The Urban Dao Child

Yang Dao followed Elder Jing and they came to the second floor of the building. The alchemy hall had a total of four floors. The first floor was the counter area, the second floor was where the elders conducted alchemy tests, classes, and herb storage. The third floor was where the elders and senior alchemists would perform alchemy.  The fourth floor was exclusive to Elder Jing.

The trio came to a hall on the second floor. The people spotted Elder Jing and bowed to her.  The lady said, "Arrange a set of aptitude testing equipment."

A disciple bowed and picked out two stones from a cabinet on the wall. He placed them on a table and walked towards the lady. Elder Jing glanced at the two stones and said, "Dao, place a hand on the red stone, and channel your spiritual energy through it. You have to cover the stone with your spirit energy completely to pass this round."

Yang Dao nodded and walked forward. He came to stand in front of the Disciple who held the tray and placed his hand on the red stone. The stone had a shiny surface. He did not know what the stone was called but he followed what Jing Shui said. Athena walked over to her master and asked, "Is the passing requirement not met when you cover half the stone with spiritual energy? Why did you make it difficult for him, Master?"

Jing Shui smiled and replied in a low voice, "Awww, caring for your little boyfriend?"

Athena blushed and glared back at the lady in a complaining manner, Jing Shui said, "You will see in a bit, I have a hunch, this boy is a genius."

Athena trusted the lady and turned her attention to the boy. A few lower-level staff and disciples alos focused on Yang Dao as he placed his hand on the surface of the glistening red stone.

Suddenly a guy asked, "Senior brother, is that not the Chaos Jade stone?"

The other guy nodded as he said in a melancholic tone, "Chaos Jade, repels spirit energy and is found in barren places where the spirit energy concentration is low. The purer the spirit energy, the lower quality of this stone. It is used to refine shackles and torture tools. The one being used right now, that is a high quality one, it will be difficult to even cover a quarter of this stone."

The stone was not small, it was as big as a football. However, while the people thought that Yang Dao was being suppressed by Elder Jing, the boy channeled his spirit energy from the surface of his hand to cover the stone slowly. Yang Dao would have failed if he was a normal practitioner. He sensed the repulsion and then he slowly incorporated the essence of the earth element in his spirit energy, communicating with the stone.

Slowly, the whole stone was covered with pure spiritual energy and everyone had their jaws falling to the ground in shock. Elder Jing was the only one who had a smirk on her face. However, her eyes were flashing with surprise like never before. She said, "Dao, you have passed."

Yang Dao heard her words and took back his spiritual energy. As soon as the cocoon of the energy was gone, Chaos stone turned to a pile of red dust. The boy was surprised and immediately said, "Elder, I did not break it on purpose."

He was scared that he made a big mistake and had broken an artifact. Elder Jing chuckled loudly at his reaction and said, "Child, you did nothing. That stone is Chaos stone." she explained to Yang Dao and the boy calmed down.

Jing Shui smiled and him and said, "Now you see this other stone? This is called Lava stone, you have to try and call forth the fire essence hidden inside it. After you have successfully extracted the fire essence this will turn to dust as well."

Yang Dao nodded and turned to face the tray and blinked. his eyes flashed with a touch of vermillion and the next moment, the lava stone started to glow and a wave of amber erupted from inside it. The people were surprised because the process was completed too fast. Jing Shui was smiling brightly and her eyes turned crimson.

She said, "You pass the test, now you can learn the herbal compendium. After a week you will be tested and ranked accordingly. Until you have finished the first level of the herb compendium, you are not allowed to go near a cauldron and refine pills."

Yang Dao nodded to her. Jing Shui led them back to the top floor and on the way, she took out a messaging talisman. After a few minutes, Yue Jing arrived, wearing a similar robe to Athena. Elder Jing said, "Jing'er, you will be in charge of teaching Yang Dao. You must make sure that he does not have any troubles with the herbal compendium."

Yue Jing could detect the tinge of excitement in her master's voice. She asked, "Master, did my cousin pass the aptitude test?"

Elder Jing nodded and said, "Heaven grade."

Yue Jing was shocked and glanced at Yang Dao. The latter scratched his head and said, "Big sister you are embarrassing me."

Yue Jing chuckled and said, "I want to see what that arrogant twerp from Titan sect will say at the yearly sect tournament."

Elder Jing nodded with a big smile on her face. She said, "You two go get to work. Athena, you will follow me for the next week. I will guide you in your refining techniques."

The girl nodded. After a few minutes, Yue Jing took Yang Dao to the first floor and took out a herb compendium for the boy. The two then departed to the cloud palace. On the way, Yang Dao asked, "Big sister, would you like to be the matriarch of Yue family?"

Yue Jing was shocked and she froze in her steps as she heard these words.