Chapter 462: The Third Test

’What the hell are these herbs?!’

’Freaking hell, just when I had finally cleared the second test, these fuckers had to introduce a third one as well?’

’Lenient on us, my ass! Do you think it makes sense for us to know the names of your randomly selected herbs?’

’Shit...shit...shit...shit...For the ones I do know the name of, I don’t remember their details. As for the ones I don’t even know the names of... writing their details is already a lost cause! I-I’m done for.’

.

.

.

Various emotions could be seen on the candidates’ faces, but the majority of them were negative ones.

Seeing those faces, Elder Tao just inwardly smiled.

’Since this is the first time this test is being conducted, we naturally couldn’t set the level of the test questions too mediocre... Just try your best and don’t give up halfway, as the passing criterion in reality is answering not fifteen questions, but only five instead...’

Letting out an amused snort, he suddenly thought to himself, ’I wonder how he’s doing...’

The moment that thought took root in his mind, his gaze instantly started scanning all the faces of the candidates before finally landing on Yi Chen’s face.

’Wait... is he smiling?’

Elder Tao couldn’t help but frown the moment his eyes landed on Yi Chen.

Although Yi Chen had clearly showcased his theoretical knowledge in the written examination, the herbs were chosen so that even Pill Apprentices still at the Meridian Refinement Stage, or those already at the Qi Absorption Stage but with a small spiritual sea, would find it a little difficult to answer.

Therefore, Elder Tao had somewhat expected to see a difficult or at least a solemn expression on Yi Chen’s face as he was going through those herbs and trying to write down their details, only to realise now that not only was his assumption wrong, but instead the said individual was even smiling like a maniac at the moment.

’This?!’

It was at that moment that he noticed Yi Chen quickly putting away an herb he had been holding for twenty to thirty seconds before moving on to the next and doing the same.

’...Could it be that he has gone insane after seeing the herbs?’

Elder Tao thought with a worried expression, seeing Yi Chen scribbling on the answer booklet with that maniacal smile evident on his face.

Worried, he immediately went to check up on him, only to freeze the moment his eyes fell on his answer booklet.

’H-He’s writing it correctly!’

The moment Elder Tao raised his eyes in realisation, Yi Chen put away that herb, picked up the next one, and wrote all its details correctly once again.

"!!!"

Before Elder Tao could recover from this shock, Yi Chen picked up the next one and the next...and the next...

Several minutes passed without Elder Tao realising it. Throughout that time, his eyes didn’t leave Yi Chen’s answer booklet for even a second.

It was at that moment that Yi Chen suddenly stood up, satisfaction evident on his face.

’Finished!’ Yi Chen exclaimed inwardly and was about to look around for an invigilator to hand out his answer booklet, but just then he noticed a figure standing behind him, making him turn around the very next moment.

"E-Elder Tao?" Yi Chen shook a little, a bit taken aback after feeling Elder Tao’s ghost-like presence right behind him.

It was only at that moment that Elder Tao was stirred awake from his trance-like state as he noticed Yi Chen looking at him with a confused expression.

The next second, his eyes fell on the answer booklet in Yi Chen’s hand. "Y-You finished?"

Hearing those words, Yi Chen was suddenly reminded of the reason why he stood up in the first place, as he instantly nodded in response to that question and said, "Yes, Elder Tao, I’ve finished the test."

As he said that, Yi Chen stretched his hand towards him in order to submit his answer booklet. However, instead of taking the booklet, a puzzled expression formed on Elder Tao’s face.

’He finished the test already...? Wait... how long has it even been?’ Immediately realising that he had lost track of time in the middle of observing Yi Chen’s actions, Elder Tao confirmed the time with one of the invigilators.

"Elder, it’s been a little more than half an hour since the test started," the invigilator informed him the very next moment.

"I-In almost thirty minutes..." Elder Tao’s expression turned shocked once again the moment he heard those words as he turned his head to look back at Yi Chen, who was still waiting for his answer booklet to be collected.

Grab!

Seeing this, Elder Tao instantly grabbed the answer booklet from Yi Chen’s hands and, turning to its last page, saw the name and details of the 60th herb that was in the box.

"Y-You...come with me outside," Elder Tao said with a serious expression the very next moment.

"Yes..." Yi Chen nodded after giving it a thought and soon followed Elder Tao out of the Testing Hall.

While at it, Elder Tao threw the answer script towards one of the invigilators and said, "Take care of the class in my absence."

"Yes, Elder Tao."

He and the other three responded the very next moment, but by that time Elder Tao had already left the hall in hurried haste.

Once they reached a secluded room, Elder Tao finally stopped and turned to face Yi Chen. "You... who is your teacher?"

"T-Teacher?" Yi Chen asked with a frown and continued, "I don’t have any..."

However, before he could continue, Elder Tao’s words cut him off, "Don’t lie! There’s no way someone like you won’t have a teacher."

Hearing the conviction evident in those words, Yi Chen realised that if he repeated the same answer again, it might end up having a negative result instead. Therefore, he decided to make him hear exactly what he wanted to hear.

"Well, she can’t be called my teacher, but I did ask her a lot of questions that I encountered while learning to refine this pill properly..."

Yi Chen had barely finished speaking when Elder Tao exclaimed, his eyes burning with curiosity, "Who?! What is her name?!"

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