There are still three days left in the countdown to the Danxia Sect’s annual exam.
In a relatively remote alchemy room on the Red Flame Peak, Lin Yang, with patches of black and white on his face and beads of sweat on his forehead, was nervously staring at the blazing alchemy furnace.
He has memorized "Hundred Solutions to Alchemy" by heart, and today is his first time trying to make an alchemy.
He used the waste elixirs collected these days to synthesize upgraded elixirs. Except for a small part for his own use, he took all of them to Danxia Town and exchanged them for individual plants of spiritual grass. Twenty copies of the sufficient amount were refined back into The spiritual herb of Yuan Dan.
At the same time, he asked Ma Cheng to get the recipe for Huiyuan Dan. With Ma Cheng and Fei Biao acting as eyes and ears, he knew that the content of this year's handyman peak exam was to refine the Huiyuan Pill.
According to the instructions of Huiyuan Dan and "Hundred Solutions to Alchemy", Lin Yang did not dare to make any deviations in the dosage and ratio of the spiritual herbs. He was even more careful when to use martial fire and when to use slow fire. But the result was that, nineteen times in a row, he only produced one furnace of pill residue each time.
He endured the feeling of being about to collapse, gritted his teeth and started refining the elixir for the twentieth time, which was also the last time because he had no more spiritual herbs.
Perhaps because of the experience of nineteen failures, he went very smoothly on the twentieth time of refining the elixir, and soon reached the final stage of collecting the elixir.
The twentieth batch of elixir has reached the most critical moment. As long as the fire introduced into the alchemy room gradually recedes, the Huiyuan elixir will be ready. Lin Yang's palms were already sweating. It was his first time making alchemy. He could make one out of twenty furnaces, so he still had a little talent for alchemy.
Lin Yang looked at the earth fire that was about to go out under the alchemy furnace, and his heart was pounding. The harvest of the elixir was about to happen. Although it was only a furnace of Huiyuan Dan, after all, he had made it by himself, so how could he not be excited.
Finally, the ground fire was completely extinguished, and a faint medicinal fragrance was emitted from the alchemy furnace.
Lin Yang's face had already shown a smile early. At this moment, he heard a muffled sound and the smile on his face completely froze.
Ignoring the scalding temperature, Lin Yang opened the alchemy furnace and saw a dozen pills rolling down from the bottom of the furnace. They were dark, round or square, and some even had stripes on the surface. The cracks are all filled with waste pills.
"It seems that I have no talent in alchemy." Lin Yang had to admit the fact before his eyes.
…
The annual examination of the Danxia Sect has finally begun.
Because the content of the assessment is alchemy talent, the annual examination location of Zaoyu Peak is chosen at Chiyan Peak. An alchemist can use fire or Yuan power to make elixirs. Both methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. Using Yuanli, the alchemist can freely control the temperature of the alchemy furnace, which can improve the rate of elixir formation and the quality of the elixir. However, using Yuanli to make alchemy not only consumes the alchemist's energy, but also requires the alchemist's Yuanli reserve. Using fire to make elixirs is labor-saving and convenient, but the firepower is difficult to control, and the elixir formation rate and elixir quality are not as good as using Yuanli to make elixirs.
None of the handyman disciples of the Danxia Sect are Yuan Xiu, so they can only use firepower to make elixirs.
Lin Yang finished his chores at Chiyan Peak early and gathered with many handyman disciples on a flat ground on Chiyan Peak. The flat ground was surrounded by more than a dozen alchemy rooms.
On the flat ground, on a temporary platform, sat the handyman Feng Zhangfeng Ma Tao and two outer sect elders, one with the surname of Tie and the other with the surname of Ye.
As soon as the time came, Ma Tao stood up. He cleared his throat and said: "This annual examination of the handyman peak is to select talents for the sect. In previous annual examinations, our handyman peak has sent many talents to the outer sect." There are few talents, but now they are all thriving in the outer sect, and some are even admitted to the inner sect with a bright future. I hope you can seize the opportunity, show your talents, strive to enter the outer sect, and shine your life. Add glory to Zaoyong Peak!"
After making an impassioned speech, Ma Tao looked at Elder Tie beside him and said politely: "Elder Tie, I would like to ask you to read out the rules and precautions for this annual exam."
After saying that, Ma Tao made a gesture of invitation and sat back in his chair.
Elder Tie had a tall frame. He stood up and said in a loud voice: "Today's assessment is divided into three parts and three tests. One test is an elimination. Those who pass three tests can enter the outer gate. , become an outer disciple. During the test, communication and conversation are prohibited. Once discovered, the qualification for the assessment will be revoked."
After saying that, Elder Tie sat back in his seat.
Elder Ye then stood up. After looking around, he announced: "Before the first test begins, each of you will be given a spiritual draft atlas. Take the time to read it and try to memorize it. Half an hour later, the atlas will Take it back and then test it.”
Soon, the disciples from the Handyman Peak who came to take part in the assessment each received a spiritual sketch atlas. There are one hundred kinds of common spiritual herbs in the atlas. The medicinal value, growth environment, flowering period, etc. of each spiritual herb are all recorded and introduced in detail, with pictures and texts, making it easy to understand and remember.
However, it is not easy to memorize a hundred kinds of spiritual herbs in half an hour.
Lin Yang held the album in his hand, sometimes frowning and closing his eyes, sometimes scratching his ears and cheeks, looking serious and trying to remember. In fact, as early as ten days ago, Lin Yang got the spiritual grass atlas from Ma Cheng and had already memorized it by heart. At this moment, he was just pretending to follow the crowd.
Half an hour passed and the Spiritual Grass Atlas was taken back. Others felt that the time was too short and many contents were not written down. However, Lin Yang breathed a sigh of relief: Finally, he no longer had to pretend.
"Next, I will ask questions and raise your hands to answer. Those who answer the correct question will be deemed to have passed the first round of testing." Elder Ye walked to the stage and rolled his eyes to scan the faces of many nervous and excited outer disciples. Then, he raised his voice and said, "The first question is, how many years does it take for the hornweed to grow before its taste changes from astringent to sweet?"
As soon as Elder Ye finished speaking, about twenty hands were raised in the audience. If an ordinary person observed with the naked eye, it would be difficult to tell who raised his hand first and who raised his hand last.
"You answer." Elder Ye is Yuan Xiu after all, and his eyesight is very good. He saw at a glance that the first person to raise his hand was a short handyman disciple.
After the short handyman disciple was called, he stood up with a red face. He asked weakly: "Elder, can you say the question again?"
"Get out!" Elder Ye shouted angrily and said, "Raise your hands before you have even listened to the questions, and your qualifications for the assessment will be revoked!"
"Elder, I was so excited that I forgot the topic. Give me another chance!" The short man still wanted to quibble.
"He committed fraud and was full of lies. As a reward for his bad words, he will not be allowed to take the annual exam for three years and will be thrown out!" Elder Tie said angrily.
Then, two burly Danxia disciples rushed to the short man aggressively. One of them slapped the short man with a palm as big as a cattail fan, and slapped the short man twice, sending the short man spinning in circles. Suddenly North was nowhere to be found. The other person didn't wait for the short man to stand firm, then grabbed his neck with one hand and lifted his feet with the other hand. He instantly lifted the short man up, then exerted force and threw the short man away, flying ten feet away. , fell directly into the ravine in the mountains.
This operation made the disciples of the Handyman Peak in the audience dumbfounded. Those who originally wanted to imitate suddenly shrank their heads and gave up the idea of cheating.
Ma Tao looked ugly and hesitated to speak.
"Tsk, tsk, the style of the outer sect is too strong." Lin Yang secretly stuck out his tongue and repeatedly told himself to be careful, because among all the people present, he was the first in terms of cheating.
"How long does it take for a hundred-petal flower to bloom? How many petals does the flower have?"
After dealing with the short man, Elder Ye directly asked the second question.
This time, the speed of raising hands on the field was obviously much slower, with less than ten people raising their hands.
The dark-faced young man who was asked by Elder Ye to answer the question, although he was a little stuttered with excitement, finally gave the answer accurately.
"If you pass the first round of tests, you can go and wait next to it." Elder Ye nodded towards the black-faced young man and instructed him to go to the flowers and wait.
The dark-faced young man was so excited that he bowed and saluted to Elder Ye, then danced and ran to the flowers. Under the envious eyes of others, he sat down firmly, and then the old man watched others answer the questions.
"Why are you so proud? I was just too slow just now, as if no one knew how many petals a hundred-dollar flower has."
"Are you so proud? This is only the first round of testing. I still don't know what's going on in the next two rounds of testing!"
"Let him be proud first, and he will cry if the next round of tests is not accurate."
…
The young man with black face was the first to pass the first round of tests, which naturally attracted the envy, jealousy and hatred of others.
The first round of testing continued. With the successful demonstration of the black-faced young man, the mood of the handyman disciples in the audience became high, and they all rushed to raise their hands. Among those who raised their hands, someone answered incorrectly and was directly eliminated. Of course, some people answered successfully and passed the first round of testing. As time went by, people continued to answer successfully and went to the flowers.
Lin Yang knew that in this assessment, only fifty questions would be asked in the first round. When Elder Ye asked the thirty-eighth question, he immediately raised his hand, raising his hand high.
"You answer, it's you. You don't have to raise your hands so high, I see you." Elder Ye pointed at Lin Yang.
Lin Yang slowly stood up and said in a medium voice: "Dragon scale fruit tastes bitter and likes the shade. It takes ten years to bloom and bear fruit. After picking the fruit, it should be sealed and stored in mountain spring water, otherwise it will rot in a short time."
Elder Ye nodded and began to ask the next question.
Lin Yang saluted Elder Ye, then bowed his head and walked out of the field. He quietly went to the flowers and found a corner to sit down.
Soon, Elder Ye finished asking the fiftieth question.
"The first round of testing is over. Those who failed to answer the questions will fail this assessment. Those who fail will leave the stage immediately." After Elder Ye finished speaking, he waved to the audience.
"Elder, why don't you ask questions? I have memorized the entire atlas?"
"Yes, elder, it's so unfair. They just have faster hands. In terms of the number of spiritual herbs they have memorized, they may not have as many as me!"
…
There were hundreds of people who were eliminated. Some people took the lead to express their dissatisfaction, and others immediately started chirping. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the field.
Elder Tie glared and was about to get angry, but Ma Tao stood up first, pointed at the many handyman disciples in the audience and shouted: "Fifty questions, fifty opportunities, you can't grab a single question. , With your brains, how can you be better than a pig? You still have the nerve to yell here, why don’t you go back to the Miscellaneous Peak!"
Ma Tao obviously has a lot of prestige in the Miscellaneous Peak. As soon as he spoke, the audience immediately became silent, and all the miscellaneous disciples stood up and left one by one with hunched heads and shoulders.
Soon, only Lin Yang and the other fifty disciples who passed the first round of tests were left among the handyman disciples on the Red Flame Peak.
"Congratulations on passing the first round of testing. The second round of testing will begin soon. The second round of testing is to identify spiritual grasses. I will prepare ten spiritual grasses for you. You need to pick three designated spiritual grasses from them. , if all three plants are correct, it will be considered as passing the test. I want to remind you that these spiritual herbs are very similar in appearance. There are only very subtle differences. If you are not careful, you may make a mistake. You must observe carefully and answer carefully. .At the same time, I only have one stick of incense to give you time to answer.”
Later, Lin Yang and others were called back to the square below the stage and asked to line up in a circle.
After everyone was arranged, Elder Ye asked someone to carry it to a table. There were ten jade boxes on the table. The jade boxes were numbered from one to ten. The conditions inside the jade boxes could not be seen from the audience. . On one side of the table were pens, ink, paper and inkstones.
"The second round of testing begins!" Elder Ye announced loudly, and then he pointed at the disciple closest to the stage and said: "You, it's just you, come up and try it first!"
I don't know if it was a coincidence or fate, but the person who was called was the young man with a black face who was the first to pass the first round of the test.
The black-faced young man was stunned for a moment, then nervously walked onto the stage.
Elder Ye lowered his voice and whispered a few words in the dark-faced young man's ear. The black-faced young man nodded, then walked to the table and looked back and forth in front of the ten jade boxes carefully and over and over again. It was not until the time for a stick of incense passed that the black-faced young man walked to one side of the table. He picked up his pen and wrote down three numbers.
Elder Ye stepped forward, glanced at the numbers, and announced coldly: "Eliminate! Next one!"
The dark face of the black-faced young man suddenly turned pale, and the corners of his mouth twitched violently because he lost control of his emotions. He stared blankly at the jade box on the table, as if he didn't believe that he had chosen the wrong one.
"What are Huanchu doing here? Get out of here!" Elder Tie waved his hand, and the two Danxia disciples appeared out of nowhere and rushed towards the stage in a menacing manner.
The black-faced young man obviously still remembered the tragic experience of the short man. Before the two Danxia disciples rushed to the stage, he jumped off the stage and ran away, disappearing in a flash.
