"The second assessment—Spiritual Medicine pairing. As everyone knows, medicines possess properties that either complement or counteract one another. A competent alchemist must possess exceptional skill in pairing Spiritual Medicine. If you can't even pair medicines properly—if you can't tell which properties complement and which contradict each other—there's no way you can become a powerful alchemist."
The examiner smiled. "For this second assessment, there are thirty-two types of Spiritual Medicine. Your task is to pair them accordingly. Remember, it doesn't have to be strictly two-by-two. This round tests your ability to identify medicinal properties and your intuition for the principles of complementary and counteracting effects."
These were foundational skills for any alchemist. Neither Jiang Chen nor Tang Hong would find them unfamiliar.
Tang Hong's face was alight with eagerness. His setback in the first assessment had only stoked his fighting spirit, filling him with even more determination.
He was the type who grew fiercer the more adversity he faced.
Jiang Chen, on the other hand, remained as composed as ever—unhurried and unperturbed, as always. When it came to Spiritual Medicine, there was nothing that could make him anxious.
Nothing and no one could.
"Begin."
At the examiner's signal, Tang Hong launched into action almost instantaneously.
Jiang Chen merely smiled, performed a few stretching motions with his arms, and only then walked over to the pile of medicines, examining them one by one.
After looking through them three times in succession, his hands suddenly moved with dazzling speed—like a master illusionist performing an astonishing trick.
Within the span of two more breaths, twenty-two herbs had been paired off.
Grouped in pairs and triples, he had formed thirteen pairings in total.
Most were two-herb combinations, though a few were trios.
"Done again?" The examiner watched as Jiang Chen raised his hand, his face a picture of astonishment. The speed at which Jiang Chen had previously identified and classified the medicines had already been remarkable.
This time, the difficulty was undoubtedly greater. Pairing required not just identification skills, but practical, applied knowledge to back it up.
This speed—honestly, even the examiner himself couldn't claim he could match it.
Jiang Chen nodded and stepped back. The examiner, unwilling to take it at face value, walked over for a closer look—and his expression shifted subtly.
The pairings were entirely accurate. Not a single error.
Over at Tang Hong's station, he was scratching his head and wracking his brain, toiling away for a good while before finally finishing. When he stepped back, he discovered that Jiang Chen had once again pulled far ahead.
"Only one more win to go," Jiang Chen held up a single finger and flashed a mischievous grin.
Tang Hong's face was a mask of frustration. He had already performed above his usual level and had been certain this round would be his—but reality was cruel!
"What the hell, did you dream about this exam or something?" Given what Tang Hong knew, he simply couldn't fathom how a mere secular disciple could be this monstrous. Just how terrifyingly deep would one's knowledge of Spiritual Medicine have to be to achieve such speed?
He could think of no other explanation.
Jiang Chen chuckled. "Even if I dreamed it, I'd still be the one winning."
Tang Hong snorted. "Don't celebrate too early—it's not over yet!"
Five basic assessments, and only two had been completed. Three remained, and Tang Hong felt he still had a chance to turn the tide. If he swept all three remaining rounds, he could still win easily enough.
"The third assessment—pill recipe identification. Ten recipes, some correct, some incorrect. If a recipe is correct, leave it untouched. If it's wrong, point out the errors."
"Remember, you must correctly identify at least six out of ten recipes to pass. You two may be wagering against each other, but don't sacrifice accuracy for speed. Rushing through this could hurt your efficiency."
The examiner offered this advice with good intentions.
Identifying pill recipes was meticulous work. If one focused only on speed, mistakes were practically inevitable. If the accuracy rate didn't reach sixty percent, the assessment would be marked as failed, and the five contribution points would be forfeited.
Jiang Chen merely smiled faintly. The possibility of failure had never once crossed his mind.
Of the four basic assessments—martial arts, mental fortitude, alchemy, and comprehensive—the area where Jiang Chen felt most confident was alchemy.
Though he was assured in the others as well, when it came to the dao of alchemy, if Jiang Chen claimed second place, no one would dare call themselves first.
All ten pill recipes were laid out before him.
Jiang Chen examined them one by one. None were particularly complex recipes.
However, of the ten, a full eight were incorrect. Some contained minor errors; others were riddled with mistakes.
Jiang Chen placed a checkmark on the two correct recipes, then began writing on the remaining eight.
He didn't pull off any extraordinary feats—simply used plain, straightforward language to point out the errors.
In roughly a quarter of an hour, he had completed the assessment.
Tang Hong, meanwhile, clearly hadn't finished yet. Two of the recipes in particular left him uncertain. He agonized over them for a long while before finally offering tentative, half-hearted answers.
When Jiang Chen submitted his completed recipes, the examiner's look of surprise flickered across his face once more. He frowned as he reviewed them, and the more he read, the more startled he became.
He had assumed that submitting so quickly meant this secular genius was simply arrogant and overconfident—surely he couldn't have produced quality results.