As she flew toward one of the ten stone steles, a cheer rose up from the surrounding Outer Sect disciples. She landed and, without even glancing around, headed directly toward one of the log cabins erected beneath the stone steles.
It was only at this point that Bai Xiaochun noticed that all ten of the stone steles had log cabins beneath them. In fact, there were currently people going in and out of all of them, and that included the one the young woman had just entered.
The surrounding disciples were very excited. Bai Xiaochun looked around and found one particular disciple who looked skinnier and weaker than the others, and sidled up to him.
Then, he cried out loudly, “At long last, I can lay eyes on Elder Sister Zhou again. This time she’s definitely going to take first place on the ninth stone stele!”
After that, he turned and asked the skinny guy for more details about what was going on. Considering the young man was in such a good mood, he quickly gave a detailed explanation.
“Elder Sister Zhou wants to be the first person from ancient times to now to have first place in all ten stone steles. And she’s the only person who could possibly do it. All she has to do is take the test for the fourth and fifth volumes of spirit creatures, and she’ll definitely take first place in both!”
Bai Xiaochun decided that the most important thing was to get the second volume of plants and vegetation, which meant that he had to go take the test in the appropriate log cabin. If he succeeded, the volume would be his. Therefore, he began to push his way through the crowd to the first stone stele. It wasn’t easy, and after he got there, he found that all the cabins were already occupied. After waiting a bit, he saw a crestfallen disciple moping out from one of them, but that didn’t discourage him at all. He immediately entered the log cabin.
Once inside, it was as if he was completely separated from the cacophony of sound on the outside; everything here was peaceful and quiet. The log cabin wasn’t very large, and in the middle, a prayer mat was laid out in front of a small stone stele.
Bai Xiaochun sat down cross-legged in the prescribed fashion, then pulled out the jade slip that contained the first volume of plants and vegetation. He placed it up against the stone stele, and it sank down inside. The stone stele shuddered, and began to shine brightly.
“According to what the Elder Brother outside said, now is when I’m supposed to decide what insignia will identify me as an apothecary.” After thinking for a moment, he chuckled and drew the image of a turtle. He loved turtles, and although his drawing was a bit misshapen and ugly, in his eyes it was pretty good.
The turtle insignia flickered a few times, and Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath. He settled his qi and cleared his mind, and his eyes began to shine brightly. Finally, he slowly reached out and put his hand onto the stone stele. In the moment that he touched it, rumbling sounds filled his mind, and his vision swam. When it became clear again, he was no longer in the log cabin, but in an illusory world.
Before he could size up his surroundings, light flashed in front of him, and countless medicinal plants appeared, filling his field of view.
None of the medicinal plants were intact. Instead, they were broken up into pieces of ten or more, all of which were scattered about.
Just by looking around, it was impossible to tell how many plants there were in total.
This testing method of the 10,000 Medicines Pavilion was what countless Outer Sect disciples of the Fragrant Cloud Peak dreaded. Throughout the years, numerous disciples had taken the test, only to feel completely useless at the end. Because of that, if your name made it into the top 100 on the stone stele, you would be the object of mass envy and approval.
That was especially true of the first place spot, which led to total fame.
A cold, emotionless voice suddenly rang out: “In the time it takes an incense stick to burn, re-assemble the spirit plants. Your test results will be based on the total number you put together. You may begin now.”
“That’s it?” Bai Xiaochun thought. He almost couldn’t believe it. He had immersed himself in studying the medicinal plants in the jade slip to the point where even now, he could already spot hundreds of medicinal plant parts that he could piece together.
He had been really worried about this test, but now that he saw what it was like, he heaved a sigh of relief. However, he still wasn’t completely at ease.
“It can’t be this easy. Considering the test is so simple, the final target to pass must be incredibly high.” Once again feeling nervous, he quickly waved his finger through the air, pointing at a dozen or so medicinal plant fragments. Immediately, those fragments pieced themselves together, forming two medicinal plants.
Next he waved both hands in the air, not even pausing as he sent countless plant fragments flying around and forming together. One medicinal plant after another was formed, until soon he had 100 medicinal plants.
He looked up in thought for a moment, and his spirits lifted. Tuning everything else out, he focused completely on the medicinal plant fragments, his hands flying about rapidly. Then, he suddenly thought about how terrible it would be to fail the test, and went all out with even more vicious determination. His eyes were completely bloodshot, and his hands moved even faster.
100 plants. 200 plants. 300 plants. 500 plants…. 1,000 plants!
Sweat poured down his face, white steam rose from the top of his head, and his hands flew. He looked around, instantly identifying more medicinal plant parts that could be pieced together. Back when he had been memorizing the medicinal plants in the jade slip, he had been so devoted to the process that he had reached the point where he wished he could grind the plants into powder to study them further.
However, that wasn’t possible, so he could only study them in minute detail until he felt that he understood them completely.
If any of the disciples on the outside could see what was happening, they would gasp in disbelief. To them, this test was so terrifying it made the hair on their necks stand up straight. None of them could possibly imagine how thoroughly Bai Xiaochun had researched the medicinal plants in the jade slip.
Time passed. 2,000 plants. 3,000 plants….
Bai Xiaochun’s eyes were completely bloodshot as he forced his hands to follow his train of thought. He even relied on the power of the fourth level of Qi Condensation, fearful that he wouldn’t be able to keep up.
Despite how fast he was going, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to pass, so all he could do was grit his teeth and keep going.
4,000 plants. 5,000 plants. 6,000 plants. 7,000 plants….
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, and there were still some plant fragments left. Suddenly, light began to shine everywhere, and his vision swam. The log cabin came back into view again, and the jade slip appeared on the surface of the stone stele. It was the same slip he had put in before, which contained the first volume of plants and vegetation.
“I missed a few, but only a few….” he thought apprehensively. After picking up the jade slip, he walked out of the log cabin, feeling completely crestfallen. It was at this point that he heard the cheering on the outside.
He looked up in the direction of the log cabin Zhou Xinqi had entered. As she walked out, her name suddenly appeared in first place.
1. If you look up this word for “magic bottle” in the C>E dictionaries, it is often defined as Aquarius (the western constellation). While the term has come to be an accepted translation for Acquarius, the original meaning of the word, especially as it pertains to xianxia, is a type of bottle used in Buddhist rituals
Please go to
install our App to read the latest chapters for free
Chapter
18: Drawing the Attention of the Crowd!
“Hahaha! Elder Sister Zhou did it! Didn’t I say she would get another unprecedented first place spot!?”