Chapter 561: The First Round: Medicine Identification

Chapter 561: Chapter 559: The First Round: Medicine Identification

Lin Xuan had just entered the arena when he was met with furious glares. If looks could kill, he would have died countless times over.

“The traitor’s son is here! Get the hell down from there! You have no right to stand on the Dragon Cauldron Platform!”

“He’s overestimating himself. If he can pass the first round, I’ll walk on my hands!”

“Trash! The Lin Family’s trash! Just go die already! You’re a complete disgrace!”

…

Curses rained down from the audience below. ‘This is going to be tough,’ Lin Xuan thought. The ostracism was far too severe. He had originally hoped to form an alliance between them and the Lin Family, but that was likely to be an incredibly difficult process. Their xenophobia was just too strong—unbelievably so.

Arrogant, haughty, looking down on others… no amount of adjectives could fully describe them.

Lin Xuan responded with a faint smile and casually walked toward the competition platform. He had long since stopped caring about these people. ‘All I need to do is prove myself with my strength.’

Soon after, Long Bin and Long Fan walked out. Their appearance caused the atmosphere in Dragon Cauldron Plaza to freeze for a moment before erupting into a deafening cheer. More people began pointing at Long Bin and Long Fan, discussing them and speculating on which of the two would win the championship.

“I wonder if Long Bin will take first place this time, or if Long Fan will. This is so exciting!”

“My money’s on Long Bin. He was first last time, so he should be first again!”

“I think it’ll be Long Fan. I heard he’s already pushing into the Fifth Grade Level—in fact, they say he’s already there. He might just turn the tables in this competition!”

…

Lin Xuan, meanwhile, was completely forgotten. The crowd adored Long Bin and Long Fan, seeing them as true Kings. The audience’s earlier displeasure was washed away, replaced by thunderous cheers.

At this moment, Long Xingyun stood up. The Dragon Cauldron Plaza gradually fell silent. Once it was quiet enough, Long Xingyun revealed a gentle smile and said, “There are more disciples participating this year than in previous years, and many of them are top-notch. To provide further encouragement, let me announce the rewards for the top placements!”

Rewards! The contestants didn’t just want a high rank; they wanted the rewards that came with it. Medicine King Valley was never stingy with its rewards for outstanding disciples.

Although only five people would actually receive such rewards, everyone eagerly anticipated them. Basically, every contestant believed they would be the one to win and claim a prize.

“First place will receive one stalk of Resurrection Grass and one Sixth Grade Elixir Pill!”

The moment the first-place prize was announced, not only the contestants but even the spectators were green with envy! Resurrection Grass was already rare enough, but to get an entire stalk would greatly boost one’s Soul Power. And there was no need to even mention the Sixth Grade Elixir Pill; that was even more enticing. Wouldn’t one’s Cultivation soar after consuming it?

“Second place will receive one Sixth Grade Elixir Pill…”

“Third place will be allowed to pick two stalks of Spirit Medicine from the medicine garden…”

As everyone’s eyes widened and they strained their ears to hear the remaining rewards, Lin Xuan was only interested in the prize for first place. The Sixth Grade Elixir Pill was appealing, but the most important thing was the Resurrection Grass.

He had come specifically for the Resurrection Grass. He didn’t care about anything else… ‘Of course,’ he thought, ‘if I get more, that’s just a bonus.’

After the rewards for the top five were all announced, the entire venue fell silent; the only sound was that of people breathing. The prizes were simply too stunning. In the past, Resurrection Grass had never been offered. It was only because the harvest was particularly good this year that it was being used as a reward.

Forget the Resurrection Grass—even a Soul Reviving Pill was enough to make people burn with envy.

ROAR…

After a few short seconds of silence, the entire Dragon Cauldron Plaza erupted with astonishing cheers, each wave louder than the last. Spurred on by these rewards, the many Alchemy Masters were now eagerly looking forward to the competition. They all wanted to win quickly and get their hands on those prizes!

A moment later, the roar gradually subsided. The judges seemed quite satisfied with this reaction, and Long Xingyun continued, “I believe everyone is quite pleased with the rewards. In that case, let’s cut to the chase and prepare to begin the competition! The content of this trial is quite different from previous years, so everyone should be mentally prepared.”

At this point, the Steward standing before the disciples of Medicine King Valley spoke. “I’m sure you’ve all seen the boxes behind me. There are three in total, each filled with a different medicinal ingredient. You are not required to identify the ingredients. You simply need to taste all three and write down your sensations on a piece of paper. In other words, the first round is a medicine trial!”

Seeing the wooden boxes behind the official and hearing that the first round was a medicine trial, everyone understood. An Alchemy Master must be able to test medicinal ingredients. If one couldn’t determine their properties, they were not a qualified Alchemy Master. In other words, if you couldn’t get a general sense of the medicinal properties in the first round, you could forget about the next.

“Now, let the competition begin!”

With that command, an incense stick was lit and planted in a sand basin in the Dragon Cauldron Plaza. They had to write down their findings within the time it took for the stick to burn out. Failure to do so would result in disqualification.

At the command, everyone rushed forward. There wasn’t much time; they had to taste the ingredients as quickly as possible.

Although there were only three boxes, they were enormous and lined with openings all around, so anyone could reach in and grab an ingredient without much of a wait. Most of the Alchemy Masters chose to taste the ingredients one by one, rather than tasting all of them before starting to write.

No one believed the boxes were filled with common ingredients. If they were too ordinary, what would be the point of the test? They had to be ingredients no one had tried before, or at least fairly obscure ones. If they tasted everything at once, they probably wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. They could only taste them one by one. Time was short, but it was enough.

In no time, all the contestants had gotten an ingredient and begun to taste it. And just as quickly, cries of surprise erupted.

“Wh-what is this? It’s so bitter! What is this flavor?”

“Damn it, this bitterness is killing me! I don’t seem to recognize it at all. Is this a Cyan Cloud Flower?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever tasted this before. This is way too obscure, isn’t it? It’s a bit sour… could it be a Red Profound Fruit?”

“If we’d all tasted these before, what would be the point of this damn competition?! Stop your whining!”

…

After tasting just one ingredient, they were all wailing and complaining. The ingredients were so obscure that they started to suspect they were being made to taste high-Grade Spirit Grass. The noise grew louder and louder until Dragon Cauldron Plaza was nearly bursting with the clamor.

After tasting his, Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly. He looked up at Long Xingyun and a faint smile touched his lips. ‘I see. The ingredients are indeed obscure, but not completely unknown. Grandfather, I wonder why you chose ingredients like these?’

The smile, it seemed, meant he had figured it out.