Assessment (II)
The stone platforms are half a meter wide and a meter high. Much like the stone platforms that You XiaoMo saw in the Stone room of the Hall of Enchanted Herbs.
But the stone platforms here are a little higher. Nine stone platforms means nine people will be tested each time. Adding up the three major peaks is seventy two people, exactly eight rounds, not more, not less.
Then that Senior starts to call out the numbers. Each one that gets called will have to go stand in front of a stone platform. Because there are only nine stone platforms, each peak has three people going up.
The first group of people gets called up very quickly. The three Earth peak disciples stand in front of the three rightmost stone platforms. You XiaoMo doesn’t recognize the other six but it’s very easy to figure out the ones from Heaven peak. They are the ones with their heads held very high looking rather arrogant.
Then a young man brings a hourglass and places it in front of everyone.
The hourglass is filled with fine sand. The young man turns it over and puts it on the table. The fine sand starts to trickle down bit by bit. This is something TianXin sect uses to mark the passage of time. When all the fine sand goes to the bottom, that means the time for the first group is over.
You XiaoMo only finds out now that there is a time limit to the assessment. Luckily his preparations are relatively thorough. Otherwise, his state of mind would probably be affected by the hourglass. He can see that a few disciples are already eyeing the hourglass nervously.
With the start of the assessment, the nine disciples start to pick up the magic herbs that have been prepared for them on the stone platform.
Refining magic pills is a dull and uninteresting process but refining one level two magic pill doesn’t require much time.
When the last grain of sand falls through, the first round is over. Nine magic pills are brought up one by one for inspection. Not every fully-formed magic pill is good. Some magic pills could have suffered some errors during the blending step making them worthless. So it is necessary to check if the magic pills are effective.
You XiaoMo is standing at the back so he can’t see clearly what is happening up front. So he has no choice but to stand on tiptoe. But by the time he can see clearly, the inspection is already over. Among the nine disciples, some are in high spirits, some are dejected, some even look like they are about to cry. And the one that is about to cry is a disciple from Earth peak.
When the three disciples come back, Kong Wen indifferently says some words of consolation and encouragement. Up front, the second round starts up.
Looking at other people refining magic pills is a very boring matter. But there are some benefits. One can observe the techniques and actions others use when refining magic pills. Learning from this experience is also quite beneficial so You XiaoMo sticks his head out and looks around with keen interest.
After the second group is the third group, that is the number seven to nine group.
You XiaoMo confirms the number on the tablet in his hand and hearing the Senior call out number seven, he calms down his heart and walks up together with the other two disciples. He stands in front of the seventh stone platform. From up close, he can now see what is on the stone platform.
There is a black cauldron in the middle of the stone platform. In front of the cauldron are three types of magic herbs for one magic pill. Altogether, there is enough for two pills of the same type. The implication is that if both portions are used up and no magic pill is produced, that means it’s a failure. You XiaoMo picks up the magic herbs and looks at them. These magic herbs are actually magic herbs used to refine the Reserve energy magic pill.
During his three month seclusion, he refined many types of magic pills. One of them is the Reserve energy magic pill but he didn’t refine many. On top of that, three days ago, when he got magic herbs from Uncle Zhao, there were also materials for the Reserve energy magic pill. So his impression of this magic pill is quite strong.
Reserve energy magic pill is the most distinctive level two magic pill. It is a magic pill used to help low level martial artists have a breakthrough. Some martial artists fail when it comes to having a breakthrough because they lack sufficient spiritual energy. This is the time when the Reserve energy pill is needed because the magic power in the magic pill can be transformed into a burst of spiritual energy, helping the martial artist breakthrough to the next level.
But that is not its most definitive characteristic. Its uniqueness is that it demands more of the mage than other ordinary level two magic pills. The number of distillations can only be more, not less. The magic pill’s energy must be pure. If there are too many impurities, that magic pill would be considered worthless.
Of course this difficulty is nothing to You XiaoMo. His distillation technique is excellent. He would distill each magic pill at least twice before being satisfied except for when he was practicing for the first time.
But when he looks at what the other two disciples got, he finds out that they got very simple level two magic pills. Before, he did see the Senior let someone distribute the magic herbs. It seemed to be random so maybe he’s just unlucky so he was given the relatively difficult magic pill. You XiaoMo looks at the hourglass at the front. It is just beginning to start flowing so he calmly drops the magic herbs into the cauldron.
After sitting through the first two rounds, he already figured out roughly the time it takes for the hourglass to empty. It’s actually one hour. One magic pill in an hour. This duration is too excessive for him. With his current speed, he can almost refine ten magic pills in an hour.
There are many onlookers but more than half of them are looking at You XiaoMo.
But You XiaoMo’s attention is on the stone platform so he doesn’t notice that so many people are looking at him. Among them, most of them are waiting to see him mess up. He simply doesn’t know that he himself is so famous.
***
Among the group of people, a pretty girl is sneering coldly at You XiaoMo.
That girl is none other than Tang YunQi. Tang YunQi is a level three mage so she has no business being here. But since she is the Grand Master’s daughter, the guards don’t stop her and let her in with the crowd.
“Junior sister Tang, I think this is definitely the end for You XiaoMo.”
“He is only a disciple of six months. He definitely can’t refine a Reserve energy magic pill. Even if he produces one, that magic pill would be a dead one. It must be said that the Reserve energy magic pill demands a lot of a mage.”
A dead magic pill means a useless magic pill.
Tang YunQi twitches her bright red lips, sneering coldly, “I don’t just want him to be unable to refine a magic pill. I want him to embarrass himself in front of everybody. Only then can I get rid of this hatred in my heart.”
“That’s right. Dare to cause Junior sister Tang to get ……. ”
Before the Big sister could finish her words, Tang YunQi glares at her coldly and hatefully, immediately making her too afraid to finish her words.
Looking at Junior sister’s icy expression, everyone else also doesn’t dare to say anything. Although they don’t say it, they are very clear about it in their hearts. That is three months ago, Junior sister Tang was given a tight slap by that topmost Elder.
At that time, the people that were there also saw how Junior sister Tang’s face quickly got red and swollen. That appearance was as ugly as can be imagined. There were quite a few that were secretly happy at her misfortune but not a single one dared to say so in front of her face. Because before there was a Junior sister that had a slip of the tongue in front of her. What happened later was that Tang YunQi ruined her face.
The matter didn’t cause an uproar because that Junior sister was too terrified that Tang YunQi would punish her so she didn’t tell her master. But a lot of people know about the matter. Those people began to start fearing Tang YunQi more and more. Everyone feels that since that incident, Junior sister Tang is becoming more and more ruthless and sinister.
“Elder brother, from what I can see, your Little brother is not in a good position ah.”
At the edge of the crowd of people, a tall handsome man moves his eyes from Tang YunQi and her group of people, and speaks softly to the chiseled handsome man at his side.
“Zhou Peng, when did you learn to talk so much?”
Ling Xiao shoots a glance at him.
The man is actually the one that had come out of seclusion two months ago, Zhou Peng. After coming out of seclusion, it is hard not to notice his imposing manner. Before, his always somewhat simple and honest expression now shows signs of shrewdness, especially the occasional gleam in his eyes.
Hearing Ling Xiao’s words, Zhou Peng scratches his head. The smile on his face looks especially honest and straightforward, not the least bit shrewd, “Elder brother, I’m just worried for Little brother ma. Looking at Junior sister Tang’s expression, and with her character, it looks like she must be up to some tricks.”
“Tricks? Hmph!”
Ling Xiao snorts. His gaze falls on You XiaoMo who is completely absorbed in refining magic pills, his expression becoming much gentler, “I believe in Little brother’s ability. He won’t let me down.”
This belief is not without reason. He watched You XiaoMo grow in his abilities. With his current capabilities, a level two magic pill is not difficult for him. Unless Tang YunQi substitutes a level three magic pill in place of the level two magic pill. But he expects that she would dare to do that because if it gets exposed, it’s not just her that would lose face. It would affect Heaven peak and even her father.
Zhou Peng wants to say ‘You have too much confidence in him’, but looking at his unwavering expression, he restrains himself and keeps quiet.
Right at this moment, You XiaoMo is stumped by the problem in front of his eyes.
The reason is that after going halfway through the process of refining the magic pill, he suddenly discovers that there is a crack at the bottom of the cauldron.
In the beginning the crack was not big. But after pouring in the soul force the crack gets bigger and bigger as if slowly spreading outwards at the bottom of the cauldron. He only discovered that when he has just about to start blending the magic pill. This is not the first time he has come across this but this time the crack is too big. If he uses a little too much force, the cauldron may blow up completely.
You XiaoMo hesitates a little but still takes out his hand in the end.
This action attracted the attention of a lot of people.
Before, he was about to start blending the magic pill. Everyone was surprised because his actions are very quick. Other people are still at the distilling stage and he already progressed to the blending stage. Now seeing that he has given up, everyone feels that it is only to be expected thinking that he was acting with undue haste, thus causing him to fail.
You XiaoMo quietly raises his hand towards the Senior, “Elder, my cauldron is damaged.”
