Inside the vast hall, everyone taking the written exam was focused on their papers.
Meanwhile, the accompanying alchemists, including Lin Zhishou, followed the rules by cross-supervising the young disciples of other families.
“Oh? This child’s breadth of knowledge is actually this vast?”
The one supervising the Lin Family’s area was none other than the elder from the Wang Family.
He stood beside Zhou Luo, looking down at the young man’s answer to a certain question, unable to hide his internal surprise.
The question asked what precautions an alchemist needed to take during the final step of condensing a pill.
Reasonably speaking, this was a freebie for any alchemist.
After all, condensing the pill was the most critical step of the entire process, and its general precautions were drilled into every alchemist until they knew them by heart.
But as a first-rank high-grade alchemist, the elder knew better.
This seemingly simple question actually contained a trap.
The prompt did not specify which level of first-rank alchemist it was referring to.
Generally, the precautions for condensing pills below first-rank high-grade were identical. However, the elder knew that when refining first-rank top-tier spirit pills, one also had to carefully allocate their spiritual power during the final condensation.
This detail was something only first-rank high-grade alchemists would know.
Thus, getting a perfect score on this question was practically impossible.
Yet, Zhou Luo had clearly written down this exact precaution.
This greatly surprised the Wang Family elder.
In the end, he could only attribute it to Lin Zhishou’s excellent teaching.
However, when the elder glanced at Lin Nian’s paper, his brow furrowed slightly.
Lin Nian had completely missed this detail, leaving the Wang Family elder somewhat puzzled.
As time ticked by, Zhou Luo deliberately paced himself, even intentionally leaving one or two questions incorrect.
When the time was nearly up and the others began handing in their papers, he followed suit and submitted his own.
The five examiners reviewing the papers were all first-rank high-grade or superior alchemists representing the Longevity Families.
Everyone watched them in tense silence, their hearts hanging in their throats.
Only Zhou Luo sat comfortably, perfectly at ease, even finding the time to nibble on the snacks provided on his table.
It did not take long for the grading to finish.
The five examiners sorted the papers by score and placed the final stack before the Li Family Patriarch, Li Shuntian.
Having submitted his paper, Lu Chen leaned back in his chair with a relaxed grin, casting a triumphant look at Lin Zhishou across the aisle.
Just moments ago, he had already learned of his family’s results through another examiner from a Longevity Family.
Within that stack of papers, his descendant Lu An had scored ninety-five points, taking the top spot.
Looking back at past written exams, such a score could easily rank within the top five in the history of the gathering.
He was absolutely confident.
Seeing Lu Chen’s smug expression, a faint trace of unease rose in his chest.
Li Shuntian compared the five stacks of papers and pulled out the top ten.
According to the rules of the Alchemy Gathering, only the top ten scorers of the written exam were eligible to participate in the practical refining test the following day.
After all, if one’s theoretical foundation was lacking, how good could their actual refining be?
“Tenth place, Wang Pingtong, eighty-eight points.”
Li Shuntian began to read the scores aloud.
The crowd sat up straight, their eyes locked onto the Li Family Patriarch.
“Ninth place, Zhang Anshi, eighty-nine points.”
“Eighth place, Lu Xuan, ninety points.”
…
One by one, the names were called.
Unsurprisingly, almost all those who made the top ten were core disciples of the Longevity Families.
This was only natural, as the resources and education they received far surpassed those of ordinary cultivators.
Yet, as the announcement reached the fourth place, not a single disciple from the Lin Family had been named.
Over in the Lin Family’s seats, Lin Nian clenched his fists, his head lowered in deep embarrassment.
Lin Zhishou’s aged face also darkened with displeasure.
“Third place, Li Guangzhi, ninety-three points.”
In the blink of an eye, only the top two remained.
The third-place scorer was a young alchemist from the Li Family.
“It seems those Gale Pills are destined for our Lu Family,” Lu Chen boasted, finally unable to contain his smugness.
He knew Lu An had scored ninety-five points.
That guaranteed him either first or second place.
As for the remaining spot, he assumed it belonged to a disciple from the Wang or Li Family. It certainly wouldn’t be one of those two useless wastes from the Lin Family.
Lin Zhishou remained silent, though his expression was incredibly grim.
“Second place, Lu An, ninety-five points,” Li Shuntian announced.
Lu Chen’s smile stiffened slightly.
He had not expected Lu An to miss out on first place.
But it hardly mattered. At the very least, he had won his wager against the Lin Family.
Below them, the crowd of ordinary alchemists grew restless.
Just as they had feared, the top nine spots were completely dominated by the Longevity Families.
Several alchemists shook their heads in despair, already planning to leave the venue.
However, many were still curious about who had secured the absolute top spot, especially the young disciples of the Longevity Families who had yet to hear their names called.
“First place…”
Li Shuntian looked at the name on the paper, a look of genuine surprise crossing his face.
“Zhou Luo, ninety-seven points.”
His calm voice echoed through the hall, reaching everyone’s ears.
“Zhou Luo? That doesn’t sound like anyone from the Longevity Families!”
Someone gasped.
The previously dejected crowd of ordinary alchemists instantly cheered up.
If memory served, this was the first time in the history of the Alchemy Gathering that someone outside the Longevity Families had broken into the top five, let alone taken first place.
Everyone began looking around, trying to spot this mysterious “Zhou Luo.”
Meanwhile, the disciples of the Longevity Families looked incredibly displeased.
A rogue cultivator taking first place in the written exam? This was a direct slap to their families’ prestige.
“Who is Zhou Luo?” Li Shuntian set the paper down, his eyes scanning the crowd below.
He, too, assumed this Zhou Luo was an independent rogue cultivator.
“Here.”
A quiet voice raised from the side.
Li Shuntian turned and realized the voice had come from the Lin Family’s area. It belonged to the handsome young man sitting right next to Lin Zhishou.
In an instant, every eye in the hall locked onto him.
“How is this possible?!”
Lu Chen’s face drained of color as he bolted upright, staring at Zhou Luo in absolute disbelief.
On the other hand, Lin Zhishou, whose mood had been in the depths, burst into a hearty laugh. “Hahaha! Zhou Luo is indeed my Lin Family’s son-in-law!”
“The Lin Family’s son-in-law?”
The crowd gasped in shock.
This was especially true for those who had previously mocked the Lin Family for stooping so low as to take in a matrilocal husband. Now, their hearts pounded with disbelief.
Li Shuntian stared at Zhou Luo with a highly complex expression.
The Lin Family had actually recruited a young talent with such incredible alchemical potential?
Perhaps his own family needed to start widely recruiting matrilocal husbands as well.
“Lu Chen, hand over your magical artifact,” Lin Zhishou demanded with a massive grin, getting straight to the point.
After swallowing his anger for so long, he could finally vent his frustration.
In stark contrast, Lu Chen’s face was so dark it looked ready to freeze. He stood there looking utterly devastated, as if mourning a tragic loss.
His sharp, venomous eyes glared fixedly at Zhou Luo, looking as though he wanted to tear the young man to pieces.