refining and pill refining. This is a youth competition and time is limited, so of course the contestants will not be required to directly smelt metallurgy, treasure refining, pill refining, but only do a part of the work to demonstrate their talent.
Part 1: Metallurgy. Each candidate is given a small copper ball the size of a fingertip, along with some processed materials, and is required to refine it into a bronze ball within 1 hour. Then, based on the processing time and the quality of the finished product, each candidate’s score is evaluated.
The difficulty of this part of the test is that you have to choose the right type and amount of materials, combined with the amount of spiritual energy put into the bronze ball that is not too strong, not too weak, not too much, not too little to create the most perfect bronze ball. Duong can completely rely on the knowledge he received from Google to complete these things perfectly.
…