Chapter 178: Life 68, Age 46, Martial King 1
I had two options for which set of tests I could take on the Path of Mind, formation specialist or alchemist. As a member of the Earth Peak, I should have taken the formation specialist route as it had been made clear in my last life that walking a path other than the one connected to my peak would negatively impact my position within the sect.
However, I wasn’t overly concerned with my position any longer. I only desired to reach Earth City safely. If doing so meant losing my position as a core disciple, that would be fine.
While I believed my formation and alchemy skills were at about the same level, I didn’t have a solid way to quantify my level of expertise with Rank 5 formations. The ability that let me evaluate formations only worked on those Rank 3 or below. So, while I was confident in my abilities, without hard evidence of my skill level, I was still slightly concerned.
With alchemy, while I didn’t have an evaluation skill from the System, I had gotten good enough at appraising pills without one that I had a decent understanding of how my pills compared with other Pill Kings. While I wasn’t completely happy with the efficacy levels of my Rank 5 pills, they were still far better than what others at my cultivation level were producing. So, if it were possible for a Martial King 1 to complete the Path of Mind as an alchemist, I was confident I would be able to do it.
Additionally, while this path may have some differences from the one to Profound City, I still had a decent idea of what to expect in the test for alchemists. So yes, while I would probably be able to pass the formation specialist tests, I didn’t want to risk the unknown when I was so close to my ultimate goal.
With these considerations in mind, I walked through the arch for alchemists.
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Instead of the musty cave from the previous version of the Path of Mind, this tunnel led out onto a clifftop high up on Dragon Peak that overlooked the surrounding landscape.
When I exited the cave to this sight, all I could do was stare in wonder.