Bai Chen decided to act on his plans immediately and left the cultivation room in secret.
Once outside, he carefully made his way to the exit of the mansion and entered the streets of Azure Feng City.
He casually strolled in the streets, looking at different shops and people who passed by.
The aroma of the grilled meat filled the streets and merchants in colorful outfits hawked their wares in loud voices.
Occasionally, cultivators with powerful auras strode past, their presence commanding respect.
Bai Chen was not worried about being found out because at his level unless the city lord personally paid close attention, no one would be able to notice him even if he stood in front of them.
This allowed him to move freely throughout the city, though he knew he would need to be cautious near the city lord's mansion.
After strolling for a while, Bai Chen finally came in front of a majestic pavilion, with a sign that read, Alchemist Association.
A place where all of the alchemists in each city gather, a behemoth of the Alchemy world, and a trusted place to have your pill refined. It held immense influence, commanding respect from rogue cultivators as well as the various sects.
People constantly moved in and out of the building, most of them wearing expensive clothing and sporting arrogant expressions as if the world revolved around them.
There were some commoners in rags mixed in, but they were mostly ignored by even the staff working in the building.
Bai Chen controlled his aura to reach the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm and took another appearance-altering pill before entering the building, garnering quick attention from a seductive attendant.
"How may I help you today sir?" The attendant leaned in a little bit to reveal her deep cleavage as she asked.
Looking at the attendant, the only emotion Bai Chen felt was disgust, but he suppressed it to avoid any unnecessary trouble. Instead, he just spoke with a cold face,
"I want to take the alchemist exam."
"Oh," the attendant's expression changed, and a trace of amusement appeared in her eyes.
Alchemists were highly respected individuals who commanded immense authority and respect wherever they went.
But, becoming an alchemist wasn't an easy task and most of the time, those who became alchemists came from a distinguished background or had an alchemist as their master.
Even though it was commonly known that becoming an alchemist was easier said than done, there was no shortage of hot-blooded individuals who came to take the test every day.
And it was precisely because of this that the Alchemist Association decided to put a fee to attend the exam.
Otherwise, they would not have time to do anything else other than taking the exams.
The attendant's lips curled up into a knowing smile as she spoke, "To take the exam, you would need to pay a fee of 500 low-grade spirit stones."
She was looking forward to seeing a look of hesitation or frustration on Bai Chen's face as most newbies balked at the cost.
After all 500 low-grade spirit stones were equal to 500,000 gold coins, which were enough to feed a family comfortably for several generations.
This was also a profitable business for the Alchemist Association as usually, the cost of the materials used by each examinee didn't exceed 50 spirit stones,
If a candidate failed, the Alchemist Association would profit 450 spirit stones and even if they passed, the pills that passed the test usually go between 70 to 100 spirit stones, still giving the association a small profit.
But to her surprise, Bai Chen wordlessly took out a pouch and handed it to her.
She checked the pouch content and was astonished to see that it contained exactly 500 spirit stone.
'A nobody with such an amount of wealth? Interesting,' the attendant thought to herself but outwardly, a professional smile appeared on her face as she spoke,
"Alright, please follow me to the exam room," the attendant gestured toward an empty corridor as she started walking.
"The entrance exam will be based on two stages, theory and practical, if you fail any of these two, you would be considered to have failed," while walking she started to introduce Bai Chen to the exam procedures.
"You will also considered to have failed the exam if you fail to refine pills of a certain quality and the higher the quality of the pills you refine, the better your starting rank would be." she continued.
"But, if you pass both of them, then you will receive your fee back, but the Alchemist Association will keep the pills you refined."
Bai Chen nodded, showing no reaction to these rules as he had already known about them in the sect.
After a short walk through the corridors, they finally arrived at a gate with Exam Hall written on it.
The attendant pushed open the door and entered without a pause and Bai Chen followed her inside.
There were a few people already seated in the room, likely other participants.
When they saw an unfamiliar face enter with the attendant, a few of them sneered and snarkily remarked,
"Another nobody who thinks he can easily pass the exam and ascend the heavens in a single step?"
"Honestly, the Association should just increase the threshold to take the exam."
"Let's see how long he can last."
Meanwhile, most of them didn't even bother to take a second glance at Bai Chen, already considering him to have failed.
Bai Chen gave an indifferent glance to these participants as if they were nothing more than air and started looking around the room, there were shelves all around the room, filled with books.
The soft scent of books was mixed with the calming scent of the herbs, relaxing one's mind and making the atmosphere feel more tranquil and calm.
However, the calm in the room was greatly contrasting with the tension among the candidates, with some having sweaty hands, some fidgeting nervously, and some constantly repeating what they had learned.
The attendant told Bai Chen to take a seat and wait for the start of the exam before leaving the room.
Thirty minutes later, a middle-aged man with messy hair strolled into the room, there was still some charcoal on his robes and an annoyed expression on his face, indicating a failure in concoction of a pill.
A badge, which was also a little dirty signified his status as a mid-level Master Alchemist.
The few knowledgeable candidates got a little worried after realizing that the examiner must have failed in refining a pill and would probably take his frustration out on them.
After reaching his desk, the examiner glanced at the people there to take the exam and spoke in a neutral voice, though there were still hints of annoyance leaking here and there.
"You would have 30 minutes to answer all ten questions on the paper, after that, I'll assess them and notify you whether you passed or not."
"If I catch you cheating, you would be banned from taking the alchemist exam for three years and the Alchemist Association would not work with you in this time period as well."
"Any questions?"
When the examiner finished speaking, a candidate in a luxurious robe raised his hand and asked, "Sir, isn't the time usually 45 minutes?"
"If you don't feel satisfied, get out, otherwise shut up, in my class you follow my rules," the examiner replied in an even more annoyed voice.
Hearing the examiner's words, some participants groaned, meanwhile, some complained that it was unfair for them to bear the backlash of something they had no involvement in.
But all of them were silenced with just a cold glance from the examiner.
Bai Chen on the other hand, had no reaction to this as he was confident he could pass the test, even with the increased difficulty.
Bai Chen's confidence mainly stemmed from him already reaching the level of a high-level Master Alchemist, a level above the examiner, after learning alchemy from his uncle, the Grand Elder of the Azure Dragon Sect.
This was already a respectable level among the Alchemist just below the Grandmaster.
'I am so glad that uncle was an Alchemist as well, otherwise, I would really be racking my brain on how to earn money' Bai Chen thought.
At this moment the examiner waved his hand and the exam sheets started to float toward the examines.
"The time begins, now," the examiner announced the start of the exam with the flip of a sand dial.
Bai Chen caught the exam sheet that was floating toward him and in just a glance, had already solved the entire paper in his head.
'Is this the best they could come up with?' He thought indifferently before picking up the quill and starting to write the answers on the sheet.