Chapter 858: Absolute Genius

“He’s shameless!”

The crowd could not bear to watch.

If the challenge was issued by a medicine maker, pill makers should not get themselves involved. The kid had outstanding talents and would be a pill maker in the future, but he was not one yet.

He had already defeated multiple master medicine makers, and he should have been crowned the winner of the challenge.

Tang Hao sized up the pill maker and raised his eyebrows slightly.

He was very interested in the pill makers in this world. It would be a good idea to spar with them.

“Alright!”

He nodded and agreed.

The pill maker seemed happy. Cloudcore Valley did not have any moral grounds to stand on if the kid had rejected the challenge. Now that the kid had agreed to it, the win would be more justified.

“Sigh! Is that Tang Ritian stupid?”

Everyone was puzzled.

Tang Hao was the clear winner of the challenge. The people of Cloudcore Valley might be shameless, but they could not say anything if he refused to duel a pill maker.

Now that he agreed to it, he would definitely lose.

“My name is Fu Yun!”

The Alchemist walked over and sat down on his seat. He cupped his fists at Tang Hao.

“I’m your senior, so I won’t make things too difficult for you. So, let’s make it simple. We won’t quiz each other on medicine theory, but we’ll only ask about medicinal herbs. What do you think?” Fu Yun said.

“Sounds good!”

Tang Hao said calmly.

“Then let’s begin!” Fu Yun said, “Why don’t I go first? Let’s start with nether lotus gra.s.s!”

Tang Hao pondered for a moment and said, “The nether lotus gra.s.s grows in dark and damp places and absorbs negative qi to thrive. Its leaves are long and thin, and its stem is dark green…”

Hearing that, Fu Yun was slightly shocked.

Nether lotus gra.s.s was considered a rare medicine, yet the kid knew about it. He even knew about the characteristics and effects.

“Next question. Yellow dragon fruit!”

This time, Tang Hao spoke without thinking.

The third question, and the fourth…

Tang Hao did not miss any of the ten questions.

‘How… how is that possible?’

Fu Yun clenched his fists tightly, and he had an unpleasant expression on his face. He had carefully selected ten herbs, but none of them stumped that brat!

“d.a.m.n! That Tang Ritian is quite amazing!”

Everyone was impressed.

It was inconceivable to answer ten questions from a level two pill maker.

“Now… It’s my turn!” Tang Hao said.

“Go ahead!”

“The first one: millennial crimson!

“The second one: white-striped phoenixtail!”

Tang Hao named ten herbs in a row, and the pill maker answered them all.

“He’s good!” Tang Hao muttered to himself. He was quite surprised.

“It’s a draw!”

The audience was getting excited.

The differences in age and status between the two people were very big, but they were equally matched in ability. It was exceptionally exciting.

“One more round!” Fu Yun said as he started to name a list of the medicinal herbs.

Every time he announced a name, Tang Hao would immediately reply within seconds. To everyone else, that was unbelievably fast.

Fu Yun was also secretly shocked. He was beginning to be afraid.

‘That kid is a freak! How could he answer all the questions so quickly? How many types of herbs does he know?’

Normally, a young man of his level of talent should know perhaps ten thousand types at most. He could tell that the kid knew more than ten thousand types.

Following that, it was Tang Hao’s turn to ask questions, and the opponent answered all of them.

The two sides were evenly matched after several rounds.

As the rounds went on, Fu Yun became more and more shocked. Behind him, the people from Cloudcore Valley were dumbfounded. Their eyes were wide open, and their mouths were opened in “O” shapes.

A mere kid was evenly matched with a level two pill maker! That was phenomenal!

“This is insane!”

“Yeah! That kid is inhuman!”

The group of masters muttered.

At first, they were doubting their competence. However, they were now invigorated again.

They finally understood that it was not their incompetence, but that the kid was overqualified!

Another round ended in a draw.

Fu Yun was silent, and he had an awkward expression on his face.

He had not been able to defeat the kid after so many rounds. It was really embarra.s.sing.

He was also getting afraid of the breadth of that kid’s medical knowledge. What if he failed to answer a question?

He could not afford to lose face!

“You’re amazing, young man!”

He cupped his fists, and his tone became much more polite. “Let’s call it a day! We are evenly matched, and I’ll concede to you. The recipe is yours!

“I can guarantee that from now on, Cloudcore Valley will never be involved in the business of those pills.”

Tang Hao could sense that the pill maker was trying to curry favor with him.

Tang Hao frowned. He thought that it was a pity that the duel ended so soon. He had a lot of fun.

He was looking forward to sparring with that guy in pill-making skills!

In any case, it was considered a good thing that the opponent was willing to admit defeat and even promise not to get involved in the pill business anymore.

“Let’s call it a day then!” Tang Hao said.

“You’re a young hero, Storekeeper Tang! I didn’t expect that you’re so knowledgeable at such a young age. You are truly a peerless genius!”

“Yes, yes, yes! The number one genius in the world!”

The representatives from the sects saw that the situation did not turn out the way they expected and rushed to fawn over Tang Hao.

Their tone was as flattering as it could be. They almost knelt down and hugged Tang Hao’s thigh.

Tang Hao glanced at them coldly. He remembered clearly how they were quick to distance themselves from him earlier!

“So do you still want your refund?” Tang Hao said mockingly.

“No, no, no!”

They hurriedly shook their heads.

“That was a misunderstanding, Storekeeper Tang! I’ll prepare a present for you as a sign of apology! From now on, please take good care of me, Storekeeper!”

They smiled obsequiously and tried to curry favor with him.

Now that Cloudcore Valley had backed out of the market, they could only buy medicine from Storekeeper Tang. If they did not build a good relations.h.i.+p with him, they would not be able to buy medicine from him in the future.

Also, Storekeeper Tang was quite a freak. He definitely had someone powerful backing him.

Tang Hao sneered. He cupped his fists to the people of Cloudcore Valley and left the stage.

The crowd was in an uproar.

Everyone surrounded him excitedly.

“You’re so amazing, Storekeeper Tang!”

“Let’s be friends!”

They looked at Tang Hao eagerly.

Tang Ritian was a top-notch genius! In time, he would definitely become a high-level pill maker. He was definitely worth befriending.

“What are you doing? Move aside! Move aside!”

The representatives of the sects shouted and opened a path for Tang Hao.

“This way please, Storekeeper Tang!”

“Please sit in our carriage, Storekeeper Tang!”

“Pah! What’s so good about your ox-cart? Sit in our white horse-drawn carriage. The body of the carriage is made of pure gold and inlaid with multicolored crystals. It’s as cool as it gets.

“Hah! When it comes to carriages, all of you are trash. Mine is the most impressive.”

The people were red-faced from arguing over who got to fetch Tang Hao.