The Supreme God of Martial Arts

The third round of assessment ended fairly quickly, lasting only about thirty minutes.

However, Fitch didn't immediately announce the results, although the admission list seemed to have been finalized already.

It was as though he and the other two were waiting for something, or someone.

Soon enough, a streak of grayish light cfrom the sky and landed on the square.

"Steward Foster!" The three of them called out in unison as they quickly walked up to where the light was.

A male figure materialized as the light faded. As it turned out, the man who was addressed as "Steward Foster" was a cultivator refining at the preliminary stage of Master Realm. Dressed in gray, he looked like a plain middle-aged man who was around forty years old.

"Which one of them is the Marsh guy you have mentioned?" was the first thing Foster asked once his feet touched the ground.

"Come, Marsh," Fitch called out. "Cand meet our steward, Foster." With a wide smile, he gestured at Austin to cnear.

Austin was a bit taken aback, but he went up anyway, trying to look calm.

Upon arriving in front of Foster, he greeted him politely, though hesitantly. "Hello, Steward Foster." In response, the man nodded his head.

"It's Marsh, right? Fitch and the others have toldall about your performance in the assessments.

If they weren't making things up, you seem to be a really talented young man and is worth training," Foster said with a smile.

"But to know if that really is the case, you will go through another test. This time, however, | will personally test you," he explained, his face mellow but serious. "If you are able to pass it, | myself will nominate you to becan enlisted alchemy disciple of our Magic Hand Sect.

What do you think?" Foster's inquiring eyes were locked on Austin.

'An enlisted alchemy disciple of Magic Hand Sect?’ Austin repeated in his head. He was now even more confused and because of that, he didn't say anything for a while.

'Wait--didn't they say they were recruiting refinery assistants? Then what's an alchemy disciple all about? Why did they suddenly change the rules?’ Austin thought as he tried to figure things out.

"Hey, Marsh. Our steward just asked you a question.

It is an honor to becan enlisted alchemy disciple in our sect. It is far better than starting as a refinery assistant.

This is really an opportunity you can't afford to lose! Don't let your talent go to waste! We have already seen the great potential you have!" Fitch earnestly chimed in after seeing that Austin had still not given a response.

With that, Austin's eyes swept across the four authorities in front of him, trying to read their expressions. Once again, he pondered the whole thing over. After another few moments of silence, he was finally convinced that they meant well. This reaction from them must truly be because he had done so well in the assessments. They must really believe that his abilities would be wasted if he was merely a refinery assistant.

At that moment, Austin suddenly remembered who founded the Magic Hand Sect: Angus. Since Austin had had learned most of what he knew about refinery from him, it could be said that indeed, he was the sect founder's protege.

Following that logic, it would be perfectly justifiable if Austin joined the sect and becan enlisted alchemy disciple of it.

Aside from that, Austin was currently looking for Angus' daughter. Wouldn't it be more convenient for him to look for more clues about her whereabouts from within the sect? Austin's thoughts fired rapidly as he weighed the pros and cons of the decision he was going to make.

Finally, he had made up his mind. Austin feigned ecstasy and excitedly said to Foster, "Thank you so much Steward Foster! Thank you judges for givingthis chance! The honor is all mine!" "That's good to hear, child," Foster said, his soft smile widening. "But as | have told you, we still have to see if you would be able to pass my test or not." The sparkle in his eyes indicated that he really appreciated Austin's modesty.

With a wave of his hand, a yellowish brown herbal pot appeared out of thin air. Austin tried his best to hide his surprise when the object appeared. Quickly, he envisioned what role this pot was going to play in the coming test.

Pressing his hand on the pot's mouth, Foster channeled his vital energy force inside. Almost immediately, a yellowish brown flshot out from the middle of his palm.

With a little push, he sent the flinto the herbal pot, where it blazed up into bright yellowish brown fire, heating the pot up.

It was the first tAustin saw something like this and he was beyond amazed. It was obvious that Foster was also an experienced pill refiner.

He guessed that the little flfrom Foster's palm was his pilot fire, from which he would generate the magic fire he needed for pill refining.

"Marsh," Foster called, his face now serious. "This is what | want you to do: | want you to direct your vital energy into this herbal pot, and control the fire and its heat to a certain level as per my instructions. Do you understand?" With an expression mirroring Foster's, Austin nodded.

It had dawned on him now. Controlling the conditions in the herbal pot was one of the basic skills for pill refining, but it took talent as well. At the very least, you needed to have good control of your vital energy.

He walked up to the pot, put his right hand on the mouth of it and started sending his vital energy in.

Of course, he had done it with restraint--He made sure that he kept his vital energy at a relatively low level which would match a cultivator at the preliminary stage of Sky Realm he claimed himself to be.

With Austin's vital energy as the fuel, the fire in the herbal pot flared up, getting hotter and becoming brighter.