Chapter 149: Chapter 149: The Assessment Begins
Translator: 549690339
After the Pill Master with the surname Wang arrived…
He warmly greeted Lin Jing along with two other Offering Priests.
Lin Jing responded briefly before closing his eyes to rest once more.
After a while…
Steward Zheng and Steward Cheng arrived at the scene.
Besides Steward Zheng and Steward Cheng, three other stewards from Yuebaolou were also present.
It seemed that they were responsible for assisting in the supervision of the examination.
Subsequently, Steward Zheng approached everyone and said:
“Today’s examination will only involve the four of you.”
“And the location of the examination will be this very square you are standing in. ”
“Shortly, the four of you will separate, each choosing a corner to conduct the examination.”
“At the same time…”
“During the examination, there will be four stewards overseeing you.” After Steward Zheng finished speaking, the four stewards took a step forward.
Then, with a wave of his hand, Steward Zheng announced:
“Alright..
“Without further ado, go and find your positions.”
No sooner had Steward Zheng’s words fallen than the group dispersed.
Lin Jing turned and headed straight for the southeastern corner.
Seeing this, the Pill Master named Wang followed Lin Jing and made for the northeastern corner.
The other two Offering Priests went directly to the two corners on the west side.
As everyone had selected their spots, Steward Zheng spoke up again:
“As Pill Masters, contending with the external environment is also a form of cultivation. If the slightest disturbance can impact one’s state of mind. “Then, forever will he be unable to qualify as a competent Pill Master.”
“Therefore…
“This examination will not set up any formations.”
Although Steward Zheng’s words seemed reasonable, they raised concerns given the nature of an examination compared to ordinary circumstances.
Steward Cheng and the other three stewards frowned upon hearing this.
Because Yuebaolou had conducted multi-person examinations before, but they always used soundproof formations to prevent mutual disturbance.
This was because the most crucial factor for a Pill Master during alchemy was a quiet environment.
Only then could a Pill Master truly perform to their full potential.
“Steward Zheng, we have never before conducted an examination without using soundproof formations…”
Steward Cheng approached and said to Steward Zheng.
With a snort, Steward Zheng replied:
“Humph..
“If such a minor disturbance can affect the results of alchemy, then that person is not qualified to become one of our Yuebaolou’s Offering Pill Masters.”
“My mind is made up; no need to discuss this further…”
“But…’
Steward Cheng attempted to speak further but was immediately interrupted by Steward Zheng.
“If you have any dissatisfaction, I can find someone else to supervise the examination…’
Steward Zheng’s gaze was icy as he stared intently at Steward Cheng, his words carrying significant weight.
“I wouldn’t dare…” responded Steward Cheng with a cupped fist.
Subsequently, Steward Cheng glanced in Lin Jing’s direction with a silent sigh.
Then he stopped talking and stepped back.
Following that…
Steward Zheng turned his gaze to the four people including Lin Jing, pondered for a moment, and then pointed to an Offering Priest in the northwest corner and said to Steward Cheng:
“You, supervise him, and remember, there must be no negligence…”
“Alright… ”
Steward Cheng did not retort this time, but went straight towards the northwest corner.
Then…
Steward Zheng continued with assignments.
Assigned to Lin Jing was a steward he had only seen a few times and was not very familiar with.
Soon, the assignments for all four stewards were completed.
Steward Zheng continued to speak:
“You have until sunset to complete the assessment. If you fail to do so, it will be considered a failure of the assessment.”
“Time waits for no one. Alright, begin now…”
Setting the time limit to sunset, Steward Zheng’s words made everyone a bit nervous.
From now until sunset, to concoct three batches of Second Rank Elixir Medicine, the time was very urgent, as there needed to be a rest period between each batch to recover one’s state.
If the rest was insufficient and the state not fully recovered, it would certainly affect the concoction of the next batch of Elixir Medicine.
Moreover…
The lower the cultivation, the longer the recovery time needed.
In the case of Lin Jing, the cultivation he showed to others was only at the seventh level of Qi Refinement.
A cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refinement would need at least three to four hours to rest and recover after concocting a batch of Elixir Medicine.
Additionally, the time needed for Alchemy itself was not short.
If Lin Jing did not want to expose his real strength, then he simply would not have enough time, and could not possibly concoct the third batch of Elixir Medicine.
In other words, Lin Jing only had two chances.
Whereas the other three Offering Priests all had at least the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment Stage, with their speed of recovery, they could just about manage to concoct three batches of Elixir Medicine before sunset.
Only the time would be very tight…
After Steward Zheng finished speaking, no one dared to delay and immediately began their preparations.
From their Storage Bags, everyone took out a Pill Furnace, Lin Jing included, who took out the Fire Meteor Four-Pattern Furnace from his Storage Bag.
Lin Jing then took out some firewood for igniting the fire. This wood was of low-level spiritual wood, which, when burned, produced a higher temperature than ordinary firewood.
That way, during Alchemy, the speed would also be faster.
When the others saw Lin Jing take out the firewood, they were all momentarily stunned…
Then they remembered that Lin Jing was only at the seventh level of Qi Refinement.
They shook their heads with a chuckle, not knowing whether it was mockery or something else.
But these people directly used their Foundation Building True Fire, not needing any firewood at all.
Foundation Building True Fire was much better than ordinary fire.
Its temperature was much higher than ordinary fire, and in terms of speed, it was also much faster than ordinary fire in concocting Elixir Medicine.
If it took Lin Jing an hour to concoct Second Rank Elixir Medicine with ordinary fire, using Foundation Building True Fire, only a little over half an hour was needed to complete the concoction.
Moreover…
As the Foundation Building True Fire was a fire from within the body, it was better controlled and made it easier to concoct higher quality Elixir Medicine.
Following that…
The steward overseeing Lin Jing’s Alchemy handed him a small package.
Lin Jing took the package, reached out, opened it, and inside were the Alchemy Ingredients for concocting Gathering Yuan Pills—three sets in total.
To standardize this assessment, everyone used Gathering Yuan Pills as the Elixir Medicine for the assessment.
Afterward…
Lin Jing followed the previous steps, processing the Alchemy Ingredients, starting the fire, then placing the ingredients into the furnace in order.
At the same time, in order to not make it too obvious, he also deliberately slowed down his speed a bit, making himself appear somewhat inexperienced.
By the time others had already sealed their furnaces and begun concocting, Lin Jing was still inserting ingredients into the Pill Furnace.
However, if we’re truly counting, Lin Jing was not much slower than the other three, at most less than a quarter of an hour.
After a while, Lin Jing also finished the preliminary work and began to seal the furnace.
After sealing the furnace…
Lin Jing formed a hand seal and utilized the Controlling Fire Technique to manipulate the flames beneath the furnace. The flames moved as if they were an extension of his own limb, following Lin Jing’s intentions.
He concentrated fully, fixating his attention on the Pill Furnace..