Chapter 454: Weirdos

The Supreme Pill Forging Guild holds the Pill Apprentice Examination twice a month. Applicants can come to the branch office and register for the test anytime.

However, even if one could register on any day of the month, the test would be held only on one of the two designated dates.

Yi Chen was already aware of this when he chose to come to the branch office today to register.

"It was a good decision to discuss it with Elder Ru Qi..." Yi Chen thought with a smile as he looked for a suitable book to glance through on the rows of shelves around him.

If not for Elder Ru Qi’s guidance, he would have chosen a different day to register and would then have had to travel all the way back to the city to take the examination.

While walking through the maze-like pathways in between the shelves, Yi Chen soon came upon an open area where a few chairs and a table were neatly arranged for people to sit.

Currently, three of the five seats were occupied by two men and a woman, all of whom were going through the books they had laid on the table with utmost seriousness.

’Well, I guess I’ll just read here then...’ Yi Chen thought to himself as he picked a random book that he hadn’t read before from the nearby shelf. He sat on a seat and started going over it curiously.

Since he had already gone through so many books in these past few days, he wasn’t much worried about not being able to do well in the written part of the test at all.

’Even if there are a few questions I don’t know, it’s not like going over these books crazily at the last minute would help me answer them all...’

With those thoughts in his mind, Yi Chen leisurely placed the book on the table and started going over its contents one page at a time.

While earlier all three cultivators present were devouring the contents of their books with great seriousness, with the coming of Yi Chen, that rhythm broke.

’This guy... why is he so calm?’

’Is he a repeater?... But doesn’t he look too young for that?’

’Why doesn’t he look worried at all?!’

’Wait... could it be that he somehow already knows the questions that will be asked?’

.

.

.

Several questions rose in everyone’s minds as they discreetly observed Yi Chen’s actions with the corner of their eyes.

Finally unable to keep those thoughts in his mind, one of the males who was a bit on the heavier side finally asked Yi Chen.

"Y-You... just why..."

"What? Did you say anything?" Yi Chen glanced at the overly healthy man who was in his early thirties and asked, as he had been too immersed in reading to pay attention to his words.

"I asked...just why do you look so calm? The written exam will be starting in less than thirty minutes now, and yet instead of sifting through various books to revise as many things as possible, you’re here leisurely glancing through a book which barely has any weightage in the exam’s syllabus."

The Fat man poured out his thoughts.

"Hm?... you’re asking why I’m so calm despite there being an exam?" Yi Chen asked with a furrowed expression as he tried to make sense of this question.

"Yes, is there a particular reason for your calmness?" the Fat man asked with a meaningful expression in the hope of finding something useful from Yi Chen.

’If he truly has some information as to what will be asked, then won’t it greatly raise my chances of success?’

Thinking along those lines, the Fat man waited for Yi Chen’s response with anticipation evident in his eyes.

Meanwhile, the confusion on Yi Chen’s face became even more prominent the moment he confirmed that the question the man was asking was exactly what he had heard the first time.

"Well, the reason is pretty obvious... it’s because I studied," Yi Chen answered with obviousness evident in his tone.

"This..."

The Fat man and the other two cultivators couldn’t help but twitch their eyes in anger upon hearing Yi Chen’s response.

"...It’s because you studied, you say?" The thin man who had been sitting next to the woman all this time finally opened his mouth and said, "Are you trying to make fun of us? Do you think we didn’t study anything or what?

To be able to clear the Pill Apprentice’s written examination, a candidate must have gone through hundreds of books, and not only that, but he should also be able to remember all that content with as much clarity as possible...

So, tell me, Brother... despite knowing that we have gone through so many books, do you still dare to say that we don’t study?"

"This...but I never said those-"

Before Yi Chen could even complete his words, the woman cut him off the next moment and exclaimed furiously, "But you implied it! Do you take us for fools?"

’...Just who are these fools?’ Yi Chen started blaming his decision to come here and sit with these stupid bastards who seemed to be going even now.

"What? Why are you silent now? If you’ve realised your mistake, then apologise to us quickly!" the Fat man snorted in an annoyed manner, realising that Yi Chen seemed to really have no additional intel about the exam questions.

’Fine! Have it your way then, you bastards!’

With this thought, Yi Chen exclaimed all of a sudden, with an expression of realisation evident on his face, "Ah! So that’s how it was... You were trying to ask that, despite having such a vast syllabus, why I looked so calm, right? You might even be thinking that I might have some ideas on what will be asked in the paper, isn’t that right?"

"This!" The Fat man’s eyes widened in delight the moment he heard this, as he nodded the very next moment. "Yes, brother! That’s right. That’s exactly what I had been meaning to ask you from the start. What’s the true reason behind your calmness?!"

Both the thin man and the woman also turned towards Yi Chen, with seriousness evident in their gazes as they waited for his response.

Taking a deep breath, Yi Chen finally responded, "The true reason? It’s naturally because I studied more than your dumbasses, you dumbfucks!"

A scowl instantly took root on Yi Chen’s face when he finished those words.

’Fucking Weirdos!’