C257

The empty ground was covered with herbs. A pungent smell assaulted his nose and 'ginger' filled the entire ground?

Someone laughed out loud. "There's no need to pick all the white ginger on the ground."

A few of them picked one up and walked towards the Xie brothers. "Thank you, Sir. I've chosen."

Xie Shufei glanced at the herbs in his hands, but before he could do so, Xie Lingxi spoke up. "Just you wait. I'll send you out after the time it takes to burn an incense stick."

Those few people thought that they had passed and stood happily by the side, waiting.

That simple? Li Yan became increasingly uncertain.

He squatted down and picked up a stalk of herb in his hand. It was dark and spicy, and from the looks of it, it was definitely a white ginger [1], in the time it took for an incense stick to burn was almost up, at that moment, there were already many people holding onto the herb to wait by the side, even Li Yan did not dare delay, and just as he was about to stand up with the white ginger in his hand, he inadvertently saw Xie Shufei looking at the group of people, ridiculing them, and another herb suddenly flashed in his mind.

Dark grass!

He suddenly felt his scalp go numb. It was not only the white ginger that was spicy, but also the black grass!

At that time, the white ginger could not become a medicinal herb to refine pills. It had to be exposed to the sun for about half a month, and after drying, the white ginger would be completely black, with a spicy taste. This was the kind of white ginger that could be treated like medicine.

The Dark Grass, on the other hand, was different. It grew by the river and the fruit it had just plucked was the best time to put the medicine in, after a few days, it would lose moisture and become dry, spicy, and become a completely useless, abandoned herb. However, it was one of the best fertilizers to cultivate the white ginger.

When Li Yan thought of this, he looked down at the "ginger" he picked out and immediately threw it into the pile of herbs. Seeing that the incense was about to burn out, he crouched down and searched for it with all his might …

Most of the people had already made their decisions. They looked at Li Yan who was still searching and sneered, "In the end, it's the son of a rich family. A mere ginger can't find him."

Xie Shuangfei and Xie Lingxi naturally saw Li Yan throw away the herb they just picked. "There's a smart person after all."

Some people who were closer to him heard what he said and were confused. They saw Li Yan come over with a smile on his face.

Just as the last bit of incense was burnt out.

"Time is up."

"I declare that Li Yan has passed."

Everyone in the room was in an uproar, and were extremely dissatisfied. "Why did he pass? The thing in our hands is also a white ginger!"

"Take a look for yourself. If you still can't recognize him, I advise everyone to change your profession as soon as possible." Xie Shufei's tone was icy cold.

Some of the people who were unconvinced opened the herb in their hands, and their expressions immediately changed. Their expressions became extremely dejected, "It's … it's actually Black Grass …"

After passing the test, Li Yan was placed in a separate room.

He could see the examination room from one wall of the room.

Groups after groups of people went in and walked out dejectedly. Occasionally, a few of them would also pass the test. Just like Li Yan, they would only react at the last moment. When they saw each other, their hearts would still palpitate.

Jun Qiyan and the Huang sisters happened to be in the same group.

Jun Qiyan looked at the herbs on the ground. She could tell at a glance that this additional test was about to be carried out. Just like the others, she picked up an herb and went to submit it.

When Pei Shu saw Jun Qiyan's casual actions, she was momentarily unable to see clearly what Jun Qiyan had picked out. She was worried that Jun Qianyan was like the majority of the people present, and had let her guard down.

Xie Shuangfei and Xie Lingxi exchanged glances as they saw Jun Qianyan walk over so quickly, and the person they had picked up just in time to see a white ginger. A sliver of surprise appeared in their eyes.

At the moment, it was hard to tell if it was due to coincidence or strength.

Huang Yuanyuan and Huang Pingping also picked the correct White Ginger at the last moment.

However, the first match of the morning was over. Pei Zhui and the other three had selected three thousand people out of the thirty thousand.

Those who failed the test were sent out of the Alchemy Association on the same day.

In the afternoon, the three thousand people, including Jun Qianyan, officially began the first round of direct disciple selection, brewing medicine.

The rule was to use the herbs in the room and the pill furnace to concoct a pill within seven days. The highest ranked person would win.

This could be said to be the most fair competition between pill refiners. Herbs and pill furnaces were both provided by the Alchemy Council.

Jun Qiyan looked at the small silver stove in front of his own chopping board, his fingertips rotating over the stove.

It was a habit of hers.

Most of the impatient apothecaries had already been screened, and the remaining apothecaries were carefully selecting herbs from the shelves.

From the herbs they chose, it wasn't hard to tell what kind of pill they were going to concoct.

There were Pure Yuan pills, Immortal Pills, Five Yang Pills, etc …

Jun Qiyan's gaze paused on the furnace as she started to ponder.

She stood up and walked over to the herb rack to choose a medicinal herb. The Huang sisters happened to be picking too, and when Huang Yuanyuan saw that she was picking out materials to refine low grade medicinal pills, she coldly and arrogantly snorted.

Jun Qiyan didn't seem to care at all. She chose the herbs she wanted and began to mix them.

This was the first step in refining pills.

Every single medicinal herb was controlled by the apothecary himself, and the effects of the different medicinal herbs would naturally be different as well.

While everyone was concocting, the pill refinery was occasionally filled with the sounds of explosions.

Even apothecaries knew that such a sound was simply due to the inappropriate quantity of the medicine, resulting in the explosion.

It was basically impossible for such a sound to appear.

This was because the rules stated very clearly that everyone could only take the pill once.

Many people left the venue one after another.

As Jun Qiyan adjusted the medicine in her bowl, she circulated her spiritual energy in the medicinal herbs. They seemed gentle, but only she herself understood the rhythm.

Pei Shu, Lu Fei, and An Jiang stood on a stone to observe the movements of the pill refiners. Of course, they paid particular attention to Jun Qianyan's actions.

An Jiang looked at the unhurried movements of Jun Qianyan, his eyes filled with admiration. However, he suddenly recalled the words that he had said to him that night and clenched his teeth in hatred. He had dug up such a good seedling.

Sigh …

Hearing An Jiang's sigh, Lu Fei expressed his understanding, "President, do you also think that the medicinal herbs refined by Jun Qiyan are too low leveled?"

"Who said that the medicinal herbs she concocts are low-tier?!" An Jiang puffed his beard and glared at him.

Lu Fei was a little surprised, "Didn't she choose the Crescent Grass, White Lotus Leaves, and Azure Roots all to refine qi replenishing pellets?"

"I told you to avoid fighting with fellow disciples and to ignore the Alchemy Book. Now, you can't even tell the grade of a young lady's Alchemy. Lu Fei, Lu Fei, you're really going back to where you came from." An Jiang just so happened to place his stomach full of unhappiness on the bird who was at the forefront.