Chapter 2078: Another Dark Horse?

Xie Yuezhang advanced without any difficulties, and in a mere day, he had already pa.s.sed five stages.

Afterward, however, it took him half a day to pa.s.s the sixth stage. A long time pa.s.sed, yet the seventh ring of light still didn’t light up. It was clear that pa.s.sing the seventh stage wasn’t easy. At the same time, this also reflected Lin Yongchang’s extraordinary talent in alchemy.

After almost three days, the Stone of Herbology finally lit up.

Weng!

Seven rings of light lit up in unison.

Someone had pa.s.sed the seventh stage.

‘It’s definitely Xie Yuezhang!’

Sure enough, Xie Yuezhang stood up not long after. When the apprentice from the Ancient Alchemy Tower walked over to record his result, he also clearly stated that he had indeed pa.s.sed the seventh stage.

This was astonis.h.i.+ng!

His result rivaled that of Lin Yongchang, and they were now both in the first place.

Anyhow, those who had completed the examination all needed to immediately leave. Thus, those who liked to spectate couldn’t take this examination too soon. Instead, they would calmly wait inside. In any case, no one would hurry them to take the examination.

Ling Han was just about to step forward, yet he suddenly heard commotion traveling over from behind him.

“Wu Zixu!”

“Alchemist Riyang!”

Another two powerful beings had arrived. However, one was old and one was young, and the difference between them was stark.

Ling Han didn’t pay them any heed. Instead, he strode toward the Stone of Herbology before sitting down cross-legged, and placing his right hand on the stone. At the same time, Wu Zixu and Alchemist Riyang also began their examination.

Ling Han’s mind shuddered, and he had already arrived in a dark void. There was only nothingness in the surroundings.

A herb suddenly materialized before his eyes.

This was the first stage: identifying medicinal herbs.

“Azure Feather Gra.s.s,” Ling Han casually said.

Swoos.h.!.+

The herb immediately dimmed and vanished, replaced with another herb.

“Scorching Sun Wood.

“Tiger Tail Poisonous Vine.

“Fire Cloud Mist Lotus.

“…”

In a single breath, Ling Han read the names of over 30 medicinal herbs. Afterward, no other herb materialized before him. A brief moment of silence ensued.

He knew that he had pa.s.sed the first stage.

Outside, a ring of light flashed on the Stone of Herbology. However, pa.s.sing the first stage was far too easy, so this didn’t surprise anyone, even though Wu Zixu and Alchemist Riyang were present.

The second stage began, and three medicinal herbs materialized before Ling Han. Moreover, these herbs were all extremely similar.

“Identify the Purple Scale Flower,” an ice-cold voice said.

Ling Han pointed at one of the herbs.

The three medicinal herbs immediately disappeared. Afterward, four medicinal herbs appeared before him, all of which were extremely similar.

“Identify the Three Pure Lotus.”

Afterward, four, five, six, seven, eight… More and more herbs appeared before him in unison. Following this increase in number, trying to identify the correct herb also became increasingly difficult. However, this didn’t pose any challenge to Ling Han.

After 30 or so levels, no other herb appeared before him. This signified that Ling Han had pa.s.sed another stage.

Two rings of light lit up on the Stone of Herbology.

“So quick!”

“Is it Wu Zixu or Alchemist Riyang?”

“It’s Wu Zixu, right?”

“I reckon it’s Alchemist Riyang.”

At this moment, the interest of the spectators was slightly piqued. They all started to speculate who this person was.

After a brief moment, another two rings of light lit up in unison.

“One is Wu Zixu, and the other is Alchemist Riyang.”

“As expected of them. Their abilities are truly near-identical.”

However, just as they all sighed with emotion, another two rings of light lit up on the Stone of Herbology.

‘Huh? What’s going on?’

“Perhaps it’s another dark horse?”

“Impossible. They most likely started the examination a long time ago, but their speed was too slow, so they coincidentally pa.s.sed the second stage just then.”

“Mm-hm, that’s most likely the case.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. They felt like this was the best explanation.

Inside the virtual world, three medicinal herbs materialized before Ling Han. At a glance, they looked completely identical.

“Which Crimson Cloud Gra.s.s has reached an age of 40,000,000 years?” the ice-cold voice asked.

Ling Han smiled calmly as he pointed at one of the herbs.

Swoos.h.!.+

The three herbs disappeared before being replaced by four identical herbs.

“Which Five Spirits Lotus has reached an age of 300,000,000 years?”

Ling Han was extremely relaxed as he answered these questions. His grasp of this fundamental knowledge was extremely solid and refined.

After 30 or so questions, Ling Han successfully pa.s.sed the third stage.

Weng!

Three rings of light lit up on the Stone of Herbology.

“It’s come again!”

“Is it Wu Zixu or Alchemist Riyang?”

“This truly tickles my heart!”

Whoos.h.!.+

Immediately afterward, another three rings of light lit up in unison. After a few seconds, another three rings of light lit up.

This…

They all exchanged astonished glances.

If it were only a coincidence just then, what about this time? Was it another coincidence? How could there be so many coincidences?

“Perhaps… there’s truly another dark horse?”

“I feel like that’s impossible. To those who are talented, the first five stages are relatively easy to pa.s.s. The true test only begins at the sixth stage.”

“That makes sense.”

And thereupon, four rings of light lit up on the Stone of Herbology once, twice, and thrice in quick succession. Even though the spectators still found this strange, they weren’t overly astonished. When the day was about to conclude, five rings of light lit up. Again, it lit up three times in quick succession.

“I refuse to believe that this person can continue to keep up with Wu Zixu and Alchemist Riyang.”

“Mm-hm, same!”

Even though there was no proof, they were all confident that two of the three people were Wu Zixu and Alchemist Riyang. They were simply unsure about who the third person was.

The sixth stage.

This stage was slightly more difficult. What materialized before Ling Han was a herb that had been cut into pieces. His task was to rea.s.semble this herb within a limited amount of time.

His hands danced, and the fragments of the herbs started to flitter in the air, appearing as mesmerizing as could be.

This was a virtual world, so the limitations of the physical world didn’t exist here. As such, his speed was fully decided by the strength and sharpness of his divine sense.

Ling Han’s speed became quicker and quicker, and it wasn’t long before the outline of a herb appeared before him, slowly becoming more and more complete. When half of the available time elapsed, Ling Han had already finished rea.s.sembling the herb.

Afterward, the fragments of another herb appeared before him.

Ling Han examined these fragments closely. He discovered that even though they looked like they were from the same herb, they were actually from two different herbs. It was just that they were from the same type of herb.

There was a slight difference in their age.

This was slightly more challenging. Ling Han’s speed decreased, and he began by separating the fragments into two different piles, one for each herb. He then started to rea.s.semble them like before.

When two complete herbs appeared before him, Ling Han still had one-third of the available time to spare.

‘Too easy.’

Another pile of herb fragments appeared before him. This time, they belonged to three different herbs. Ling Han was certain that they were all Azure Mist Gra.s.s.

‘Come at me!’

Ling Han first separated them into three piles before starting to rea.s.semble them.

Afterward, the fragments of four herbs appeared before him. Following that, it was the fragments of five, six, and all the way up to 30 different herbs. The difficulty continued to increase, and this forced Ling Han to spend more and more time on each level. However, compared to the time available, he was able to finish with heaps of time to spare every time.

‘Hmm?’

After completing another level, Ling Han eagerly awaited the next level, yet no more herb fragments appeared before him. Only then did he come to a sudden realization. He had pa.s.sed the sixth stage.

Outside, six rings of light lit up in unison.

“It’s the sixth stage!”

“Who is it?”

“Can that dark horse still keep up?”

The spectators waited and waited, yet the six lights simply refused to light up again.