Chapter 93: Reviewing Exam Papers

In his past life, when he was in middle school, he had experienced something similar. He liked a girl and would deliberately show off in front of her, even antagonizing her on purpose, just to get her attention!

As soon as this woman arrived, she was constantly at odds with him. It was probably the same situation. Otherwise, why would she have such an attitude?

Oh, you're not ugly, and I'm sure many men pursue you. Why bother me?

Zhang Xuan felt incredibly dejected. It seemed that being pursued wasn't always a good thing. Oh, the stress of a transmigrator!

"Give up?"

Wen Xue stumbled, feeling as if she was about to spit out a mouthful of blood. She was almost driven mad. It was clearly you who deliberately tried to get my attention and curry favor with me, wasn't it? When did it become me deliberately bothering you? What the hell!

Explain to me, what's with that pitiful look in your eyes? What's with telling me to give up? No matter what, I'm a great beauty, and countless people like me. Why are you making it sound like I can't get married and have no choice but to seek you out?

Her teeth gnashed together, and Wen Xue's face twitched uncontrollably, as if it were about to explode. Just as she could no longer hold back and was about to make a move on this self-important guy, she saw the young man shake his head with a sigh, walk over to a nearby stool, and sit down. He appeared calm and unconcerned, as if nothing had happened.

"Alright, Wen Xue," Uncle Li interjected. "This is the entrance to the assessment hall. If any alchemists see this, it will be difficult for you to take the assessment again later!"

"Yes!" Hearing this, Wen Xue had no choice but to suppress her anger and sit down as well. This was the entrance to the assessment hall, where master alchemists often appeared. If they saw her getting angry and fighting with someone, it would definitely leave a bad impression, making it very difficult to pass the apprentice assessment next time.

"You're lucky," she thought, giving the self-important guy a cold glare. "When the results come out later, I'll show you!"

Too lazy to bother with this woman who "secretly admired" him, Zhang Xuan sat on the stool and carefully organized the knowledge he had learned in his mind. Much of the information about medicinal herbs had been summarized by countless predecessors and contained few errors. Zhang Xuan identified the errors and carefully studied them.

As his consciousness was immersed in the Library of Heaven's Path, on the assessment side, the time was finally up, and everyone submitted their test papers.

"Wait outside," Ouyang Cheng instructed, waving them away. "Those who pass the assessment will be notified to proceed to the next stage!" He then picked up his vermilion pen and began grading the test papers one by one.

As he graded, his brows furrowed, and his face grew increasingly grim. Just as he finished grading, a middle-aged man walked over with large strides. It was Du Man, another one-star alchemist from the Alchemist Guild.

"Brother Ouyang, how's it going?" he asked. "Are there any who passed this assessment? I happen to need an apprentice!"

"Pass?" Ouyang Cheng snapped, flinging his vermilion pen. He casually picked up a stack of graded papers and grumbled angrily. "Look at these! The answers are utter nonsense! If they're taken on as apprentices, I fear the Alchemist Guild itself would be disgraced!"

"Let me see!" Alchemist Du Man came to the table, opened a recently graded test paper, and after only looking for a moment, his brows also furrowed. In their opinion, the assessment content wasn't too difficult, but the answers were a complete mess. Many common medicinal herb properties were even written incorrectly! If such people became apprentices, it would indeed tarnish the reputation of the Alchemist Guild.

"Huh? What's wrong with this test paper?" After flipping through seven or eight papers consecutively, none of them satisfactory, Alchemist Du Man's eyes suddenly landed on a crumpled piece of paper on the table. "Brother Ouyang didn't grade it?" There was no trace of vermilion ink on it; clearly, it hadn't been graded.

"It was written by a profligate and arrogant person," Ouyang Cheng said, his mood worsening as he recalled the guy who had rushed through the test. "It must be even worse. I don't even need to look to know it won't pass. Rather than getting angry, I might as well not grade it... A guy who wrote for only half an hour and then submitted his paper was certainly not going to pass; there was no need to grade it at all! What was going on? In previous assessments, at least three or four people could pass the first stage. This time, however, after grading for half a day, only two passed. All the others answered terribly!"

"Profligate?" Du Man said, smiling and shaking his head. He casually opened the test paper. "Let me see what kind of answers could make you not even look at it and directly determine it didn't pass..."

"Hmm?" His eyes fell on the test paper, followed by a gasp of surprise. *Rustle! Rustle!* Then came the sound of him flipping through the test paper. The more he flipped, the more surprised Du Man's expression became; his originally indifferent expression grew increasingly solemn.

"What's wrong?" Ouyang Cheng snorted, seeing his expression. "Are this guy's answers too bizarre? Some profligates who know nothing just rely on their wealth to sneak into the assessment. They simply don't respect the Alchemist Guild..."

"No... Brother Ouyang," Du Man quickly interrupted the other's angry words, "You should take a look too..."

"What's there to see?" Ouyang Cheng grumbled. "Anyway, it won't pass..." Mumbling, Ouyang Cheng lowered his head and looked. After just one glance, his eyes widened instantly, just like Du Man's, and he couldn't help but let out an "Oh?"

He turned to the second page: "Hmm?"He turned to the third page: "Ah?"He turned to the fourth page: "Damn!"...

His face displayed a variety of expressions as his hands continued to hurriedly flip through the pages. Soon, all dozens of pages of the test paper had been flipped through. Ouyang Cheng's eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets as he looked over, full of disbelief. "How is this possible? Not... not a single mistake?"

"Exactly!" Du Man said, still full of disbelief. "There isn't a single mistake! There are a few places where we deliberately left difficult questions. Even if I were to answer them, I might fall into the trap and make a mistake..."

The reason they had been so confident about this test paper was that some of the questions on it were very obscure. Even they, legitimate alchemists, wouldn't be able to know the correct answers without carefully recalling and pondering, or even consulting reference materials. And now, this test paper was not only written clearly and concisely, but it actually... had not a single mistake!

This... how was this possible?

"Not a single mistake..." Du Man asked, unable to help himself after the initial shock. "How could Brother Ouyang have determined that he definitely wouldn't pass?" Such excellent answers had never been seen in the history of the Tianxuan Kingdom Alchemist Guild. For such a genius, Brother Ouyang had been far too arbitrary to fail him without even looking!

"I..." Ouyang Cheng's face flushed red, and he was speechless for a long time. He had always been known for his seriousness and caution, a trait countless people admired. But today, however, this was a stinging slap to his face. He had clearly seen this kid finish the test paper in half an hour without putting any effort into it. How... could it all be correct? Even he couldn't achieve such speed! Could this kid's research into the path of medicine already surpass his own? To claim that someone with stronger knowledge of medicine than himself was a profligate who couldn't pass?

Damn it, this is such a setup! Ouyang Cheng felt his whole body stiffen, utterly stumped and rigid with embarrassment.