Chapter 1749: Priest Apprentice

“It’s actually top-grade. Even the priest’s strength is no more than this, right?”

“Lord Kong Lin said this was his first time refining. I… I still don’t believe it.”

“Yeah, too fake! We’ve cultivated for a thousand years and can’t even refine low-grade, but he gets top-grade on his first try. This is too discouraging.”

…

Top-grade, for Ye Yuan now, was simply a disgrace.

Since entering the Dao realm, almost none of the pills he refined were below divine-grade.

Even with his eyes closed, Ye Yuan couldn’t refine a top-grade pill.

But in the eyes of others, that was entirely different.

Everyone already knew that Ye Yuan was truly refining the Demon God Pill for the first time, yet he produced top-grade!

Such talent was truly despair-inducing.

Mu Yuanchun’s facial muscles twitched. He thought he could finally surpass Ye Yuan in alchemy, but he was still outdone.

High-grade versus top-grade—a complete defeat!

For alchemists, high-grade was easy to refine, but top-grade was hard to come by.

For ordinary alchemists, refining pills above top-grade depended on luck.

But Ye Yuan was only on his first try!

“Heh, looks like I passed the assessment,” Ye Yuan said with relief.

Passing the assessment was naturally not worth his joy, but he knew he had successfully caught the attention of these elders.

Shi Yu nodded and said, “Good. In this assessment, Ye Yuan, Mu Yuanchun, and Gu Hong pass and become priest apprentices of the Ba Yuan Imperial City’s Priest Temple. The rest must continue to strive. The doors of our Priest Temple are always open to you.”

The others, though helpless, could only accept reality.

The assessment of the Priest Temple was truly not easy to pass.

After everyone dispersed, Shi Yu said to Kong Lin, “Kong Lin, take Yuanchun and Gu Hong to settle in. Ye Yuan stays for now. After you settle them, come back.”

Kong Lin was surprised but replied, “Yes!”

Mu Yuanchun’s expression changed slightly, his heart filled with rage.

Originally, this glory should have been his.

Now, all the limelight had been stolen by Ye Yuan.

After the three left, Shi Yu looked at Ye Yuan with a grave expression and said, “Ye Yuan, I want to see your skill in refining divine-grade pills!”

Ye Yuan smiled and said, “Yes, Elder!”

Since he intended to show his strength, Ye Yuan did not hide anything.

Thereupon, Ye Yuan refined a divine-grade pill, similar in difficulty to the Dark Cloud Profound Spring Pill.

When he finished, he found Shi Yu and the other two staring at him with extreme shock, as if looking at a monster.

Ye Yuan’s alchemy strength was already well-known in the Lingnan region.

But in this distant Demon God Domain, no one had witnessed it.

Thus, as soon as he made his move, it left the three five-star priests dumbfounded.

“No wonder! No wonder you could pick it up so quickly! So your alchemy strength has already reached such a level!” Shi Yu exclaimed in admiration.

“At such a young age, your alchemy has already reached the master level—truly incredible!” another elder marveled.

The three of them had naturally long seen that Ye Yuan was extraordinary, but they never expected his strength to be this formidable.

Even as five-star priests, they were completely incomparable to Ye Yuan!

Ye Yuan smiled and said, “You flatter me, three elders. I know nothing about the Demon God Pill, but I yearn for it. That’s why I traveled thousands of miles to the Demon God Domain, to learn the refining method of the Demon God Pill from you seniors!”

Shi Yu nodded and said, “Alright, stay for now and study together with the other priest apprentices.”

Ye Yuan said, “Yes, Elder!”

After Ye Yuan left, the three elders’ expressions turned grave.

“Elder Shi, what do you think?” The elder who spoke was named Ku Mu.

“Elder Shi, you’re being too indecisive. Although this child carries the bloodline of the demon race, he has long lived in human territory. He likely harbors ill intentions. Why not just kill him?” said another elder, Ni Kun.

Shi Yu pondered for a moment and said, “Killing him would solve the problem once and for all, but what benefit does it bring us? Compared to humans, the demon race has far too few alchemy geniuses! With this child’s talent, if he can be used by us, he will surely become a top expert of the demon race in the future! Which is more important—don’t you have a clue?”

At these words, the other two elders fell into silence.

Compared to humans, the demon race was indeed far behind in alchemy.

This was determined by talent, and the demon race’s alchemists were helpless about it.

Humans were several times stronger than the demon race in such fine control.

And this also determined the quality of pills.

Now that a talent as terrifying as Ye Yuan had suddenly appeared, how could Shi Yu not be tempted?

“But how can you guarantee he will be used by us? Don’t forget, this is his first time refining the Demon God Pill, meaning he has always lived in human territory!” Ni Kun suddenly said.

Shi Yu nodded and said, “In my view, his coming to the Demon God Domain is certainly not just for study, or at least not solely for study. He definitely has another purpose! However, let’s report this matter to the High Priest and let him decide.”

The other two naturally had no objections and nodded in agreement.

…

Ye Yuan naturally did not expect Shi Yu to believe his words. Such talk of admiring the Demon God Pill might fool children.

Before coming, he had naturally considered all the risks.

He was also well aware of the situation of the demon race’s priests.

Thus, he changed his usual style and unhesitatingly revealed his talent to make the temple value him.

Clearly, his goal was achieved.

Kong Lin led Ye Yuan to a large building in the back courtyard of the temple and said, “This is the residence for priest apprentices. You have just entered the temple and are a low-level priest apprentice. This is your priest apprentice attire. You should know that the Priest Temple does not keep idlers, so all the resources you need must be obtained through contribution points.”

Ye Yuan took the priest apprentice attire and smiled, “Thank you, Senior Brother Kong!”

Kong Lin nodded slightly and turned to leave.

He was actually very puzzled. Given the talent Ye Yuan had displayed, he thought the three elders would take him as a personal disciple.

But now, it seemed they had not.

Shi Yu had even told him to bring Ye Yuan here without any further instructions.

In other words, did his master intend to let him fend for himself?

He could not fathom Shi Yu’s thoughts, so he followed the normal procedure and brought Ye Yuan here.

“Heh, so what if he has high talent? Let’s see how long he can last here,” Kong Lin sneered coldly.

As the youngest priest in the Priest Temple, he had been slapped in the face everywhere today—how could he not have some resentment?

Since the elders had not taken Ye Yuan as a personal disciple, they were probably wary of him.

Then, making him suffer a bit, or even making him leave on his own, was not out of the question.

Among the priest apprentices, there were many old hands. Ye Yuan would surely have a hard time here.

After all, no matter how high Ye Yuan’s talent was, he was only at the fourth level of the Divine Lord realm.