"Black Heart Vine, 800 years old, is a spiritual medicine with three attributes of earth, wood, and water. Earth and wood are supplementary, and water is the main attribute. It is an excellent spiritual medicine for refining spiritual pills that nourish the internal organs..."
Ling Xiao took a glance at the dry-looking vine in the glass box and knew the answer.
There was an obvious hint of hesitation on Zhao Ritian's face before he finally picked up the pen to write the answer.
"Take your time and write. Don't be in a hurry! I think that gate stone looks delicious. It must suit your taste!"
Ling Xiao patted Zhao Ritian on the shoulder, smiled slightly, and walked towards the fifty-first glass box.
"asshole!"
Zhao Ritian was concentrating on writing his answers. He didn't know when Ling Xiao came to his side. He was startled and the pen in his hand almost fell to the ground.
Zhao Ritian was frowning and said with gritted teeth as he looked at Ling Xiao's back.
He felt that Ling Xiao was too arrogant, even more arrogant than him. He clearly knew nothing, but he pretended to have seen through everything, which made him extremely unhappy.
Ling Xiao quickly finished reading the 108 glass boxes, wrote down the answers, and handed them to Xia Yan.
Xia Yan was also a little surprised. He shook his head and smiled bitterly, thinking that Ling Xiao was just joking.
Many alchemists looked at Ling Xiao as if he were a fool, knowing that Ling Xiao was bound to lose this bet.
Only Xia Hongxiu's eyes showed a hint of doubt, because Ling Xiao was too calm, without the slightest panic, as if he already knew the answer to the one hundred and eight spiritual herbs.
"It should be... impossible!"
Xia Hongxiu bit her lip and instinctively felt that it was impossible.
The art of alchemy is profound and far more difficult to learn than martial arts. Ling Xiao has transformed to such a level in three years. His talent in martial arts is extraordinary, which is already quite extraordinary. It should be impossible for him to be so abnormal in the art of alchemy.
But for some reason, Xia Hongxiu thought of the Ling family's mid-year competition. Ling Xiao was also so calm and composed, and as a result, all those who mocked him were severely slapped in the face.
The identification test lasted a total of two hours, and the time passed quickly.
Many alchemists didn't even finish the questions. They all had sad faces, knowing that they would probably be eliminated.
Only a small number of alchemists managed to finish writing the answers, but they were also very nervous. After all, many of the answers were uncertain, and it was still unknown whether they could eventually reach 300 points.
"Everyone wait a moment. After we have corrected everyone's answers, we will announce the candidates who will enter the second round!"
Xia Yan smiled slightly, then took everyone's answers to correct them.
"Ling Xiao, you won't get a zero, will you? That would be really funny. I'm sure that only Zhao Ritian can get more than 400 points. Most of these losers will be eliminated!"
Zhao Ritian licked his face and came towards Ling Xiao, saying in a cocky manner.
He was still a little depressed. Although he was the second one to finish answering the question, Zhao Ritian felt extremely unhappy when he saw Ling Xiao's nonchalant look.
"I'm afraid you will be disappointed! I don't know about the others, but if I get 300 points, you will definitely eat this gate-guarding stone!"
Ling Xiao glanced at Zhao Ritian indifferently.
"You're the only one who still pays 300 points?"
Zhao Ritian sneered and said, "I think your guessing is only a few dozen points at best. If you can really get 300 points, I, Zhao Ritian, will eat all these gate stones!"
Behind the main gate of Tianshi Temple, there are nine gate-guarding stones.
Those gate-guarding stones are all square and the size of a human head. They are carved from solid black granite and are very strong. Even spiritual weapons can hardly leave scratches on them.
"You said it, don't regret it later!"
Ling Xiao glanced at Zhao Ritian and smiled faintly.
"Of course! A real man should keep his word. If you can get 300 points in the exam, I will eat all nine gate stones! But if you lose, you have to kneel down and kowtow to me nine times!"
Zhao Ritian patted his chest, looking very proud.
"No problem! If I lose, I would be fine if I kowtowed a hundred times, not to mention nine times!"
Ling Xiao smiled, revealing a row of white teeth, very brilliant.
Master Jiao Mu looked at Zhao Ritian with sympathy in his eyes. This guy is really walking into a trap!
Soon, Xia Yan came back and swept his eyes across everyone, but stayed on Ling Xiao for a moment, with a strange and solemn look in his eyes.
"Ahem, now I will announce the candidates who will enter the second level!"
Xia Yan coughed lightly, and immediately all the alchemists looked at Xia Yan with anticipation and some nervousness.
"First place Zhao Ritian, 420 points!"
As soon as Xia Yan finished speaking, a palace guard posted Zhao Ritian's answer on the wall.
"Four hundred and twenty points, holy crap! That's too perverted!"
There was a burst of exclamations in the Heavenly Master Hall, and many alchemists looked at Zhao Ritian with shock in their eyes.
Among the 108 spiritual herbs, many are very rare and hard to come by, let alone get them completely correct. This Zhao Ritian is simply defying the will of heaven!
The total score was 424 points, and Zhao Ritian actually got 420 points, losing only 4 points. He is really a monster.
Even Ling Xiao looked at Zhao Ritian with some surprise. Although this guy was arrogant, he did have the capital to be arrogant.
"Thank you, thank you! Hahaha..."
Zhao Ritian smiled so hard that his mouth was wide open, his face was full of pride, and he exuded a showy aura from head to toe, as if to say, look how awesome I am, come and praise me!
"Second place Jiao Mu, 398 points!"
"Third place is a tie, three hundred and ninety points!"
"Fourth place Chongming, 388 points!"
"… "
Xia Yan's voice continued to echo in the Tianshi Hall.
What surprised everyone was that Master Jiaomu, who had just been promoted to a mid-level alchemy master not long ago, actually scored higher than Master Chonghe and Master Chongming and won the second place.
Zhao Ritian was even more proud and almost wagged his tail. As expected, he was the only one who scored more than 400 points, and the others were far behind.
"… "
"Seventeenth place Chunshen, three hundred and twenty-five points!"
"Eighteenth place Zhao Minghao, three hundred and twenty points!"
"… "
"Twenty-eighth place, Wang Duo, three hundred and one points!"
"Twenty-ninth place, Zheng Ying, 300 points!"
Xia Yan paused after announcing the twenty-nine names in one breath, then smiled and said, "Congratulations to the twenty-nine alchemists above for passing the identification stage and entering the second stage, but..."
Before Xia Yan finished speaking, Zhao Ritian burst into laughter excitedly.
"Hahaha... Ling Xiao, aren't you arrogant? Aren't you awesome? Why were you eliminated in the first round? I guess you didn't even get 10 points right. Get down on your knees and kowtow to me. I, Zhao Ritian, keep my word. You're not going to deny it, are you?"
Zhao Ritian laughed loudly with his nose in the air, looking at Ling Xiao with a look of gloating.
PS: A new year has begun, we say goodbye to 2016 and head for 2017. Happy New Year, brothers. Another chapter will be posted later!
(End of this chapter)