Qin Ruolan narrowed her eyes slightly. That calmness had begun to bother her. Beside her, He Zhong slowly raised another jade tablet.
The gray-haired man showed no emotion, but his posture became more rigid. Until that moment, the evaluation had served to separate disciples with basic knowledge from those who possessed a deeper understanding.
Now the real test would begin.
"Let us begin with the advanced questions." He Zhong’s voice spread across the square.
An image appeared above the spiritual formation, displaying an exotic herb.
The leaves were covered with black spots, and some parts had completely withered. Small strands of spiritual energy still circulated through the roots, but irregularly, like a flame on the verge of going out.
He Zhong looked at the participating disciples.
"This herb was exposed to a spiritual flame for too long. If it can still be used in the refining process, what should be the first procedure performed before the actual refining begins?"
The disciples immediately lowered their eyes, and their brushes began sliding across the jade tablets.
The sound of dozens of brush tips touching jade formed a divergent rhythm, creating a strange cacophony.
Guo Han answered the question quickly. Su Meilin also wrote down her answer without showing any hesitation.
Zhao Ming remained motionless for several seconds. His eyes swept over the image several times as his eyebrows slowly drew together. Then, finally, he began writing his answer.
Yun Che observed the herb, and the knowledge emerged in his mind with almost mechanical clarity thanks to the system’s intervention.
The damaged parts needed to be removed. Then, the remaining spiritual energy had to be stabilized before any attempt at purification. Exposing it to another flame immediately could destroy what remained intact.
Yun Che wrote down the answer, and the jade tablet glowed, indicating that he had answered correctly. He made no sound, but several nearby disciples noticed what he had done.
A young woman discreetly raised her eyes. Zhao Ming also saw the light, and his brush stopped for an instant.
He looked at Yun Che’s tablet and then at his own.
He had not even finished writing his answer yet. A small vein appeared on his forehead.
"Damn it. How did he answer so quickly?"
He then lowered his eyes and finished writing his answer.
He Zhong did not comment on the results. He simply displayed the second question, which appeared immediately.
"During the process of forming a pill, the spiritual core begins to develop cracks."
The image displayed by the formation changed.
Now there was a small sphere of energy suspended inside a spiritual furnace. Tiny glowing lines ran across the surface of the core, like cracks in a glass object on the verge of breaking apart.
"What is the most likely cause of the destabilization of the pill’s condensation, considering the formula and the refining process used?"
Silence returned, and this time the disciples did not answer immediately.
They speculated. Temperature could be a cause, and the amount of spiritual energy could also be responsible. Alternatively, an error during purification could produce the same effect.
The difficulty lay precisely in determining which variable should be considered first.
Guo Han pursed his lips slightly. Su Meilin leaned over the table thoughtfully.
Zhao Ming frowned, while Yun Che, the dark horse of the theoretical competition, merely observed. The information presented was sufficient.
The pattern of the cracks indicated a failure in the distribution of energy during integration.
He wrote quickly, and the tablet glowed, signaling that he had answered correctly.
Two invisible words seemed to hover over the square.
Silence fell again, and this time the square erupted into murmurs.
"How did he do that? He got it right again."
"That’s already the second one."
"That definitely wasn’t an easy question."
"Maybe he studied it beforehand."
"What do you mean, studied it beforehand? That’s a question that can only be answered through experience or a deep understanding of alchemical principles."
"Studied? Yesterday, he barely knew how to refine a pill."
Yun Che heard them, but did not bother to raise his eyes. He simply remained focused.
Zhao Ming, however, began to realize that this could become a problem. Before he could focus even more on the matter, the third question appeared.
This time, there was no image, only a recipe.
Blue Mist Flower.
Crimson Flame Root.
Pale Jade Leaf.
Below the three names were different temperatures and a specific order of integration.
He Zhong raised his eyes.
"What is the main risk of this refining method based on the established sequence of integration?"
The entire atmosphere became completely still.
Guo Han reread the recipe twice, his fingers slowly tapping against the table.
Su Meilin narrowed her eyes. She knew those herbs and their general characteristics, yet something about the combination required more than simple knowledge.
Zhao Ming began writing, then stopped and erased what he had written. After thinking for a longer time, he began writing again.
Yun Che, however, did not even need to reread the question.
That was because, thanks to the system, the information he had studied during those ten hours was organized in his mind like pieces of an enormous structure.
The Blue Mist Flower possessed a nature that reacted to heat in a particular way, while the Crimson Flame Root possessed a completely different property.
And the Pale Jade Leaf functioned as a stabilizing element in certain combinations. The presented order created a problem.
Yun Che wrote down the correct answer, and the tablet glowed once again.
As a result, a strange silence descended upon the square.
It was not the silence of concentration.
It was the silence caused by surprise.
Zhao Ming slowly raised his head, his eyes fixed on Yun Che.
"What the hell? He got it right."
The words escaped his mouth almost soundlessly.
After seeing the green light on the jade tablet, He Zhong finally spoke.
"Could you explain your answer so everyone can hear?"
Yun Che stood up, and the simple movement caused several faces to turn toward him.
Unperturbed, he walked toward the formation. There was no haste in his steps.
"This order causes the Pale Jade Leaf to be exposed to the reaction of the other two herbs before it can properly perform its stabilizing function."
He Zhong did not avert his eyes. Seeing that Yun Che had paused, he quickly said,
"Continue."
"The Crimson Flame Root should be integrated before it. In this way, the initial reaction can be controlled before the stabilization stage."
Several disciples began exchanging glances, but the dark horse, Yun Che, pointed at the recipe and continued.
"If the presented method is followed exactly as it is, the pill may reach the formation without displaying any obvious flaw."
He paused again before continuing.
"But it will lose stability after cooling."
He Zhong remained silent and then nodded.
"Correct. Very good. I must admit, your answer was quite precise."
Yun Che returned to his table while Zhao Ming simply stared at him.
That small sense of superiority he had carried since morning was slowly disappearing. He tightened his grip on the brush.
"This can’t continue."
Now that the question had been clarified, the fourth question was presented, followed by the fifth and sixth. The pace increased greatly.
The questions were no longer merely seeking to determine whether the disciples knew the herbs. They wanted to know whether they understood the processes occurring inside an alchemical furnace.
"Why must some herbs be purified separately?"
"What is the effect of a spiritual flame that is too intense during the first stage?"
"Why can the order of integration alter the final quality of a pill?"
"Under what circumstances can two opposing spiritual natures be combined?"
The answers began to come more slowly, and sweat appeared on the foreheads of some disciples.
A young woman discreetly bit her lip as she tried to finish an answer. Another young man closed his eyes for several seconds, desperately searching his memory for the information.
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Su Meilin remained among the best, but even she was beginning to feel the pressure. Her eyes moved over a question once again before she finally began to write.