Chapter 94: Limited-Time Identification

Zhang Xuan exhaled and opened his eyes. After half a day of study, he had gained a much deeper understanding of medicinal knowledge. All the information he had absorbed in the room earlier had now become truly his, perfectly integrated and understood. The Heaven's Path Library was incredibly efficient for acquiring knowledge; it could not only copy secret manuals but also compile them into Heaven's Path Divine Arts.

Footsteps echoed. A series of footsteps approached."It's Apprentice Zhu Huahua, who just passed the exam half a year ago!""Didn't he become an apprentice to Alchemist Du Man?""Yes, he must be here to announce the results now!""I hope I can pass..."Seeing the person whose footsteps they heard, everyone waiting outside the door stiffened and quickly stood up.

"Once the results are out, your pretense will be exposed. Let's see if you can keep up the act then!" Wen Xue sneered, looking at the young man before her. Honestly, if she hadn't already known he was just a good-for-nothing dandy, she might have actually thought he had some skill. Because... he was too good at pretending! It had been almost an hour since the exam finished, and he had remained completely motionless. He was truly determined to grab her attention! But... it was useless! He had thoroughly offended her earlier. There was no chance of changing her mind now!

"For the first written examination, a total of three have passed!" The apprentice named Zhu Huahua approached the door, took out a sheet of paper, and began to read aloud: "First, Sun Tao from Luyuan City, with an accuracy rate of ninety-one percent!""Ah, me? I passed..." As the announcement finished, a young man excitedly jumped up. His reaction drew countless envious gazes. Although he had only passed one of the three assessments, it showed he was close to becoming an alchemy apprentice. Even Wen Xue's beautiful eyes sparkled with admiration.

"Second, Qian Wenman from Ziyun City, with an accuracy rate of ninety percent!""That's me..." Hearing this, another person stood up, their face flushed with excitement."And the last one, Zhang Xuan from Tianxuan City, with an accuracy rate of..." Zhu Huahua seemed to disbelieve his eyes. He scrutinized the paper, rubbed his eyes, and only then, after confirming, did he utter with a slight tremble in his voice: "One hundred... percent!"

"What?!""One hundred percent?!""That means... all the answers were correct?""How is that possible?""To answer all these difficult questions correctly, who is this Master Zhang Xuan?""Yeah, who is it?"Upon hearing that the third successful candidate had an accuracy rate of one hundred percent, everyone erupted. They frantically searched, trying to spot the person named Zhang Xuan.

"Alright, the three who passed, please come in for the second assessment!" Zhu Huahua interrupted the clamor and led the way into the room. The two who had stood up after passing quickly followed him. Zhang Xuan also stood up.

"All three names have been called out. What, still not admitting you know nothing..." Seeing him stand up, Wen Xue sneered and was about to speak when something suddenly occurred to her. Her eyes widened, and she couldn't help but blurt out, "You... you... what's your name?""Zhang Xuan!"Too lazy to bother with this superficial woman any longer, Zhang Xuan stepped into the room."Zhang Xuan? He... is called Zhang Xuan?""And he scored one hundred percent on the exam?"Wen Xue reeled, her face turning ashen. In that instant, she felt like a complete clown, utterly humiliated. She had been calling him a pretender, saying he had no real skill, but the result... an unprecedented perfect score!"Is this real or fake? Didn't you claim you didn't even know what the exam was about? Didn't you say you hadn't even looked at the textbooks? Liar... He's a complete fraud! He seemed so clueless, knew nothing, yet scored perfectly on the exam... Brother, are you playing a trick on me?" Wen Xue felt her entire face burn with a fiery sensation, as if she were going mad.

Uncle Li, standing nearby, also had his eyes wide in disbelief, almost popping out of his head. *Damn!* Just moments ago, he too thought the guy was just here to mess around. He never expected him to be this incredible. He himself had been taking exams since his youth and never passed, yet this fellow simply scored a perfect mark... It truly is infuriating when you compare yourself to others.

"It's that guy who handed in his paper after only half an hour!""I thought he'd given up, but he actually got a perfect score...""That's insane! To answer everything correctly in just half an hour, how did he study?"The others also recognized him, their minds reeling.

Unaware that the crowd outside was on the verge of madness, Zhang Xuan was now seated at a table. On the table before him lay various medicinal ingredients, most of which were rare and not commonly found on the market.

"There are ten types of medicinal ingredients on the table. You have the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn to write down their names, properties, and uses! For this section, you must be one hundred percent correct to pass!" Ouyang Cheng stood on the platform, waving his hand, and declared: "Time starts now!" The second assessment, identifying medicinal ingredients, required one hundred percent accuracy. In other words, mistaking even one out of the ten ingredients would result in elimination.

Zhang Xuan looked at the first medicinal ingredient. It was a plant with green leaves, green flowers, and a green stem. "Greenbeard Grass!" Recalling something recorded in a book, a name surfaced in his mind. Immediately, the Heaven's Path Library displayed the description of Greenbeard Grass before his eyes, and he casually wrote it down. After finishing the first, he moved on to the second. Although these ingredients were obscure, they were nothing to his current knowledge reserves. He quickly wrote down nine, with only one left.

The last one was a strange plant with yellow flowers, white leaves, and a bluish-gray stem. As he pondered what plant it was, he suddenly froze, let out a wry smile, and slapped his forehead. "How foolish of me! With the Heaven's Path Library as a cheat, why am I bothering to identify these ingredients manually?" He reached out and lightly picked up the medicinal ingredient. *Whoosh!* Sure enough, a book appeared before his eyes, detailing the name of the ingredient, along with its advantages and flaws. He casually copied it down. He then proceeded to touch all nine of the previously identified ingredients with his hand. His previous conclusions were almost identical, with only one slight difference. Knowing the Heaven's Path Library could not be wrong, Zhang Xuan immediately corrected the answer. He finished writing everything down in just half the time it took for one stick of incense to burn.

He handed in his answer sheet. Previously, Ouyang Cheng had thought Zhang Xuan was just there to cause trouble and held him in low regard. But now, knowing he had scored perfectly on the first assessment, he no longer dared to underestimate him and quickly picked up the answers to review them. Alchemist Du Man, standing nearby, also walked over. They meticulously checked each answer on the sheet. As they read, they nodded in satisfaction. The young man's writing contained not only the correct names but also identical medicinal properties, characteristics, and effects, without a single error. Just as they were about to offer praise, certain that he would pass the assessment, they both suddenly froze, staring blankly.

"Alright, I announce that only one person has passed the second assessment..." Soon, the other two also submitted their answer sheets. After grading them, Ouyang Cheng looked around and announced the result: "It's Sun Tao from Luyuan City!"