Chapter 63: Chapter 63- The Best of the Best

The location where all the information on the general knowledge of the Eastern Continent was stored, was called the General Library Mountain.

Not the General Library Pavilion, no, it was called the General Library ’Mountain.’

Even though the library didn’t contain information about cultivation, unlike the Martial Arts Library Mountain, it did contain information and insights on professions like Alchemy, Blacksmithing, and Rune Formations. So, the Academy deemed the information important to dedicate an entire mountain to it.

It was on this mountain Sol was holding up. Currently, he was in a corner of the massive library with a pile of books on the table around him.

Comparing the number of books in the library to the amount Sol had around him was like comparing a fist-size stone to one of the mountains in the Academy. However, he did draw eyes as there weren’t many people reading this many books at once.

Some regular visitors would even be shocked to see Sol here as it had been nearly a week since they first saw him in that exact position.

“Senior brother, I got news for you! Young Master Byeong-Ho from the Huashan Sect is about to hold a gathering of young geniuses across Jianghu!”

This shout drew a few people’s attention in the surroundings, but Sol was so focused on reading his books that he didn’t hear it.

The person who was called Senior Brother turned to the person who shouted and motioned for him to lower his voice.

“Tell me more.”

The boy’s eyes light up before he followed behind his Senior brother.

His Senior brother had tasked him with gathering important information on a daily basis and report back to him. This sort of deal was common among disciples as the academy was just too big.

Senior disciples would take Junior disciples that just entered the academy under their wing, and in exchange, the Junior disciples gather information and run errands for them.

However, just as the Junior disciple was about to follow his Senior brother deeper into the library, his attention was drawn to a girl that had just entered the library.

The young boy’s heart was moved, and he couldn’t help but follow this girl with his eyes as she passed him and headed for a corner of the library.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder causing him to exit his trance.

“Hey, what are you doing, don’t you know who that is? Don’t look at him.”

Hearing his Senior brother’s words, the youth blushed and was about to ask if she was one of those cold beauties in the Academy, however, he quickly showed a confused expression when he realized his Senior brother referred to the extremely beautiful girl as ’him.’

“Senior brother, what do you mean?”

Seeing his Junior brother’s innocence, the Senior brother tried to pull him away while explaining in a low voice.

“Don’t say anymore, just follow me and I’ll explain later.”

While being pulled away the Junior brother asked.

“Senior brother, why can’t you just tell me now? Why did you refer to that Senior sister as a boy?”

“Because that’s not a Senior sister but a Senior ’brother.’ Don’t you see the men’s robes he’s wearing?”

The Junior brother hearing this was first stunned but suddenly said.

“Senior brother you’re lying; there’s no way that Senior sister is a guy. Are you saying this because you have such preferences Senior brother?”

“You-!”

The Senior brother wanted to scold this Junior brother of his, but his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of Yoon-Jae who had stopped.

Immediately his face paled.

The Junior brother seeing this turned to see what was behind him.

Yoon-Jae had stopped before turning around towards the both of them.

“Wah! D-Did she perhaps hear us? Quick, Senior brother, apologize to her before… huh? Senior brother? Where did you go?”

The Junior brother had turned to look for his Senior brother but realized he had vanished.

However, what was stranger was that a few people in the area looked at Yoon-Jae with pale expressions before scattering in all directions.

The boy was confused by this, but he happened to see the beautiful Senior sister was still looking at him.

“Ah, I-I apologize, Senior sister, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

The boy cupped his fist and bowed as he apologized. However, when he looked up, he saw that this beautiful Senior sister began undressing.

“WAH! W-What are you doing Senior sister?!”

The boy was so shocked he stumbled back and almost tripped over his own feet.

The boy wanted to look away in respect to this Senior sister, but she didn’t give him any time to do so as the robes were only a one-piece outfit.

Everything was exposed in an instant.

The boy’s face quickly became red, but as his eyes involuntarily trailed down this Senior sister’s smooth pale skin, his expression slowly changed.

A flat chest…

One pair of abs…

Two pairs of abs…

Three pairs of abs…

And then…

“This…This is…”

The boy’s blushing face changed into a mortified look, and he glanced back up at Yoon-Jae’s face before looking back down.

He did this repeatedly.

After a while, the boy’s shoulders suddenly slumped, and he turned to stagger off while dragging his feet.

His eyes looked unfocused while a complicated expression played on his face.

Yoon-Jae chortled when he saw this before he tied his robes and headed for the corner where Sol was.

The Senior brother from before came back after everything was over and seeing his Junior brother’s expression as he left the library dazedly, he couldn’t help but shake his head.

However, Yoon-Jae suddenly glanced towards him causing his scalp to tingle. He didn’t hesitate to turn and dash towards the other end of the library where everyone disappeared to.

Coming up to Sol, Yoon-Jae frowned and said.

“How are you not tired of looking through those books?”

“Oh, brother Yoon-Jae, I’ll finish after this last one.”

Sol raised his head to greet Yoon-Jae before he went back to reading the book in his hands.

Yoon-Jae rolled his eyes.

“That’s what you said yesterday and every day since you’ve been here. Are you still reading books on alchemy? If it’s for the tests, then I can exempt you from taking them on the grounds that you’re a specially recruited disciple. I am the Head Disciple of the Alchemy Pavilion so this much I can do.”

Sol shook his head.

“Brother Yoon-Jae, I would prefer it if you don’t give me any special treatment, even if we are friends. If it’s a requirement for disciples of the Alchemy Pavilion to do the monthly tests, then I will. Who knows, I might just snatch away your position as the Head Disciple.”

The Head Disciple in simple terms was a position given to the most outstanding disciple in each Pavilion.

Usually, it would be a Senior that had the position, and even though Yoon-Jae had entered the Academy a year ago, he was still quite young to hold the title.

In fact, he was one of the few disciples that had become a Head Disciple despite hailing from the up-and-coming generation.

Thus, he and these few people were dubbed ’Rising Stars’ as well as ’Monster-level Geniuses’ for their outstanding talents.

Yoon-Jae chuckled at Sol’s words, but he began admiring this boy more for not taking advantage of their friendship. He wouldn’t mind helping Sol, but he appreciated his thoughtfulness.

However, Yoon-Jae also took Sol’s words as a challenge as he responded.

“You can try and take the Head Disciple position, but I won’t make it easy for you.”

Yoon-Jae folded his hands and casually leaned against Sol’s back as he said this.

“Is it that hard to get the Head Disciple position?”

Smiling, Yoon-Jae explained.

“I don’t know about the other Pavilions, but there are two ways to become the Head Disciple of our Alchemy Pavilion. The first is to concoct a pill that surpasses my capabilities, or second, completely memorize Master’s Ten Thousand Medicinal Plants and Herbs Catalog.”

Sol paused his reading and was about to ask another question, but Yoon-Jae beat him to it.

“I know what you’re thinking, but Master’s Catalog isn’t so simple. Though it has the name ’Ten Thousand’ in the name, the number is far beyond ten thousand when you add the many combined variations the plants can have. The number might be in the hundreds of thousands, or millions.”

“What Tier are these plants and herbs?”

“They’re Tier 1 to Tier 3.”

Sol paused once more before asking.

“Is there a need to memorize so many plants and herbs?”

Sol was starting to understand that his Uncle Master was putting emphasis on alchemy theory rather than actually concocting alchemy pills.

With closed eyes, Yoon-Jae responded.

“No, there’s actually no benefit in learning so many pill formulas and medicinal plants right off the bat. One can just focus on a few of them and easily rise through the ranks of an alchemist.”

“Then why-”

“Why is Master making the Alchemy Disciples study like crazy?”

Sol nodded.

“Well, because this is the Martial Alliance Academy. We’re supposed to be the best of the best, so we can’t do things like everyone else. Rather than producing a Tier 2 Alchemist Apprentice that has basic knowledge about concocting a few Tier 1 and Tier 2 medicinal pills, the Academy would rather have a Tier 1 Alchemist Apprentice that has a vast knowledge of concocting numerous types of Tier 1 pills. Do you understand?”

Sol nodded, realizing the reputation the Martial Alliance Academy has wasn’t a fluke. Their standards for disciples were beyond normal.

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