Reynard stared indifferently, he was very familiar with Doran's insanely positive attitude, seeing him act confidently while making such an absurd statement wasn't surprising; it's not like this was the first time it had happened, he could immediately recall several similar occasions, which gave him the idea to always take Doran's words with a pinch of salt.

"Do whatever you want" he snorted with an unconcerned expression.

Doran clearly understood the reason for Reynard's cold response; unique was the second-highest grade of an artifact, although the difference between it and a transcendent grade was like heaven and earth, one couldn't deny the fact that it was a very rare and powerful grade, and couldn't be easily made at will, even for master class craftsmen.

Originally, Doran wouldn't have dared to make such an unreasonable declaration of becoming the next Zespar Ismaili, because it might incur the wrath of the other disciples in the smithy who had also been frustrated with their refinement failures; but as of recent, after discovering he was the reincarnation of a great figure, he naturally gained some assurance of incredible achievement coming his way, he couldn't help but visualize the bright future that awaited him.

After a moment of thinking, Doran suddenly recalled his thoughts, the ranking test was in a few days, although he didn't have any significant attainment, that was all in the past. With his new ability, he planned to use the test as a platform to propel himself, into a new era of success. He immediately set a goal in his mind, not daring to say it out loud.

…

Florin Valley Academy's health facility…

A disciple dressed in blue silk robe sat on a small couch, one leg crossed over the other, glaring sharply with a cold glint. Next to him was Nehru Bai's sickly figure, lying on a white bed in the room, as he blankly stared at the ceiling with a pale look on his face; seeming to have lost a tremendous amount of blood vitality.

After a short moment, Nehru Bia turned to the direction of the disciple. His eyes were bulging with blood vessels; making them dark red and shook painfully. From his gaze, one would instinctively make out these words:

[Avenge Me]

"E-elder brother… it was my fault… I underestimated him" Nehru Bai slowly said with a weak voice.

The disciple in the blue silk robe snorted with an indifferent expression, not even uttering a single word.

Nehru Bai felt unimaginable despair creep up his heart.

The disciples of the Academy were proud sons and daughters in Florin Valley, and It was the dream of every family, whether small or great, to have their children make it into the Academy.

The Nehru family, although they couldn't be considered as nobles, they were quite prestigious in Florin Valley. He and his elder cousin, Nehru Doxing, were taken in as disciples at a young age; this amounted to a massive celebration in their family. They then agreed to support their descendants who made it into the academy with enough resources, so that they could progress further without any difficulty.

Nehru Doxing proved to be more talented than Nehru Bai, and as a result of the abundant resources they were provided with, he managed to reach the top 200 in the rankings at the age of seventeen.

Three years had passed since then, now Nehru Doxing, who is currently ranked somewhere between 110 - 120 was aiming for the top hundred, while Nehru Bai still dreams of making it to the top 200.

Just as he was thinking, Nehru Doxing icy voice sounded beside him,

"I heard your core ring was cracked"

Nehru Bai gnashed his teeth, after being reminded of his predicament; It was a terrible fate for one's core ring to get damaged because core rings were very fragile, and it could take several months, or even years to get it fixed. There were some special occasions where a person's core ring would be permanently destroyed, without any hope of getting fixed.

"I…it wasn't ordinary, he did something strange, t-trust me." He hurriedly said with a stuttered voice.

Nehru Doxing's face was tainted with disgust, he didn't believe it when he heard what happened at the arena, he had brought up this matter to hear an explanation from the horse's mouth, hoping that it was some incident unrelated to the battle that had caused it, but he was surprised to hear Nehru Bai admit to being injured by a trivial junior; he even proceeded to wonder why such disgraceful cousin of his was being ardently sponsored by the family.

"You waste! I didn't know you could be so shameless to give such a silly excuse" The family elders must have been mistaken to expect anything from you.

Nehru Bai felt wronged, as a look of unhappiness appeared on his face, he could still remember the dreadful dilemma he experienced on that day at the arena.

If Nehru Doxing were to report this matter to the family, it wouldn't be strange for them to cut him off from their support. Now that he had the assurance of making it into the top 200, and becoming an outer-court disciple, he had gotten a serious injury just a few days to the ranking test. Thinking of this, he couldn't help cursing Doran viscously in his heart, as he swore to teach him a memorable lesson immediately after his recovery.

After a moment of silence, Nehru Bai perked up his brows, seeming to have thought of something,

"I c-can hasten my recovery if I… get the revitalization pill," he said with a stuttering voice.

"Nonsense!" Nehru Doxing bellowed angrily; the revitalization pill was a rare-grade pill and wasn't what any commoner could get their hands on, even nobles would go through a lot of difficulties to acquire one,

The standard for grading pills was set to be the same with artifacts, although many had disagreed with this method, there was nothing that could be done about it; because for some obviously silly reasons, alchemy and artifact refining was considered as two rivalry professions, with both practitioners ready to fight it out with words whenever there was an encounter.

The Dao of alchemy was one of the several cultivation paths, a person could embark on in the Jiangxi divine continent. Unlike other professions, it was purely knowledge-based and focused on the study of exotic plants, which were then transformed into pills, increasing their medicinal efficacies.

There weren't many alchemists in the Jiangxi divine continent; this was quite understood because not everyone had the talent or zeal for it, considering that It was a none combat-based profession, and one had to be extremely knowledgeable and gifted to excel in this field. This circumstance naturally became a medium for these arrogant alchemists to raise the price of pills, making even the most ordinary among them more valuable than gold.

Nehru Bai knew all this and still dared to have the idea of obtaining a revitalization pill… Nehru Doxing couldn't be more convinced that his cousin had lost his mind.

"You dare talk nonsense in your current situation? With the resources, the family has spent on you, yet you couldn't make significant progress in the rankings, and even got your core ring damaged by a mere brat who hasn't even reached the essence gathering stage" He paused for a while to suppress his anger because he already felt like he should beat the hell out of Nehru Bai, "Besides... Where do you think you will find a revitalization pill?"

"I heard there's going to be one displayed at the grand auction" Nehru Bai replied calmly.

Nehru Doxing furrowed his brows, and stared at Nehru Bai with squinted eyes, obviously annoyed by his words,

"And why do you think you have a chance of acquiring it?" he hurriedly asked with a solemn tone, if such pill was to be displayed at the grand auction, countless nobles will be willing to bid their life savings to get it; the was naturally no likelihood for him.

"I'll exchange that thing"

Those were just a few lines Nehru Bai uttered, but upon hearing those words, Nehru Doxing perked up as a light of interest flashed across his eyes, he grinned slightly and said;

"Finally, you have gained some sense".